“Good call.” Jude nods at me, then jogs over to the keg.

My eyes track him and stop on a familiar blonde head that matches my own.

“Annabel?” What the hell is my sister doing here?

We lock eyes and then move toward each other, weaving through the crowd.

“What are you doing here?” she asks.

“I was about to ask you the same thing. I’m here because I have nowhere to live and now I’ve gotten sucked into some kind of competition for housing.”

She clucks in sympathy. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay, just tired and of course I’m still upset about . . . Wait a minute. Don’t try and change the subject. What are you doing here? You graduated, remember? And college parties have never exactly been in your wheelhouse.”

She glances around and then takes my arm, pulling me over to the side of the yard, away from where most of the people are congregating. “I’m here for a story.”

“A story about what?”

“Not at liberty to say at the moment.”

I roll my eyes. “You’re a reporter for the Daily Blue, not the New York Times.”

“So? I have some integrity, you know. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on here tonight?”

“I don’t know much. Just that I’ve got to compete with someone for a room here.” I nod toward the house.

“How much do you know about the owner of the house?”

“Jude?”

She nods.

I search the yard and find him over by the keg, cat robe swaying while he gesticulates wildly to a few people. Beast looms behind him, setting up some kind of stage-lighting tower. “I never met him until today. Why? What do you know about him?”

“Nothing. That’s why I’m asking you, you dolt. Who are you competing against?”

“Some other college student.” Should I mention she’s also Abby’s former roommate? Maybe not. I don’t want to hear Annabel rant and rave about Abby again.

Instead, I glance around to see if Reese has come back yet. I finally spot her in the opposite corner of the yard, watching people mill about. She’s still wearing her cutoff shorts but she’s changed into a large yellow T-shirt. She glances around and then takes a big step back, disappearing into some hedges. Literally, she’s hiding in the bushes.

So weird.

“There,” I nod in her direction. “Two o’clock.”

Annabel searches the yard, then lifts her brows at me. “The one in the bushes?” She laughs. “All I can see is hair.”

“Yep.”

“Huh. This will be very interesting. You’ll have to introduce me.”

Before I can give her an emphatic hell to the no, Jude jumps on the deck with a megaphone in one hand.

“Thank you everyone for being here.” His voice booms out over the assembled crowd. People inside file out into the backyard. “The books are about to open and you will have fifteen minutes to finalize your bets. I know you are all aquiver in antici . . . pation.”