In one sentence, she reminded me what a good friend she could be. But before I could say a word, Levi was back.

Penny pressed her lips to the glass immediately. When she pulled away, her pale lips were stained merlot.

“Thanks,” I said, accepting the ice-cold beer. I wrapped my fingers around the neck, knowing that I felt too sick to take even a sip.

“No problem.” Levi’s fingers toyed with the bottom of his shirt, eyes carefully looking everywhere but at me.

Did he catch any of that? I watched his expression, unable to gauge what, if anything, he’d overheard.

Coming here was a mistake. Even with Levi acting as my buffer, my life raft, I felt out of place. Like maybe it wasn’t my world that was different, but me.

The realization scraped across me, steel wool against tender innards. The awkward silence was broken by the off-kilter twangs of a guitar and someone’s tinny voice attempting a rendition of Johnny Cash’s “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.”

“Oh, and Chad is here, by the way,” said Penny, cutting the awkwardness with an airy hostess voice. “Hey, cool to meet you, Levi.” Someone dancing jostled her arm, and her wine sloshed.

It felt like the world was braking. Not slow and gentle, but screeching to a stop, burning rubber. My nose tingled and I sucked in a shaky breath. “Wait!” I must have heard her wrong, because there was no way he would be here, not after—

Penny met my gaze. Her eyebrows knit in concern. “Yeah?”

“Chad?” I swung my gaze wildly, people blurring in my vision.

“Um, so I forgot to tell you, but”—she dropped her voice conspiratorially—“we got back together.”

“But—”

“Later, B! You’re staying until the end of the night, right? We’ll catch up then!” She blew an air kiss at Levi. “Enjoy the party. See you at the center on Monday!” she called over her shoulder as she swept away.

“Hey, can you just give me a minute?” My fingers tightened around the neck of the bottle. “I have to catch up with her really quick.”

His lips parted like he was about to ask if everything was okay, but he swallowed hard and said, “Yeah, sure.”

I dashed after Penny. She was disappearing into her bedroom at the back of the houseboat. I pushed my way past everyone, ignoring their greetings. I got to her bedroom door before she pushed it shut. “Penny,” I said breathlessly.

She wasn’t alone.

“Babe?” Chad stood in the center of the room, face mirroring my shock. Guilt fanned across his cheeks in a flaming streak of red as he looked between us, mouth agape.

I shut the door. “You guys really got back together.” I swallowed. “When did you two—”