Page 9 of Keeping Score

“I need you,” I said, pulling Cassie up from her chair.

“For what?”

“Don’t question the birthday girl, Cass,” I instructed. “Just do as she says.”

Cassie laughed, relenting as I pulled her toward the dance floor where the chorus of Pink’s “Raise Your Glass” was booming.

I laughed as Cassie tried and failed to dance like a normal person, but God help her, she tried.

“Just relax,” I said, grabbing her arms and moving her to the rhythm. “It’s supposed to be fun.”

“It is fun,” she lied badly. “I’m vibing.”

Friends from all of my different circles surrounded us, forming one big messy group of girls with nothing in common, but somehow we made it work.

I couldn’t believe Brody had done this. Gotten everyone here together like this, for me.

There were people here I hadn’t even thought he would think to invite, but not for the first time, he had gone above and beyond for me.

After a while, I heard his voice behind us saying to Cassie,

“Mind if I steal my girl?”

Cassie smiled at him, gesturing for him to go ahead, before slipping off into the crowd—no doubt to go find her husband, who was probably hiding in a corner somewhere.

“Having fun?” he murmured into my hair, joining in a dance with me as if it were as natural as breathing.

Cassie was my best friend, and always would be.

But Brody? We fit like puzzle pieces together, in a way I never thought I could with someone.

He understood me. Could predict what I wanted, needed—before I even knew it myself.

He was so much more than just my boyfriend.

He was my best friend.

“Any special birthday wishes?” His voice was low in my ear.

I smirked at him, shaking my head.

“Uh-uh,” I tsked. “You know the rule. If you say it out loud, it won’t come true.”

“Then think about it as hard as you can, because it’s time to blow out the candles.”

I spun in the direction he was staring, seeing a group of waiters carrying over the most elaborate cake I’d ever seen in my life.

The crowd gathered around me, filling the room with the chorus of “Happy Birthday” as I took in every detail of the night around me.

Friends. Family. Food. Love.

There was nothing more I could’ve asked for.

And when it was time to make that birthday wish, I had one thought echoing in my head:

I wish that everything could stay like this forever.

And then I blew the candles out.