Sasha is leaning against her kitchen counter in flares and platforms. “What a shock to see you’re in town after all,” I deadpan.
She rolls her eyes. “I told Mir you hate surprises.”
“And I told Casey that sometimes she doesn’t know what’s good for her!” Miriam shouts from the half bath. She emerges seconds later in full costume—black crop top, shiny leggings, finger pistols to boot.
“How was that going to work, anyway?” Miguel asks. “You guys coming to our place when we were supposedly out of town?”
“What the fuck do you mean,our place?” Sasha asks him.
Miguel, dressed as some ambiguous movie star, blushes and grumbles something before he walks into the living room.
“I admit, the plan could have used some fine-tuning,” Miriam says. “Problem is, Casey’s always the one who does that shit.”
“It’s the thought that counts,” I say cheerily.
Sasha pulls me into her bedroom so I can change into my outfit:a chrome-white dress, flower crown, and sash that saysBIRTHDAY BITCH.
“Can I talk to you?” Benny asks when I make it back to the living room. “Tracy asked for a copy of my résumé today. Completely out of the blue, zero context given. I was scared to ask, and now I’m freaking out about why she’d want—”
“Casey!” Jude says, hugging me. Saving me. My stomach bottoms out when I spot Alex over Jude’s shoulder. He smiles, but every atom in my body has stuttered to a standstill. Is Tracy already job hunting for Benny?
I’ve met Jude, Benny’s boyfriend, exactly once, at a brunch drag show Benny invited me to before he banned me from coming to any more. (He said it gave him cross-pollination career panic.) “Can you please tell Benny to chill, and that Tracy loves him, and she’s probably just putting him up for a pay raise or something?” I am spared from lying through my teeth when Jude turns to Sasha, eyeing her drink. “Are you drinking Fireball out of a Healthy Habits water bottle?”
“It’s Jack Fire,” Sasha says.
Jude laughs. “You’re violent. I like you.”
That’s when Fari walks in with the insurance agent. She introduces him to us as Alfred, and he starts an ill-timed thirty-minute conversation with me like this: “So, Casey, what are your career goals for twenty-five?”
To have one,I think. When I look over at Benny fifteen minutes later, he’s half-drunk and jovial, but I can’t get rid of the protectiveness for him swelling in my gut.
Spot a solution Tracy can’t.
There’s still time. I’m not going to solve anything tonight, but there’s time.
When I manage to get within five feet of Alex, I’ve already gone through a drink and a half. He follows me over to the punch bowl, where I’m topping myself off.
“Hi.” His fingers brush mine as I pass over the drink ladle. He’s wearing a tie-dye T-shirt, light-wash jeans, and boots.
“Hi.” I bite my lip, stifling a giggle. “Where did you acquirethatoutfit?”
“Would you believe it? This is what I wore to Lollapalooza in high school.”
“Nice try, but I’ve already seen how sparse your closet is.”
“Which is why I had to procure the ensemble from Aunt Jane’s,” Alex says. “Are the cowboy boots doing it for you?”
Kind of.“In your dreams.”
He leans closer, looming over me. “Has anyone ever told you you’re a terrible liar? You better hope for the sake of this game’s longevity that you aren’t the killer. We’d collectively out you in seconds.”
“I can be deceptive when I have to be,” I say, frowning. Almost like I’m trying to convince myself that it’s true.
Alex looks across the room. “Am I meant to stay away from you tonight?”
My mind tumbles over itself. “What?”
He clears his throat. “Fari and Benny are here.”
