Page 111 of Flirting Lessons

“Yeah, I’m sure one of us can get Erica home,” Taylor said. “And as for the shower, I’m happy Erica is having a good time; I was glad to do it.” Sam met her eyes, and they both laughed. “Okay, I was glad to do it in theend. Why don’t Avery and I help you get some of these presents in your car, so that Erica doesn’t have to worry about that later?”

Taylor, Avery, and Sam each grabbed two of the bags full of presents.

“I don’t know what most of this stuff even is,” Sam said on the way to the parking lot. “Guess I have a few months to figure all this out.”

“Seven weeks!” Avery said. “That is, unless Erica is late.”

Was that a flash of panic that she saw in Sam’s eyes?

“Seven weeks,” she said. “Right. I should know that.”

When they got to the car, Avery nudged Taylor.

“Do you want to head back and grab the rest, while we load everything into the trunk?”

“Good idea.”

Taylor could hear the chatter from the party as she walked back from the parking lot, and she smiled when she heard Erica’s high, infectious laugh. Even if she’d been upset about Sam leaving, she was okay.

“Okay, quick,” Liz said. “Before they come back, what do we all think of Taylor and Avery?”

Taylor stopped abruptly. She was torn between walking around the corner right then so they would all know she’d heard or waiting to see what they said. As she hesitated, the decision was made for her.

“I like Avery!” from Sloane. “She’s great!” from Callie. “A little uptight, but not bad” from Nadia. “Avery’s awesome, but Taylor usually has pretty good taste.” That one was from Erica. Taylor wasn’t sure if she’d added that last part because more than one of Taylor’s exes was at the shower, but she was grateful that Erica had stuck up for both her and Avery, and that the general response to Avery had been good. She was also grateful that Avery hadn’t heard all of this. It must have been hard for Avery to come to this shower, filled with people who all knew Taylor well, as her new girlfriend. She’d probably assumed that people would be gossiping about her, but it was one thing to assume that and another to hear it.

“Exactly,” Liz said. “Taylor does have pretty good taste, and Avery is great, but Taylor also never stays with anyone for very long. So how long do we givethisrelationship?”

Wow, thanks for that, Liz.As Taylor heard the laughter thatfollowed Liz’s question, she got more and more irritated, especially since she could identify most of those laughs. There was Liz’s laugh, Kelsey’s laugh, and—what the fuck?—Erica’s laugh. Erica? Seriously? Why was she laughing at that?

“I say only a few more weeks, if that,” Liz said. “She’s a little too innocent for Taylor, I think. Taylor will get sick of that soon.”

Despite her annoyance, Taylor laughed to herself at the thought of what Avery would say if she heard Liz call her innocent.

“I was going to say she seemed too well-adjusted for Taylor,” Kelsey said. “Not enough drama. I bet this will be over by the end of the month.”

What the hell, Kelsey?Now you couldn’t have torn Taylor away from her eavesdropping spot.

“Kelsey has a point,” Erica said. “And so does Liz. She’s not Taylor’s usual type; she might get bored with Avery.”

There she was with the fucking getting-bored thing again. Why would anyone think Avery was boring? Taylor had never once been bored in her presence!

“I don’t know, Taylor seems to really like Avery,” Sloane said.

Sloane was standing up for her? That was unexpected. Now Taylor felt even more guilty for being a bitch about her.

“You know Taylor, she’s no good at relationships,” Erica said. “I bet this pregnancy will last longer than their relationship.” She paused for a second. “Actually, really: Would anyone bet that their relationship will outlast this pregnancy? If so, raise your hands.”

What the fuck, Erica?

There was lots of laughter, and then silence, presumably while people were raising their hands. God, Taylor wished she could see through these damn bushes. After a few moments, Erica laughed. “Okay, if their relationship outlasts this pregnancy, each one of us will buy the two of you dinner. If it doesn’t, you two have to buythe rest of us dinner. Nothing too fancy, no French Laundry here, we don’t want to bankrupt you two!”

Everyone laughed in agreement, while Taylor just stood there, stunned. Not only had Erica suggested this bet, but she was on the side betting against Taylor. It was one thing when she and Taylor bet about Taylor’s love life, but this was different.

She couldn’t believe that, of everyone there, the one person who she knew was on her side was Sloane.

“Okay, we have a few more presents!” Speaking of Sloane, she was apparently eager to turn the conversation back to the actual point of the shower. Taylor turned and walked back toward the parking lot, but Avery was already coming toward her.

“Sam had to go,” Avery said. “What took so long?”

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