“Oh.” I lifted the glass to my lips, sniffing the bubbly mist rising off the top of it. I took a sip, jaw locking a bit from the sour flinch of it.

“It’s perfect,” I lied. “Thank you.”

As the wait staff moved around the table, filling each woman’s glass, we passed around the heavy dishes of food. I was so hungry, and it all looked good, so I added a bit of everything to my plate as it came around. This is like a Cajun Thanksgiving, I thought, taking a few large gulps of champagne. The more I tried the fizzy drink, the more the sourness dissipated.

Elizabeth, down at the end of the table, was being picky with her choices—passing completely on some things with a disdainful look and scooping tiny portions onto her plate of others. She had passed on the alcohol too, requesting bottled water instead. Evian, if you have it, I heard her murmur to one of the waiters.

Bri, on the other hand, had already downed her glass of red, and lifted her glass for a second round before they had finished pouring drinks for the other guests.

“So, you decided to drive, huh? How was the trip down?” I asked Tinsley, trying a bit of the sausage gumbo. I closed my eyes, taking in the smoky richness of it. It was one of the best things I’d ever tasted. Or perhaps I was just that hungry.

“Yeah, you know how I am with crowds. And I’m not too fond of planes these days, either. The drive was beautiful though. It reminded me of the old days when we used to ride around in Mom’s hatchback, smoking cigarettes and listening to her Alanis Morrissette’s cassettes on repeat. Remember that?”

I did. Windows down, smoke rolling out in waves. The two us, belting out the angry girl lyrics in unison.

“Those were the days,” I said, softly, reaching for one of the crawdads. It looked interesting, but I wasn’t quite sure how to eat it.

“Like this,” Georgia said, touching my elbow. I flinched. For some reason, being near her right now was making my flesh crawl. Surely, if she and Asher were sleeping together, she wouldn’t have agreed to be my bridesmaid, would she? She wouldn’t keep up this whole charade of being the dutiful and supportive friend unless she was just that evil. Some women were…

Georgia lifted a crawdad in front of her face and twisted the head with a snap. I watched in horror as she tossed the head aside and peeled back the shell. Ew. Next, she slid the meat out of the shell and dropped it in her mouth with a big, fleshy smile.

“Delish,” she said, mouth full of food.

It probably was delicious, but I’d lost my appetite. This girl even made eating crustaceans look sexy. Ugh.