“And that hedge fund guy at our table was telling me he used to be secretly in love with Dezzie and was too shy to talk to her. Isn’t that cute?”
“Yeah! She should leave you for him. He could buy her an island.”
“I know! That’s what I said. Oh, and I met those fun lesbians who live near you in LA.”
“Gloria and Emily?”
“Yeah. And get this—they design film sets for movies.”
“Uh, yeah. I know? Because we’re neighbors? Like you said?”
“And IloveSeth,” he shouts, just as the song ends abruptly.
“Shut up,” I hiss.
“What?” he asks with feigned innocence. “He lives in Chicago. We’re going to get a beer when we get back.”
“You know he’s my ex.”
“Yep. All the better.”
“Traitor.”
The DJ taps on the microphone. “And now a request and dedication to the lovely Molly Marks,” he says in that goofy voice all DJs seem to have.
“Oooh,” the crowd yells, every single person in the room knowing I hate any attention, especially the kind that involves dancing.
“Molls,” Rob drawls. “You must have an admirer.”
The iconic opening strains of “It’s Gonna Be Me” by NSYNC blast out over the speakers.
I whirl around to Dez and Alyssa, who are laughing at me.
“Did you do this?” I shout over the music.
They shake their heads innocently. Alyssa gestures at me to turn around.
Seth is standing behind me, mouthing the words to the song.
He bends down on one knee. “May I have this dance, my lady?”
“You didn’t.”
He smiles, tickled with himself. “I had to. Ihadto.”
This was the opposite of “our” song in high school. I loathed it so much that Seth would blast it in the car to annoy me when I was being a brat. I loathed it so much that he would make me dance to it when I was upset to channel my sadness into rage. I loathed it so much that he serenaded me with it every time we did karaoke, as some perverse mating ritual.
You know. Boyfriend stuff.
Seth grabs my hand and yanks me toward him. “C’mon, Marks. You gotta dance with me. It’s tradition.”
I have no choice but to follow him.
He catches me around the waist and brings me in closer.
“It’s gonna be me,” he bellows into my ear.
CHAPTER 6Seth
