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I shrug. “Everyone’s got their kinks. I don’t judge.”
“Well, no,” Harper says, giving me a suspicious look. “Not a dinosaur stripper.”
“That’s okay. A human one will do,” I assure her, grinning foolishly. “Harper, did you get me a cowboy? Ooh, yes, yee my haw!”
“We really, really have to have a chat sometimes,” Harper says worriedly, but laughing still. “I mean it’s not a stripper at all. It’s . . .”
She pulls open the door and shouts, “SURPRISE!”
It’s . . . Elle!
“Oh, my God! Tiffany!”
I’m out of my seat, practically flying across the room, squealing like a whole basket of baby hamsters. “OMG! Elle!”
We half-tackle, half-hug, half-dance with each other, crying and choking each other with her arms around my neck and mine around her waist. Harper is crying as she watches us, and we pull her into our hug too.
When I can speak again, I step back, sniffling. “What are you doing here?” I lean back, holding her arms in my hands to scan her face. “Are you real?”
When she doesn’t immediately reply, I pinch her arm and she squeaks in minor pain. “Ow! I’m real, I’m here!” Her smile is huge and feels like home. “Harper and Ace invited us for the wedding. So . . . surprise!”
I tap-dance stomp my feet, yanking her into another hug, still not believing that she’s really here in the flesh. Over Elle’s shoulder, I ask Harper, “How did you keep this a secret? Elle, I believe. She’s sneaky like that when she needs to be, but you? I wouldn’t have thought you’d have a scheming bone in your body!”
“I don’t,” she says with a giggle. “But Ace happens to take after his sister. And he only came up with the idea a few days ago.”
“Luckily for you, Colton has the right means and connections to get us a last-minute flight across the pond.”
“Well, don’t you sound posh and bougie as hell, bitch?” I tease, pushing her back playfully, thankful that not only does she have resources like that at her disposal now, but she’s not afraid to use them. “You better have flown first-class!”
“Of course.” Once upon a time, insistent that she only enjoy what she earned herself, she would’ve flown coach on a commercial flight that she paid for herself, cramming into the tiny seat for eight hours and not bitching at all despite the fucked up neck she’d inevitably get.
But Colton’s family is richer than God, and both Colton and Elle have fought to stand successfully on their own in London. And if they can fly in comfortable seats, then I hope they drank the good stuff on the way over.
“Are Colton and Neve here too?” I look into the hallway, but Elle is alone. “I could use hugs and kisses and all that from my girl.”
Elle knows exactly what I mean. I got to cuddle Neve once when she was a little baby, and since then I’ve pretty much been hooked on the little girl. Now, as a ‘big kid’, I adore the girl and love hanging out with her, even if it’s via FaceTime cartoon watching and monologue presentations. That’s Neve, not me. The girl can talk, though half the time I don’t fully understand her blend of toddlerese and a British accent.
“They’re at the hotel. Neve is passed out with jetlag, and Colton was already on the phone with folks back home, continuing work like nothing changed. You know how it is.”
“Oh, yeah, I know.”
“So, we’re going out,” Elle declares. “I rarely get a night out on the town with the girls, and I’m taking full advantage.”
“But I’m helping Harper with—”
“Go!” Harper says with a laugh. “Seriously, you are a superwoman, but you don’t have to do everything. You two go ahead and catch up. I’ll stay here and work.”
“Oh, no,” I protest, grabbing her hand. “You’re coming with us.”
Elle gives me a wink that I haven’t seen in too long and turns the full throttle of her charm to Harper. “I dare you.”
“I don’t know if it works on her,” I warn Elle, but Harper bites her lip.
“I’ve heard about these dares. It sounds . . . fun?” she says, and I nod encouragingly. “So . . . I’m in!”
We don’t dust the glitter off our asses from sitting on the floor as we spray shimmer dust on the centerpieces. We don’t worry about our hair or makeup or who might see us.
We just go out.
Twenty minutes later, we’re at the Eagle Karaoke Club, a place that Elle and I would come to when we needed to kick back, drink something, and sing our cares away at the top of our lungs. Because Girl Power and all that.
Harper and Elle order a glass of wine, and I try to be nonchalant when I order a soda with cranberry juice and lime. Elle gives me a questioning look, and I have to think on my feet so I don’t blurt out the real reason I’m not drinking tonight.
