Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 155405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 777(@200wpm)___ 622(@250wpm)___ 518(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 777(@200wpm)___ 622(@250wpm)___ 518(@300wpm)
My mouth waters just looking at it. I should probably be a proper unpaid worker and abstain, but… to hell with it. I’m unpaid. I’m getting some of that punch.
Hannah comes back and catches me dipping into the goods. I flash her a guilty smile, then take a greedy sip of her amazing punch. “I couldn’t resist.”
Hannah chuckles. “You don’t need to. I have enough to make a second batch in case this one runs out. Drink to your heart’s content.”
“In that case, can the second batch be just for me?” I ask, flashing her my best puppy dog eyes.
“Nice try.” She glances at my tub. “I’ll grab you a few mini waters to put in there, too.”
“Don’t we have an entire tub of full-sized waters?”
“Yes, but there may be some people who don’t particularly want to drink, but they get dragged to the alcohol bins by friends or boys that do. I’m including a water option in the same container so she can easily grab this without drawing attention to it if she’s feeling a bit pressured and doesn’t want to go to a different bin.”
I blink at her.
“It’s not for you. But I’ve seen the guest list, and I know who will be here, so…”
Brittany.
It clicks. If she thought Landon would make fun of her for avoiding the drink bin in favor of a non-alcoholic option, she would absolutely grab a drink she didn’t want and finish the whole thing.
I sigh. “She makes me so sad.”
Hannah nods. “She needs a friend. I can’t take her in, conflict of interest,” she says, gesturing to me, “but for tonight, this will work.”
I pull out my phone to check the time and see the party technically started three minutes ago. Anae assured me anyone cool would die before showing up exactly on time. She said we should expect people to start showing up 15 to 20 minutes after.
Hannah comes back with an armful of mini water bottles, but unfortunately, she’s not alone.
Anae walks over in her insanely high heels and party dress, her blonde hair so perfect, I bet she had it done at a salon after school. As if she’s the true lady of the house, she looks over the work we did while she was upstairs primping. “You’re putting out bourbon, right? Chloe said Arden likes bourbon.”
“Yes, we’re putting out bourbon,” Hannah assures her.
“He likes it neat. Don’t put it in that ice.”
She sighs faintly. “I know how to serve alcohol, Anae.”
Hannah doesn’t even drink, but she is the consummate hostess; of course she knows how to serve alcohol.
“Did you polish the glasses? I don’t want him to think we can’t afford proper help.”
“Yes, I polished the glasses,” Hannah says, to her immense credit, without a single hint of the annoyance she must feel bleeding through in her tone.
I wait until Anae leaves to inspect the setup by the pool, then I look over at Hannah as I plunge a mini bottle of water into the ice. “So, has she gone all-in on Arden?”
“I don’t think so. She’s just anxious about making a good impression on him. She’s used to being the established one, and it has been confirmed several times this week that he’s the top of the food chain now, so she wants to make sure he likes her. I’m sure starting over, especially after a setback like Dare, is difficult for her.”
I couldn’t care less about Anae’s struggles, but before I can say as much, she comes back from the pool.
She must be satisfied by what she saw out there because rather than comment on it or bark at us to make changes, she does a little spin for us, her pink lampshade dress flying out to show off her long, slim legs. “What do you guys think?” she asks, striking a pose in front of an accent mirror hung up in the hallway.
“You look very pretty,” Hannah says politely.
Anae turns and shifts her shoulders to look at herself from behind. “Right? Ten out of ten, would bang.”
I roll my eyes, not bothering to offer my opinion of her outfit. She doesn’t care about it, anyway.
“It’s not too princessy, is it?” she asks, smoothing her hands down the puffy bottom. “It doesn’t look like I’m trying to hide that I had a big dinner or anything?”
“Of course not,” I say.
“Good.” She misses a beat, then says, “Oh! Speaking of princesses. Hannah, come here.”
“How is that a ‘speaking of princesses’?” Hannah asks, but follows Anae over to a little red velvet loveseat we set up for the party and sits beside her, anyway.
Anae pulls her phone out of her clutch. “I want to show you something I found.”
“Is this for the party?” I ask, approaching even though I wasn’t invited. “It’s probably too late to do much else. People will start showing up—”