Page 44 of The Playbook

I stared up at her warily, wondering when her mean queen bitch act was going to start.

Abby pulled a pink envelope out of her purse and handed it to Nikki.

“I thought since it’s our final year together, I should invite you to my party. It’s one of the biggest events of the year.” She handed me the perfume-laden envelope.

I looked between the envelope and her, confused.

“What?” I asked.

“It’ll be fun. Not everyone gets to go. Logan mentioned you’ve never been to a party before so I thought this might be fun for you. You and Lana. You’ll have to share the invitation since I don’t really want to waste them.”

“How thoughtful of you,” Lana muttered.

“Logan?” I was so bewildered about what was happening.

“Tall. Gorgeous.Perfect.You know him.” She rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, I knowwhohe is. I just can’t figure out why you thought you should invite me—”

“Well, if Logan thinks you’re OK, then you must be. Consider this a trial run.” She tossed me a sugared smile that I didn’t quite believe.

“OK. . .”

“So we’ll see you there? It’s in a few weeks. I’m giving out the invitations early so everyone has plenty of time to organize their schedules around it.”

I didn’t respond, but it didn’t seem to matter because Nikki walked away, hips swaying in her pink skirt.

“What the hell just happened?” Lana asked, staring at me with wide eyes.

“I have no fucking idea,” I mumbled, glaring down at the invitation in my hand. “But I don’t think I like it.”

CHAPTER24

Logan

“You didwhat?” I asked Nikki as she smiled up at me.

“I invited Grace to my party. I’m trying to help you out. Andy was bragging about winning.”

“He’s not going to fucking win.” I sighed rubbing my eyes. “And what good will it do if Grace is at your party?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “But even if she’s not, I’ll be there. Maybe you and I can have a little fun.” She raked her nails over my chest.

I quickly pushed her hand away and shook my head at her. Her touch didn’t do shit for me like it used to. But hell, even that original spark was so minuscule I was surprised I’d felt anything at all.

“She won’t go to your damn party, Nikki.”

“Yes, she will. If you do your part, she’ll be there in a heartbeat. By then, you’ll have the win in the bag or the sack as it may be, and you can celebrate at the party. Doesn’t that sound like fun? Beating Andy?”

“Yeah,” I grumbled.

Something told me it wasn’t going to be fun though. I was having second thoughts, and I hated it.What if I was messing up something good?Like I could wreck the best thing I ever had before I even got to make a go of it.

“Plus,” she continued. “You’re supposed to humiliate her to get the final win. My party will be perfect for that.Everyonewill be there.”

I swallowed hard and shook my head. “I’m not going to humiliate her.”

Nikki rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to speak. The sound of the bell ringing drown out her words, words I didn’t give a shit about anyway.

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