Page 93 of Thirsty
Chapter 29
Eventually, after Lorenzo had managed to make it out of his room and then even out of the apartment a few times, Maggie bullied him into throwing another party. She’d pointed out that it was unlikely this next one would crash and burn quite as spectacularly as the first one had, which he had to concede was true. Charlie wouldn’t be there.
There was no one to betray him anymore.
And though the last thing Lorenzo wanted to do was anything that would remind him of Charlie, Maggie thought the supernatural support group, or whatever they were calling it, was a good idea. So he found himself staring sullenly at a shrink-wrapped set of paper plates, procrastinating in his duties as host while Maggie buzzed around him, setting up drinks and cheese plates and everything else one needed to entertain. She’d even brought out some succulents and faux flowers to decorate the apartment—because it needed to behomey, she insisted, notfestive.
He wasn’t sure the difference. He wasn’t sure this was agood idea. There was a decent chance he’d end up back in his sweats, under the covers, before the guests finished arriving.
Maggie nudged him, bringing him back into reality, and he sighed and began unwrapping the plates. “Don’t mope,” she told him. “This is already going better than last time—look how many people showed up!”
Sure enough, there were already enough guests to fill the apartment with the pleasant sound of chatter. There were plenty of people from the last time, and a few new faces. They’d set things up this time as more of a discussion circle than a party, but folks were still mingling and chatting amiably with each other as they grabbed snacks and seats.
Maggie had just put the finishing touches on a carefully arranged charcuterie plate when Rachel arrived, grabbing a large chunk of cheese and shoving it into her face. “Hey!” Maggie objected.
“Bleh,” Rachel said. “What is this? Where’s the cursed stuff?”
Maggie indicated another wedge of cheese, this one with a slightly more ominous odor, and Rachel dug into it eagerly. “Sure, go right ahead,” Maggie sighed.
Rachel’s eyes were darting around the apartment. “Isolde’s not here, is she?”
“I invited her,” Maggie said sternly, unwrapping some new blocks of cheese. “And you said you weren’t going to be weird.”
“I’m not weird,” Rachel said, her mouth full. “There’s nothing—”
She jumped at the sound of glass tinkling, but it was just some goblins in a corner of the room toasting each other. Maggie glared at her, and she swallowed her cheese shamefully before giving Lorenzo an apologetic smile. “I’ll just—help you guys set up.”
They worked in silence for a moment, setting out bottles and napkins, until Rachel seemed to notice Lorenzo’s subdued mood. “Hey,” she said. “You doing okay?”
He grunted something by way of reply.
“Has he called?” she asked. “Or texted?”
“No.”
“He probably thinks you don’t want to talk to him.”
“I don’t want to talk to him.”
“Okay,” Rachel said in a tone that got under Lorenzo’s skin.
“You think I should?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I mean, no, I guess not. Not if you don’t want to.”
“Why would I.”
Rachel and Maggie exchanged a look. Then Rachel took a deep breath and said, “Look, I know what he did was—awful—monstrous—”
“He lied to me from the minute we met,” Lorenzo snapped. “Both times.”
“I know,” Rachel said. “And I’m Team Lorenzo here, a hundred thousand percent. I will literally kill him if you want me to.” He started to object, and she waved him down impatiently. “But...it kinda seems like—maybe he just—”
“What.”
“I think he lied to you because...well, because people are shitheads sometimes—most of the time,” Rachel said. “And then I think the whole thing just snowballed. I don’t think he ever meant for it to go this far.”
“But it did,” Lorenzo said.
