Page 4 of Count Your Lucky Stars
Elle didn’t have to worry about coming home to an empty apartment. A little over a year ago, she’d moved out of the place she and Margot had shared and in with her girlfriend, Darcy, at the same time Annie—Darcy’s best friend—had moved in with Margot.Thatarrangement had lasted a brief two months before Annie had moved in with her now-fiancé, Brendon, Darcy’s brother.
None of it would’ve happened had Margot and Elle, the voices behind the astronomically successful social media–based astrology business Oh My Stars, not partnered with Brendon’s dating app, One True Pairing, to incorporate astrological compatibility to the app’s matching algorithm two years ago. Not only had it been a smart career move, beneficial for both OTP and Oh My Stars, but Margot had also lucked out, finding a close friend in Brendon. And thanks to Brendon, Elle had met Darcy. Wins all around.
Except for the part where Margot was down a roommateand now came home to an empty apartment, ate dinner alone more nights than not, and had started saying good night to her plants. An admission she could kick herself over confessing to Elle, the reason behind this whole conversation.
“Maybe I’ll get a cat,” she mused, stepping out into the street when the light turned green.
Elle snorted. “Except for the part where you hate cats.”
“I donothate cats.” She sniffed. “I have a... healthy respect for anything that could rip my face off.”
It was common sense. Self-preservation. Survival skills.
Elle bumped Margot with her hip. “Healthyfear, more like.”
“Call it what you want.” Margot shrugged. “I’m strongly considering adopting a cat.”
Elle whipped out her phone, eyes flitting between the screen and the building up ahead. “And I think you should strongly consider getting ahumanroommate. You know, someone you can actually talk to.”
Margot opened her mouth.
“Someone who can actually talkback.” Elle nibbled on her bottom lip, footsteps slowing to a stop in front of the entrance to the venue. “I know you’re a little gun-shy after your last roommate.”
More like laststringof roommates.
Margot snorted at Elle’s tact. “I’m not gun-shy. I’m being selective, and for good reason. I’ve already put feelers out, Elle. I’ve got my ear to the ground. IknowI need a new roommate.” She huffed. “Preferably one who doesn’t have a habit of taking Ambien, sleepwalking into my closet, and popping a squat over my shoes at three in the morning.”
Elle cringed.
That wasn’t even taking into consideration the roommate who’d stolen Margot’s credit card or the one who’d owned an ant farm. An ant farm Margot had knownnothingabout until she’d woken up to the floormovingon one memorable Sunday morning.
Margot’s recent luck with roommates wasn’t just bad, it was abysmal.
Elle stared, eyes wide and full of sympathy, and it made Margot’s skin itch. The perks and pitfalls of having a best friend who knew her so well that she could hear what Margotwasn’tsaying.
“Look, can we just... put a pin in it and circle back around?” Margot flipped her wrist over, checking the time on her Fitbit. Five ’til. Now wasn’t the time or the place for Margot to throw herself a pity party. “It’s almost six.”
Elle stole another peek at her phone and smiled. “Darcy texted. They’re already inside.”
Stepping through the door, Elle led the way down a winding hall lined with doors on each side, the sound of Brendon’s boisterous laugh growing louder as they approached. Margot ducked her head inside an open door and cringed at the decor. Between the heart-shaped, glitter-filled balloons floating aimlessly along the perimeter of the room and the pink confetti littering the floor, it looked like Cupid had jizzed all over the reception space.
At the end of the hall, Elle drew to an abrupt stop and gasped.“Wow.”
Margot hurried to catch up before following Elle’s gaze up to the ceiling. “Holy shit.”
The ceiling of the ballroom was stunning, painted in shades of lilac and lavender, bleeding down into periwinkle and pink, all the softest shades of dusk, when twilight descended into night and the stars came out to play. Little pinpricks of silver and champagne dotted the ceiling, and the glow of the chandeliers made everything ethereal and dreamy.Perfectfor Brendon and Annie.
Across the room, Brendon beamed. “It’s great, isn’t it?”
Tucked into his side, Annie smiled up at him. “I like what I see.”
Elle greeted Darcy with a quick kiss before lacing their fingers together. “It’s like something straight out of a fairy tale. If you guys don’t get married here,Iwill.”
Darcy stared at Elle as if she were the source of all the light in the room.
A bittersweet pang struck Margot in the chest, stealing her breath.
She didn’t always feel like a fifth wheel—her friends were good about keeping the PDA to a minimum, and even then, a little PDA didn’t bother her—but it was happening more often lately.
