Page 58 of Before We're More Than Friends
“Thank you! I mean—” Hayden cleared his throat. “That sounds fun. There’s an outdoor skating rink in Boulder Valley. It’s half an hour away at best.”
My chest tightened. That was where I lied about living to Chloe. “Sounds good.”
Hayden’s eyes widened. “Um, look out?—”
Before I could respond, the puppy twins pounced on me, knocking me into Hayden. We fell onto the floor, the dog food spilling everywhere. The puppies ran over our stomachs and scattered over the kennel.
“I’m sorry,” I said, getting myself off the floor. “I need to pay attention.”
“It happens.” Hayden laughed as I helped him up. “We just have to get them back in the cage.”
It didn’t sound hard, but these two puppies were bouncing from wall to wall, causing the other puppies to bark in their cages. My ears rang from all the noise.
I let out a heavy sigh. “Crap.”
After a mundane week, Saturday evening filled me with excitement instead of the dread I’d originally felt. Hayden’s family had booked an ice skating party for me and my family, and it came with free pizza inside.
Hayden had told us to arrive at six thirty in the evening, but the lot was almost full as we pulled up, noises echoing from the rink.
“This place looks amazing,” Dad said as he killed the engine. “It was really nice of Hayden to put this together.”
“I’m happy he did.” I smiled, admiring the blue-and-white lights.
We got out of the car and went inside to check ourselves in, and a lady led us to a big room where we could put our things. However, the whole place was pitch black, like no one had been in it all day.
“Dallas, you left your phone in the car,” Kami told me before I stepped into the room.
“No, I didn’t . . .” I felt for my phone in my pocket, but it wasn’t there. “Oh.”
Dad handed me the keys, and I walked back outside to the car. Believe it or not, my phone was face-front in the back seat on the passenger’s side, where I’d been sitting. Weird. I grabbed my phone and went back inside.
I hummed to the music playing as I walked into the room. The lights were still off, so I felt for the switch until they turned on?—
“Happy birthday!” Over a dozen people jumped out from behind the furniture.
I let out a scream, stumbling backward and hitting my head against the wall. I cursed, rubbing the back of my head. “What the . . . what?”
“I hope you’ll enjoy your first party in Nevada,” Hayden said with a huge beam.
“Party?” My head throbbed as I gaped around the room. Along with my family, Oliver, Caleb, Raina, Arielle, and Sienna were here, each one of them plastering their own smile. Sienna had two kids next to her, a boy and a girl with big brown eyesand brown hair. What I assumed was Hayden’s family were also here, though his sister looked a little disinterested. “But I thought it would be just a few of us . . .”
“You forgot to tell him we were all coming?” Oliver whispered-hissed at Hayden.
“Oh.” Hayden bit his lip. “I thought I told you I invited all our friends.”
No heater was needed in here—my cheeks were on fire. “You definitely didn’t tell me that.”
“Oops.” Hayden put his hands in his pockets.
Caleb rolled his eyes. “Don’t act like you didn’t do that on purpose.”
“I didn’t!” Hayden promised. “I only invited our friend group, but then Sienna’s cousins wanted to come, and my entire family?—”
I drowned out the conversation, panic coursing through me. This was not just hanging out with a few people. This was an elementary-school-style birthday party where you invited your entire class, and their families decided to tag along. This washumiliating.
In the middle of the commotion, Arielle squeezed me into a hug for at least a full minute. Dang, that girl was a hugger, but I didn’t stop her—I freaking needed it, and she did too. As we stood there, my eyes darted over to Raina, who was staring at me lifelessly.
I swallowed and broke out of the hug with Arielle before approaching her. “I’m sorry about your dad,” I said softly. “Thank you for still coming.”
