Page 29 of Rewriting the Story

Leo simply sips his drink. “Lay it on us, Grant.”

“I want to say yes, but I’m not sure I’m ready.” I will say, I am a lot more nervous than I was before. I know I’ve missed a lot, but I’m not sure I’m fully prepared to heareverything.

“Okay, so starting off with the biggest thing you missed.” Grant clicks the slide, and a bunch of photos of everyone together pop up. Most of them have all the girls together—minus Amelia—and Grant and Oliver. Leo is only in the last few, and I assume that’s because he’s the most recent addition. “All of our themed parties and get-togethers.”

“Do we really do that so much?” Oliver asks.

“I think they’re quite fun.” Leo smiles.

“You know Ella isn't going to find out you aren't the biggest fan of her themed parties. She’s miles and miles away. She won’t hear you if you actually tell the truth.”

“Oliver.” Leo rolls his sleeves up. “I love Ella, therefore, I love her parties. Even if I don’t see the point of all of them, whatever she wants, she gets.”

“Guys, can we focus?” Grant says, annoyed we’ve already gone off on a tangent.

“These parties look fun,” I say, bummed I missed them.

“Obviously, we all struggled to get together sometimes because of our jobs, but when we did find time, we didn't take it for granted.” Grant turns to face the screen. “Now, here are all the books the girls and I have bought on every bookstore trip we took.”

Grant starts flipping through the slides, and about three seconds later, Oliver grumbles.

“Grant, this is absolutely not necessary. You promised to hit the big stuff only.”

“Ugh, fine. You always ruin my fun, Oliver,” Grant says as he clicks through what seems like a hundred slides before he gets to the proper one. “Okay, the big moments.”

“There were only a few,” Leo says as he refills his glass.

“I almost died!” Grant says so cheerfully, I’m sure I misheard him.

“What?” I say, shocked and confused. “You almost died?”

“Well, not really,” he tells me. “I was hit by a car, but I only broke my leg and lost a kidney.”

“Grant, what the fuck?” I say. “That’s terrible.”

“And he constantly jokes about it,” Oliver says. “Because he’s an idiot.”

“An idiot you’re glad is alive,” Grant says.

“Yes, but an idiot, nonetheless.”

“Now, gentleman, let’s not fight.” Leo smirks.

“Well, at least you’re okay now.”

“Thank you, Hen.” Grant smiles at me before continuing. “The only other huge thing besides Amelia dropping off the face of the Earth is that Ella and Leo got together after agreeing to only have sex three times, but they ended up falling in love. The end.”

“Wait, go back,” I say as I stand. “What did you say about Amelia?”

The three of them are silent for a moment before Oliver speaks up. “I told him not to mention it.”

“I’m confused,” I say as my head spirals. “I thought she only left me. Was that not the case?”

“Not just you, mate. I’m sorry, by the way.” Leo pats me on the shoulder. “I heard about what happened when Ella was ranting to me about how terrible of a person Amelia was—well, is.”

What the hell is going on? “But the girls and her were so—”

“Close?” Oliver cuts me off. “Yeah, that’s what we thought too. Apparently, Amelia is shitty at being a girlfriend and a friend.”

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