I gestured to the woman with curly hair feeling up his forearm.
My sister hummed. “Well, he’s looking at you.”
I hugged myself, wishing I could duck behind her to hide from his smug face.
This was so stupid. Now, his ego would be even more gigantic because I’d come here for him.
No, not him. Myself.
Kat nudged me. “Aren’t you going to say hi?”
“I can’t just go over there,” I said.
“Sure, you can,” she insisted.
I shook my head. That’d be too forward. An awkward wave was good enough, so I did that, instead.
He chuckled and hung his head.
What was funny about that?
Stupid, pretty jerk.
He showed the curly-haired woman something on his phone. Maybe he was asking for her number. My chest constricted at their obvious familiarity.
I certainly wasn’t going to talk to him now. But I couldn’t go home. I’d begged Kat to take me here. Plus, it’d be a waste of a cute outfit.
“Let me introduce you to a friend from True Tech.” Kat dragged me through the crowd toward a woman with short hair who was chatting up a waitress. “Hey, Ash,” my sister called.
“Kat. How’ve you been?” The woman had barely given my sister a one-armed hug before someone else called her name, louder and even more incredulous.
“Kat?” Sal, Angel’s friend wearing another bold shirt, popped out of the crowd with a beaming smile. “I didn’t know you were coming this week.”
“Yeah, I brought my sister with me. She’s officially joined the Westbrook Mall family,” she said, pulling me into the group for a side-hug.
Sal’s smile tightened in recognition. “Wait, is this…are you her famous little sis?”
“Yes?” I frowned, since I wasn’t sure what I’d be famous for.
“Ha. Small world. One sec.” He yanked Angel, who’d started striding toward us, toward the bar.
Kat and I exchanged a confused look.
Ash gestured with her drink. “Ignore those idiots. And welcome to the fam.”
“Thanks,” I said, though I had nothing to cheers with.
Kat tapped the techie’s wrist. “Hey, I meant to tell you, they’re coming out with Haunted Hilltop 6.”
“I saw that. And the next villain is a hot vampire mistress? Count me in,” Ash said.
As the girls discussed their favorite characters in leather, I meandered closer to the bar to eavesdrop on the boys.
Sal patted Angel’s chest. “You know what? You were right. Maybe focus on school over relationships for a bit before approaching that particular pigeon,” he said.
“You told me to go for it.” Angel said, brushing him off.
Sal tried to block him from returning to us. “No, man. You don’t understand. Victor is dating her sister.”
