Page 33 of Groupthink

I frowned. Ah, there she was.

He’s too good at this, he’s probably slept with every girl here. Why do you think he’d ever be interested in a wallflower like you? He only wants to use you for one night and then get rid of you like a piece of garbage—

I pulled my phone out of my pocket to shut her up. A text badge from Effie bloomed on the screen:

Effie:Gurl he’s in luv w u!!!

My face flared. I couldn’t bear to look up from my phone. If I made eye contact with her, I might sublimate from embarrassment. Instead, I typed back:

Grace:Impossible. We just met.

Effie: K Spock

Grace:Don’t say our lord’s name in vain.

Effie:Don’t end ur texts with periods, u sound mad

Grace:I prefer to text in complete sentences.

Effie: (why-so-serious joker gif)

Effie: (let’s-put-a-smile-on-that-face joker gif)

Effie: (wanna-see-a-magic-trick joker gif)

Effie:Bet he’s got something bigger than a pencil 4 u tho

Grace: Gross.

I frowned. Why was everyone so crude? Why did everything in the world have to revolve around sex?

Effie:(sass emoji) (wink emoji) (kiss emoji)

Effie:Loosen up, have fun, live life, have sex!

Grace:I don’t want to have sex with him, I just like talking to him.

Effie: Liarrrrrr

Effie:Srsly, what’s better than sex?

Feeling understood.

“Grace?”

I nearly dropped my phone.

Sam reappeared with a boyish smile on his face and two amber drinks in his hands.

How the heck had he gotten evenmoreattractive in the few moments he was gone?

I wrapped my fingers around the cold, thick glass, quietly prepping myself to run mental sprints. “Th-thank you.”

“My pleasure,” he said as he leaned against the railing, crossing one ankle over the other.

Easy. Effortless. Casual. His pose put me at ease.

“Cheers, my dear.”

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