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“She looks happy.”
“She is,” Angus says with visible relief. “I paid—I mean, I managed to get her single playing on the radio.”
“Congratulations,” Sully says.
He does an admirable job of masking any sarcasm, but there’s something tight in his face. His shoulders are stiff, and he’s still searching the room.
I touch his arm, wanting to meet his eyes, to get some sense of what’s bothering him, but Martinique interrupts.
“Can you help me with the caterer? I failed high school Spanish.”
I only got a B+, but that’s been good enough to coordinate with Consuela, Angus’ favorite go-to for authentic tacos and street corn.
I sometimes suspect that Consuela speaks excellent English but pretends not to so she never has to talk to Angus. It’s a good strategy, and I’m not going to blow her cover, no matter how bad I am at pronouncing “servilletas.”
By the time I get back from the kitchen, Angus has dragged Sully off somewhere, and the party is more packed than ever. Despite the cathedral ceilings and the open doors to the backyard, the main floor is sweltering. I’m sweating in my dress.
A pack of Jessica’s modeling friends cackle together, ogled by a skinny, freckled guy who looks oddly familiar. He kinda resembles the kid who used to sit beside me in math class?—
“Theo?” A damp hand touches my elbow.
I turn to meet a face I haven’t seen in eleven years—my prom date, Davis Verger. He’s broader than he was before, moremuscle and more flesh. His hair has thinned a little, and he changed his horn-rim glasses for contacts, but it’s definitely him.
“Davis?” I choke, feeling a strange unsteady lurch, like time is folding back on itself. “What are you doing here?”
“What do you mean?” he laughs. “You invited me!”
Dazed, I gaze around at the throng of strangers mixed up with fellow Galactic employees, friends of Angus and Jessica, and a few familiar faces…too many familiar faces.
Davis Verger, Amber Patterson, Jody Westbank, that kid from algebra…my stomach clenches tighter and tighter as I recognize my old classmates. It’s not just one or two of them…it’s a whole goddamned reunion.
“What do you mean I invited you?”
Davis falters, blue eyes crinkling up into new crow’s feet at the corners. “You sent me an email? It was your name on the invitation…”
“Right, of course.” My heart is thudding, and my mouth is dry. “Sorry.”
“Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing’s wrong…” My eyes dart around, finding uninvited classmates.
“Good,” Davis says with relief. “Because I was really excited when I got your message. I’ve been wanting to look you up for a while now?—“
“Uh huh…”
I’m barely listening, trying to figure out what the fuck is going on. There’s no way Martinique invited these people, and I know it wasn’t me. Which leaves only one possibility…
“What the hell?” The venom in Davis’ tone makes my head snap up. He’s gazing across the room at Sullivan, who happens to be glaring right back at us. “What’shedoing here?”
I swallow hard, trying to clear space in my throat. “Sullivan’s my boyfriend.”
Davis whips around, lip curling up. “You can’t be serious. You’re datingSullivan Rivas?”
“Is that so hard to believe?” Anxiety makes my voice wire tight, strung through with something else—something deeper and more constricting.
Davis is talking to me like the old Theo. Looking at me the same way. And that makes mefeellike the old Theo, the nerd, the freak, the charity case…the one Sullivan would never date.
“It’s a little surprising,” Davis says.
