BooksBarbecue
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

The thing is, Lauren won’t plan to meet someone or to go clubbing or run screaming through a dodgy park with bare feet or sit in a shopping cart with a wobbly wheel as a drunk guy she’s just met pushes her at high speed down a busy street, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. We’ll go out for a quiet drink, and somehow she’ll end up at a club with four people she didn’t know two hours earlier, texting me something like: Whats your address again and is there a spare mattress in case I bring people with me xxxxxx. She once brought a random home from a party and they peed all over our air mattress. Another time, we found two girls asleep, entwined, in the bathtub, using a loofah as a headrest.

Lauren is chaos. I don’t have the capacity for chaos right now. I am deeply embroiled in a very quiet, private, inner turmoil.

25

25

We’re at the first bar of the night, the first of several Lauren wants to check out, and I am trying to hide the fact that Jesse and I are not talking to each other by keeping the conversation a group conversation and setting Lauren up with easy entry points to her best stories (‘Loz, remember that time you got drunk and fell asleep in the children’s maze and your friends called the police when they couldn’t find you?’), and I laugh at everyone’s jokes, and try my very, very best to project a fun energy.

Jesse goes to the bar and Lauren watches him walk away.

‘Is he single?’ Lauren asks.

‘I’m not sure,’ I lie.

‘Interesting,’ Lauren says, and my stomach drops.

‘Don’t,’ I say, and my voice is pathetically desperate.

‘You told me not to bring anyone new back to the house, and Harper’s taken, so that narrows my options,’ she says, smiling at me. ‘Plus, he’s hot.’

‘I mean it. Please don’t.’ I feel like a guitar string that’s been twisted too tight, I’ll snap at the slightest pressure.

‘What is going on? You’re tense, even for you,’ Lauren says, peering at me with concern in her eyes. ‘I’m only kidding about Jesse.’

Maybe she is just kidding, for now. But Lauren is going to sleep with Jesse. I can see it in her eyes. I can feel it in my bones. She’ll keep her options open, but lightly flirt with him all night, keep him in the mix, then turn on the charm on the walk home if she’s bored and in the mood. I know her moves. I know how long it takes her to turn from light flirtation into real seduction. (Less than a minute.)

My palms are sticky with sweat.