Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 143382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 717(@200wpm)___ 574(@250wpm)___ 478(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 717(@200wpm)___ 574(@250wpm)___ 478(@300wpm)
Eric went right to the drink table to shake our cocktails.
I went right to the food table to get us some pudding.
“Uhhhhhh…”
I turned my head to see Raye in a red, off-the-shoulder, to-the-knee bodycon dress with long, puffed sleeves sidling close.
“What’s going on there?” she asked.
I aimed my eyes at her, then to where she was looking, and I saw Luna, in a glittery gold, plunge-front, floor-length dress standing behind the striped baubles with Knox.
They were both face to face, or more aptly, nose to nose.
Even from where we stood, halfway across the courtyard, it appeared they were also significantly ticked.
“Whoa,” I muttered right before I shoved some pudding in my mouth.
“I’ll say,” Raye agreed. “Then there’s that.”
She nodded her head toward Javi, who was smiling at Shanti, who was saying something. And about ten feet away, Harlow, in a seriously sparkly ice-blue number that looked like something Elsa from Frozen would wear, was standing with another resident, Jenn, and she was glaring daggers at them.
“Hmm,” I mumbled.
“I will note, Cap and I have been here for half an hour, and Javi tried unsuccessfully three times to make an approach to Harlow, and she instigated evasive maneuvers each time.”
God, my bestie could be a dufus sometimes.
I turned back to Raye. “Then she’s getting what she deserves.”
“It’s like two live-action Hallmark movies,” Alexis said as she came to stand with us.
She wasn’t wrong.
We all turned back to the baubles in time to watch Luna poke Knox in the chest before she stomped to Harlow’s apartment, entered it and slammed the door.
Knox watched this, then he stalked in the opposite direction and out the security gate.
Man, it had to be said, Knox was nearly as good at stalking as Eric was at sauntering.
Our attention shifted when Shanti’s musical laughter could be heard.
Javi was still smiling down at her.
Harlow, though, had a face that was crumbling, before she dashed across the space with almost as much grace as Alexis would do it, right into her apartment.
When her door closed behind her, I looked back to Javi.
He had his his eyes on Harlow’s door.
Shanti did too, and she looked concerned.
Javi looked contemplative, but he morphed to pissed, at who—himself for playing games, or Harlow for doing it—I didn’t know.
“He screwed the pooch on that one,” Eric muttered as he handed me my cocktail.
“Absolutely,” Cap said as he showed and offered a fresh one to Raye.
“Raye said she was avoiding him,” I noted. “He went the flirt-with-another-chick route.”
“Not a good call,” Jacob, also joining us, grunted, then he shot a flinch toward Alexis who leaned into him and put her hand on his chest in a nonverbal I’m over it, baby.
Oh yeah.
Right.
Jacob had pulled that shit with Alexis too.
“If you only got eyes for her, you should only have eyes for her,” Cap gave us some man wisdom.
“Yep,” Eric agreed.
Shanti showed at our group. “Is Harlow all right?”
“She’s into Javi,” I told her.
“Okay,” Shanti said like she didn’t get it.
“And he was flirting with you,” I pointed out the obvious.
Her eyes got big. “We weren’t flirting. We were just talking. He’s funny. He’s gorgeous. But really, he wasn’t flirting. I saw how he looked at Harlow, and it totally wasn’t that, not only because it wasn’t because he wasn’t taking it there, but because Harlow’s my girl, and I wouldn’t take it there.”
Good to know that about Shanti.
“Well, she doesn’t know that,” Raye said.
“And it looked like flirting,” I semi-repeated.
“Should I go talk to her?” Shanti asked.
I searched for Javi.
He was now chatting with Jeff, Linda and Rhea (Raye’s next-door neighbor) like he hadn’t just blown it huge, the big oaf.
“Let them figure it out,” Eric advised.
“I feel bad,” Shanti mumbled.
“Don’t,” I said. “It’s not on you. Really.”
“All right,” Shanti agreed, but I could tell she wasn’t committed to it.
Ugh.
Javi and Harlow both needed a kick in the ass. If they wanted to play games, great. But collateral damage wasn’t cool.
The music from the speakers cut out and the piano intro to The Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York” started playing from the direction of the stage.
We all turned to where the drums and amps were set up only to see Stella freaking Gunn at the piano with Buzz, the Blue Moon Gypsies’ bass player standing at a microphone ready to sing.
“Holy fuck,” I said.
“Holy shit,” Raye said.
“Oh my goodness,” Alexis said.
“Fucking hell,” Jacob said.
“Good Lord,” Shanti said.
Cap and Eric had nothing to say.
But Eric threw his arm around my shoulders, and when I tore my gaze from the makeshift stage to look at him, I saw his eyes on Stella and a huge smile on his face.
It only got bigger when Buzz began singing.
The rest of the band—Pong, Hugo and Leo—showed with their instruments and started playing just before Stella jumped in on the Kirsty MacColl part.