Katherine wrinkled her nose. “Text you? After he sent you away?”
I couldn’t explain the other part to Katherine. She’d never once grappled with her Upper East Side self. This was just who she was. Take it or leave it.
She’d encourage me to just let go. Find a balance between the two. Or better yet, just let Bad Lark take over for a while and see how much better it could be. How much less I’d have to try. Except that wasn’t what I wanted. Right?
“Yeah. And she was blubbering and telling him she still loved him.”
“And you didn’t break her fucking neck for the audacity?” she asked acidly.
“That’s rich, Ren.” I gestured to her husband.
“That is different,” she said icily. “And you know it. Camden and I were arranged. You and Sam chose each other.”
“You’re right. I shouldn’t have made the comparison. I’m sure Fiona makes you want to rake your nails down her face.”
“I’ve considered it,” she said with a small frown before the emotion disappeared. “But it wouldn’t be worth the satisfaction it would give him.”
“We’re both so fucked.”
Despite myself, I checked my phone one more time. Waited for that text message from Sam. But nothing was there. Just as empty as before.
Katherine placed her palm against my phone. “Stop looking for him. It’ll only make you more stressed.”
“Yeah,” I said, stuffing it back into my purse.
But when I looked back up, I saw the very last person I wanted to see right now. Well, perhaps Thomas was actually the second after Claire this particular night. Not that I wanted him beelining for me either.
“Oh no,” I murmured.
Katherine looked up and narrowed her eyes. “I can handle Thomas.”
“Hello, ladies,” Thomas said with a dangerous glint in his eyes. “Enjoying the party?”
“It’s something,” Katherine said, taking another sip of her champagne.
That clearly wasn’t what Thomas had wanted to hear. His nostrils flared at her dismissal.
“And you, Lark? Where’s that boyfriend of yours?”
“I don’t think that’s any of your business,” Katherine interjected smoothly.
“I heard he liked to play poker. I figured you’d be together,” he said, baring his teeth in an imitation of a smile.
Something rose up in me. All that anger that I’d wanted to spew on Claire hit me fresh. And I couldn’t stand that slimy grin on his face another second.
I took a step past Katherine’s indifference and right into my Upper East Side persona.
“I don’t care one iota that you expected Sam to be here with me. All I care about,” I said crisply, evenly, “is that you get the fuck out of my presence. I’m here to hang out with my friends. And you are not one of them. You haven’t been one of them since you started stuffing your dick in every girl on Tinder just because you could get away with it. I’m glad to be rid of your unremarkable dick, and I don’t need you crowding around me. Unless you want this little operation brought up to my parents, I suggest you move along.”
Thomas sputtered in shock at my outburst. Even all these years later, I’d never stood up to him. I’d cried and grieved and mourned the loss of a bullshit relationship. I’d put Bad Lark to rest, and I’d gotten walked all over. But I was done letting some dickwad wannabe take up any more of my time or energy.
Katherine just burst into laughter—real laughter. She fluttered her fingers at him. “You heard her. Be gone, snake.”
And to my amazement, Thomas actually turned tail and hurried away from us.
Katherine turned to me and wrapped me in a quick hug. “That was the best Larkin St. Vincent I’ve seen in years. Where have you been hiding her?”
“Apparently, I just needed to come to terms with both sides of who I am. I’m still Upper East Side, right?”
“Always,” she agreed. She snapped her fingers at a passing waiter. She plucked two fresh glasses of champagne off of the tray. “Keep them coming.” The man nodded and fell back into the crowd. Katherine handed me a glass and then held hers aloft. “I propose a toast. To Lark, the Upper East Side, and how we stop putting up with men who ruin the entire fucking world.”
“I’ll drink to that.”
I clinked my glass against hers, and then we both tipped back our champagne. And even though my insides were squirming as I wondered what exactly was happening with Sam and Claire back at his apartment in Brooklyn, I felt like a new me.
Lark 3.0.
Not all good. Not all bad. Just me.
33
Lark
Two hours later, and I still hadn’t heard from Sam.
Not a call. Not a text. And he damn sure hadn’t shown up to Thomas’s party. Not that he could have even gotten in without the fucking invitation that I had. But he would have had to call me for that. And he hadn’t done that. Which meant…he was still at his place…with Claire.
I didn’t know what the fuck they needed to talk about for two hours, but I was drunk and murderous. Half-ready to catch a cab and drive back over there to demand answers. But I knew that I wouldn’t do it. Even though I’d unleashed something within myself, I wasn’t ready to go that far. He’d said he’d text. Until he did, I’d get drunk as a skunk and let my anger simmer.
“Can’t we just go dance?” Whitley asked, holding out her whiskey. “You both need to let loose a little more.”
“You can go dance,” Katherine said. “You’ve been dancing all night. Why would you need us?”
“It’s more fun with my friends.”
“You make friends everywhere,” I reminded her.
“Well, yeah…but you two are the hottest.”
“Obviously,” Katherine said with a quirk of her lips.
“And I’m pretty sure Gavin already left with that brunette chick.” She pushed her currently blonde-highlighted hair off her shoulders.
“Are you jealous?” Katherine asked evenly.
“Of what?”
“Gavin being with someone else?” I added.
Whitley snorted. “No. Why would I be?”
“Because you like him,” Katherine said.
“You have it all wrong. Gavin King and I are oil and water. We don’t mix. We just have a lot of fun dancing and drinking. He’s a good wingman.”
“Please.” Katherine rolled her eyes.
“I’ll admit, he’s good to look at,” Whitley said with a shrug. “But there are so, so many more men and women who are pretty to look at.”
“If you say so,” I said with a smirk.
“Whatever. So…you won’t go dance with me?”
“I think we’re good here,” I told her.
Katherine’s attention suddenly shifted, and I saw immediately why. Fiona hadn’t left Camden’s side all night. She’d been hanging on to him for dear life. He was mostly ambivalent about her presence. As if she were more prop than person.
But now, he was walking away from the table that he’d been playing poker at and leaving Fiona behind. He was coming straight toward us.