Page 94 of The Thought of You

“I’ll be singing one of my favorites tonight,” she says.

Daphne. She hardly ever comes to karaoke night, let alone volunteers to sing, but when she does, it’s truly something special. Her voice was made for the stage, although her taste in fashion does wonders at her boutique as well.

God just gave some women countless gifts.

The bouncy notes of “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” echo across the room, and Daphne dives right into the verse, without even looking at the screen for the lyrics.

Maren and I toss our hands up to cheer as loudly as possible—Daphne deserves the praise.

Many women open a space in the middle of the crowd in front of the stage. They grab their friends and dance to the fast-paced song, shaking their arms in the air and bumping their asses against one another.

“Should we?” I ask, hooking my thumb over my shoulder.

“Not even if I’d had three of these,” Maren deadpans and holds her glass up.

“Fine. I’ll just dance right here.” I shift from side to side on my stool, bopping my head along to the fun beat and sipping my drink.

On the other side of the dance floor, Owen and Nate laugh with a few women I strain to recognize from my seat.

I nearly slip off my stool in order to get a better look at their faces, and Maren catches my arm. “Dancing a little too hard, don’t you think?”

“Yes. Dancing. I was definitely not spying.” My laugh trembles out of me as I toy with the straw in my drink.

Maren nods toward Owen. “How is it going with him?”

“Going? Pfft.” I shake my head. “Nothing’s going on with him. We share a classroom, and that’s all, unless you count the fact that a student sent a volleyball flying right at my head last week. That was super fun.”

“Right,” she draws out. “You totally knew what I meant, though.”

I swallow around the lump in my throat.

She sweeps her long locks over her shoulder, leans in, and whispers, “Any more kisses with the enemy?”

Why did I have to tell her I kissed him? Lying to her now would be so much easier if she had no clue about us.

But how can I lie at all? Maren’s one of my best friends in the world. She was the one who saved me when I started my period while at school. I started several months before she and Caroline did, so none of us were prepared.

But Maren jumped into action. She discreetly asked the nurse for a pad, which she snuck underneath the bathroom stall door, and she waited for me to come out so I wouldn’t be alone.

She didn’t tell anyone. Not like Yvonne, who wouldn’t shut up about another girl in our class and the red stain on her ass. The monster told everyone she came into contact with.

A bump on my shoulder distracts us, and when I lift my eyes, I find Owen. “Sorry. Didn’t see you there, Lockhart.”

“How could you? When all you seem to notice are beer and tramps,” I shoot back.

He cocks a brow and nods his head toward the bathroom. I study Maren to make sure it’s a subtle gesture, but her attention is on something over my shoulder.

If I had to guess, I’d say she’s spying on Nate.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” I blurt, and a few heads swivel our way. Guess I said it louder than necessary. “Be right back,” I say at a lower volume and scurry toward the back, where Owen just disappeared.

I catch him just in time before he enters the one on the right.

His timing couldn’t be better, as he definitely rescued me from having to lie to Maren about us. Evading is totally not the same as lying.

Daphne draws out the final note long after the music ends, and the crowd goes wild with hoots and hollers. Many of them chant, “Encore!” before she’s even taken a breath.

With most of the bar preoccupied, I quietly slip into the bathroom, where two strong hands and a chiseled body press me against the back of the door.

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