Page 29 of Lost in the Current of You

Reece popped into my head, and then I thought about the butterflies I felt when he slid his hand up my jaw and stood close enough to feel him everywhere around me. When he almost kissed me, even though he pulled back at the last minute, my lips tingled with the sensation like he had closed that distance.

I shook the thought from my head immediately.

“And that's two times too many.”

“Okay, so let’s meet in the middle then,” Avery interrupted, stealing the TV control to flick through the movies.

She threw out a few options before we settled on Fantasy Island.

We watched the movie in relative silence as we downed our pasta, and munched on the snacks and drinks scattered on the coffee table. It was about seven o’clock when the movie finished, and they both decided to stay the night.

The TV silently played an old episode of How I Met Your Mother as we chatted.

“I cannot wait for your birthday next week. We’re going to throw the biggest party and get drunk as shit,” Alex grinned as he plucked a salt and vinegar chip from the packet on his lap.

Avery and Alex had taken it upon themselves to organise a party at my house. I didn’t have to do anything about it since they reassured me that they would handle it. I didn’t know whether to be relieved, or scared.

“It better not be big. I do not have the patience to clean up that aftermath, and I don’t want a bunch of strange people in my house,” I warned him, but I caught the side-eye he shot Avery, and I narrowed my gaze at him, to which he smiled innocently.

“Alex, I swear to god?—”

“Relax,” he interrupted, smiling from ear to ear. “I didn’t invite anyone you don’t already know. I wouldn’t do that.”

I huffed, “Good.”

“I did send a few invites to a few more people, though, for you,” he shrugged.

My eyes narrowed on him again. “Who?”

He smiled again. “Reece, Jake, and Sage. I thought you might have liked them to come. I had to Facebook stalk them.”

I sagged against the couch in relief before a mix of emotions fluttered through me. “Oh.”

“Oh?”

I shrugged, not knowing what else to say. I didn’t even think to invite them, but I was glad they were coming. Though, after what happened at the game, I didn’t know how to really feel. I still felt hurt by Reece’s words, even if they were true. I just didn’t expect him to throw them in my face like he did. I thought he knew how I felt about the situation between Liam and I. I thought he knew how much guilt I felt from what I did to him.

But clearly, he still felt a tiny bit of resentment towards me for hurting his best friend.

“I thought you might have liked them to come,” Alex paused, eyes flickering over my face for a moment. “But I can uninvite them if you’re not comfortable?”

I shook my head immediately. “No. No, it’s fine. They’re friends. Why wouldn’t I want them to come?”

I could tell the smile on my face was strained and, by the look on Avery and Alex, they could see right through it.

I don’t know why I didn’t tell them about what happened. Maybe because I thought I was overreacting, or that I deserved it. I’m not sure.

But, I shrugged off the concern that they threw my way and steered the conversation back to my birthday.

I was the first one of us to turn eighteen, therefore I couldn’t go out since there was no one to go with me yet. But I was happy to just have a small get-together at my house to celebrate.

Alex had wanted to make it a surprise party originally, but I had caught him talking about it with someone at school, inviting them to come the night of my birthday. He denied it at first before spilling it all.

“Okay, so, on the topic of your birthday,” Avery interjected. “What do you want? We’ve brainstormed everything we know you would like, but everything just seemed too basic of a present. What’s something you want that would mean a lot to you?”

The question stumped me. I was terrible at gift-giving myself, let alone knowing what I wanted. That’s all I’ve been worried about lately, what I wanted.

I shrugged. “I don't know. Maybe a camera or something. Anything is fine, really. Whatever you guys get me, I’m sure I will love it.”

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