Oh, my G.o.d. What's happening right now?! Ow.

I whirl around, still supported by Zane's arms. "Hunter!" I gasp.

My six year old demon cousin grins at me. The blonde Mohawk he's rocking makes him look like a miniature biker dude--.in a suit.

"I'm a shark! Rawr!" He slaps me in the belly-hard.

"Ha," I say, ruffling his stripe of hair. "Sharks don't say 'rawr.' And what did I say about you hitting me?"

Hunter jumps into a karate pose. "That you'll hit me back, only harder 'cause your waaay stronger than me." He walks up to Zane and tilts his head back to look at him. "Mom says you're my cousin now. Is that true?" he demands suspiciously.

Zane looks down at him with that half smile. "Guess so, little man. What do you think about that?"

"It's okay, I guess," Hunter says thoughtfully. "But...you're not really gonna eat Violet, are you?"

Zane and I exchange puzzled looks. "Hunter, why would you ask that?" I want to know.

"My mom says he looks at you like he wants to eat you," he replies matter-of-factly. " She says it's 'cause of your ginormous b.o.o.bies. But why would that make you want to eat her?"

Zane starts laughing while I cover my flaming cheeks with my hands. I'm going to kill my aunt!

He crouches down and waves Hunter over. My little cousin leans close and listens intently to whatever Zane is whispering. Suddenly, his eyes widen. "For reals?" he demands skeptically.

"Would I lie?" Zane says solemnly.

"Whoa!"

Hunter suddenly whirls around and takes off like a bullet. I turn to Zane.

"What did you tell him?" I ask suspiciously.

Zane shrugs and watches Hunter go. "Just a little secret that us older guys have discovered."

A scream draws my attention to across the room to the table my aunt's sitting at. Aunt Lisa is covering her chest with one arm, and slapping wildly at her feral-looking son with the other. Hunter is jumping up at her, jaws snapping. It looks like he's trying to...

Zane gives me a sideways glance. "I told him b.o.o.bies taste like chocolate cake."

"Oh. That is so wrong."

"Yeah, I don't think your aunt is going to like me much."

"Probably not." I catch Aunt Lisa's eye. She's glaring. "Quick-wave at her. That will really p.i.s.s her off."

We both give little waves. Lisa starts shouting and jabbing her finger around like a deranged disco queen. I look at Zane and we both burst out laughing.

"We're not really doing a good job of hiding us, are we?" I say, pushing back my hair.

He shakes his head, smiling. "Nope. Come on. Might as well really give 'em something to talk about."

He takes my hand and pulls me to the dance floor. A s.e.xy salsa is playing and Zane whirls me around to the beat.

I'm a pretty good dancer, and he's fantastic. We move together in perfect synchronization. With him, dancing like this feels like second nature, and I effortlessly follow his lead. I know all eyes are on us, but I don't even care. I can't remember why I wanted to keep us a secret.

I'm having so much fun right now. I'll worry about the consequences later.

But "later" is not as far away as I had hoped.

After the song is over, Mom takes me aside.

"Do you know what's wrong with Lisa?" she asks, her eyes wide with concern. " She said that Hunter tried to bite her b.r.e.a.s.t.s because of something you or Zane said?"

I smooth out the skirt of my dress nervously. "Yeah, I don't know. I think she's drunk. I might have said something, and Hunter picked it up. You know how little kids are." I exhale noisily. "She's just trying to start some drama at your wedding."

Mom just looks at me. "Uh-huh. And what's going on between you and Zane? You two looked pretty cozy out there." She gestures toward the dance floor.

"What? Why would you say...? Nothing. We're just...you know. He's a good dancer."

"Okay. Well, it's good you can have fun with a guy again. I mean, after Matt..."

c.r.a.p, why don't I just tell her? Zane is my boyfriend. See? Simple.

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out, except maybe a sigh. Why is this so hard?

Mom watches my discomfort with a frown. Suddenly, she reaches over and puts both hands on my cheeks. "Violet, I trust you," she says directly, looking me in the eye. "You've never given me a reason not to. And when I was...when I was sick, our roles got reversed. You were the one taking care of me and paying the bills, and being strong for the both of us..."

"Mom," I try to interrupt when her eyes start going misty.

"No, I just want to tell you how proud I am of you. You sacrificed a lot for me, and you never complained. And then I when I sprung Bill on you, and-and the honeymoon and the wedding...you were so great about it all." She stops gushing to kiss my forehead. "Thank you, Violet. You're a wonderful daughter, and...you know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Wow." I shift my feet awkwardly. "Yeah. Thanks."

We just stand there, for the longest minute ever. Then we both try to hug each other at the same time-and miss. It's painful.

"Okay, well, I'm going to go rescue Bill from your grandmother. He's got that deer-in-the-headlights look." Mom points to where Grandma has Bill cornered by the bar. "That woman is a trip. She actually told me I'm too old to have another baby, so I'd better practice safe s.e.x. Can you believe that?"

"Uh, yeah. She's wacky, that one." I pat her back. "Go-save your man."

Mom winks at me. "I think I will. Love you."

"I love you, too."

She blows me a kiss. I watch her walk away, stumbling in her heels quite a few times before she reaches Bill and Grandma. Is she drunk? I don't remember smelling any alcohol on her breath. Wow, I've never seen her under the influence before. I make a note to keep an eye on her, just in case. Or Bill will, I'm sure.

Bill.

Reality suddenly sinks in. He is now officially my stepfather. He made a vow in front of witnesses to be there for Mom in sickness and in health---and he'd better mean it. It's weird to me to think that Mom and I would have someone else to rely on. If the cancer ever came back...

No, I don't want to think about that. Not today, especially.

My sentimental mood shrivels up and dies when I see Zane-with Taylor. Again. They're sitting at a table together, leaning towards each other, and carrying on what appears to be a hilarious convo.

Grr. Why does he have to talk to her? Out of all the people here-why can't he say hi to Great Uncle Larry? He's a funny fascinating guy. He used to be a pearl diver! That's way more interesting than a stupid s.l.u.tty Miss Nevada!

No, you know what? He can have fun with Double Jointed all night. I'm not storming over there like the jealous girlfriend again. Whatever.

I decide some fresh air might cool my heating temper. I don't want to go through the gardens, though-too crowded-so I head out through the front.

As I walk towards the parking lot, I try to calm myself down. Okay, Zane's not doing anything wrong. He's a nice, good-looking guy who enjoys talking to giggly totally obvious girls who undress him with their eyes. And would I say he maybe encourages their behavior by flirting back? No, not to his face.

Argh! I can't do this anymore! It's like a merry go round of jealousy. But I can't help the way I feel. Maybe...maybe this isn't working out. Us, I mean. Obviously, I feel like I can't trust him, so...maybe we should just go back to being friends.

My heart breaks a little at the thought of never being able to touch Zane, kiss him. I can't. But I can't be like this anymore.

I don't know what to do!

Footsteps sound behind me. Zane. I turn around with a smile on my face.

But it's not him.

A blonde-haired good-looking man I don't recognize is smiling at me. "h.e.l.lo," he says. "You're Lily's daughter, right?"

First thing I do is glance around to see if I'm within screaming distance of people. There is a group of workers standing around in the parking lot, talking to each other, and there are a few people milling around in front of the building, just a few yards away. My shoulders relax slightly.

"Yep," I reply with a polite smile. I am so not interesting in chatting right now.

"My name's Sean. I work with Bill," he introduces himself. "Well, I work on his floor. I'm actually in a separate division-just basic data entry. Bill is good friends with my father, in case you're wondering how I got invited."

Why are you telling me this? "That's nice," I mutter lamely.

I don't like the way his eyes keep drifting down my body, so I start angling myself back towards the building.

"So I didn't catch your name." Sean says, stepping closer to me, cutting of my subtle retreat.

"Violet." Maybe if I resort to one word answers, he'll take the hint and go away.

"Violet," he repeats. "That's pretty. Can I just tell you...I have been staring at you all day. You are so gorgeous, and your body is incredible."

Okay, then. I start walking, but he follows closely behind.

"Hey, where you going?" He reaches out to grab my arm, halting me. "What's the matter? Can't take a compliment?"

I glare at him, pushing his hand off of me. "A compliment, yes. An eye rape? No, thank you."

Sean chuckles, like he can't see the laser beams shooting out of my eyes. "Oh, don't be like that, honey. I'd really like to take you out for a drink, sometime. Maybe some shopping-I'll buy you anything you want."

Seriously. "I'm seventeen," I snap. "Not a hooker."

Sean's eyes widen in glazed surprise. "You're seventeen? Wow, you look older. Must be that smokin' hot body of yours." His eyes crawl up and down me.

"Ew." I shudder in disgust. "Look, just go away. You don't have me cornered in a dark alley, you know. There are a lot of people around-and most of them are my relatives. If you try anything, I will punch you in the junk, and then I'll scream for help."

Sean is oblivious. "Oh, yeah, I'll make you scream, you hot little b.i.t.c.h..."

I hate when random perverts talk to me like this. And he actually tries to grab at my chest!

But he never makes contact. Sean is jerked violently backwards by the collar of his shirt.

You know what would be so awesome? If it was Grandma standing there, dangling the pervert like a worm on a hook.

It's not. It's Zane. Of course it's Zane.

Zane's grip seems to tighten-if the mottled color Sean is turning is any indication. "What were you saying to her?" he asks in a deadly quiet voice.

"S-sorry! I'm sorry!" Sean gasps, trying to wiggle free.

Zane looks at me, eyebrows raised, silently asking me if I accept his apology.

I shrug sullenly. "You're lucky he came along," I mutter to the creep.

For a second, it looks like Zane might not let Sean go. He appears to be thinking while the pervert's movements become more and more panicked. The sounds of choking fill the night. People are starting to head towards our direction.

Finally, Zane gains control of himself. He releases Sean, then shoves him hard enough to drive him to his knees. "Don't even look at her again," he says tonelessly.

I watch Sean scramble away like a c.o.c.kroach. Man, I wish I could say something to a guy like that to make him feel as cheap and sleazy as he made me feel. But every insult I can think of would probably only turn him on. Stupid perverts.

"I can't leave you alone for a minute," Zane says with a wry smile. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," I say quickly. "I had everything under control, actually. You can go back to having fun with Taylor."

Zane stares briefly up at the dark sky. "We're not doing this again," he groans.

"Doing what?" I snap. "If you want to hang out with my cousin every time my back is turned, be my guest! I just came outside to do my own thing."

"Yeah, does doing your own thing include getting groped by some a.s.shole?"

"Apparently!" I shriek, throwing my hands up.

Zane shakes his head. Why does he look like he wants to laugh? "We're not doing this again," he repeats tiredly.

"Yeah, we aren't! So go back to flirting with your little girlfriends-I don't give a d.a.m.n."

"Violet," he sighs. "What can I do to convince you that I won't cheat on you?"

I run a hand through my wild hair. "I don't know! Every time I turn around, you're talking to another girl. And they're always pretty. Why can't they ever be fat? Really fat?"

Zane just laughs. "Talking doesn't mean cheating. You know that, right?"

"Tell that to my dad and Matt," I say bitterly.