Page 44 of Fun at Parties
“I’m not sure,” she says. “I haven’t been up there in a while.”
“The ice cream truck is here!” someone hollers, and half the party heads for the front door. I grab Nate’s arm and pull him in the other direction.
“There’s a roof deck,” I explain. “We should check to see if Logan is up there.”
“Sounds good. You’re done taking pictures with all the single girls?” His voice is teasing, so I elbow him in the side.
The music and voices fade as we climb the steel-and-wood floating staircase to the second floor. I can feel the questions radiating off him, but he holds them in. There’s no point in hiding anything from him, though.He’s leaving.
“Go on,” I say. “Ask what you want to ask.”
He pauses on the landing. “I’m trying to give you privacy, but I’ll be honest. I’m curious. I know you said there was some controversy with Caleb and a video, but it seems like I missed some details.”
“Why didn’t you just Google it in secret like a normal person?”
“Because I was trying to actually give you privacy, not just pretend to?”
The roof deck is up one more flight of stairs. Outside, there’s a seating area to the right. String lights crisscross the space overhead, and brass lanterns flank each sofa. Potted trees and shrubs dot the space in between the patio furniture and, on the other side of the deck, a counter-height table against the railing, overlooking the neighborhood. A few people are sitting there, chatting quietly.
“No Logan,” Nate says.
“Shit. Sorry. If he went to the airport, I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”
I reach for the door, but Nate shakes his head. “Let’s stay here for a bit. It’s…a lot down there. I haven’t fully recovered from Vegas yet.”
The empty sectional does look appealing. I plop down and pull my phone out of my pocket, finding a text from Tracy:Brilliant. Your travel video had depth, and this maintained the fun vibe. The balance is key. More.My stomach twists into a knot.
Nate sits next to me. “Will you tell me what happened?” His face glows under the lights like warm honey.
I lick my lips, my mouth suddenly dry. “Has anyone ever told you something about yourself, and it’s something you’ve never noticed, but as soon as they say it you know it’s true?”
He gives me an uncertain nod.
“No, really. Do you know what I mean?”
“I work with children,” he says. “All they do is roast me with complete accuracy. This summer they told me that when I get excited, I look like Sven fromFrozen.”
“Is it actually roasting if someone tells you that you look like a Disney prince?”
He snorts. “Sven is the reindeer.”
“Ouch.”
“So who told you something you never noticed about yourself?”
“Caleb.” My voice is scratchy. I clear my throat. “The breakup was bad enough. It made me feel so clueless. And then a few weeks later, somebody posted the video. I had to come to terms with what he said knowing that all these people—CycleLove fans, people who just love gossip—were wondering if it was true too.”
“It wasn’t just the public embarrassment,” he says. “He made you feel like there was something wrong with you.”
I hug my knees to my chest. “I thought I could handle it, but I was wrong. I exploded one day on the bike and kind of yelled at everyone taking my class about relationships. Tracy put me in time-out, which is why I’m taking this trip.”
The furrow between his brows gets deeper the more I talk, as I tell him about my rant going viral and Tracy encouraging me to shed my Quinn Ray of Sunshine skin and slip into this shiny new Single Girl Quinn persona.
“Wait, can we back up? What did Caleb say in the video?” he finally asks.
I swallow. “I’m afraid it’s always been obvious to everyone else, just not to me.”
“If it helps, I’d be happy to enumerate Caleb’s flaws for an audience. Number one, at your CycleLove welcome party, he referred to a cup of plain blueberries as atreat.”
