I want to call him back over—I almost do. But some other way-too-buzzed bitch gets his attention before I can. She’s all over him. I don’t recognize her, have no idea whose plus-one she is, and think about having my father abolish plus-ones. Then another girl shuffles over, one of her falsies hanging off her eye. They take turns stroking his arm, completely fawning over him. One girl angles her phone to take a selfie. Nate has to hunch so low to fit in the frame, it looks like he’s doubling over. The world’s too small for him. He’s so awkward, it’s charming. The first girl leans in but stumbles a little in her heels, and Nate reaches out to catch her. She did it on purpose, obviously, but she plays it off like she’s theater-trained, laughing like it’s the funniest joke in the world. It’s pathetic.

“He didn’t even look at my tits,” I say as Mei slips next to me, sucking on an impaled olive. “They look good, don’t they?”

“They look fucking amazing.”

I’d know if she was lying. She’s not.

Nate’s still shuffling through poses, but our eyes catch for the quickest moment, and I can almost feel it. The weight of his body holding mine in place. The hard, steady rhythm of him moving inside me. His breath thrusting into my ear with every stroke. And then he looks away, and it’s clear that he’d glanced up not expecting to find me looking.

I blink a few times, then turn to Mei. “Did he look happy with her?”

“Babe, chill. Operation Bag Nate isn’t a bust yet.” She takes a chug of her drink. “Black guys always leave their girlfriends for white girls when they go pro. He’s probably only with her because she’s easy. Look at her. She’s practically jerking your dad off.”

I flick my gaze across the room.

She’s right. Brandi’s smiling too much. Laughing too hard. She doesn’t know my father. His duplicity. She doesn’t know how deceiving those crow’s feet and smile lines really are.

“I never understand girls who sleep with men for jobs.” Mei scoffs. “What am I missing? Working is so overrated.”

I laugh. She cackles, a little too loud, and I wonder if she’s already high on something.

I wish I was high right now. I want a hit so bad, I can almost feel it, ripping through my veins like lightning.