Page 37 of The Pinkie Pact

We glanced at the traffic as we waited to cross the street.

"Am I weird?" I asked, wondering if I was abnormal.

"No. I'm the weirdo," Kara said, stepping off the curb.

"No, you're not. We're both weird."

"Exactly." She laughed along with me. "Well, what about boyfriends? Have you had very many?"

"I've had a few. But nothing lasting. Like a few months, and I get bored. I mean, honestly, if it weren't for other people saying it exists, I wouldn't even know love was out there."

Sighing, she said, "In some ways, I'm jealous because having your heart broken fucking sucks. It's the absolute worst feeling. And I hate it."

She definitely had a point there. If you didn't fall in love, you couldn't break your heart. "It sounds terrible, lovey. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, the most recent was last year, and that led to that thing that shall not be named."

I still didn't know this big catastrophe that had happened last year. My internet sleuthing had turned up exactly nothing, and I still really wondered what it was. But I wasn't going to push it, especially because Kara hadn't pushed it with my past either. In good time, we'd speak about it, I was sure. Just not yet.

Kara suddenly stopped in front of a beautiful old brick building. "Ugh, this is it," she said, moving her body around like an athlete who was trying to loosen up right before going into the big game.

I joined in, stretching my neck around and shrugging my shoulders. "All right. Here we go. Here we go."

"We got this," she said, exaggerating her movements even more, making me cackle.

"Um, you guys okay?" Kieran suddenly appeared at the door, opening it for us.

We both laughed harder as we caught a glimpse of his confused face.

"Did you already start drinking?" he asked.

"I wish," Kara said, brushing past him and into the building.

"Thanks," I said as he held the door open for me.

Walking by him, he smelled unbelievably good, like he'd just stepped out of the shower. Damn, he was so yummy. But here we were, going upstairs where I'd have to make nice with his fiancée.

In the elevator, he glanced between us both. "Thank you for doing this. I know it's not exactly high on your list for a fun night out."

"You can say that again," Kara muttered.

I elbowed her. "No problem. I just hope you have lots of food because we came hungry."

Kieran laughed. "Oh, yes. We can take care of that."

Once the elevator doors opened, Kara led us down the hallway with Kieran and me behind her, awkwardly walking next to each other.

This was so weird. When I ran into Kieran at the library or at reggae night, I didn't feel so strange lately. Well, except for that kind of breathless feeling. But I was starting to feel somewhat comfortable around him, like he was becoming a sort of friend.

But now, the thought of seeing him with Christina in their actual home, it made me sick, and I wondered how I'd even manage to eat. I'd said I was hungry, so I supposed I had to at least try. Or do the old napkin trick.

Kara barged right on into their apartment, Kieran gesturing for me to go ahead. I hadn't thought about what to expect, but the place was actually very nice and tasteful—framed art on the walls, elegant furniture, maybe a bit too elegant. Everything was a little too... nice. There was nothing very comfortable about it. Not even the couch.

"Hi, ladies," Christina said as she walked over and gave Kara the most awkward hug I'd ever seen.

Oh, God, was she going to hug me too? Please no.

But instead, she reached out her hand and gave me a handshake, which was still weird but better than a hug. I was more than relieved when Kieran instantly handed me a glass of wine. We had already decided not to abide by our three-drink pact tonight.

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