“Um, Wyatt.”
“Wyatt? As in, Wyatt Baxter? Wait, when did that happen? Never mind.” I snorted. “Did you share our incredible singing with him?”
She laughed. “No—our stellar dance moves.”
Grinning, I linked arms with her. “Bet he’s glad you finally gave him your number so he could enjoy that.”
About then, Stan made his move. Dropping his arms over both of our shoulders, he said, “The countdown to midnight starts in a minute. Which of you lucky ladies is getting the first kiss?”
“Do you play football for the MSC Wildcats?” Piper’s words dripped saccharine—something a smart man would have picked up on and backed away from. Slowly.
Stan had never been known for catching on to subtlety.
“I’m a machinist. I work for a living.”
Piper stepped out from beneath his arm, turned, and patted him on the chest. “Good for you, sugar. But we only kiss Wildcats.” Giving him a little push, she added, “You’d better hurry if you’re going to find a soulmate before the clock strikes midnight.”
“You always were a stuck-up little bitch, Chessly. Makes sense your friends are just like you,” my old classmate snarled.
“I’m not stuck up at all, Stan, but I draw a line at kissing guys who try to look up my skirt without my permission.” I might have had a good buzz on, but I wasn’t drunk enough for his ridiculousness.
Right then the bar erupted in the countdown to midnight. “TEN! NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN! SIX! FIVE! FOUR! THREE! TWO! ONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!” As if by magic, confetti dropped from the ceiling. People laughed, toasted, kissed, played with the confetti, or did some combination of all four. For a few minutes, pandemonium overtook the Elk Horn.
Piper and I toasted, threw back what was left of our drinks, and danced in the confetti. By the time the bar closed down a little before two in the morning, we were hoarse from singing at the tops of our lungs even without the mic, and thoroughly wiped out from dancing all night.
While Piper closed out her tab, I called Dad for a ride home. He sounded pretty chipper on the phone, so I guess he didn’t really mind about staying up so we wouldn’t have to stumble home on foot in a snow storm in the middle of the night.
“I apologize for corrupting your daughter tonight, Mr.Clarke,” Piper said as she fell into the cab of truck.
I grinned at my friend, then at my dad.
He returned my grin. “You girls had a good time, I take it.”
“You’ll probably hear all about it in the store.” I giggled.
“You sang, didn’t you?” His tone was indulgent as he took his time on the snowy streets.
“And maybe danced on a tabletop,” Piper added, like Dad needed that information.
Chuckling, he said, “Yep. Bet I’m going to hear about it for a while.”
We tumbled into the house and up the stairs to my bedroom. Piper grinned at her phone, and I snatched it from her hand.
“Ooh, someone has a boyfriend.” I sang as I tried to focus on the text on the phone screen.
Bax: Happy New Year, Piper. Hope you were good. Tell Chessly Finn wants to watch her dance on a tabletop in person.
What?
I narrowed my eyes at my friend. “You sent a video?”
Snagging her phone back, she said, “He asked if we were having a good time. So I showed him.” A grin split her face.
Tilting my head, I shot her a glare from beneath my eyebrows. But long after we fell into bed, I was still wondering how Finn had spent his New Year’s Eve and what it would be like to dance on a tabletop for him.
What was wrong with me for even entertaining such a ridiculous idea?
Chapter Twelve
