I look back at the road as quickly as possible, feeling caught red-handed. She isn’t mine to admire, but honestly, I wasn’t even aware that I was looking at her in the first place.
“I think I’m looking forward to…”
I never finish my sentence, because the truth is, I would have been looking forward to seeingher. We get along. We laugh. We seem to work well together. But I can’t entertain those thoughts when my new mission is to avoid our connection at all costs.
“Boxing with Grayson,” I say instead.
Although it may not be the full truth, I don’t count it as a lie when all I can think about is letting out the frustrations of my fake engagement on my poor best friend.
CHAPTER 20
VIVIENNE
“Get the popcorn and the drinks. It’s monthly game night!” Evelyn squeals as she bursts out of her bedroom, pink Scrabble box in hand.
Sutton quickly follows her lead with a gleeful laugh, sprinting out of the kitchen with arms full of pink-and-white-striped boxes packed with buttery popcorn.
I’m the last one to plop down on the living room floor with my famous raspberry margarita mix—the quintessential pink glasses with our crystal-studded initials already there.
Pink. Pink. Pink.
With our commitment to the theme, I’d say we’re well on our way to giving Barbie a run for her money.
“I am so ready for tonight!” Sutton cheers, clapping wildly, and for the first time in a while, I feel the same.
What started as an excuse to spend time with friends despite our packed grad school schedules slowly turned into a monthly tradition.
At first, I found these get-togethers exciting—a good way to take a breather, gossip, and catch up with each other. But as more of my experiments failed and the pressure of graduation grew heavier, I started dreading them a little. It felt like time I should have been dedicating to my chemistry, but tonight, it feels different.
“Do we need a reminder of the rules?” Evelyn takes a sip of her raspberry drink, morphing into a Cheshire cat. Wide grin. Playful eyes. Fingers fiddling together. The girl has something up her sleeve, and Sutton’s the first one to voice it.
“What did you do this time, Evelyn?” There’s a wariness to the redhead’s tone as she tosses the final tile of her ongoing distribution in her direction.
With a radiant smile and even brighter eyes, the medical student pulls out a hot-pink notebook from behind her back:Not-So-Official, Official Game Night Rule Book, bedazzled with silver jewels on the front.
Sutton deadpans at the sight. “How do you have time to do this? Do you not have a thousand bones and muscles to learn?”
My thoughts exactly.
Evelyn gives a casual shrug. “I needed a break. Unfortunately, I’m not manic like Vivienne. I can’t work all the time.”
“Hey!” I let out in protest. “I’ve been doing really well at the work-life balance-thing you both talk about.”
They turn to me in unison, brows quirking like I was the biggest liar on the planet. To which, I must admit, I am.
I worked the hardest I ever have this past week at the lab for a few different reasons. For one, I was determined to make my reactions work. For two, I wanted to feel like I earned this break. For three, and the biggest reason of all, I needed to forget about Nate.
No texts. No calls. No impromptu visits to the lab.
I thought his confession to me that morning in his bedroom would have prompted a shift between us—in a good way, that is. Fewer rules. More space to explore whatever this is. But it only made him grow more distant. I felt it at breakfast, in the car, and most certainly, I feel it now.
“Hm-hm.” Evelyn coughs, dragging our attention back to her as she flips to the first page of her notebook. “It’s time for a reading from theNot-So-Official, Official Game Night Rule Book.As per this very legit document, three rules must be abided by at all times.One, all participants are required to wear pink pajama sets—handpicked by Evelyn Wright to reflect a key aspect of their personalities.”
My gaze darts down before moving to the two girls in front of me.I had test tubes and too simple chemical structures. Sutton had gears and race cars. And Evelyn had typewriters and pencils—something that I still haven’t figured out the meaning behind. I always assumed she would have gravitated towards stethoscopes and needles.
“Two, whichever participant had the roughest month gets the honor of placing the first word.”
I feel the need to mention that while we called it game night, we only ever played Scrabble.PinkScrabbleto be exact—and with no exception. For no other reason than that Evelyn loved the game and believed the board to be sacred.
