Page 57 of Joker in the Pack

“Okaaaay, maybe not. So, what else have you done? You’d have to have gone some to top that.” Her eyes widened as her brain went into overdrive. “Did you do something with one of your hot men? Oh, tell me you did.”

“Men? You make me sound like a hussy. I’ve only been out for dinner with Tate.”

She rolled her eyes. “Tate? What’s wrong with Warren? Tate sounds like Edward all over again.”

“You reckon?”

“Rich bloke in a suit, happy to splash the cash when it suits him.”

“Tate’s not like that.”

Maddie topped up my cup with another ladleful of punch. It was good stuff. And the more I drank, the healthier it was, right?

“You can’t just give me that and stop,” she said.

“There’s not much to tell.” But I couldn’t help blushing.

“So, have you done it?”

She didn’t hold back, did she? Mind you, she never had. “No, Miss Nosey, we havenotdone it.”

“Why not? You need to have a rebound fling to get Edward out of your system once and for all.”

“I’m not like you, Maddie.” Although sometimes I wished I were. Especially with Tate. I’d spent more than a few daydreams imagining him wrapped around me.

“Maddie! Olivia!”

I squinted at the girl teetering towards us on towering heels. “Rachel?” Another old school friend.

“Yes!” She thrust a garishly coloured cocktail into my hand. “Try this. We’ve been experimenting.”

“What’s in it?” I sniffed, but apart from a hint of coconut, I was none the wiser.

Her eyes flicked up as she tried to remember. “Uh… I don’t know. But there’s definitely alcohol.”

She collapsed in giggles as I tried a sip. There wasn’t anythingbutalcohol, judging by the way my throat burned.

“Just knock it back,” Maddie suggested.

Oh, what the hell? I’d stop drinking tomorrow.

Sometime later, I’d lost my shoes and also my inhibitions. Plus, I may have dirty danced with two guys I didn’t know then led a conga line around Valerie’s flat. Mickey had been right behind me, and now I spotted him on the improvised dance floor with a blonde girl I didn’t recognise. They only had eyes for each other. Aw, sweet.

I twisted an ankle staggering towards the punch bowl then gave in to gravity, collapsing onto a sofa between Maddie and Rachel before I’d managed to top my drink up.

“Did you see me?” I asked them. “I did the lift out ofDirty Dancing.”

Maddie choked on a laugh. “No, you tried to do the lift, and then three men caught you when the other one lost his balance.”

I giggled uncontrollably. “I know, and it wasawesome!”

“Are you only back for tonight?” Rachel asked. “I’ve missed you at events like this.”

“Yes, just the night. But I’ll try to visit more often.”

“At least you’re not with Edward now. He was the most boring man in the history of the world. You can let your hair down again.”

“Boring? Did you really think so?”

---