“That was cool.” Luke yawned. “Let’s get food. I’m hungry.”
“We literally ate like half an hour ago,” Kris snapped.
“We don’t have to get a full meal, just snacks,” Luke said in a conciliatory voice.
Blake expected the rest of the group to walk on eggshells around Kris, but Luke? That was a shocker.
They pushed their way through the crowd toward the vendors selling Spring Festival snacks such as steamed niangao cakes, glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves, and various sweets.
Blake followed Farrah through the crowds, too lost in his thoughts to navigate on his own.
Blake cracked his eyes open.
That was a mistake.
The sunlight pierced his retinas like lasers and intensified the pounding in his head. He slammed his eyes shut.
A raspy groan filled the room. It took him a minute to realize it came from him.
Where the hell was he? What day was it?
Blake tried to piece together the events of last night, but all he could remember was arriving at Landon’s party, drinking, arguing with Joy, drinking, talking to Cleo, drinking, and…that was it. He couldn’t remember the fireworks or what he did when the clock struck midnight.
Blake groaned again. He turned on his side so he faced away from the windows and tried opening his eyes again. Better. Sort of.
“I am never drinking alcohol again,” he muttered.
“That’s what you always say.”
Blake jerked his head up and looked over his shoulder. The bright light hit him in full force, but it was nothing compared to the dread that slammed into his body when his eyes confirmed what his brain knew.
“Good morning, sleepyhead.” Cleo stepped out of the bathroom in a cloud of steam. Her damp hair fell past her shoulders in tight curls. A towel wrapped around her body, barely large enough to cover the necessary bits.
“What are you doing here?” Blake’s eyes adjusted to the light, and he realized he was in one of the Zinterhofers’ suites. They always set aside a few rooms for guests who were too intoxicated to drive home after one of their New Year’s parties.
“Showering, silly.” Cleo dropped her towel. He averted his gaze.
She laughed at his reaction. “Come on. It’s not anything you haven’t seen before.” He heard rather than saw her get dressed. “You can look now.
“What happened last night?” The pounding in his head intensified. Blake rubbed his temple. “We didn’t—did we—” He couldn’t bring himself to say it.
There was a pause. “You don’t remember?”
If I did, I wouldn’t be asking you.
Blake bit his tongue. Hangovers made him moody as shit. “I don’t remember anything after our third—” Fourth? “—shot.”
Cleo blinked. Her eyes glowed bright green in the sunlight. A thousand emotions flickered over her face, too fast for him to discern a single one of them.
“We’re friends. Right?”
“Right.” Blake tried to smile. The jackhammers in his head multiplied. “Think of all the friendship toasts we had yesterday.”
She half-laughed, half-snorted. “Yeah. So you really don’t remember what happened last night?”
Unease unfurled in his stomach. “No…”
“That’s too bad.” Cleo took a deep breath and looked down. The seconds ticked by. When she looked up again, her expression was almost apologetic. “Blake, we slept together.”
“Earth to Blake.” Farrah waved her free hand in front of Blake’s face. “Hellooo? Anyone home?”
He snapped back to the present, but the guilt and nausea from that morning continued to churn in his stomach.
“Sorry.” He had to shout to be heard over the noise. It was close to fireworks time, and anticipation rippled through the crowd. “I was thinking.”
“It’s ok.” Farrah patted his hand. “I support you trying new things in the new year.”
Blake side-eyed her. “Do you have to be a smartass all the time?”
“It’s better than being a dumbass all the time.”
He couldn’t help but laugh. When he was around Farrah, it was easy to forget anything else existed. Easy to pretend everything was fine when he wanted to fall to his knees and beg her forgiveness.
He wanted to tell her what happened over New Year’s their first night back, but she looked at him with so much love and trust he knew he couldn’t tell her. Not yet.
Maybe not ever.
What happened with Cleo was a one-time thing. There was no use destroying Farrah and himself over a stupid mistake he didn’t remember. Right?
The lead weight in his stomach grew heavier.
“The fireworks are about to start.” Courtney rubbed her palms together. Her eyes sparkled with excitement. “We need to find a good spot.”
“Good luck.” Leo scooted closer to her to allow a young couple to pass. “This place is a zoo.”
“That’s negative thinking and I will not stand for it. We’ll find a spot.”
True to her word, Courtney shouldered her way through the crowd and squeezed them into a corner on the Garden’s Zig Zag bridge. She earned them plenty of dirty looks, but they were going to have a fantastic view of the fireworks.
“Damn, Court.” Sammy looked impressed. “I could’ve used you during my holiday shopping.”
“Come to Seattle and I’m all yours.” Courtney leaned into Leo, who draped an arm over her shoulders. “I missed you guys.”
“I’m so glad I’m here instead of back home.” Kris twisted her ring round and round her finger. “My dad and the stepmonster-to-be can suck a giant bag of balls.”
The rest of the group exchanged glances.
Farrah had filled Blake in on the drama. Kris’s dad’s fiancée convinced him to cut Kris off for “irresponsible spending.” It seemed their extravagant trip to Macau for Courtney’s birthday was the last straw. He dropped the bombshell on Kris the day she returned home.
Kris with a black Amex was grumpy enough. Kris without a black Amex? Nuclear territory.
“He’ll cave. He always does,” Courtney reassured her.
“You’re his only daughter,” Olivia added. “Obviously, you take priority over his girlfriend.”
“Ha. Tell that to him. She has him totally brainwashed. Like she’s that responsible with money! She owns like twenty Birkins.” Kris’s lip trembled. She set her jaw and tossed her hair over her shoulder. “It’s fine. When I’m home for the summer, I’m going to make my dad see what a pathetic gold-digger she is. Their wedding won’t happen. Not on my watch.”
“Let us know if we can help,” Luke said. “We can, I dunno, dig up dirt on her online.”
Judging by the expressions on his friends’ faces, Blake wasn’t the only one who was surprised. Kris and Luke usually bickered more than an old married couple.
Kris choked out a laugh. “Thanks, but I got it.”
“Did we enter the Twilight Zone?” Sammy clutched his heart. “You guys are acting like friends.”
“Yeah, right!”
“As if!”
Kris and Luke spoke at the same time. They stared at each other sheepishly while everyone else laughed.