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“Cute.” I look down at myself. “Great. That’s exactly what I was going for.” I let out an audible sigh.
“Fine. You look hot!” she corrects. “Is that better?”
“No, because now you’re just telling me what I want to hear.” I purposely choose to be difficult. “Come on.” I take off toward the house, stepping past her. “Let’s get this over with.”
“God, listen to you. You act like this is some formal dinner that you can’t wait to get through. It’s a party, Peyton. You know, the kind where people have fun.” She quickens her stride to catch up to me. “You used to know how to have fun.”
“I do know how to have fun.”
“Not since you’ve gone celibate.”
“I haven’t gone celibate,” I argue.
“Sworn off dick then. Does it really matter how you put it? You stopped putting out and now you’re lame.”
“You make it sound like I was such a slut.”
“Please. You’ve never been and will never be the kind of girl that can be classified as a slut. But you have been wound a little tight since things went belly up with that last ass hat you were dating. Maybe you need to get laid.”
“Oh my god, Henna, I do not need to get laid,” I say a little too loudly as we climb the stairs to the front porch.
“Well that’s a shame.” His voice comes out of nowhere and I stop so sudden my upper body jerks forward. It takes only seconds before I spot Abel at the far side of the porch. He must have been watching us walk up and probably heard every word we said.
My insides instantly warm and I can feel a flush flood my cheeks.
“I, uh, hey.” I can’t seem to make my mouth work all of a sudden.
“Hey.” He grins, lifting his beer to his lips before taking a pull. “I was starting to think you weren’t coming.”
“Sorry, it took me longer to get here than I thought it would. This place is really out there.”
“Yeah.” He looks around. “It’s kind of out in the middle of nowhere.”
“Well, I’m gonna let you two talk,” Henna interrupts. “I need to find Aaron.”
“He’s in the game room. Pretty sure Claire and Nick are putting a beating on him and Sven at pool.”
“Oh, I’m sure he’s loving that.” Henna laughs, throwing up a half wave as she takes off inside the house, leaving me standing on the porch all alone with Abel.
“So.” He smiles, and my insides seize up.
“So.” I rock back on my heels nervously.
“You look really pretty.” He gestures toward me.
“Um, thanks. You too,” I say. “I mean, you look really handsome.”
Stupid, Peyton. Geez. Get your shit together.
“Thanks.” He chuckles. “You want something to drink?”
“I probably shouldn’t. I have to drive home later.”
“Technically you don’t.” He grins, that damn dimple making me weak in the knees. “Usually at these parties everyone crashes here. Sven has about ten bedrooms and wrap arounds in the living room and basement so there’s plenty of sleeping space.”
“Is Henna staying?”
“I believe so, yes. Is that a deciding factor for you?”
