“Please!” she begs. “I’ll buy you whatever you want. Do whatever you want. Just stop my mother.”
I groan before collecting myself. I’msogoing to regret this.
“Um, I will!” I say it loudly, and everyone’s eyes turn to me.Oh God.This is terrible.
“Oh.” Andrea says. “Fine, I suppose so.”
“I owe you my life,” Quinn says in my ear.
“You really do,” I reply through gritted teeth. Slowly, I walk to the stairs and try to think of what to say. Nate’s in the back of the crowd, watching me with widened eyes. He knows more than anyone that I hate this.
At least I’ll laugh about this later.
“Wow, what do I say about Quinn?” I begin. I’m asking myself more than anyone else. It’s not that I can’t talk about her, but a speech? Unprepared? This is the worst. “She’s just so incredible. She’s helped me through a lot, even this past week.” I let out an awkward laugh. Nate shakes his head in the audience.No talkingabout last week.Fair. “I never thought I would say this, but I’m so glad both of us had the worst teacher for algebra in college. Bonding over trying to figure out what she was saying is one of my best memories. I owe my degree to her. I owe a lot to her. She’s the best friend anyone could ask for. So, here’s to her. I hope you have the best birthday, Quinn.”
I raise a toast, proud that I didn’t completely mess it up.
I rejoin Quinn in the crowd. “Maisie ...” She trails off.
“Please tell me that wasn’t terrible. God, everyone was looking at me.” I shudder.
“You called me your best friend.”
I blink. “Kind of. Mostly. It’s true, though.” Especially since Nate is more to me now.
“Really?”
Oh, boy. “Uh, yeah. But don’t worry about?—”
“My turn, if that’s okay,” a man says. It’s the very voice Idon’twant to hear.
Fuck,Rob’s speaking. I haven’t seen him the entire time, and I’m not sure if that’s by design or if I’ve just gotten lucky.
“No,” Quinn says. “Anyone but him.”
Rob can’t hear her, nor would he care if he could. He walks in front of the crowd like he’s meant to be there. He’s wearing the same smile as he had in the video, and it sends chills down my spine.
“I can’t believe my sister made it to thirty. In all honesty, I thought she would stay eighteen forever. In some ways, she has.” He laughs and others join him. I can’t resist the urge to roll my eyes.
“But, you know, she’s my sister. So I’m here for her, even though I’ve had a”—his eyes find me in the crowd—“rough time lately, as you all know.”
“What the fuck?” Quinn asks.
I tense, wishing I could melt into the floor.
Or that Nate was with me.
“But, you know, I’m glad I came. I get to be here for my sister andsee something I needed to see. My relationship is over, but I’m happy to say that’s not the only thing that went downhill. To Maisie and Nate, may your friendship get the same ending I did.”
Something shatters on the ground, and I realize that I’ve dropped my champagne glass. I don’t even remember my grip going slack. All I know is that he’s just wished Nate and me theworst,on Quinn’s fucking birthday.
At first, I’m rattled. But I’ve had my fill of embarrassment for the evening. It quickly erupts into something else.
Something fiery.
“Oh, shit.” Quinn grabs me and pulls me away. “Can someone clean this up? Maisie, we should find somewhere to?—”
I don’t even hear the end of the sentence. I’m tearing after Rob. Maybe I’ll skin him alive. Maybe I’ll rip his dick off. I’m not sure which will be more satisfying.
