Page 37 of Time for You
“DJ?” Henry asked.
“Person who ... plays music?” Daphne said in an attempt to translate.
“The one who picks what you hear, yeah,” Ellie said.
“Like the conductor?”
“Kind of?” Daphne said. “The music isn’t live, though.”
Brittany groaned. “I’ll have to shower if we go out, and I was just going to spend the day in my sweats. And I’ll have to put in my contacts.”
Vibol made a pleading face, and Brittany sighed. “Okay, fine,butyou have to tell Michelle how you feel.”
That made him reel back. “What? I don’t—we’re just friends, same as you guys.”
“Um, you don’t pick where we go based on what I like,” Brittany argued. “Or else I’d be watching shitty TV in peace, like the good Lord intended.”
“No one’s forcing you to come,” he said around a pretzel.
“Oooh, good swerve,” Ellie said.
Vibol chucked a mini pretzel at her head, but Ellie just caught it and ate it. “I haveno ideawhat you guys are talking about,” he insisted. “Help a bro out, Henry.”
“You do appear to have romantic feelings for Miss—Dr. Allen,” Henry said. “Your friends are portraying the situation accurately.”
“And after I taught you how to roll your sleeves up to your forearms? This is how you repay me? With betrayal?” Vibol replied dramatically. He looked around and shook his head. “You’re a bunch of assholes.”
“Yes, but assholes who will be your wing-ladies while you attempt to woo Michelle,” Ellie said.
Vibol was a smart man, who knew when he’d been beaten. “Fine. Let’s meet in the lobby at nine?”
“I’ll call the RideShare,” Brittany said sympathetically. “You can sit with Michelle in the back and everything.”
“Are establishments like this always so loud?” Henry said, bending his head to be down near Daphne’s ear. A pop song was blasting and Brittany and Ellie were out on the dance floor, while Vibol and Michelle huddled at the other side of the booth, absorbed in their conversation.
“Honestly, yes,” Daphne shouted back over the din.
“And you do this often?”
Daphne shook her head. “Not really. The others do, but I’m just not a lot of fun.”
“What makes you say that?” Henry said, brow furrowed.
She shrugged. “Experience. And besides, I never really did any of this in college, which is when most people do it.”
“Why not?”
“I was too busy studying.”
“But you don’t need to study anymore,” Henry argued. “Why not go have more fun?”
Across the table, Vibol slid out of the booth and held his hand out to Michelle, towing her over to the dance floor. Her dark-brown skin glowed against her turquoise blouse, or maybe that was because of the way Vibol was looking at her.
“Out of practice, I guess.”
“Then practice,” Henry said simply.
“I don’t want to leave you alone, and someone has to watch our stuff,” Daphne replied.
