Put Me Back Together(41)

I was just about ready to disappear out the back door without a word—I could just see it out of the corner of my eye, over beside the fridge—when I accidentally bumped into Lucas’s elbow and he turned and blinked at me as though he’d forgotten I was there.

Most gorgeous girl in the room, my ass.

“Oh, Katie,” he said breathlessly. “I want to introduce you to—” but before he could finish, there was a tap on his shoulder and another girl was waiting to talk to him.

“Jennifer,” the blonde girl finished, holding out her hand for me to shake. “I’m so happy to meet you. Lucas talks about you all the time. You’re exactly like he described you, except maybe even prettier.” She smiled sweetly at me as I tried not to look like a deer in the headlights. Had she just called me pretty? And it didn’t even seem like she was being sarcastic. But why would one of Lucas’s girls be so happy to meet me and so eager to give me a compliment?

“Oh, thanks,” I managed to get out before Jennifer barreled on.

“What nationality are you? Italian? I wish I had your skin tone instead of my pasty pink cheeks. My friend Sandra is Italian and she tans so dark in the summer. I burn red as a lobster after, like, five seconds in the sun. Or are you Middle Eastern?”

“I’m half-Danish, half-Indian,” I parroted.

“Wow! That’s so diverse. And you’re an artist, aren’t you? Lucas says you have so much talent. I always wanted to take up the piano, but my mother always said, ‘Jenny, stick to what you’re good at,’ which is child rearing, of course. I’m majoring in education, but I was thinking of taking an art class next year. Do you think…”

Her mouth never stopped moving. It was remarkable. As she continued to chatter I stared at her heart-shaped face, her barely-there blonde eyelashes, and innocent, wide-eyed gaze. She seemed like a genuinely friendly girl, if a little sheltered. I was trying to puzzle out how exactly she and Lucas knew each other and would have loved some help from Lucas himself, but he’d been completely waylaid by the other girl. Her head was blocked from my view by Jennifer’s. As I edged a little to the side, trying to get a better look at her, I heard Jennifer’s monologue dwindle to a stop.

“Oh yeah, that girl’s trouble,” I heard Jennifer whisper in my ear, showing more animosity than I would have thought her capable of. She moved over to my side, giving me an open view of the girl who currently had Lucas’s attention.

If before my stomach had sunk like a broken rowboat, now it fell like the Titanic.

At first I thought it was Monica, the girl we’d met at the game, but a moment later I realized I was wrong. This girl was on another level altogether.

She was a vixen if I’d ever seen one. She had on a red dress so skin-tight I could see the outline of her thong. Her chestnut hair was thick and fell over her shoulders in perfectly sculpted waves. She was stick-thin, with flawless skin and eyebrows arched high like a supermodel’s. She was currently pouting her ruby-red lips at Lucas, who stood facing her with his arms folded, probably trying to hold in the urge to throw his perfect body at hers. It would be like two Barbie dolls making love—they were both that perfect. Seeing them next to each other, I couldn’t help but think they should be together. Who would ever want to be a single piece of perfection when you could be a part of a matching set?

“That’s Taylor,” Jennifer said into my ear. “She’s been after Lucas forever. She scared off his last girlfriend, the little witch with a ‘b.’”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at Jennifer’s inability to swear, and the fact that if there were teams we were suddenly on the same side, when five minutes ago I’d thought she was the enemy. But my good humour was fleeting. Watching Taylor and Lucas together—now she was pawing at his chest, pressing her perfect body against him—was infinitely worse than watching him with Jennifer. This time I found myself turning away for fear of tearing up. Already I could feel the telltale prickle behind my eyes.

“Not that I think she has any kind of a chance with him,” Jennifer said, looking at me worriedly. “She’s totally not his type.”

“Well, it’s none of my business, anyway,” I said as I backed away, not really even looking where I was going. The back door escape plan was a no-go now. It would mean circling around them. I’d have to find another way.

“Oh, but I thought—” Jennifer began.

“I really have to go to the bathroom,” I announced, and, turning abruptly, edged my way through the crowd and out of sight.



Finding an adequate hiding place in a strange house on short notice when you think you might be about to burst into tears is a high order. The first door I tried ended up being locked and the second led me into a small den. The room wasn’t empty, but it was dimly lit and I was able to stand in the corner leaning against a bookcase for a few minutes without being disturbed, which was exactly what I’d been looking for. During those few minutes I decided three things. One, coming to this party had been a stupid idea. Two, leaving the party as soon as possible would be the best way to counteract my original stupid idea. And three, it was about time I got it into my head that Lucas Matthews wasn’t for me, for real this time.


I was moving back toward the door, wrapping my arms around my stomach as I always did when I felt sick, when the flickering TV caught my eye. There were a couple of armchairs pulled up around it and some guys were watching the screen. The sports segment on the local news was playing, but that wasn’t what they were talking about. I froze when I heard Tommy’s name.