Page 164 of Bookworm

"Hey, isn't that your boyfriend?" Freya asked, gesturing to the crowd with her chin.

Sure enough, there was Dare, fully kitted out in regency wear.

"Took an hour to convince him to put on the costume," Viola said with a sigh.

"Handsome," Scarlett said with a sniff, "but also a distraction. Let's get it together ladies. We're about to go on."

As the song ended, we moved to take our seats, and Viola sidled up next to me with her cello.

"Thought I saw Bo out there," she said with a grin. "He looks gorgeous tonight."

"Yeah," I said, swallowing as I spotted him and Bianca together by the food table. Bo really did lookgoodin his suit. "Dashing,rugged, and totally unattainable."

Viola gave me a funny look, but before she could ask, we went into our first song.

As we began, the crowd listened politely. Then a few couples made their way onto the dance floor. One of them wasMrs. Lee and Shin. Meech, I noticed, was standing off to the side recording the whole thing. Then there wasBo and Bianca. If I'd thought I was dying before, that was nothing compared to now. It really was over. I knew it when she threw her head back, laughing at something he'd said, and my stomach clenched painfully.

We played three songs before we finished our set.

Bo danced with Bianca for two of them.

As the stereo system clicked on again, and music streamed through the speakers, I stood and moved to go back into the stacks.

"Hey," Scarlett said, "we just killed it. Where are you going?"

"Nowhere," I said, "just away."

"Why?"

"Bo brought a date."

"What?"

"He's here with someone, Scar," I said with a shrug. "It's no big deal."

"The hell it's not," she said. "I don't care who he's with. I know he wants to be with you."

I shook my head, but she was insistent.

"Seriously, Lotte, go talk to him," she said.

"I will later," I said, fighting back the stupid tears clogging my throat. "Right now, I'm just going to go for a second."

Scarlett let me leave, and I didn't waste any time, winding through the shelves, trying my best to escape the vision playing on a loop in my head. Bo and Bianca really did look nice together. Why couldn't I just be happy for them?

I didn't know whether it was fate or bad luck.

Probably a bit of both.

But on the next aisle I turned down, I ran straight into Bo.

He glanced up, looking unsurprised to see me.

"What are you doing here?" I said. "I mean, hi. Thanks for coming."

Bo nodded.

"Bored with the party already?" I forced a laugh. "Guess I need to do a better job next time."

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