Page 78 of Book Club Confidential

Tessa puckered her brow, fighting an onslaught of emotion. “I might not ever see him again. What am I supposed to tell my clients tomorrow? I know I promised to help y’all, but I can’t now. So good luck!”

Hallie looked at her phone screen as she sipped her soda. “Bryce’s mom wants the wedding photographer to remove the purple from my hair when he touches up the photos.” She glanced at her friends, then back to her screen. “She’s worried that I’ll regret the look in a few years. She means when I grow up. Bryce asking me for approval means he agrees with her and wants me to be the bad guy, right? Otherwise, he’d have shut her down instead of asking for my blessing?” Her gaze bounced from Kate to Tessa, then she set her phone aside. “She’s also requested I return to the bridal salon with her for a private dress fitting when her sisters come to town as some kind of special meet-and-greet moment, and I’m thinking about shaving my head now. You guys want to dance?”

Tessa felt her eyes and mouth go wide.

Kate moaned, and hectic red splotches bloomed over her ivory skin, as she visually tracked Tweedledee and Tweedledum across the bar to the exit. Her head bobbed. “This is bad. I’m thirty-six, terminally single, and losing followers faster than I can keep track. Plus, I just gave the internet’s worst interview on why I’m intentionally fucking up everything, and those podcasters are about to go play it for the world.” She selected a tall narrow glass from the tray. Its purple fizzing contents sloshed up the side as she drank. “I might as well have as much fun as I can tonight, because I’ll want to crawl under a rock when I see the headlines tomorrow.”

Hallie hopped off her chair and waited for her friends to round the table.

Thunder rolled as they returned to the dance floor. Lightning flashed as the beat dropped, and the crowd exploded into cheers.

Tessa’s last two drinks caught up with her as she danced, and she looked skyward at the blurry stars. She’d quit her job today, and that was bad, but dancing on a rooftop with her friends at a lavish soiree was very good. This was the kind of memory she’d have for a lifetime. The kind of thing she wanted to do, instead of burning the midnight oil.

This was life. This was living.

Kate’s hands flew to her hair as Tessa felt the first drop of rain touch her cheek.

“We have to go,” Kate shouted. “Run!”

Hallie and Tessa jolted forward, racing to keep up as Kate dodged tables, servers, and two men in full mouse costumes.

Hallie doubled over with laughter as Kate shouted, “Pardon!”

Thunder crashed behind them, softened by the closing glass doors as they made it inside.

But Kate kept running. And they followed.

“Did you see the look on that mouse’s face?” Hallie asked, boarding the elevator behind her friends.

Kate pressed the button for the lobby, then pressed one palm against the wall and reached beneath her dress with the other. “I can’t breathe. This dress is so pretty, but I—can’t—breathe!” She struggled and contorted, reaching into her bodice, then back beneath her skirt.

“What are you doing?” Tessa asked.

The elevator passed the third floor, then the second, as Kate wrestled her strapless, full-length body shaper to her ankles, and collapsed onto the floor to pull it off her feet. Her strappy silver heels came off in the process.

“Oof.” A rush of air escaped her as the elevator crawled to a stop. “Ahh. Oh that feels nice.” She melted into loud, goofy laughter.

Tessa pulled her onto her feet when the doors opened. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s go to my apartment. We can ride there together and sober up. Hallie can drive us back for our cars later.”

Hallie carried Kate’s heels to a lobby bench, and the friends waited while Kate slid them back into place. It took several tries.

They stopped again as the world outside the glass doors came into view.

Sheeting rain fell over the hotel awning. Heavy drops bounced off the sidewalk and road.

Hallie pressed one door open, staring into the storm. “We are definitely getting wet before we reach the parking lot.”

“Oh, we’re getting drenched,” Kate said, tucking her phone into her cleavage. She darted forward, dragging her friends behind her.

Music from the party above mixed with the sounds of wind and rain. Passersby honked as they held hands and splashed across the cement outside the hotel.

Soon, other guests followed them outside, making their way to the valet or climbing into arriving rideshares.

Kate pushed tendrils of sopping hair from her red cheeks, looking younger and more carefree than Tessa had seen her in a long while. Her white dress clung unapologetically to her curves, without the crush of shapewear. “To hell with it!” she sang.

Tessa’s dress stuck to her skin, fully saturated with water in minutes, and she echoed the sentiment. “To hell with it!”

Hallie gathered the length of her gown in both hands and wrung out the excess with a splash and a laugh. “Woo wee!”