“Shitty club, huh?”
“The fucking worst.” He cracked a smile and grabbed the other bag. “The t-shirts are kinda cool, though.”
Hanna gasped. “You got a shirt! Did mine get lost in the mail?”
Milo nudged her as they left Sara’s room. “I’ll alert the council.”
The ice chilled her hand, a welcome feeling after the hot flush of her panic attack.
“You coming out with us tonight?”
Hanna chewed on her bottom lip. “I don’t know if I have round two of the Logan and Sloane show in me.”
He shrugged, hauling the ice over his shoulder and sliding the glass door open. She trailed him into the backyard and made a concerted effort not to look for Logan while Milo opened the cooler and unwrapped his bag of ice.
“You’re missing out. The hotel has Hibiki on tap. It’s been a while since my initiation, but I believe…” Milo grunted as he snagged the second bag of ice from her and turned it over into the cooler, continuing, “That it’s customary for a tenured Dead Parent Society member to buy new recruits a drink.”
Hanna giggled, despite herself. Her eyes flickered between his and Sloane, who laughed obnoxiously at something Matty said.
“Rain check?” she asked.
“Of course.” Milo opened a can of soda. “That’s the worst part about the Dead Parent Society. Membership never expires.”
FOUR
Hanna sank further under the water with each buzz of her phone.
The bath water had gone cold an hour earlier, but she couldn’t find it within herself to climb out. She leaned forward, flipping her phone over on the counter.
It was Logan. Again.
DO NOT ANSWER
Palomar at 10?
Hanna. Come on.
I really want to talk. Sloane told me what happened.
Okay. Well, I’ll be here all night. Hopefully I’ll see you.
Only Logan could think that talking about her dead mom at a trendy rooftop bar would appeal to her. She’d spent six hours making terrible small talk with Sara’s family and avoiding his sad-boy eyes from across the yard. She couldn’t devote any more energy to him.
Besides, she’d embarrassed herself enough for one day. She didn’t need to add crying in public to the list.
She did, however, find the idea of crying in her bathtub with a glass of wine appealing—if only the tears would come. They seemed quick to threaten her with an appearance whenever she was around others, but the moment she was alone, it was like she was stuck.
Her phone buzzed again.
SARA
We’re all at The Palomar. Come be my friend!
Ugh.
Logan was easy to ignore. But Sara? It was hard to pass up the temptation to get time with her without family members hovering and inquiring about wedding plans.
She sat up.
