Page 93 of Julian

“You too,” Harper replies politely.

But the interaction already seems off balance. Because Giselle barely engages with her at all afterward, her attention sliding back toward me like Harper is incidental to the conversation.

“You still owe me dinner,” Giselle says.

Before I can answer, the room erupts around us.

“TWENTY!”

The countdown thunders across the Rainbow Room, voices joining together beneath the chandeliers.

“NINETEEN!”

Giselle smiles up at me beneath the roar of the crowd. “Well, I need to go find my friend, but I look forward to our date next Saturday,” she says.

And then she’s gone.

Around us, the countdown continues.

“EIGHTEEN!”

“SEVENTEEN!”

But Harper has gone completely still beside me. I turn toward her and find her staring at me like she’s just been slapped.

“What?” she says faintly.

Realization crashes into me all at once.

Christ.

“Harper—”

“You have a date with her? Have you been sleeping with her too?”

“Sixteen!”

“No,” I say. “Not an actual—”

She lets out a short disbelieving laugh and steps backward away from me.

“Harper.”

“I can’t believe this,” she says, shaking her head now.

“Fifteen!”

“It’s not what you think.”

“Then what is it?”

The crowd around us keeps roaring through the countdown, oblivious to the fact that my entire evening is collapsing in real time. I reach for her arm, but she steps away before I can touch her.

“Ten!”

“Harper, listen to me.”

She’s disappearing into the crowd.