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Back Unnecessary Drama Save as PDF
Chapters (49)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. TEXT LOGO PAGE
  3. ABOUT THE BOOK
  4. DEDICATION
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  46. ALSO BY NINA KENWOOD
  47. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  48. PRAISE
  49. NEW MARKETING PAGE

We beat Tristan and Henry. Twice. Mostly because Henry is quite bad at pool, and obviously doesn’t care about losing. He cheerfully clapped and cheered whenever Jesse or I made a good shot. Tristan pretends like he doesn’t care, but I know he loves to win a game, any game. There’s nothing less appealing than someone who really really loves to win, but pretends they don’t, and then makes excuses as to why they’re annoyed when they lose. Just admit it, I want to say to him. I can admit it.

‘I guess Jesse and I are just a really good partnership,’ I say, mostly because I want to see Tristan’s reaction. He’ll dwell on this, the idea that I might be in a more successful partnership of any kind.

‘How many times have you played together before?’ Tristan asks suspiciously. He’s been drinking beers throughout the game, and I can see he’s almost drunk.

‘Never, she’s just naturally talented,’ Jesse says, standing behind me, and then he puts his arms around me in a hug, his arms meeting across my chest and his head rests on the top of my head, and my face feels burning hot, like a full body blush, my skin tingly from my toes to my head.

Brooke, this is fake.

Fake. Pretend. Not real. A fiction.

Do I actually like Jesse in some way, or do I just like having a pretend boyfriend, or maybe it’s because Tristan is here stirring up things, combined with the failure of Henry, or maybe it’s just my loneliness sparking a fire inside me, or maybe it’s some kind of psychological reaction to my history with Jesse. I need someone to analyse me, slap my face, pull me together, tell me what the hell is going on.

22

22

Tristan is definitely getting drunk and sloppy now. So is Henry. Kendra is still with her group of friends but she keeps looking over at Tristan and making faces. I can’t tell if she’s unhappy that he hasn’t rejoined her or if she wants to escape and join him. Tristan and Henry are busy bonding over a comedy show they both love, quoting it at each other and collapsing in laughter.

‘You’ve seen it, haven’t you, Tooky?’ Tristan says to me. Tooky was the nickname he called me when we were together. I tense at his use of it.

‘Yes, I watched a bit of it,’ I say.

‘Sorry. Did you say Tooky?’ Jesse says to Tristan.

‘Tooky was her nickname,’ Tristan says, smiling sadly and shaking his head like I’m dead and he’s reflecting back over my life. He’s way drunker than I’d realised. Classic Tristan. He does this, seems fine and then, bam, he’s very drunk, and there’s no time to adjust between the two states.