“
Who are we taking?”
Ed straightens, catching the cork in his palm. “Why can’t we all go together?”
“Because it’s not junior prom,” Chris says.
“We can’t just go solo?”
“I mean, you could,” Chris says, “but this is gonna be a big deal with dancing and coupley stuff. Go solo and be the loner, go in a group and we’re the table of dudes—and Mills—sitting there awkwardly. We should get dates.”
Reid rolls his dice and begins counting out his turn. “I call Millie.”
“You call me?”
“Whoa, whoa.” Derailed from his initial argument, Chris turns to Reid with a frown. “If we’re just going to pair up, why’d you pick her?”
Reid shrugs and gives a vague nod in my direction. “She looks better in a ball gown.”
Ed seems genuinely insulted. “You have obviously never seen me in one.”
“I took you to the Deans’ Banquet last year,” Chris reminds Reid. “We had an awesome time.”
His turn completed, Reid drops the dice onto the center of the board and picks up his drink. “We did. I’m just being fair and going with someone else this time.”
Ed smacks Chris’s shoulder. “I’m more Reid’s type. Remember that cute bartender he liked? The one with the curly hair?” He makes a show of pointing to his head and the mass of auburn curls there. “Tell me we wouldn’t look great together.”
“I can beat that.” Alex brings up a foot to rest on the table and rolls up the hem of his jeans, flexing his calf muscle. “Reid is a leg man. Just look at these stems. I could spin you all around that dance floor.”
Reid watches each of them, bemused. “I mean, technically speaking, Millie is my type. Being female and whatnot.”
“Is it weird to anyone that this roomful of straight men is fighting over Reid and not me?” I ask.
Chris, Alex, and Ed seem to give this fair consideration before answering “No” in unison.
I lift my glass of wine and take a deep swallow. “Okay, then.”
Finally, Reid stands, carrying his empty glass into the kitchen. “Millie, you need anything?”
“Other than tips on how to develop an alluring female presence?” I ask. “I’m good. Thanks.
”
”