My cheeks burned. She wassucha bitch.
“And money is money,” she continued. “It’s not like they’re threatening to hurt the cat, just keep it, right?”
“Kiara doesn’t understand pets,” Zoe offered, wincing at the harshness of her words. “She’s allergic.”
“Remember that time you were casually dating that guy and he never mentioned he had a cat? You woke up after the first time you had sex and couldn’t breathe, so he had to drive you to urgent care.” Desiree burst out laughing.
Kiara shuddered. “Don’t remind me. I ghosted him after that.”
The conversation moved on to chatter about Kiara’s failed dating attempts, and any interest in my predicament fell to the wayside. It wasn’t like I demanded to be the center of attention, but it still kind of stung.
Zoe swayed beside me, half-listening to the conversation. She glanced over when she caught my stare and smiled like she didn’t have a care in the world, like she sensed my pain but only just barely.
This was my closest friend. She was the one I’d had my first sleepover with. The girl I’d choreographed cheesy dances with in my garage. The first person I called the night I lost my virginity in senior year.
But the distance between us had grown. We texted sometimes, talked even less, and lately, saw each other almost never. I didn’t like her any less, but the closeness we’d once shared just…wasn’t there anymore.
We’d been drifting for years, if I was being honest with myself. Maybe I was partially to blame, getting caught up in a relationship and all, but if I thought about it, hanging out with Zoe didn’t make me feel good anymore. It was okay when it was just the two of us, but it wasneverjust the two of us. She always dragged around a clique of people who never seemed to care for me much.
It was past time I found some friends who actually liked me. That was possible, right? I might have thought otherwise a couple of weeks ago. Until Reid.
“I think I’m going to call it a night,” I announced, standing.
“What no! Don’t go.” Zoe grabbed my hand and tried to pull me back down, but I just patted it and gently extracted myself.
“Happy Birthday, Zoe. Get home safe, okay?” I hugged her and she loosely wrapped her arms around me.
“Stay,” she pouted.
“It’s getting late and I’m pretty tired.”
“It’s not even eleven,” Kiara said, sounding bored.
I shrugged and offered them a small wave, eager to get out of there as quickly as possible. “Night.”
Before I could turn away, I saw Kiara’s eyes widen and look behind me. A presence hovered near me.
Hands grabbed onto my shoulders, and I let out a yelp of surprise, ready to put my nonexistent self-defense moves into action. But when I turned, I collided with a broad chest. I looked up to see a familiar face.
Reid.
My whole body sagged with relief. “What are you doing here?” I couldn’t help the smile that tugged at my lips.
“Are you alright?” he demanded, eyes scanning my face.
“I’m fine. I was just leaving.”
He blew out a breath and raked a hand through his hair. I realized he looked frazzled.
“This your detective?” Zoe asked with a smirk.
I nodded.
“See, hot,” she said to the rest of the girls. I think it was her attempt at a whisper, but her voice still carried over the bar noise.
Reid’s cheeks flushed as he jerked his gaze from me to the table of women.
I grabbed onto his arm and stood on my tiptoes to whisper in his ear. “Can we get out of here?”
