Page 36 of Before We're More Than Friends
I snorted. “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t have a love life of my own.” Pain twisted in my chest as I thought about my conversation with Chloe yesterday. Crap, maybe I had a tragic love life too. “I haven’t dated since fifth grade. Though it was as messy as a fifth-grade breakup could be.”
“That makes three out of the four of us.” Hayden smiled. “We should start a broken bachelors club.”
“Who’s the last person?” I asked.
“Right here.” I turned around to see a boy with a blond bowl cut and blue eyes holding a can of soda. “Caleb in the flesh.”
“I’m Dallas.” I reached out my hand for him to shake, but he gave me a high five with his prosthetic hand. “My family just moved here from Dallas a week ago.”
“Oh, is this the guy you’ve been telling me about?” Caleb asked Hayden and Oliver, adjusting his clear-framed glasses on his nose.
“So you guyshavebeen talking about me,” I said.
“Yeah, we told him about how ugly and rude you are,” Hayden said with a grin. “All that trash.”
I was ninety percent sure that was a joke. “Thank you.”
Caleb’s lips curved into a smirk. “Don’t look alarmed. Hayden scares everyone off within the first two minutes of knowing him, and Oliver acts like he’s the smoothest guy on the planet until he accidentally spills soda all over his crotch.”
Oliver gasped. “That only happened once!”
“I still have the video,” Hayden said with a chuckle. “Your flavor of the week never came back for another taste.”
Oliver crossed his arms. “At least I have flavors to choose from.”
I laughed. “Yeah, you guys seem to be characters.”
Caleb slapped my back.Ouch. “You’ll fit right in, Dallas from Dallas.”
I smiled despite the pain. At least I’d already found my group of people. They loved music and animals and were weird—and single—as hell. Just like me and Toby.
Toby. My chest tightened. We’d skip big events like this to take our dogs for long walks. Now I didn’t have anyone to do that with.
“Hi, guys!” A girl with wavy brown hair and tan skin bounced her way over to us. She faced me and beamed. “You must be Dallas.” She reached her hand out, and I shook it. “I’mArielle. My friends said that you and your sister just moved here.”
“Yep. Nice to meet you, Arielle.” I smiled, surprised that a long-term established group of friends was so open to new people. My gaze went to her red tank top that had glittery silver paw prints over it. “I like your shirt.”
Arielle’s cheeks flushed. “Aw, thank you!”
Oliver whispered something in Hayden’s ear, but Hayden swatted at him with a glare. Shoot, did they think I was flirting with her?
“I’m back,” Kami sang as she strolled up to us with a cup of fruit punch in her hand. It took her that long to get a small cup of that? Yeah, right. Whatever flirting tactic she was using, I didn’t find it appealing. “Hey, everyone. I’m Kami.”
“Hello!” Arielle beamed and pulled Kami into a hug. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
Kami blinked in surprise as she took in Arielle. “Nice to meet you, too.” She pulled out of the hug and grinned. This was the happiest I’d seen her since before my parents announced the move.
We made small talk for a few minutes. Kami was the only senior while the rest of us were juniors. Hayden, Oliver, and Caleb were in a band—apparently named Oliver’s Garage Band—with their friend Sienna, though they’d been together for less than six months and had never played a gig. Everyone had been volunteering at the shelter since they turned sixteen, the age requirement—Hayden made it clear that he did not enjoy being the youngest by two months.
“Y’all want to eat before we do any activities?” Kami asked. “We didn’t have dinner yet because we were told the food was the best part.”
“Itisthe best part,” Oliver said before heading toward the area where the tables were. The rest of us followed behind himuntil he sat at a big table near a tree. “This should be big enough for all of us.”
We murmured in agreement and placed our stuff down. I practically ran to the food table. I should’ve eaten something before we left, but my stomach had been in knots all day thinking about this event.
Oliver had been right—this place was a food heaven. Bread, seafood, desserts, and pizza galore, with a wide selection of sodas to go with it. There even were chocolate and cheese fountains for fondue. I grabbed three breadsticks and dipped them into the cheese before getting a slice of pepperoni pizza and sushi. Yes, I know, I’d used to loathe sushi with every ounce of my being. I’d decided to give it another shot, and now I was in love with it. If I could have it my way, I’d have most of the food on the table. I was surprised I was able to squeeze all of that on one plate.
I managed to grab a cup of root beer before I walked back to the table. I instantly regretted not taking multiple trips with the food because carrying this stacked plate with only one hand was too much to handle. I looked down at it to make sure nothing was?—
