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“No, we don’t.” I shake my head, hating the way her words make me feel. I don’t want to think like that. I want to hold onto the idea that Knox is totally into me. At least for a little while.
As a secret, that horrible little voice in my head reminds me.That’s it.
I shove that nasty voice to the darkest corner of my brain, mentally telling it to shut the fuck up.
“We do.” Nat nods, glancing around our small dining room, which isn’t a dining room at all. More an extension of our equally tiny kitchen. “I have a great idea. Let’s drown your sorrows at Logan’s.”
“No freaking way, Natalie. I’m not going to Logan’s.” My voice is firm.
She mock pouts. “But Derek might be there.”
“Oh please. You want to see him again? After he essentially ghosted you?” After I told her what happened between me and Knox, she confessed that she hasn’t heard a single word from Derek since Saturday night, the rat bastard. They didn’t have sex that night, but they did mess around and she thought he was totally into her.
The jerk.
“Maybe,” she admits.
“Fuck that guy,” I tell her, thrusting my finger in her face. She bats my hand away, laughing.
“I want to ‘accidentally’ run into him and give him a piece of my mind.” Natalie crosses her arms in front of her chest, leaning back in the chair so far, she tips it over, falling onto the floor. “Oh my God!”
“Nat!” I rush toward her and grab her hands, helping her stand. She’s wobbly on her feet, leaning into me and laughing way too loudly into my ear. “You can’t go to Logan’s like this. You’re drunk.”
“Oh, I’m going. I need to be drunk to face that crowd. We’ll take an Uber.”
“No, we won’t.”
“We will. You’re coming with me.” She smiles, her eyes hazy. “We’re going to wear the hottest clothes we own and show up at that bar looking like a million bucks. And then we’re going to flirt with other guys. We’re going to hang all over them. It’s going to be amazing because Derek, the rat bastard, and Knox, the king chicken shit, are going to get so jealous. They’re going to lose their ever-lovin’ minds.”
That sounds like a complete nightmare.
“I don’t want to do this,” I whine, letting her drag me out of the kitchen.
We’re sort of dragging each other down the hall, hanging all over each other and giggling uncontrollably. We go into Natalie’s bedroom first, because she’s the one with the closet full of slutty clothes—or so she says.
“Let me find an outfit for you.” She lets go of me and slides the closet door open, her expression turning serious as she flicks through the clothes hanging on the rack. “Ooh, what about this?”
She holds up a blood-red dress that is really nothing more than a scrap of material.
“Absolutely not.”
Nat frowns. “Why? I love it.”
“My tits might fall out.”
“That’s the plan, bitch.” She turns away from me and continues going through her clothes. I swear she only calls me names when she’s drunk, and I don’t even mind. “Ooh, how about this shirt?”
She holds up a tube top made of stretchy, sparkly material.
“This is a casual Tuesday night at a bar, not a hot Saturday night picking up men,” I remind her.
“God, you’re no fun.” Natalie shoves the shirt back into her very packed closet and keeps searching. “I want to witness Knox Maguire swallow his tongue when he sees you.”
“I’m not that special,” I remind her.
My best friend whirls on me, her eyes blazing with her anger as she reaches out and grabs me by my upper arms, giving me a shake. “Stop always putting yourself down. I hate that Bryan made you feel this way. You’re such an incredible person, and you don’t even see it. You’re smart and you’re thoughtful and you’re such a hard worker. You’re a great friend and you’re always there for me. You listen, and not many people listen, Jo. Trust me. Oh, and then there’s the fact that you’re beautiful and you have a bangin’ body. Like, if Knox can’t see that, then he’s a complete idiot.”
“He is a complete idiot,” I remind her solemnly, overwhelmed at the sweet words my friend just said about me. Pretty sure I’ve got tears shining in my eyes.
