AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chloe and I bring the food to the dining room.
“This looks amazing,” Mari says once we’re all seated.
“Surprised?” I ask.
“No.”
Harlan covers his laugh with a cough.
The meal is delicious. The six of us eat risotto and talk about life, and work, and movies and TV as though we’re all friends. I suppose we are.
“You guys are cute,” I say after a glass and a half of wine, waving my fork between Chloe and Jay. “I never heard why things ended.”
They exchange a look.
“It was Jay’s fault,” Chloe says.
“That’s some bullshit,” he says before she finishes.
“You look so good together,” I say.
Mari catches my eye, shaking her head as if she’s thinking the same. My lips twitch.
After, we do presents. Emily opens them with help from Mari.
“It’s… a purple basketball!” Mari says with feigned enthusiasm when they open the package from Jay.
“Gotta start ‘er soon if she’s going to be pro, right Clay?”
“Hell yeah.”
“They’re bath paints,” I explain when she opens the gift from us. “So she can make art on the side of the bathtub. It washes off, I promise.”
Then, there’s a cake with a sparkler. We sing for Emily, and Mari blows out the candle.
Jay shifts in his seat. “When Brooke and I were growing up, everyone got a wish for the year.”
We’re silent for a minute as we each do it.
“Everyone got theirs?” Jay asks.
I cut a look at Clay as I think about what I want.
We nod one by one.
“Now what?” I ask.
“Now we eat cake.”
Once the meal is done, Clay ensures everyone’s glasses are full.
“I ordered something special,” I say, ushering everyone out to the balcony at sunset.
“What is it?” Mari asks, glancing around.
The fireworks start.
Mari gasps. “You did this?”
