I watch with disinterest as Cameron smears an excessive amount of make-up on her face. She really does try too hard. She eyes me through the mirror while I lounge on my bed, scrolling through Instagram. I really should tell her, but I don't. We've always had a strangely competitive friendship.

"What's your problem today? You're about to have a party in like half an hour."

I shrug. "Nothing."

"Are you and Dylan not getting along?" She pouts her lips together after applying a questionable shade of lip gloss. I really should be a better friend and point these things out to her.

With a sigh I stand and walk over to my closet. "He's fine. I'm just not really that into him."

She looks at me like I'm crazy. "What more do you need, Elle? Practically everyone wants to date him and of course, he picked you."

I arch an eyebrow. "Was that sarcasm I detect?"

She rolls her eyes before going back to caking on another layer of mascara. "Seriously, you're never grateful for anything. You acted the same way with Judah."

I narrow my eyes at her. "Judah acted like a dick most of the time."

"Then why did you date him for years?"

I toss another dress to the floor after contemplating changing for the third time. "I don't know. It was easy I guess." I pause and chew on the tip of my fingernail for a moment. "We got along just fine and it never really went that deep."

Cameron laughs. "That deep, huh? I would say your sexual chemistry was pretty strong."

"Yeah, that's about all it was."

"So?"

"Don't you want more than that? A real connection with someone that actually means something."

She shrugs. "As long as he's hot I don't really care."

And I thought I was shallow.

***

An hour later, my backyard is filled to capacity. It's getting into late September, but the air is still warm enough for a few drunken idiots to swim around in my pool. I side step past a couple practically having sex on one of my lounge chairs and walk toward Dylan. He grins over at me, and I suddenly feel guilty. He's an innocent casualty in all this. I really should set him free before this goes too far.

He throws his arm around my shoulder and kisses the side of my head. "Hey, I was wondering where you got to."

I plaster a smile on my face because this is a party and I'm supposed to be having fun, right?

"I had to make my rounds. Say hi to everyone and make sure nobody drowned yet. You know, the usual."

"I hear that." He tilts his beer back while my eyes continue to scan around the party. Oliver is no doubt lurking around somewhere, although he's yet to be seen. He said that he and Hunter were going to the bar downtown, but he has a habit of popping up when you least expect him. It bothers him to no end that he can't go to parties anymore now that he's a teacher—and I love throwing it in his face. Both of them seriously need to grow up.

I'm starting to catch a nice buzz when a commotion over by the garages gets my attention. I walk away from Dylan to the crowd that's forming. As I get closer, my heart drops when I see Judah's smiling face in the middle of it. This is the last thing I want to deal with right now.

He spots me almost immediately and pushes quickly through the group of guys surrounding him to get to me. "Babe!" He pulls me up into his arms and squeezes the air from my lungs. "God, I missed you."

I laugh nervously as I pull myself from his grasp. "Judah, what are you doing here?" I cross my arms to put some distance between us.

His eyebrows pull in. "I heard you were having a party."

"So, you just decided to drive seven hours to come to a party?"

He reaches out and touches my arm. "No, I wanted to see you."

"I thought the point of you leaving was that we wouldn't see each other."

Hurt flashes in his eyes, and I feel a pang of sympathy for him. Even though I don't completely believe his intentions are pure, this is the most he's tried in the entire time since we were together.

His jaw twitches, and he leans in closer to me. "Elle, I heard you were fucking around with Andrews. I can't let you do that."

There it is. I reach my hand out and shove him back a little. "You'll never change, will you?" I release a bitter laugh. "I knew as soon as I started to see someone else, you'd be pissed."

I turn to walk away from him, and he spins me back around. "It's not about that." His voice is louder than I would like and the small crowd that formed around him is now an even larger one around us.

I throw my hands up. "Then what's it about, Judah? Ever since you left you've been acting like we were this epic love and that is so far from the truth."

"How can you say that?" he whispers.

"Because it's true."

I feel someone come up behind me, and I turn to see Dylan glaring over top of my head. At this point I'm wishing for the ground to open up and swallow me whole.

"Leave her alone. She obviously doesn't want you here," Dylan grits out at him.

Judah clenches and unclenches his fist, and I take a breath. "Really, Andrews? You wanna go there?"

Dylan steps in front of me and gets inches from his face. "Yeah, I wanna go there." He pokes him in the chest. "You can't just show up and stake claim to her anytime you feel threatened. You left."

Judah lets out a dark laugh. "I'm not going to stand around and let her date a douchebag like you."

Seriously? Let me. I'm extremely tired of every guy in my life telling me what I should and shouldn't be doing. I step forward to intervene, but then take one back when Judah gives Dylan a forceful shove in the shoulder.

Dylan's face turns red and his eyes narrow. "She should be used to it." He leans in and gets closer to Judah's face. "She did date you after all."

Judah laughs again and some taunting cheers go through the crowd around us. They're both about the same height and have the same drunken testosterone running through their veins. Not a good combination.

Judah gets that cocky smirk on his face, and I know he's about to lose it. "That's your problem. You wish you could be me." He glances over Dylan's shoulder and locks eyes with me for a second before focusing his anger back on him. "—but you never will. Not even close."

I bring my hand up to cover my mouth, and my pulse begins to quicken. They're really going to do this, aren't they?

Dylan shoves Judah in the chest, and he stumbles backwards. Judah pops his jaw with his hand, his laugh more sinister. "You're going to regret that."

I'm about to try to stop them again when Oliver shows up out of nowhere and pulls Judah back by his collar. "Okay, pissing contest is over boys."

Judah shrugs him off, and Oliver laughs darkly as he leans into him. "You don't want to fucking start with me. I promise it won't end well for you."

Judah clenches his teeth but backs off. I almost breathe a sigh relief until Dylan unexpectedly takes a swing. What the fuck?

Dramatic cries ring out from the circle, and they start up all over again. Oliver gets back in the middle of them just as Hunter comes up behind me. He gives me a look of disapproval before stepping around and grabbing Dylan from Judah's grasp.

"Alright, that's enough!" Oliver yells over them. "Party's fucking over. Everybody go get alcohol poisoning somewhere else tonight."

Cries of disappointment echo through the crowd, and Oliver waves them off. "That's right, I'm an asshole," he says with an amused expression while they stumble past him.

"I'm not leaving," Judah declares, crossing his arms.

I give a helpless look to Dylan and he shakes his head. "All right, I get it." His lips press into a hard line, and I reach for his hand.

"I'm really sorry, Dylan."

He squeezes it once and then pulls back. "I'm sorry, too." As bad as I feel for him right now, I let him walk away. He's probably sorry he got involved in our drama in the first place. He doesn't deserve to be dragged into this anymore.

Oliver squeezes Judah on the shoulder with excessive force. "You gonna be cool now, dickhead?"

"Yeah, I'm cool."

Oliver gives a stiff nod. "Okay, then." He turns to me. "Are you okay?"

Hunter remains silent even though his eyes blaze over at me. I keep my focus on Oliver and give him a nod. "I'm fine."

"Clean this shit up," he says to me before patting Hunter on the back. "Let's go, man."

I see the hesitation on Hunter's face as Judah staggers closer to me. He holds my stare for what seems like forever before he reluctantly follows Oliver inside.

"Elle?" Judah says, pulling me out of my temporary trance. For the first time since he got here I take in how drunk he is. I reach out and place my hands on his waist while he struggles to stay upright.

"You can't keep doing this. You can't do whatever you want at school and then come home and freak out because I'm doing the same thing."

He takes a step back from me and straightens his stance. He runs his hands through his hair and lets out a long breath. "I know. I'm fucking sorry, I just can't help it." He shakes his head. "I don't want you to be with someone else. Especially one of my friends."

"This was your idea." I throw my arms out and then let them fall to my sides.

He steps closer, his voice low. "I think it was a mistake."

"You're right. We probably should have broken up completely."

His eyebrows furrow, and he shakes his head. "No, Elle." He steps closer to me. "That's not what I meant. I think this arrangement was a mistake."

The anguish in his eyes brings me pause. I know it's not just the alcohol talking, and I do feel bad for him, but something is holding me back. The ache that's been slowly building in my chest isn't because of Judah.

I take a deep breath. "I don't think it was."

Judah stays quiet for a moment, the muscle in his jaw slowly ticking. I hold my breath when he finally speaks.

"Do you want me to go?"

Considering that he's still somewhat swaying in front of me, I know I can't ask him to do that.

"I can't let you drive like this."

His eyes are remorseful when they meet mine again. "You'll let me stay?"

I sigh. "I don't have much of a choice, do I?" I poke my finger into his chest. "You will sleep here and that's it. In the morning you're gone."

He nods quickly. "Just sleep."

I shake my head and then begin to drag him toward the house. I somehow manage to get him up the stairs with minimal complications. When we reach my bedroom he practically falls onto my bed.

"I'm sorry, Elle. I'll show you," he mutters and then curls himself against my pillow.

I clasp my hands on top of my head, and my frustration hits it's breaking point. "I'll get you some water. You're really going to feel like shit tomorrow."

His voice is muffled when he speaks again, facedown, and no doubt slobbering, on my pillow. "You're so good to me, babe. I love you so much."

Huffing a bitter laugh, I step outside of the room and run directly into Hunter. He pokes his head over my shoulder and lets out a growl. "You can't be serious?"

The fact that he thinks I plan on sleeping with Judah is almost amusing, but I take advantage of it anyway. "That's none of your business."

He shakes his head. "You're better than this, Elle." The pleading look in his eyes almost takes my breath away, but I fight through it.

"Maybe I'm not."

His jaw hardens as he stares back at me, whispering harshly through his teeth. "Elliot, I am fucking begging you. Do not do this."

Even though it feels like my heart may physically break, I force a hard smile. "I'm calling it, Hunter. Game over."

It takes everything inside of me to step back from him and close the door in his face. That's the thing about war—the higher the stakes, the harder you fall.