Page 59 of Never Let You Go

He stops in his tracks but doesn’t turn around. “Skye doesn’t like any woman who gets near me.”

“Of course. Just thought you should know. I said you were an adult and free to have other adult friends, and that doesn’t mean you love her less.”

“Emma is my accountant.”

“Right. But still, I asked her if she’d love you more if she didn’t have any friends. And she said no, it wasn’t possible. I showed her how it was the same for you, and she understands that now.”

He nods. “That was unnecessary, but thank you.”

“Why was it unnecessary?” I push.

His gaze avoids me, and he runs a tired hand through his hair. “You know and I know and even Skye knows, there is no space for a woman in my life.”

I wouldn’t know about that, so I’m not about to give him the wisdom speech that would come at this precise moment in a sappy movie. Something about making space for what’s important in life? Still, I’m ashamed to admit the relief that floods through me. Having a first-row seat to a romance unfolding between Christopher and Emma would have sucked.

I need to snap out of this, fast. As Christopher slides into Skye’s bedroom, I rush upstairs and pull out my skimpiest dress, a strapless, sequined little thing that molds my ass just so. Cassandra’s lingerie, because it makes me feel like a goddess.

And a pair of fuck-me pumps that will replace my sensible boots once I’m inside the pub.

The night is mine.

Justin eyes me with a question in his eyebrows that I answer by ordering a drink and wandering around the packed room. The crowd is fun, swaying to the music while patrons take turns following lyrics with varying degrees of harmony and success.

Drink in hand, I spot the usual suspects at a high table. Grace, Kiara, Willow, and Haley wave me to their table from across the room. They’ve folded me into their group like an old friend, and it feels good.

“Is Sophie coming?”

“She’s probably in bed already,” Kiara says.

“Or writing another story,” Willow offers.

Grace sums it up. “She never goes out.”

A string of pop songs lifts the tempo, and I find myself jumping up and down halfway through my drink. Does Christopher like to dance? Did he dance with Emma, which would explain the lipstick on his shirt? A slow dance will do that. I down my drink just as Kiara comes back to the table with a tray of shots.

Thank god for Kiara. She downs hers and heads for the mic.

The shots help me forget that for the first time, I find it hard to just enjoy the little things and be okay with everything else.

“Wanna go next?” Grace asks, looking at the stage where Kiara is destroying Taylor Swift and doing so with no shame at all.

Nope. Not me. I shake my head.

“Come on, you could use some fun, yeah?” Willow says.

Kiara wraps it up, and her eyes fall on me. “Yo, Bambi,” she says into the mic. “You’re next.”

Nope. I shake my head. “Give it up for Bambi, you guys!” she says with laughter in her voice. “Alek-zaaaaandra!”

The bar erupts in applause, and it seems everyone is looking at me.

I guess I’m the new person in town. Probably everyone knows my name.

I still shake my head, no.

“You don’t wanna chicken on Kiara,” Haley says. “She’s like a dog with a bone. Won’t let it go. Here.” She hands me yet another shot, and with that liquid courage, I make it to the small stage.

The girl in charge of the karaoke smiles as I grab the mic. “Life Ain’t Fair” by Maddie & Tae pops on the screen. She questions me with a look, and I nod. How did she know I liked that song? Even if I’m bound to sing off key. The music starts and right away the bar crowd sings with me, covering my voice, as if they knew I needed this.

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