Page 3 of Somewhere in the Sunset

“Nah, he just needed a second to himself,” Cameron answers, and we exchange a glance. I’m always grateful he has my back. Not that Adam and Brooks don’t, but Cameron is always the one I go to with any worries. The one I can talk to without fear of judgment.

I take the shot of tequila without hesitation. Maybe if I get blackout drunk like Adam, I’ll forget about her. The others follow, slamming their shot glasses down on the table.

Brooks involuntarily gags. “It’s official. I can’t drink like I used to.”

“I’m just glad you’re here,” I say, clasping his shoulder. Brooks is now the only one in a committed relationship and he only ever joins us guys for beers on special occasions. He’s a hard guy to pin down, because his girl comes first. Mine didn’t.

“Hey, you need us for moral support tonight. I had to be here. But you.” Brooks raises his middle finger to Adam across the bench. “Stop buying goddamn shots.”

Adam grins in that usual, overly confident way of his. “Oh, baby, we’re just getting started! The night is still young. Temple is calling our names!” He turns to the group of college girls sharing the other half of our picnic table. “Where are you girls heading later? Wanna come with us to Temple? Our buddy right there” – he points to me – “is heartbroken because his girlfriend just dumped him.”

“He’s so insensitive sometimes,” Cameron mutters, and Brooks nods in agreement.

The girls let out a chorus of “awws” and pout their lips at me in sympathy. “Sorry about your girlfriend,” one of them says, and I only offer a tight smile in return before chugging the remainder of my beer from earlier. It’s warm and gross.

“So where do you guys go to school?” Adam proceeds to ask the group, getting up from the bench to walk down to the other end of the table. I stifle a laugh at how predictable his moves are. He just wants to be closer to the little brunette on the end.

And then he does it – he sits his ass down on the corner of the table. A Zeitgeist sin.

“Ah, fuck,” Brooks says, smothering a hand over his face.

A nanosecond later, the bouncer is grappling with Adam to remove him from the patio. Cameron, Brooks and I calmly finish our beers, grab our stuff from the table, and then follow Adam out onto the street. This is the only way we ever make an exit from Zeitgeist – following in the wake of Adam’s careless behavior, and as always, not one apology leaves his mouth. He wipes his hands on his jeans and points down the street, muttering something about the club we’re heading to having a hotter crowd anyway.

I trail a little behind until Cameron waits up for me, syncing his steps to mine. “Head up, Weston. You’ve still got us, even though Adam’s value is questionable.” He scoffs and nudges his elbow into my ribs. “Shake her off and try to have some fun tonight for your own sake. You’ll feel much better if you can get through the rest of tonight without thinking of her.”

I tilt my head back to the dark sky. Cameron’s right, but he so often is. I’m already out and I can either continue to be miserable, or I can push her to the back of my mind and start embracing this new life without her. Even if I have to fake it at first.

I glance at Cameron out of the corner of my eye and force a smile. “The women at Templearehotter.”

He thumps me on the back of my shoulder and says, “Attaboy!”

I can survive without Charlotte.

I have to.

I will.

GRACIE

It’s a breezy, chilly evening in San Francisco and as I step out of the Uber, I grit my teeth and hug my arms around me. I never want to give in and wear a jacket, so I suck it up and bear the chill in the air to avoid the inconvenience of checking in a jacket at the door.

It’s how you know who’s local and who’s visiting from out of town. The locals? We’re cold, but we don’t complain. The visitors? They stand in line for the club, teeth chattering in confusion. They think:California? In July? It’ll be ninety degrees!And so they step off the plane at the airport in their shorts and sun hats and immediately rush to the first store they find to invest in some jeans and sweatshirts. They can blame the Bay Area’s marine layer. It’s why we have so much fog.

I nervously adjust the hem of my dress. I go a little too hard on leg day at the gym, but it pays dividends – Ilikemy legs, even though they are three inches shorter than I’d like them to be. The dress Elena and Maddie picked out for me is of course the sultriest dress I own. Flatteringly tight fitted with spaghetti straps and a cut-out just below my breasts, revealing a flash of skin. All black, because is there anything sexier than a black mini dress to boost your confidence when your self-esteem is on the floor? My feet hurt in my heels already. But they make me five foot seven instead of five foot two, so the blisters are a fair trade-off.

“Where are you going?” Elena asks, clutching my elbow.

I point down the street, beyond the general admission line that snakes all the way down the sidewalk and around the corner. Cheat Codes is the guest DJ tonight. We probably won’t even get in. “The line starts back there.”

“Standing in line? On your birthday?” Elena says with a snort, and Maddie grins as though they’re dangling a secret over my head. “This way!”

They fall into step either side of me, locking their arms with mine, and guide me past the general admission line, the line for those with tickets, and toward the bottle service entrance. We walk straight up to the suited VIP host.

“Hi, ladies! Do we have a table tonight?”

“We do! It’s under Elena Morales. The rest of our group should already be inside.”

I narrow my eyes suspiciously at Elena, who makes a conscious effort to completely ignore me as the host checks his tablet, so I turn to Maddie instead, who can’t wipe the giddy smile off her face. “What the hell have you guys done?”

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