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“Here,” I said, dabbing at her face with the paper. I’d thought she was going to snatch it out of my hand and do it herself, but she didn’t. Once I had her face cleaned up, I gave her some more so she could blow her nose. She checked herself out in the mirror and groaned.

“I look trashed,” she said.

“You don’t, I promise,” I said. Tenley wet some more paper and swiped at her face again before taking a few deep breaths.

“You good?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yeah, I’m good.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a lip balm and applied it with a steady hand in the mirror. Tenley pouted once and then swept out of the bathroom.

“Okay,” I said. She turned around and held out her hand. “Coming?”

* * *

An hour later I was decidedly tipsy and having a much better time. I wasn’t having a good time, but better.

“You are such a lightweight,” Tenley said as I leaned against her and did a little dance.

“You know me, BABE,” I said, emphasizing the word again and then laughing.

“Hey, Tens,” a voice said, and Tenley’s spine snapped straight.

“Hey, Shane,” she said, her voice soft and breathy.

“So I see you’ve, uh, moved on,” he said, refusing to look at me.

“Clearly I have,” she said, yanking me closer and pulling me off-balance so I fell into her.

Shane looked at me and then laughed before leaning in to say something in Tenley’s ear. Her eyes went wide and then Shane winked at her and sauntered off.

“What did he say?” I asked her as she watched him go.

“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head. “Let’s go.”

She yanked me out to the car, and it was a miracle I didn’t trip all over my feet in the dark. The ground also wasn’t that even.

“What did he say?” I asked as I clutched the car door. Tenley unlocked the car and got in. I managed to slump into my seat and get my seatbelt on.

“You okay?” I asked as Tenley maneuvered the car around the others and back onto the main road.

“I’m fine,” she said, her teeth clenched.

“Okie dokie,” I said, giving her a thumbs up.

Tenley didn’t say a word until we arrived back at her house.

“I probably shouldn’t drive right now,” I said.

“Fine, whatever. You can come in and wait it out,” she said, and I followed her into the house. “Do you want some water or something?” she asked.

“Yeah, that would be great,” I said, venturing back into her living room and eyeing the books.

“How about tea?” Tenley called from the kitchen.

“Perfect,” I called back as I sat myself down on the dusty pink sofa. This was the kind of couch you could drape yourself on while wearing a fabulous gown.

Tenley came into the room carrying a tray with not only tea, but mini croissants, two types of jam, and butter along with honey, lemon, and sugar for the tea.

“Wow,” I said as she set it down on the coffee table.