Page 59 of The Kissing Part
“Please forgive me for being interesting,” I say.
“Are we out of wine?” Mackenzie asks.
Owen pulls another bottle from the ice bucket next to our chair.
“Thank you.” Mackenzie unscrews the cap and pours a generous portion for herself. She offers the bottle. “Anyone else?”
Harper reaches for it, pours herself a refill, and passes it back to me. I put it back in the ice bucket.
“You know what sucks about your twenties?” Mackenzie asks.
“All that freedom?” Finn asks sarcastically.
“Oh, please, Mom and Dad give you plenty of freedom,” Mackenzie says. “More than I had. That’s what happens when you’re the oldest. By the time they got to you, they were worn out.”
Finn shakes his head. “I can’t wait to get my own place. College gave me a taste of real independence. Now I’m back to chores and not bringing women home.”
“Olivia’s right inside,” his older brother, Cooper, says teasingly. “Go for it. If you’re lucky, she’ll take you back to her place.”
Mackenzie waves that away. “Olivia lives with me, so forget it, little bro. Anyway, what sucks about your twenties is all the fucking weddings. I’ve spent a fortune in bridesmaid dresses I’ll never wear again as my college friends get married one by one. I just got another invitation in the mail. It’s torture. I swear, love is just big business.”
“Don’t let your mom hear you say that,” I say.
Mackenzie rolls her eyes. “I can hate weddings while still respecting what she’s achieved. I’ve got three weddings to go to in June, one of them all the way up in Vermont. That’s basically my entire June. And I’ll be wearing a hideous dress to make the bride look good, eating overcooked fish, and doing yet another round of funky chicken. Funky chicken isn’t fun and will never be fun. Who invented that?” She finishes on a high note of indignation.
Everyone stares at her.
She collects herself and says in a much calmer tone, “Of course I’m happy for my friends.”
More like jealous. I keep that to myself.
“Yeah,” Nathan says. “I’ve been to my share of weddings too. If I ever get married, it’ll be a courthouse ceremony, and then we’ll do it up with an awesome honeymoon.”
Mackenzie goes on as if he hasn’t spoken. “And the worst part is, I never have a plus one, so I get stuck dancing with my assigned groomsman, and then the rest of the night just sit there and watch all the happy couples dance. Not that I want a wedding date. I’m just saying I don’t enjoy the whole ritual of forced coupledom. Not fun.”
“Maybe you should go clubbing to counteract all that couple stuff,” Owen says.
“God, I haven’t been to a club in so long.” Mackenzie looks around the circle. “Who’s in for next weekend?”
“I’ll go,” Harper says.
“I’m up for it,” Nathan says.
Harper shoots him a dark look before turning to me. “How about you, Shayla?”
“It sounds fun, but it’s not the safest place for me.”
“Oh, that’s right. Sometimes I forget you have a following. I wonder if Mom ever went to clubs. I should ask her.”
Harper stands and goes inside, presumably to ask Claire.
Nathan watches her go before asking us, “Did you see the way she looked at me when I said I was up for clubbing? Like I’m death to good times.”
Mackenzie goes to pat his shoulder and misses. “Aww, don’t take it personally. She just doesn’t like you.”
“Why not? I’m very likeable. Ask anyone. Chicks dig me.”
“Might have something to do with the fact you say chicks,” Owen says.
