Page 71 of Wright Together
We both spent a few minutes cleaning ourselves up, and then he was opening the front door and escorting me to his car. Our fingers entwined between the seats as he drove us to the restaurant.
But when we pulled up to Flips—a local bar that served bar food and was known for hot dogs, of all things—I was side-eyeing the fuck out of him.
“Flips?”
“Yep.”
“Not La Sirena or West Table or Funky Door?”
He laughed. “If you had preferences, you should have said them.”
“But I thought you said we had a reservation,” I said, confused.
Flips didnotneed a reservation.
“I didn’t exactly say that,” he said as he parked out front.
Now, I was really giving him a look. Hehadn’tsaid that, had he? He’d just said that we had somewhere to be. What the hell did that mean? I’d been too deep in the throes of passion to question it.
Whitt stepped out of the car and jogged around to the passenger side to open my door. He helped me out, all while my quizzical look remained.
“You told me to have fun. Could you do the same?” he asked with a shit-eating grin.
“I’m just saying gourmet hot dogs are not my idea of fun, sir.”
“Noted.”
He was smirking as he led me toward the bar in our fancy attire. I feltwayoverdressed for the occasion, but so was he. We’d at least make a spectacle together.
He tugged the door open for me, and I entered the darkened interior. My eyes tried to adjust to the absolute black inside. What in the hell was going on?
Then, the lights flickered on, and the entire place erupted with a cheered, “Happy birthday!”
I gasped, my hand going to my chest as I took in the scene before me. All of our friends in their best attire, shouting and jumping up and down, arms in the air and smiles on their faces. A balloon arch withHappy Birthday, Evein the center. Streamers, confetti, and noisemakers were everywhere. A few people even had on little triangular birthday hats.
“Happy birthday,” Whitt said through the din.
I looked up at him, trying to suppress the tears coming to my eyes. “You did this?”
“With help from Nora, Blaire, and Piper,” he said. “Trust me, I am not the mastermind of decorations.”
“That would be me,” Nora said, drawing me in for a hug. She slung a whiteBirthday Girlsash over my head and placed a little plastic birthday tiara into my hair. “Happy birthday, gorgeous.”
Blaire and Piper were there next, hugging me and wishing me all the best. Piper gestured to the catering they’d had brought in for the event, including a two-tiered birthday cake with green flowers like a ribbon down its center. My name in emerald letters atop it.
“Y’all are amazing. I can’t…I can’t even believe this.”
My throat hurt, and I was choked up. I could barely get the words out. They’d all done this forme. The girl who’d never had friends. The girl who had always been talked about and shunned. The girl who had wanted nothing more than for others to see her as the soft, loving, friendly person I really was and not just the hardened outer core I’d developed to prevent myself from getting hurt over and over again. I wanted this with all my heart, and it meant everything that they’d all done this for me.
I threw my arms around Whitt and pressed a kiss to his lips. The crowd catcalled us. It was the most public display I’d ever given since we’d gotten together. And I could do nothing but thank him over and over again for everything.
“Better than dinner?” he teased.
“Much better. Forgive me for doubting you,” I said with a laugh as a drink was placed in my hand and music filled the space.
“Forgiven. It was all worth it to see that look on your face.”
I laughed, still buzzing from the fact that this had happened at all. “How did I get so lucky?”