“For me? Why?”
“Have you looked in the mirror today? You haven’t stopped smiling.”
I scoff. “I haven’t stopped smiling because it’s my best friend’s twenty-first birthday, and I love her so dearly that I can’t help but smile at all times.”
“Nice try,” Kennedy whispers with a sarcastic nod. “So, this has absolutely nothing to do with a certain blond who has been trailing after you all night?”
I shake my head. “Nope. What blond?”
Kennedy laughs, throwing her head back, slinging her arm around my shoulder and tugging me into her. She kisses me on the forehead like I’m a kid and sighs. “You deserve to be happy, Scar. Stop pretending you don’t.”
I shrug her arm off me, straightening my skirt. “I’m not doing that.”
“Right . . .” She throws me an exaggerated wink before walking off. I don’t even have anything else to say to her anyway. One, because it’s her birthday, and two, because she’s right.
She’s so unbelievably right.
EVAN
I told myself years ago that I’d start saying no more often. My dad has always tried to remind me that I can set my own boundaries and not agree to everything like I used to when I was younger. I’d get roped into stupid stuff and take the fall for kids who weren’t really my friends just so I could feel included. I thought I had finally grown out of it.
But clearly I haven’t, because since meeting Scarlett, I’ve found it increasingly difficult to say no to her. Which is why I’m standing outside her apartment with Miles and Harry to surprise Kennedy for her birthday.
Miles has his arms clasped on Harry’s shoulders, shaking him like he’s about to do a workout. “You have one shot at this, Hare-bear. If Kennedy’s upset, then Scarlett’s upset, and thenWren’s upset, which meansI’mupset. These girlsneedeach other to exist. They’re like . . . deeply connected.”
I snort, pulling his arms away from Harry and giving him a small smile. The poor guy has been put through the wringer for the past hour. “That’s a bit dramatic, don’t you think?”
Miles turns to me slowly, his eyes narrowing at me. “Oh, Evan. Sweet, sweet, innocent Evan. You have no idea what you’re in for, do you? You think you’re just dating Scarlett, but you’re not, dude. If she’s mad at you, they’re all mad at you.”
“That sounds terrible,” Harry murmurs, his Australian accent making Miles laugh.
“I’m telling you, it’s hell,” Miles says, staring back at me. “But you’ll get used to it.”
“Uh-huh,” I say, slowly turning back to Harry. He adjusts his pearl necklace and picks up the cake from my hands. “You ready?”
“Is this going to completely embarrass me?” he asks, straightening a little.
“Probably,” Miles and I say at the same time.
His cheek twitches, and he tries not to smile. “But Ken’s gonna love it, right?”
Miles and I exchange a look. “Sure she will, buddy,” Miles says, pushing Harry toward the front door as he shoots Wren a message to say we’re ready. He leans into me and whispers, “He’s so gone for her.”
I just laugh because the second he says that, there’s a loud “Everyone shut up!” from Scarlett on the other side of the door, the intro to ‘Adore You’ by Harry Styles starts playing, and the door swings open.
I wish the camera I got Kennedy wasn’t slung around her neck because I’m sure the girls would have loved to capture the moment from where I’m standing. Harry, or Harry Styles, I should say, strides into the room with a giant triple chocolatecake, dressed in a look that Wren and Scarlett described as ‘iconic.’ He’s wearing a yellow-and-blue polka-dot sweater vest over a white-striped button-down shirt, paired with navy-striped pants and red boots.
Kennedy’s face is priceless. All the nerves that Harry had expire the second he sees her smile. She tumbles toward him, and he drops the cake into Miles’s waiting arms just in time for Kennedy to wrap her arms and legs around him until they fall to the floor. Those two have always had the weirdest relationship. They do everything a couple does without being an actual couple. It’s strange, but apparently, they’re ‘just friends.’
Scarlett, Wren, and Miles stand beside me as we watch the two goofballs roll around on the floor as Harry does his best British accent, which causes Kennedy to shove her hand over his mouth to stop it because she can’t handle the way it makes her laugh.
“Who’s going to tell them that they’re in love with each other?” Wren asks, tilting her head to the side as she watches them.
Scarlett shrugs. “I don’t know, but it’s not going to be me.”
Wren scoffs, turning to face Scarlett and me. Miles stands beside her like her guard dog, wrapping his hand around her waist. “Isn’t it so annoying when you have to watch two people pretend not to want each other?”
“Yeah, it reminds me of some people I know,” Miles says, looking between me and Scarlett.
