ME:Thank you for apologizing and thank you for the heads up. You saved me from getting in trouble.
I look down to where he’s standing, waiting for him to pull his phone out and read my message. He doesn’t move. It’s loud down there and anyway his phone is probably on silent.
Leo finally moves on from Bailey and Mia and I feel like it’s safe to head back down. I’m determined to enjoy myself even though it feels like I’m navigating a minefield.
“You missed him!” Bailey says when I join them again.
“He asked where you ran off to,” Mia teases, as if she knows I’m actively avoiding him.
I shake it off. “He’s been at Nonna’s a few times since he came to town and we’ve butted heads over the…uh…Mary Jo and Jo Lynn.”
“C’mon, let’s move closer to the band. The guy playing guitar is hot.” Bailey pulls Mia and me to the dance floor.
Bailey picks a spot that’s close to where Wes and Sophie are, and it’s fun to dance with all of them at the same time. It’s not long before Judd is down on the ground and the crowd has formed a circle around him. He’s trying to do some sort of back spin move but he gets all tangled up in his toga. It only takes a rotation or two before his sheet splits open and tears away. When he pops back up, he’s in a pair of boxers with orange and red flames all over them and the gold braided belt that once secured the toga.
He could care less and climbs onto the stage to play air guitar with the band. Someone should find a way to bottle that level of confidence.
The band is good, and we dance for a few songs. I track Leo on the other side of the yard, where he’s hanging with the Evil Joes and some of the guys he was friends with when he lived here. Mary Jo says something, and then they’re all laughing. I mean really laughing. Like about to fall out of their chairs howling, and it bothers me that he could be so entertained by her.
“I need a little air,” I tell Mia, and sidestep my way through the crowd.
I sink into a chair on the patio. The day’s exhaustion settles over me and I can’t shake it. I’m ready to go home.
I search the crowd and find Charlie sitting next to Bianca, and from the body language, neither of them is ready to walk away. Wes and Sophie are hanging with a group near the band that includes Mia and Bailey. Sophie may not know many people here, and I hate to pull her away when she’s having so much fun—especially when everyone seems to be getting along. There’s no reason for any of them to leave just because I’m ready.
Opening the Uber app, I order a ride, then text Charlie, Olivia, and Wes.
ME:This sunburn is killing me and I’m exhausted from today. Uber is on the way.
CHARLIE:No wait I’ll take you
WES:We can all go
SOPHIE:I barely know anyone here anyway
ME:No y’all stay. I’m just going to crash when I get home and that’s no fun
ME:Seriously, I’m good
ME:Uber is almost here
They all double- and triple-check with me, but I hold strong. My ride is only a few minutes away, so I pick up my drooping toga and head toward the front of the house.
“Olivia!”
I freeze. That’s Leo’s voice.
He catches up with me and I say, “Hey,” then look around to see if the Evil Joes are about to jump out of the shrubbery.
He gives me a big smile like he didn’t just call us the Fake Four a few hours ago. Then his gaze zeroes in on my sunburn, just like everyone else, but I stop him before he can say anything.
“I know, I’m burned. It looks horrible, but it’s fine.” I start walking again.
“Are you leaving?” His voice should be farther away, but it’s not.
Glancing back over my shoulder, I notice he’s following me. “Yeah, I have to be back out there early and I’m exhausted.”
“Yeah, me too. Mae wanted me to come with the girls even though I told her I was wiped. It’s hard to say no to her.”
