Page 113 of Beyond the Bright Lights

“Ugh, no,” Rebecca blanches. She tosses her long light brown hair over her shoulder and crosses her arms, laughably matching Jensen’s pose.

“Wrong. She came with me but we’re not here together,” Jensen answers with a cruel smile that makes Rebecca blush.

Interesting.

Rebecca clears her throat. “Um, yeah, the driver picking me up from the airport got a flat tire and they didn’t have another person to send right away. I was going to call an Uber but this one,” Rebecca explains, pointing her thumb at Jensen, “saw me waiting and insisted I ride with him.”

“What a nice young man,” Gram beams.

“That’s just what he wants you to think,” Rebecca adds.

“You know nothing about me,” Jensen snarls.

I take my attention away from the man and woman who clearly have a thing for each other, but pretend they don’t, and I scan the room. My friends and family laugh and eat and enjoy life together. My throat burns with tears, and I don’t think I’ve ever been happier.

We’re only missing . . .

Before I can finish the thought, the front door bursts open and Eloise barges in, not even knocking or ringing the bell. Gina peeks her head around the corner, spots Eloise and scowls then goes back into hiding. “Did I miss anything?!”

“Yes, your manners,” Bruno laughs, and Eloise flips him off.

She adjusts the expensive-looking camera she always has hanging around her neck these days. “Sorry, I’m late. My photoshoot was wild. The models they hired for the magazine spread apparently hate each other and they kept arguing. It took forever to get the right shots. I was so tired after all that, I needed a coffee and while I was in line, I met this cute girl—”

“Oh, so that’s why you’re late,” Mylan muses.

Eloise flips him off too. We’re immature. All of us, I swear.

“Anyway, I’m here now. Let’s get this little shindig started.”

“Be right back,” Mylan says quietly against my ear. He kisses my cheek and leaves to get our surprise.

I clear my throat. “I'm so happy you all could make it today."

"You forced us to be here," Jensen snorts.

"Yeah, basically threatened us if we didn't show up," Eloise adds.

I ignore them and keep talking. "Anyway, what I was trying to say is that we have some exciting news—”

“Oh em gee!” Ginger squeals. “Are you and Mylan engaged?!”

I narrow my eyes at her. “No.”

Rebecca gasps. “Are you two adopting a child?!”

“What? No.” I rub my temples. “Can y’all let me finish?”

“Oh, she’s angry-angry,” Ginger snorts. “Did you hear how thick her twang got?”

“Ugh, Mylan, will you just come out here already?”

Mylan rounds the corner, out of the hallway, carrying an adorable fluffy golden retriever puppy.

A collective ‘aww’ sounds from our friends and they huddle around Mylan to pet the pooch and get slobbery kisses from it.

“You got a puppy?!” Ginger croons.

“Lana got me a puppy. We’ve had him for a month now.” Mylan smiles at the animal and smothers it with kisses. We’re calling him Banana. Not my idea, but it was the first word that popped out of Mylan’s mouth. The way his face fell—and I swear hearts flashed in his eyes when I surprised him with the puppy—I couldn’t deny him anything he wanted. Even borrowing my nickname to name the dog.

---