Page 10 of The Pinkie Pact

"Hi, Christina. Kier," Kara said, her voice strained as she grabbed her drink from my hand and took a big gulp.

Awkward as hell, we all stood there for a moment in complete silence, the only sound the piano music as someone pounded out Mozart's Rondo Alla Turca, butchering one of the runs.

"Ah," Christina said, "I think I see Blair, and I really need to talk to her."

Without another word or even a goodbye, Kieran and Christina walked away, their elbows linked.

"Rucking fassholes," Kara mumbled next to me, making me giggle and let go of my anger. "So now you've had the great pleasure of meeting Mrs. Perfect."

"Oh, the pleasure was all mine. Believe me." I rolled my eyes as I watched them talking to another perfect couple.

"Honestly, I don't even know why he's still with her." She knocked back a huge portion of her drink. "She drives him crazy."

Confused, I shook my head. "That makes no sense. Why doesn't he just dump her?"

She released a massive sigh. "Because they've been together forever. And she expects to get engaged when he graduates from law school next year."

Engaged? "But why would he marry someone that drives him crazy?"

"That's Kier for you. He does what's expected of him even if it kills him... pressures himself to be perfect. He always has."

I still didn't get it. As we quietly finished off our drinks, I watched him, trying to understand why a person would do something like that, and I felt a weird and totally unexpected twinge of pity for him.

Our eyes caught, and I couldn't help it. Maybe it was the little buzz shooting through my veins, maybe it was the slight insight into his life and personality, but I freaking smiled at him. And the small smile he gave me back was like a lightning strike through my whole body.

Quickly, I glanced away. Those green eyes and that beautiful face just might be the death of me. I needed to stay the hell away from Kieran Emerson.

Georgetown Night Out

Sky

Kara and I both drained our drinks and got the hell out of there. Thank God. She waved at her mom as we headed out the door.

"She knows I can't ever stay at these things for long," Kara said as we walked down the steps, holding onto each other.

We ended up at what Kara called the hottest bar in Georgetown, perched on two stools in the corner, surrounded by more pretentious assholes. After we moved another bracelet, saying, "Left to right," Kara took a second to explain the difference between Georgetown and GW students.

"Yeah, if you talk to someone here and tell them you go to G-Dub, they'll practically sprint away from you like they have the runs."

I almost spit out my drink.

"But it's more like they have a stick up their ass," she shouted near my ear over the music, looking around at the crowd.

It was definitely a different vibe than we'd seen last night.

"So with your mom being a senator, couldn'tyouhave gone to Georgetown?" I asked her.

Her eyes were large as she stared at me over her drink. "You don't know my mom. She doesn't like pulling strings like that. My grades weren't good enough for Georgetown, unlike my perfect brother."

"So he went to Georgetown undergrad? And now law school there too?"

She nodded. "Yep. The smart one in the family."

I shook my head. "You're smart too, girl. Don't put yourself down."

Her smile lit up her face. "Okay, Miss Math Major."

We both laughed over all the noise.

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