Page 71 of Fun at Parties
“She dragged us to the middle of the sunflower field at threea.m.so we could send them a message of peace,” Kyla says. “She had me record it on my phone. All she did was sing Enya.” Kyla’s shoulders shake with laughter, and the messy nest of a bun on top of her head flops forward. She’s still in yesterday’s clothes. Livvie is cackling so hard a chewed-up piece of melon flies out of her mouth, landing in Kyla’s hair. They both shriek until Livvie plucks it out.
A pang of envy passes through me. It’s been forever since Bailey and I had a morning like this, reveling in our hijinks from the night before. I don’t miss how uncertain my life felt in college, but I do miss rolling out of bed and spending the entire day watchingVanderpump Ruleswith her, debating whether to text someone with a nickname like “New Balance Brad” and planning our theme parties.
I miss my best friend. And maybe I’ve been avoiding her because talking to her makes me feel bad. But I think not talking to her has made me feel worse in ways I didn’t realize.
Once Livvie settles down, she wipes away tears and turns her attention to me with a wicked smile. “Morning.”
“Morning.” I can feel my cheeks turn redder than the bathroom tile.
“How was your stay in the Laguna Boys Cerezita Rumsuite? Brought to you by Laguna Boys Cerezita Rum, of course.”
“Oh, five stars,” I squeak.
“Really.” She drags out the word with relish. “Damn, Nate.”
Kyla pinches her ankle, Nate shakes his head, and I bury my face in his shoulder. He slips his arm around me in a very boyfriend-y way. It affects me as much as every other way we’ve touched in the last twenty-four hours, setting off a supercut of mental images of a different sort: us falling asleep on the couch together, going on double dates with faceless L.A. friends, picking out a Christmas tree. Things that will never happen.
“What happened when you saw Logan?” Kyla asks. “Nate started to tell us before we rudely steered things off-track.”
“He blew us off,” Nate says. “In his usual way. Said he had to dance.”
“Something about exploding…” I struggle to recall. And then Logan’s cryptic statement springs to mind. “He also said it was his last hurrah. Does anyone know what he’s talking about?”
“Maybe this is the end of his trip,” Nate ventures. “I wonder if he’s going to Seapoint early. Or back to Austin, then flying in for the party?”
Livvie shakes her head. “No. He told Max he’s going to Nashville to see Breanne.”
Nate groans, but my ears perk up.Breanne.I sit back and angle my phone so Nate can’t see me pulling up her Instagram profile, swiping through the grid until I find what I’m looking for. Yes. Breanne is one of the mostpopularBeach Housealumni, and like I thought, she has a brand partnership with All & Every Activewear.
Everyone else is speculating about the purpose of his visit and how annoying the fan reaction is going to be. I look up and nod occasionally, but the wheels in my head are turning. CycleLove has strict standards for instructor endorsement deals—no cheap sunglasses or flat-tummy tea. I’ve never been high-profile enough to garner a big one, but things are different now, and a fitness apparel deal is the dream. All & Every’s clothes are cute, decent quality, and reasonably priced, and another income stream would help me pay off my debt faster and establish my brand independent of CycleLove. Tracy’s recent ideas aren’t sitting right with me, and I need to make some moves of my own.
All & Every follows me, since I wear their stuff a lot and tag them in my posts, and they liked my last couple pictures. But they’ve never reached out. Maybe what I need is an introduction from Breanne, something that feels organic.
A dent appears between Kyla’s eyebrows. “I hate to speculate, because I don’t want to get your hopes up based on a guess,” she says slowly. “But what if by ‘last hurrah,’ he meant that after this trip, he’s planning on settling down a bit? And, you know…taking over the camp? With you?”
“So this cross-country tour has been him getting all the partying out of his system so he can tell his parents he’s ready to buckle down and work?” Nate rubs his jaw. “If that’s his plan, I wish he would tell me.”
“He has seemed kind of lost for a while now,” Livviesays. “And the last time I saw him in L.A., he told me he knew he needed to get serious about something. That he didn’t want to just be the guy from theBeach Houseforever. He just didn’t know what to get serious about.”
Nate sighs. “If that’s what he’s doing, it’s pretty inconsiderate. I’m meeting with his parents in less than two weeks. I need to present something to them. He can’t just swoop in that day and say ‘ta-da, I’m here, hand over the keys!’ ”
Livvie tosses a grape into her mouth. “I mean, maybe he can. They’re his parents.”
She may be right, but I know that’s not how Nate wants to do it. He’s taking this seriously. Taking himself seriously. He needs a straight answer from Logan, and I need to meet Breanne before my fifteen minutes of notoriety are over.
We look at each other, and I can already see Kansas in our rearview mirror.
Nate’s the one who says it. “One more try?”
Tim’s car looks like a full-on swamp creature, so we stop for a quick drive-thru wash on our way to the interstate.
“Okay, this is an important decision.” Nate studies the sign outside his window. “Super, or Super-Duper?”
I crane my neck. “What does Super-Duper get you? As long as Tim’s car ends up clean, I’m good.”
Nate slides his credit card out of his wallet. “I can’treally tell, but the Super-Duper is six minutes and the Super is four. It’s time to follow through on option C, so how long do you think we’ll need?”
I make a hairball-in-throat noise.Option C: talking about it.“Wow. Okay. My usual preferred venue for debriefing after a hookup is the dry cleaner, but I know you’re a traditionalist, so we’ll stick with the car wash. Classic.”
