Earning Edie (Espinoza Boys #1) Read Free Page A

win over the editors in the bid to keep this column. I needed more time to finish the political piece about the councilwoman who was overspending tax dollars for questionable travel arrangements.
    Graduation had seemed like the logical solution, but that was the problem.
    It was predictable, aka boring.
    The newspaper industry is going down the toilet and as a result, this column is saying goodbye …
    I sighed and took my hands off the keys. If there was any brilliance inside me, it wasn’t going to emerge with this party screaming outside my door, and I could definitely use a drink.
    The view from the second floor revealed a disaster zone below. Empty plates and beer cans covered every surface. Glistening skin flashed as girls and guys grinded together to the blaring music that rivaled some nightclubs for noise decibels.
    I was too old for this crap — or maybe too sober.
    I longed for my peaceful apartment. Elana would be gone by now, but given the massive crowd in Carlos’ living room, I’d never get my car out.
    I hesitated outside the guest room where I’d been hiding, trying to psych myself up. Just get in and get out. One drink and back to work.
    Turning toward the staircase, I noticed a girl sitting alone at the top of the stairs. She wasn’t clubbed up like the other girls at the party, instead dressed in jeans and a green blouse.
    I gave her a brief onceover, doing a quick inventory: No body glitter. No makeup. No cleavage.
    She must have been dragged to the party by a friend.
    “Not too social, are you?” I asked, raising my voice to be heard over the music.
    Her brown eyes flicked over to me.
    “No,” she said, without the hint of a smile.
    If there were a projection screen that put her feelings up on the wall, I was pretty sure hers would say leave me alone.
    Oddly reassured, I walked over and dropped down beside her.
    She leaned away, pressing closer to the wall.
    “Don’t worry, I’m not here to hit on you. I’m not even drunk, believe it or not.”
    She nodded, turning her eyes to the crowd below.
    She was pretty in an understated way. Her chestnut hair was straight and shoulder-length, held back by a makeshift headband that hinted at a retro style. Her fitted blouse outlined her curves nicely, while her jeans showcased long legs. There was a coltish beauty to her, something young and untamed, and yet I got the impression she’d done little more than run a brush through her hair before running out the door.
    She struck me as that type of girl. Low-maintenance.
    “Is that why you sought out the least social person at this party?” she asked.
    Her lips curved in a smile, but a sad one.
    That expression made me curious. Had someone harassed her? Or was she lonely, overlooked because she didn’t spray on enough glitter and flash enough skin?
    “I guess so,” I murmured. “Drunk people can be pretty annoying when you’re sober.”
    I gave her an opening to tell me some jerk had messed with her, but she just laughed and lifted her half-empty cup.
    “I never said I wasn’t drunk.”
    I hadn’t missed that, either. Her eyes were too glazed for total sobriety, though she was far from trashed.
    “Yes, but you’ve missed the hyper phase and gone straight into the brooding, introspective phase. Much more dignified,” I teased.
    She turned back to looking at the crowd below, but I could see the smile she tried to hide.
    “Oh Lord,” she said. “Lil is getting in it now.”
    “Lil?”
    She pointed to a slender blonde grinding with … my cousin. Of course .
    “Carlos is a total player,” my staircase buddy told me. “I keep telling her that, but she won’t listen. I mean, he’s been with like every pretty girl in our year except Lil. I bet he just couldn’t let graduation pass without saying he scored with them all.”
    “Does that include you?”
    Now, why did I ask that? I didn’t want to know if this girl was another of Carlos’ conquests. I’d have to bolt, and I was just