Page 63 of Kissing is the Easy Part

“You’re not using this as an excuse to invite all the guys you like, are you?”

I put down the celery stick I’ve been chewing. “Sean Foster, I’m puttingseriouseffort into making this a memorable event, and you don’t appreciate it. I don’t know which is more insulting, that you think I’m using this for my own benefit or that I need to throw a party to get a guy’s attention.”

“I apologize. That was a bad joke.” When I don’t smile he tugs on my sleeve, first downward, then side to side. “Forgive me. Please.”

I chuckle uselessly. “Okay, I like it when you grovel.”

“I’m really sorry. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for your help.”

“Now stop before you get grease on my clothes.” I shove him lightly on the shoulder, and he goes back to chomping on his potato wedges. “By the way, I found a way around the DJ and caterer. I know this guy, Xavier, whose mom is a caterer, and then there’s this other guy . . . anyway, I’m pulling strings to fit everything under your budget, so don’t worry.”

“Hmm.” He tilts his chin up, then wipes his hands on a napkin. “On second thought, I’d rather we pay. I’ll get the money.”

“Oh Sean.” I rest my chin in my palm. “You sound so cute when you’re jealous.”

He fidgets. “I’m not. But it feels like I’m hosting a Flora Morgan ex-boyfriend support group.”

“They’re not my exes.”

Butyouare. The only boyfriend who shattered my heart, and I keep forgetting I’m throwing this party for revenge, not because I enjoy it.

I cross my arms. “Two jokes about my dating life in under a minute?”

Sean leans back, sighs, and bites his lip. “Fine. I admit I’m a little jealous.”

A flush creeps up my skin. Before I can reply, the click of a camera shutter distracts me. Madison and Daniel are a few tables away. Daniel is adjusting the settings on his DSLR, pointing it at a sad-looking plant near the window. He’s quiet, eccentric, and plain weird, but Madison excuses everything by explaining he’s an artist.

Over the summer, he even rented an exhibition space downtown, and Madison dragged us to see his work. All his paintings were aggressively abstract, and at one point she proudly announced that she was his muse and had posed nude for him.

We nearly died laughing.

“I feel so much closer to Daniel now,” I’d said, wiping away tears. “He’s an average teenage boy after all—”

“Who would say anything to get you naked,” Josie had finished, and Carmen lost it. We pointed at random circles and kept bugging Madison to tell us which one was her nipple, then took selfies with the painting (obviously tagging her).

Ah, good times.

I still don’t know how to respond to Sean admitting he’s jealous, so I whisper this anecdote to him instead. My elbow rests on the table, my other hand on his shoulder as I lean in, and his laughter shakes his body beneath my fingers as our heads bend close together. It feels divine to make Sean laugh.

Thenclick.

Madison stands before us, and Daniel snaps a few more pictures of her and of me and Sean.

“Taking some shots of the planning committee,” Madison says.The audacity. The only thing she’s planned so far is what she’s wearing, but at least she’s convinced Daniel to help. “What are you two laughing about?”

Sean and I exchange a look. “Nothing,” we say in unison. Then he catches my eyes and smiles.

Chapter Twenty

Sean

At lunch the next day, Flora stops at my table, already midsentence as she pulls out a chair. I slide it the rest of the way for her.

“Dyl, Jake, I forgot if I told you about our party,” she says. “I’ve talked to so many people, and you guys are obviously invited, but I can’t remember if I actually mentioned it.”

“Yeah, we know,” Dylan says. “Sean told us. But as soon as we heard there wouldn’t be a keg, we blacked out from boredom.”

“What’s the point if we can’t get wasted and embarrass ourselves?” Jake asks. “But sure, we’ll drop by. Moral support.”