Chapter Ten
I make a slow count to thirty, then leave the barreling room without a backward glance. The tables may have been turned on me this time, but I shrug it off. I’m Austin f*****g Case, and when I snap my fingers, the ladies come running. This fling was a blip. A mutually satisfying blip that I will now wash away with another tumblerful of whiskey.
The crowd has thinned, but the hangers-on are just ramping up, and the party has the air of lasting long into the night. Whiskey in hand, I skirt the dance floor. Dec is nowhere to be found, and I wonder if he’s seen some action with the blonde bombshell. A hand lands heavily on my shoulder, and I turn to meet the mottled face of my father. “Where in the hell have you been?” he bellows. I look to my mother, but she won’t meet my eyes.
