photo of them together.”
“Could it have been an old one?”
“It was hard to tell with his face in her tits.”
“All I’m saying is, those girls keep a camera on them. They take tons of selfies and post things to social media all day. If it’s an old photo, maybe you could find it there?”
The cheating wasn’t the only part of our breakup that made things permanent. “I appreciate the idea, but Seth was gone. And it wasn’t the first time he ran over there the second he left my place.” There was a lot I couldn’t tell her.
“Okay, fine. But you know his temper, Avery. Don’t do anything to set him off. My brother said he’s already on thin ice with the Omegas.”
“I just want to go out and have fun. I’ve been through a lot, and I’m tired of sitting around and feeling sorry for myself. If he sees I’m moving on, maybe he will too, and he’ll leave me alone.”
“And maybe you don’t want him to leave you alone,” she said as she twisted the curling iron, rolling my last strand of hair. “Maybe you still like him.”
“No, I loved him, but he’s not the guy I thought he was, so what good is that?”
She pulled the curling iron away and sprayed my hair as she ran her fingers through to loosen the waves. My hair looked amazing.
“You should do this for a living.”
She laughed. “I wish. My parents would flip out.”
“Why?”
“Because they think it’s not a good enough career move. I’ll probably end up as a counselor or something. Get some letters behind my name.”
It was hard to understand her family, but if she moved in, I was sure I’d learn more than I wanted to know. She lived away from them for a reason, but could they really be that bad? Mine was. Why not?
As I got up to put on my boots, Abi gave me a worried look. “Are you sure you’re feeling better?”
“Yeah, I had my checkup, and the doctor said I was doing great. I just wish my heart would heal.”
“In time,” said Abi. “I think it was a much deeper wound. So if at any time you want to leave, just say the word and we’ll bail.” She stood back and looked me up and down. “Girl, you look fabulous. I wish I could wear boots the way you do. I can’t with these chicken legs of mine.”
“Are you serious? You’re perfect. I’m basically a boy with boobs.”
Abi laughed. “I guess it’s just like my mother always said. Everyone has something about themselves they’d want to change.”
“Are you ready?” I asked. I was anxious to get to the party and turned in the mirror.
“Ready as ever. Let’s hope Thomas has already bagged a girl. I don’t want him playing protective brother tonight. He keeps me so close. Someone asked me if he was my boyfriend.” She made a face at the thought.
I laughed. “I’m sure by the time we get there, everyone will be settled in and paired off. And that’s fine with me.” Seth was probably already gone off with some girl, and if he was, maybe it was for the best. The less I saw of him with someone else, the better. I knew eventually I’d move on too, and tonight was more about showing I had the strength to do it.
I grabbed my purse. “Let’s go. I’ll drive.” I gave her a wink, and she giggled. It was always our little joke, the same old one, but funny every time even though it was silly. It was good to have a good friend who cared enough to laugh at the silliness and to listen when it mattered.
We walked up the street and around the block and took our shortcut to make it to the Omega House.
The large structure sounded like it was about to implode from the muffled music, and when we opened the door, the noise became deafening.
We were greeted by a couple of guys who were already so drunk they were holding each other up. “Welcome, ladies,” the one said. The other turned and threw up in a plant.
“Nice welcome,” I said. “Looks like things are in full swing.”
Abi covered her mouth. “Oh, man. That was foul.” She rose up to her toes and panned the room. “I don’t see my brother.” She grinned. “Lucky me.”
“I don’t know. He’s probably the one getting lucky.”
Abi groaned. “Yeah, I’d rather not think about that. All I know is when