“Uh, it’s a Valentine’s thing, but before you say no,” she rushed on, “it’s a good cause. A children’s hospital thing.”
Savannah flipped a gilded invitation into my hands. The card stock was thick, and dark red letters on a faint pink background gave the time and place with a dress code requirement of black tie.
“Luke,” I whispered and traced the words with my fingertips. Would he be there? I couldn’t imagine him being at every event in the state, but I’d run into him so many times before. Would I risk it?
Would I survive?
“I dunno.”
“I doubt he’d be there,” Savannah said, applying pink shadow to Percy’s eyes.
“Why not?”
She shrugged, not taking her eyes off her task. “It’s not the same as those other events. The same company, I mean.” She straightened and winked. “I got a new contract. He kept showin’ up before, but those were planned by Creative Style. This one’s different.”
I reckoned that made sense, but I was clueless about the event industry. The prospect of not seeing him was worse, though. God, I was a mess.
“Fine,” I bit out and stomped to my closet. My tux was even more ill-fitting since I’d lost weight from the last time I’d worn it.
Savannah offered to do my makeup, but I vehemently declined. No fucking way would I do that again. I gave in when it came to my hair, but hell no on anything else.
“Is that a new dress?” I asked as Savannah worked her magic. She wore a red, slinky thing that had Dorian’s eyes bugged.
“Uh, yeah,” she said, somewhat evasively, but maybe she was focused on making me pretty. I was reading too much into it. Too nervous. Too excited too.
She finished with my pompadour, and Dorian asked, “We ready?”
Percy gushed over how hot I was, and Dorian rolled his eyes. Savannah called him out for acting jealous and that it made him gay. But Dorian wouldn’t be ruffled. I applauded him forknowing himself well enough to not give in or get offended by being teased so much.
A black SUV waited for us in front of the dorm, and the suspicion that this was more than they were letting on wiggled inside my brain once again.
Dorian’s family had money, but Savannah didn’t. I didn’t. Percy didn’t. Who was paying for this ride? Where had Percy and Dorian gotten their perfectly fitting tuxes? And the new dress? Savannah evaded every time I asked, and then Percy would distract me with something outrageous.
Or maybe I was still bruised and uncertain all around, disbelieving, and raw from—Luke.
Twenty minutes later, we pulled under the porte cochere in front of a hotel I didn’t recognize. Everything was decked in red, pink, and silver, with a large sign announcing the Sweetheart Rose Ball.
“A ball? Really? You said party,” I accused.
“Eh.” Savannah shrugged. “It should be fun.”
Dorian nodded. “Free food and booze.”
My stomach rolled. This was a bad idea.
We unloaded and followed a stream of other guests in their tuxes and glittery dresses. More than one group checked us out, but I was determined not to let it bother me. I doubted I would find Luke’s parents here, but every older couple seemed to judge us as if they saw past the outerwear to our merger net worths.
And I hated that my view of people was forever skewed, tainted. Thatthatwas my initial thought of these strangers when it never had been before. Maybe they had RBFs, or maybe their upper lip really did stink, as Momma would say.
Dorian and Savannah left me and Percy to grab drinks at the open bar.
“They better not come back with mocktails,” I grumbled. “I need strong shit.”
“I’m still three years away from drinking legally.”
“Oh, right. I missed your birthday. Sorry ’bout that.”
Percy shrugged. “Whatever. No matter how many I have, I never catch up.”
