Page 23 of A Good Book

“MyGabby is stunning—always the most beautiful girl in the room. I don’t know who this Gabby is.”

“Except Olivia. She’s prettier,” I murmured, because I not only believed it, I knew it.

Ben wrapped my arm around his so I wouldn’t fall again. “Noexceptions.”

“Come on, you two,” Olivia called.

I gazed up at Ben, not sure I heard him correctly, but he kept his focus on Olivia as we made our way to her.

Since Olivia was the only one who had a car, she drove us to Matt’s house. His address was still on my arm, but the bangle bracelets that Olivia loaned me made the inked area less noticeable.

“If his girlfriend is there, you need to be nice. Nobody likes a catty person. If you’re nicer than his girlfriend, you’ll be the one he thinks about in the morning.” Olivia delivered her pep talk while parking along the street near his house.

Sitting by myself in the back seat, I pulled at my skirt. It was awfully short.

“Gabby’s always nice,” Ben said, getting out of the car and opening my door.

I stepped onto the curb and adjusted my skirt again, but it wouldn’t go any lower. Then I shot him a nervous smile and whispered, “Thank you.” I appreciated his vote of confidence.

Again, he wrapped my arm around his so I didn’t fall on my face. “Just take off those stupid boots when we get inside.”

“She needs the practice,” Olivia said.

I nodded nervously. Yes, I needed the practice. Yes, I needed to remove them if I didn’t want to kill myself.

Before we reached the driveway filled with cars, the rhythmic bass of “Wild, Wild West” thumped, reverberating through my body. Inside, people were packed shoulder to shoulder. Cigarette smoke filled the air, along with deafening music and people yelling over it. Olivia clasped Ben’s hand, pulling him toward the kitchen. He glanced back at me. I smiled and mouthed, “I’m fine.” As I bent over to remove my boots, someone bumped into me, sending me to the floor on all fours.

“Whoa. Careful, that’s my friend,” Matt said, sliding his hands into my armpits to bring me back to my feet where I wobbled in the boots.

Oh my gosh!

The denim miniskirt slid above my butt. Thankfully, black tights covered it, but I was nonetheless mortified. As I shimmied it back into place, Matt pulled a chunk of hair-sprayed bangs out of my face.

“You okay?” he yelled over the music.

“I uh, was trying to take off my boots.”

He shook his head. “No need. It’s better if you keep them on so no one steps on your toes.”

Was it better to risk spraining an ankle while falling on my face or have someone step on my toes? It felt like a toss-up.

“Glad you made it. Come on, I’ll introduce you to Julianne.”

So much for hoping she couldn’t make it.

“You look different,” he said as we weaved through the crowd.

I gripped his arm for support like when I learned to roller skate and needed to hold on to Ben because he was great at it and never let me fall.

“Olivia loaned me this outfit and did my hair and makeup.”

“It looks good on you. And I’m not just saying that because I’m drunk. But I’m pretty fucking drunk.” Matt laughed, shooting me a grin before opening the sliding door to a weathered deck filled with people huddled around two kegs of beer.

I released him, and he hugged the back of a long-haired brunette, burying his nose in her neck and wrapping his arms around her.

My heart tripped like it, too, wore wobbly heels and could fall and get injured at any moment.

She turned, planting a big kiss on Matt’s lips.

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