A Love Letter to Whiskey by Kandi Steiner Page A

out here.” He looked back to me, at my stunned expression I’m sure, and grabbed both of my hands. “Are you okay? We can ditch. It’s fine, really.”
    “No!” I said too quickly, but we both just smiled. “I’m excited to be here. It looks… fun.” It was hard to hear my own voice over the music, so I leaned in a little closer to Ethan. He kissed me, short and sweet, and then we joined those in the kitchen filling up red plastic cups.
    It really was something attending that first party. Sure, I’d snuck into a few Palm South University parties over the summer, but this? This was on a whole other level. This wasn’t some frat party, though it had many of the same elements. No, this was an elite college party. I was fascinated, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a little out of place.
    I did a lot of looking around for the first hour, hanging onto Ethan’s arm as he walked around to different groups. Everyone knew Ethan, mostly because of his position on Student Government, and it was magical watching him talk to so many diverse groups of people. He just clicked with everyone.
    I joined him for a few dances in the middle of the makeshift dance floor before the music and the heat inside got to be a little too much. It wasn’t that I wasn’t enjoying myself, because I was, but I just needed air — a little silence — a little calmness.
    “I’m going to step outside for a sec,” I screamed over the music into Ethan’s ear. He nodded and I kissed him on the cheek before pushing my way through the crowd. I passed a coffee table lined with four lines of coke and tried not to stare as four eager girls made them disappear to a roar of applause around them.
    This was definitely not a PSU party.
    As soon as I shut the sliding glass door behind me, it was like shutting off the entire world. Silence. Beautiful silence.
    I actually sighed, taking one deep inhale of the salty air before turning to find one of the most beautiful pools I’d ever seen. It was just below the balcony where I stood and was set in gray rock, with a swim up bar to the left side. There was a waterfall just above the bar, and a mini bridge that connected the two sides of the pool. To the right, it had the illusion of completely dropping off into the ocean that lay spread out below it. The moon was bright that night, and it lit up the ocean in a straight line that continued through the top of the pool to the exact spot where I stood.
    It was odd. Everyone was dressed for a pool party, but not a single soul was actually in the pool.
    “Pretty amazing, isn’t it?”
    I probably should have jumped at his voice, but I think my body already knew he was there. It was buzzing, just slightly, like when in the presence of a ghost.
    Jamie leaned over the railing to the right of the sliding glass door I’d just exited, his back to me as he lifted his beer bottle to his lips. I slid up beside him, resting my elbows on the lip of the rail to mirror his and breathing in a deep inhale. The air was so fresh in California, so light. It was warm and salty just like Florida, but it didn’t have the same weight.
    “It is,” I finally answered, turning to face him. I always loved that, the first sight of him, the first hit. It was a little jarring, like a slight burn, but the aftertaste was smooth, welcoming, like an old friend calling me home. “So you’re acknowledging my existence now?”
    He tipped the bottle again with a shrug, but his eyes hadn’t left the ocean yet.
    “Stop being a brat, Jamie Shaw,” I said, sipping on my own drink. He smirked then, I saw it out of the corner of my eye.
    “I can’t believe you just called me a brat.”
    “I can’t believe you’re acting like one.”
    “How so?” he asked, finally facing me. He was on the defensive, but the line between his brows vanished once he really looked at me. I fought the urge to shield myself as his eyes trailed a fire down to my chest. I knew the top had paid off because