Page 51

Kylie

“Hold on, hold on, hold on.” Gia throws out her arm. She’s moved past tipsy and is even bolder than she normally is sober. “Let me see that.”

I hold my phone out to her so she can see the Instagram profile I just pulled up. I’d told the girls about our run-in with Crystal, and they were all exceptionally annoyed by her trying to make me feel small.

Gwen leans in close to Gia so she can see too. Her jaw drops as she scans the posts. “How has she not been banned from the platform yet?”

“Because every post gets a shit ton of engagement and they’re just cagey enough that she’s not exactly going against the rules,” I respond.

Willa grabs my phone so she and Farrah can look too. “She’s definitely skirting the lines though. Look at that one.” Turning the screen around, she shares one of Crystal’s posts where she’s carefully contorted herself to keep all the important parts of her naked body from showing.

“That’s not skirting the line, that’s pushing your whole body right against it,” Gia says.

“I’m still stuck on her talking about some secret group chat Gray was part of. Why would she say that when he’s standing right there?” Farrah asks.

Willa makes a face. She and I are the only sober ones in the group. “She was probably trying to make Kylie doubt her relationship with Gray. Unfortunately, a lot of men think it’s fine to be dating multiple women simultaneously and not tell them.”

“Aw. That makes me kind of sad for her. To have that be your dating experience so often that the practice is commonplace is just horrible,” Farrah says.

Gia wraps her arms around Farrah in a tight hug that Farrah returns. “I love your soft heart. Don’t ever change.”

“The dating pool is definitely full of puffer fish,” Gwen laments.

The rest of us stare at her, questioning her metaphor. It’s Gia who finally says, “You wanna explain that one, honey, ’cause I’m too drunk to understand.”

Willa says, “I’m not drunk, and I don’t get it either.”

“Oh, you know those little fish. They swim around all cute and stuff until they suddenly turn on you and attack.”

Farrah tilts her head. “Gwen, did you mean to say piranha?”

“I thought that’s what I did say…”

“You said puffer fish, not piranha, love,” Willa kindly corrects. It makes us burst out laughing until I have to cross my legs to keep from peeing myself.

“All right. You five are having entirely too much fun over here,” Holt’s brother Nix teases. He drops an arm over Farrah’s shoulders and gives us his patented panty-melting smile. He’s been working on it since he was ten, the little shit.

With his wavy blond hair and blue eyes, the man is a heartbreaker. He has a certain reputation for being a player, but he’s secretly got the soul of an artist, which is fitting, given that’s what he teaches at the high school. He keeps everything surface-level because his insides are as squishy as a marshmallow. He’s only a couple of years older than me, and one night when we were teens, we got drunk and spilled our guts to each other. After that, I understood him a whole lot better.

“Paws off, Basil,” Knox growls.

Nix quickly lifts his arm and plants it on my shoulder instead. “So touchy, Grumpy Bear.”

Knox responds by pulling Farrah into his chest. She snuggles into him, happy as can be with his display of possessiveness.

I crane my head back to look at Nix since the top of my head only reaches his shoulder. The conversation turns to the plans for Halloween night, so I ask Nix quietly, “You good?”

The corner of his mouth lifts, but his smile doesn’t reach his eyes. “I’m just great, little sis.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Liar.”

That gets a little chuckle out of him. “I’ve been better, but I’ve certainly been worse. I’m glad you’re home. How’s the little one?”

I palm my belly. “Perfect.”

“Do I need to growl at you too?” Gray asks with a teasing laugh.

“Nope, you can just come cuddle with us,” Nix jokes.