Page 156 of Say You'll Stay

“Where the hell do you think you’re going, disco ball?”

With a heavy sigh, I try to crack a smile. “I’m going to make sure Lucas has Jadon all ready to go.”

“No.” She swings her legs off the table and the off-shoulder maroon dress she and I compromised on flows perfectly around her. It’s like it was made for her. She’s beautiful in her own way. She is stunning as always, even when she’s dressed out of her normal style.

I must look like an idiot in a silvery white. Charity said my dress was beautiful and “made for” me. It’s glittery and sparkly with long sleeves like diamonds, low cut in the front, and I absolutely love it, but everyone is going to be looking at me and now I’m terrified of judgment. Charity said they’ll be looking at me anyway because I’m a nervous wreck, so I may as well sparkle while they do it.

Oh my god, someone is going to go blind if I stand in front of a light. She’s right; I’m a walking disco ball. Maybe we should have gone with off-white and a normal style. I wonder if it’s too late to go grab another dress off the rack. In this dress, the shape of my legs is visible through the fabric. White was stupid. I shouldn’t have chosen it. Isn’t that for those pure people? My son is here, after all—not that I care about color normally.

Charity saunters toward me with a high arch to her brow. She’s a red lipstick wearer. I mean, she wears purple and even black lipstick too, but I just mean that she’s the sexy, confident type that can pull it off. I don’t think I can do that. That’s why my dress was a mistake. It’s too sexy.

“You’re going to stay in here and drink some champagne.” She turns me by the shoulders and marches us back to the middle of the room. “Sit down and breathe.”

She hands me a champagne flute I left sitting on the table when she first poured it for me. Charity forces me onto the lounger and grabs her clutch, digging through it. “Here.”

She hands me a piece of candy in the wrapper. I don’t need candy or sugar. I need today to be over with. “What is this?” I stare at the wrapper and notice a weird symbol on it.

“Just a little thing to help you—“

“Oh god, is this a marijuana? Charity!”

She throws her head back in a cackle. “Did you just say—never mind. Oh hell, Allie, this is why I keep you around.” She pins me with a glare while I sip the champagne, careful not to mess up the mauve lips she painted on me. “You’re perfect in the dress, and today is going to go as planned. But if you think for one second you’re going to go over to that room down the hall and give yourself bad luck, you’re dumber than I thought you were.”

She’s the best friend anyone could ask for and when her laughter dies down, I forget why I was freaking out in the first place, but then that guilt over her brother creeps up on me again. Yeah, Ted made mistakes and I’m not in a place where I can forgive him for his actions. But that’s her big brother, and it can’t be easy for her when she goes to see him.

“Charity?”

She snorts while taking her freaking weed candy from my hand and stuffs it into her bra. “Yeah?”

“You know I care about you, right?”

She rolls her eyes and takes a seat beside me. Taking my hands in hers, Charity kisses my knuckles and sets them down in my lap. “Don’t do this again. He made his choices, Allie. Money is a dangerous tool and they can buy only fools’ souls with it. What happened and what he’s going through is his fault, not yours.”

“I just don’t want you to feel you’re choosing between us. I know it’s stupid and I’m not asking you to, but it’s hard. But I’m so glad to always have you, even if you freak me out sometimes.”

She smiles behind her lipstick that matches her dress, and we both laugh.

“Allie,” she reaches for my phone on the table and holds it up for me. “You’re going to be fine. Everything is in perfect working order, which is why I’m telling you to calm your tits. The kid is dressed and ready. The flowers and everything are all arranged perfectly. I saw them this morning, and the florist did an amazing job. I slipped her card in Lucas’s hand earlier and told him to get you fucking flowers on Fridays from now on. He laughed and called it the triple f.”

“Triple f?”

“Fucking, Flowers, and Friday.”

How poetic. “Whatever makes you weird people laugh, I suppose.”

“If you need to, you can call him, but you will not risk bad luck just because you’re neurotic.”

Me? Neurotic?

Lucas answers on the first ring.

“Allie.” There’s a hint of mischief in his tone that I’m not sure about. “Isn’t this bad luck? Would hate for the last few months of torture to go down the toilet because of a single phone call.”

“Please tell me Jadon is ready, and you combed his hair.”

“Eh, we just shaved it and Joel got him one of those tuxedo t-shirts instead, since that was more his vibe. Also, we pawned the rings for a samurai sword. It’s all good now because you know I’ll protect you from home intruders.”

I blink, and Charity snickers beside me. “Lucas.”

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