Page 120 of Kiss Slay Replay

“Don’t bring me into this. This isn’t about me,” Cassie says, vaping. “And only when I’m away from the kid. For special occasions. Or in dire circumstances.”

“Why am I held to a different standard? Also, I’m not even going to smoke.”

“Then where are you going?”

“Yeah, Willa. Where are you going?”

“I’m going to…”

“Mm,” Cassie says. “That’s what I thought.”

“Fine.” I don’t have a better excuse, and I don’t have time to argue. I go to my suitcase and unzip it, feel around for my fob. I find it and stuff it into my pocket.

“Back!” Luke says, dragging the cooler across the threshold. “Look what I got.”

“Good,” Cassie says, reaching out. “Gimme.”

He passes her a canned cocktail. “Willa?”

He doesn’t wait for me to answer. He tosses me a can, and this time I’m ready. I catch it in one hand, crack it open, and take a sip. “Dude! Nice catch.”

“That was impressive,” Cass says. “Thanks, Luke.”

“Anything for you, babe.” He kisses Cassie’s cheek sweetly, then licks her.

“Ew!” she says.

He laughs and runs out of the room.

“He’s worse than Theo.”

“All right,” I say, setting my cocktail down on the coffee table. “I’ll be right back.”

I open the front door.

“Willa!” It’s Steph. I brace against the doorway to stop myself from crashing into her. “It’s so good to see you! I just came by to say hey to everyone. I saw Luke out my window with a cooler and was like, What are they up to?”

She ushers me back into the cabin.

“Get out of here, you look like a fucking dream,” Cassie says.

Evan starts to applaud. “You look beautiful. And here I was afraid I might upstage you.”

I take a step back toward the door, but Steph reaches for my hand.

Tick tock.

“I’ll just—”

Wyatt lumbers over and pulls us all into a big group hug that I can’t seem to wriggle out of.

Tick tock tick tock.

“I just want to say how much you all mean to me.” Steph wipes delicate tears from the corners of her eyes.

“Don’t,” Cassie says, fanning her face. “You’re melting my cold black heart.”

Tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock.