Big Shot | ✓

17 | inside out, pt i

I chased a runners' high when I hosted parties.

I had our table set for 17 (against my wishful thinking) with napkins artfully tied with twine and name cards on top of every plate, as well as any and all of the premade food in serving dishes lined up in an assembly line (circle) on the table, all before the early birds arrived. The skillet on the stove was primed for the carne asada I'd sliced up and seasoned that morning. All the party prep shot a type of adrenaline through me that I assumed was similar to how the guys felt as they prepped for a game, and I knew enough about all of that to know that feeling was almost addicting.

I wore a plain black cotton maxi dress so I could still look put together but comfortable, but the thigh-high slit made me feel a little more girly and a little less like Slenderman.

"Where do you want this?" Bree's girlfriend Lana asked me, holding out a tray of homemade rice krispies.

Derek didn't like cake, so I'd done my best to not take it personally and have a few people bring trays of smaller desserts. The problem with that was those trays took up more space - space I'd assumed we had more of in our kitchen.

"Uh..." I darted between counters like a moth trapped behind glass, stacking tupperware and moving cups of plastic utensils. "Right here."

Lana put the tray down where it just barely fit in the space I'd cleared for it. She tied her deep ginger red hair up into a ponytail as she surveyed the state of our too-small-to-host-dinner-parties kitchen.

"I don't know how you do this," she said with a shake of her head. "It must come so naturally to you."

I offered her a thin smile. "I say the same thing whenever Bree shows me the comics you draw. We've all got our thing, right?"

Lana chuckled and gave me a playful shove in the arm. "I think your thing also includes always knowing what to say."

She gave me another smile before walking out of the kitchen, leaving me with a quiet moment to let her words settle in. I thought back to my argument with Reid, and even though I knew he'd been in the wrong, I still went over the things I'd actually said to him, wondering if I could have said something differently to prevent this awkward standoff we were now at. More often than not lately, especially with Reid, I'd been letting my emotions drive my words, and the friction between us was starting to give off sparks. And where there were sparks, a fire could start at any moment.

I'd switched my music on just as people were starting to arrive. I made sure to give Derek a plastic tiara that said Birthday Princess, and he wore it with a big, toothy grin. Bree made me a lethal espresso martini with her barista skills, and I housed it. I could have taken an IV of it straight to my veins.

Mara was in Florida visiting her cousins, and she seemed almost despondent that she was missing this party. Kayla had made the drive from Charlotte, where she'd finally started her job at the ACC Network as a social media assistant. Except according to her, she'd been doing a lot of assistant-ing and not a lot of social media-ing.

"I needed a fucking break from getting my boss his disgusting matcha latte twice a day. Besides, anything for Derek," she said with a grin as she stood beside me to survey the scene in my apartment. I noticed her side-eying me as I took a sip of my second espressi. "Is Reid coming?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" I groaned. "I'm not his keeper."

Kayla shot me a puzzled look. "Well, one of the placecards at the table has his name on it, so..."

I didn't have an opportunity to respond as Derek tackled me into a hug, belting out the lyrics to the Lit song that came blasting through our bluetooth speaker. I grinned and joined in almost immediately.