“Seems like neither of us was built for high society,” I chortled, holding up my heels to declare them the culprit.
“Seems so.”
I padded away some of the blood trickling down my foot with the cloth napkin I still had in hand, limping toward the side hallway. “Would you happen to know where the closest bathroom is?”
“Here, let me help you with that.”
I barely had time to straighten up when he effortlessly swept me up into his arms. A shrill shriek escaped me as he carried me across the kitchen, setting me down on an empty countertop. He laughed softly, angling me so that my legs dangled over the sides.
“You really don’t have to do this,” I said, watching him peruse the lower cabinets for rubbing alcohol and a few cotton swabs.
“Nonsense. As your host, it’s my duty to see to my guests. Not to mention, it buys me some time from having to go back out there,” he laughed, nodding to the swinging door. The boy smiled, and for the first time, the gesture reached his eyes. Soaking the cotton with some alcohol, he knelt down and lightly dabbed it on the blistered skin. I immediately flinched, and he laughingly caught a hold of my foot in case I kicked him.
“Sorry,” I gasped, feeling blood rushing to my cheeks. It didn’t help that my feet were extremely ticklish.
“Even if you hit me in the mouth, it’d still be less painful than the party.”
“Blaine, don’t think I didn’t see you come in here,” announced Sybil. Her curt tone was cut short as she took note of him placing the bandages on my feet. “Oh…hi.”
My cheeks reddened all the more as I slid off the countertop. “Hi, Mrs. Ryder.”
“I see you two have met.” Her smile couldn’t get any broader.
“Not officially,” said the young man, rising to his feet. He extended his hand to me, “I’m Bl—”
“This is my son, Blaine,” declared Sybil, rushing to our sides.
“Blaine,” he reiterated, trying to muzzle his laugh.
“And this is Katrina.”
“Kat,” I corrected.
“Gemma’s daughter. The one I was telling you about,” said Sybil.
Blaine’s eyes widened. “Gemma? As in Gemma Montgomery?”
“Yeah, that’s my mom.”
“I would have introduced the two of you sooner, but Blaine spent the last year abroad before going to his summer internship in New York,” added Sybil giddily. She entered into a small spiel before Vanessa’s mother interrupted with some conspiratorial gossip she wished to share with her. “Oh, excuse me. You kids have fun now.”
“What?” I finally asked after they left, seeing Blaine still gawking at me, awestruck.
He shook his head. “Nothing… It’s just—you’re not what I was expecting.”
“What’d you mean?”
“I’m not really sure. I met your mother last summer before I went away, and she was…ah…”
“Toffee-nosed?” I suggested.
He sighed. “That’s a nice way of putting it. Yes. And around these parts, the whole ‘like mother, like daughter’ saying pretty much sums everyone up.”
“Well, I’m sorry to discredit the proverb.”
“I’m not.”
Drunken mirth roared from the other side of the kitchen door, and we both shuddered.
“I’m pretty sure they could scare hyenas with that laughter,” said Blaine, running another hand through his hair. “And I swear to God, if I have to listen to another one of Mrs. Patterson’s sexcapades, I’m gonna impale myself with the ice sculpture out back.”
“You have to admit, she’s lived a very spry eighty-nine years,” I chuckled.
“Has she run out of material yet?”
“Oh, no. And she gets more explicit with alcohol.”
“If you’re trying to convince me to go back out there, you’re doing a terrible job.”
“So it’s safe to say you aren’t happy to be back home?”
“It wasn’t particularly promising, until about five minutes ago.” He extended his arm out to me. “You wanna get out of here?”
“My mom would kill me if I left.”
His brilliant smile never faltered. “That’s not what I asked. What do you want?”
Blinking, I could only see vague shapes through the tears clouding my vision as I snapped out of the memory. Sybil was long gone, and Mrs. Marin and my mom were already deep in conversation. I didn’t bother excusing myself, sliding out of my seat. Walking as fast as my heels would allow, I darted out of the restaurant, only to find Ava and her posse hanging out by the front entrance.