Page 9 of Picture Us

It was going to be a long night if Shannon and Rose kept up like this. Twenty minutes in and they were already getting noticeably handsy.

Drew shook their head. “Pass me a beer.”

Diana saluted her friend and slid a bottle across the sticky table. Pulling a bottle opener from their pocket, Drew carefully ripped the cap off. They lifted the cold glass to their mouth, unable to stop their mind from wondering what Rose’s lips felt like.

Drew took a few more swigs.

“Let’s fucking dance.” Diana laughed.

6

ROSE

“That’s kind of crazy,”Shannon shook her head as she took a drink.

Rose shrugged. “I know, I really would have thought Ellen would’ve told me she was planning on proposing, because then I could have stopped them from wasting money on two photographers.”

As she talked, Shannon’s eyes started wandering around the room.

The music had somehow gotten louder as the dancing in the room had gotten closer and sweatier. At some point, Diana and Quinn turned the kitchen island into a beer pong table, and now they were enlisting Drew’s help to complete the match.

Rose kept an eye on the match from across the apartment, watching Drew nudge the blonde that sidled up to be their partner. Her chest tightened as Drew’s arm wrapped around the woman.

Grabbing Rose’s hand, Shannon led her to the living room where a few others danced to the loud music. As they swayed, Rose couldn’t help but notice how much drunker Drew was getting by the minute.

Certainly not what I pictured Drew’s extracurricular activities would be like.Rose rolled her eyes as she tried to focus on Shannon’s hand on her hips.

But something about the way Drew was smiling at the blonde made Rose angry.

The song stopped, and the familiar notes ofCall Me Maybeblared over the speakers.

Drew slammed their plastic cup onto the butcher block counter. “This is my song!”

Before Rose could even process what was happening, Drew was invading the dance floor and belting the lyrics. As they danced, they worked the crowd, holding a fake microphone to various partygoers’ mouths so they could add their voices to the cacophony of screaming.

Rose raised an eyebrow. Clearly, Drew knew these people pretty well. They’d probably been partying together since they were in college.

Tucking a stray hair behind her ear, Rose looked down at her feet.

Once the song ended, Drew threw their hands down on Diana’s shoulders. “Dude. I love you so much! Do you understand that?”

“I loveyouso much!” Diana cackled at a joke that no one else understood. Before Rose knew it, the pair had wrestled into a tight hug.

At least I know they are capable of being nice.It should be a comfort to know that Drew was actually a human being with feelings and not some self-centered douche. But somehow, it got under her skin more.

Wanting a break from the sweaty living room, Rose wandered to the kitchen for a glass of water. The few drinks she had weren’t helping her feel looser. She wasn’t sure anything would. This was Drew’s turf, and they had made that patently clear.

The longer Rose watched them throw down to the music, the more convinced Rose became that it was all an elaborate performance to make her feel left out.

Shannon sauntered over and roughly rubbed Rose’s arm. “Wanna get out of her?” Her words were starting to slur together.

Rose nodded, and the pair headed for the door. But Shannon stopped in her tracks halfway toward the exit. “Do you want to say bye to your… co-worker?”

“No,” Rose’s nose scrunched in disgust as she glanced at Drew’s beet-red face across the apartment. “I just want to go home.”

As soon as the front door swung open, Rose and Shannon were greeted by the chilled air of the hallway. Chilled was an exaggeration. Rather, the hallway wasn’t a sauna like Quinn’s apartment.

They made their way down the steep, winding stairs, and once they exited onto the streets of Astoria, Shannon gave Rose a peck on the cheek.

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