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She giggles, still moving with me, and I want to do more—I want to kiss her, and stroke her, but the guys are heading back to the stage, so I release her reluctantly and join them, where we sing to the final part of the song.
The girls cheer, and we all take a bow, relieved and disappointed in equal measure that it’s over. But immediately the DJ starts playing another song. It’s Nine Inch Nails’ Closer, and so we shrug on our shirts and head back down to the girls.
I dance with Juliette for a few songs, and then Alex declares we should all change partners. I’m disappointed, but it’s all in good fun, so I dance with Aroha, and Missie, and Huxley’s wife Elizabeth, and Mack’s wife Sidnie, and all the others, to old and new songs.
I see Juliette from time to time during the evening, but there’s no chance to talk. It’s two a.m. before people start heading off. We all say goodbye and get into two minivans, but I discover that Juliette is in the other one. We seem destined not to be together.
When we arrive at the hotel where most of the guests are staying, we crowd into the elevators, then get out at our floors.
I see Juliette coming out of the other elevator. She glances at me, gives a small smile, then turns away and continues talking to Aroha as they head along the corridor in the other direction.
I turn and look at James, who purses his lips. “Sucks being single,” he says.
Aroha revealed at lunch today that he fell asleep on her when they were making out after the trivia night. I could tease him about it, but I’m hardly in a position to make fun of him for being single.
“Yeah.” I sigh. “Goodnight.”
“The van’s picking us up at 2:30 p.m., right?”
“Yeah.” It’s the wedding rehearsal tomorrow, followed by a buffet dinner and more partying.
“Okay, see you then,” James says, and he goes into his room.
I walk to the next one, wave my key card over the front, and go inside.
I toss the key card onto the table and walk into the room. It’s a standard hotel room, with a king-size bed in the middle, a sofa and a chair, a widescreen TV, and an ensuite bathroom. I could have paid to upgrade to one of the suites on the top floor, but everyone else is staying on this floor, and besides we’re not spending much time in our rooms, so I was happy to stay here.
After the excitement and buzz of the evening, I feel oddly flat. I’ve drunk more than I intended; it was impossible not to when Huxley was constantly topping up our glasses when we weren’t looking. So I’m feeling low because I’m tired, as well as because I didn’t get a chance to talk to Juliette. I’m still none the wiser about what’s been happening in her life. Maybe I should have demanded she come with me at the Heights so I could take her off somewhere quiet, but that’s not my way.
I remove my jacket, waistcoat, shoes, and socks, grab a bottle of water from the fridge, and drink a third of it in one go. I sit on the sofa for a moment, intending to check my emails and social media for five minutes before I go to bed.
I’ve just opened Instagram and I’m smiling at a photo that Mae Chevalier has posted of Damon standing on the stage singing when there’s a knock at the door.
Eyebrows rising, and wondering whether James has decided he needs a drinking partner, I go over to the door and open it.
It’s Juliette.
My eyes widen. “Hey!”
She moistens her lips with the tip of her tongue and glances nervously over her shoulder. She doesn’t want to be seen. “Can I come in?”
“Of course.” I move back, opening the door. She slips past me, eyes downcast, and walks into the room.
Heart pounding, I close the door behind her, then follow her in.
She walks past the bed, glancing at it briefly, then stands in front of the sofa. She wraps her arms around her middle—a defensive stance, her shoulders hunched. This evening she’s wearing a long, light-gray dress that sparkles in the light. Her eyelids also sparkle with glittery eyeshadow.
I rest my butt on the desk that stands against the wall. “Are you okay?”
She gives a short nod.
“You want a drink? Wine? Coffee?”
She shakes her head. “I know we didn’t get time to talk today, and I felt I owed you an explanation for why I haven’t messaged over the last few days.”
“Okay.”
She lifts her gaze to mine then. “On Boxing Day, when we got back from Cam’s parents’ place… I told him about us.”
