“Answering a question with another question. Careful, I’m an expert at that. I know why you’re doing it.”
“I didn’t mean to dodge the question.”
“You two are cute together, really,” she continued, jerking her head at William, who was waiting in line.
“We’d never kissed like that, in front of everyone.”
She smiled. “Chill. It wasn’t anything scandalous. In fact—”
“In fact what?”
“Well, Will seems like a pretty reserved guy to me.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” I grumbled.
“A bad thing? It is. In fact, it’s very bad,” she answered, pointing at James Hunter, leaning against the counter with his hand on a girl’s butt.
I recognized the girl from the other night. Someone had told me she was Marvin’s cousin. “Who’s that?” Amelia asked.
“Marvin’s cousin, Melanie. But tell me about Brian, how is he?”
“He’s not one to express his emotions. He looks like he’s doing great, better than you’d think, but knowing him . . . Oh, speak of the devil.”
Amelia raised her arm at the door. Blaze and Brian had just walked in. Brian said hi to her quickly and stared at me for a few seconds.
Then he smiled at me, but his expression got dark after a moment. William walked up behind me with a round of bubble teas.
Brian sat with us, and I appreciated the fact that even though he didn’t talk to Will, they at least managed to sit at the same table without biting each other’s head off.
“Where’d Blaze run off to?” asked Amelia, taking a sip of tea. Brian looked at her furtively, not happy to smell the vodka spiking his sister’s drink.
“Did you sit here to control me?” she yelled at him.
“Me? I’m actually here for June.”
The dark-haired guy turned around while Will squeezed my side even tighter. Amelia tried to pass me the vodka-filled water bottle, but I turned it down. “No, thanks. I don’t drink.”
“Jamie, why don’t we go dance?”
I heard Marvin’s cousin’s voice getting closer and closer until she reappeared with James. He narrowed his eyes at Brian.
“I’m not feeling it. I’m going to vape,” he replied briskly. Disappointed, Melanie sat down with us.
“Girls, come on! At least, you guys,” she blurted, blinking her thick fake eyelashes.
Poppy jumped at the speed of light, followed by Amelia, who chugged the rest of her drink all at once, to her brother’s fury. “I’m in. I need air. June?” she asked, holding her hand out to me.
“Um, okay.”
I kissed William on the cheek and followed the girls to the middle of the dance floor.
“Any news from Ari?” I whispered in Amelia’s ear, as we tried to make our way through the crowd.
“Do you think she’s ignoring me?” she sighed, furrowing her forehead.
“Okay, enough bullshit. Who would you bang?” Marvin’s cousin pointed at the table where we’d left the guys.
“Huh?” I asked.
