Page 89 of Counter Bet

She’s drunk.

“Girl!” she hiccups. “I missed you! You didn’t tell me you were coming here tonight, and look, you brought your friends.” She lets me go and pulls Steph in for a hug, blowing her wild curls out of her face.

Steph stares at me wide-eyed. She pats Hailey awkwardly on the back.

“I love your curls!” Hailey hiccups. “Em has told me so many things about you. Is it true that you fuck in front of each other?”

Oh my god.She has no filter.

Steph narrows her eyes on me, and I smile innocently.

“Girls talk, Steph.”

Dallas laughs under her breath as she waves to Hailey. “I’m Dallas. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Hailey flashes her professionally whitened teeth. “Wow, you’re so pretty!”

Drunk Hailey is a very happy Hailey.

She turns to Ben, who backs up a step, looking alarmed.

“Why green?” She tugs his hair none too gently, forcing him to bend his head down to her level.

Ben looks terrified.

I slap my hand over my mouth, stifling the laughter bubbling up inside me.

“You’re so cute!” She squishes his cheeks together. “I just want to take you home with me and keep you forever and ever and ever!” She stiffens as if she realizes how her words can be construed and then looks at me. “Oh no, Em. I didn’t mean it like that. This. Us”—she gestures between her and Ben—“Completely platonic.”

I shake with laughter as I steer her over to an empty lounge chair. Thankfully she goes willingly, waving to Ben over her shoulder. She’s going to be mortified tomorrow.

“Isn’t he the cutest? I love the lip piercing,” she whispers, but in truth, she’s really fucking loud.

“Cute isn’t the word I would use. But yes, Ben is nice.”

More hiccups. More giggles. She lies back on the lounge chair, and strands of her long hair slide off the edge and touch the decking. “Nice? Bitch, don’t be humble. Youlovehis dick! Youwanthis dic—”

I press a palm over her mouth, smiling awkwardly at a group of girls laughing nearby. “Do you mind saying that a little bit louder? The people over there on the other side of the yard didn’t hear you.”

Hailey mumbles behind my palm, and I hesitantly remove it.

“You’re in love. Oh, my god, Em. You’re in love!”

“Jesus, quiet, Hailey!” I hiss, grateful that the others are too far away to overhear us. The scary thing is that she’s right. I’ve come to the same realization too, but this is not the right time and place for this conversation.

Hailey mimics zipping her lips. “I won’t breathe a word.”

Nina sidles up to next to me, popping her gum. The grin on her face says it all. “Matt did it. I saw them enter the bathroom together.”

“No way!” I didn’t think he could pull it off. I worry my lip as I pace on the spot. It’s too late to back out now, but I don’t want to back out, do I? God, I can’t make sense of the myriad of emotions inside of me.

Nina gives the others the thumbs up—a signal to say that the game is underway.

“I’m missing something, aren’t I?” Hailey observes from her upside-down position on the lounge chair. Before I can respond, she jumps up and throws herself in Jamie’s arms. I didn’t even notice him until now.

“Hey, Em,” he says in his deep and gravelly voice before turning his attention to the giggling girl in his arms. “How much have you had to drink, babe?”

My phone vibrates in my purse, and my heart begins to pound like the thundering hooves of wild stallions. I swipe the screen with shaky hands. There’s a new message in the group chat.

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