Page 84 of Bloom

It isn’t long before Nick finds me, before I’m in the exact position I was before, sitting next to him with James across the deck shooting me daggers. “What was that about?” he asks.

“He’s just a little overprotective.” I guess, technically, this is not untrue.

Max’s former boss Rob shows up. Both Ginny and I are in his face within seconds. “Why are you here?” I ask.

“Whoa, there, girls. Max invited me.”

We both turn to Max. “He fired you. Why’d you invite him to the party?” Ginny demands.

Max shrugs. He’s shockingly Zen tonight, for someone who was so despondent 24 hours ago. “He’s still a cool dude,” says Max, punching Rob in the shoulder.

I return to my perch, shaking my head.

“He’s totally losing it,” I whisper.

“Do you think he’s doing drugs?” she asks.

“Did you ever think he wasn’t?” I snort.

Nick’s saying something to me. Something I miss entirely because I am staring at James, and he is staring at me, with an unhappiness in his eyes that I would give anything to remove. And then suddenly Nick’s hands are on my face and he’s turning me toward him. I have no idea what he was saying previous to this moment. I only hear the words “then he won’t mind if I do this”, and he kisses me. It’s so wholly unexpected that for a moment I simply don’t understand what the hell is happening. I try to pull away, but there’s suddenly nothing to pull away from.

He’s on the ground, with James punching him repeatedly in the face.

Max dives on him, grabbing his arms, and Dan is quick to follow. “Dude!” Max shouts. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“I’m getting that asshole off my girlfriend,” James replies. “That’s what I’m doing.”

Everyone on the deck goes completely silent. Shockingly silent, as if someone hit a mute button on the entire city. And then Max’s triumphant laughter rings out.

“What the hell?!” Nick shouts at Max. “You didn’t say he was gonna hit me!”

James and I look at each other, and slowly turn toward Max.

“Did you orchestrate this, Max?” James asks.

Max is doubled over. “Hell, yeah. I orchestrated the whole thing! I was sick of the two of you sneaking around. Figured it was time to blow you out of your hole.”

“She’s your girlfriend?” hisses Ginny. She turns to me in astonishment. “Are you saying that Elle is your girlfriend?”

“Yes,” says James. He looks at Max and Dan. “And I’m sorry. I know I told you to leave her alone and I know it makes me a hypocrite. I just … ”

“You just what?” snaps Ginny. “Because I can’t believe I’m hearing this shit. After the way you threatened everyone away from us both, you were with her all along?”

“I love her,” he says, and my head snaps up. His eyes wait for mine, bleak and anxious. He loves me. He just told everyone on this deck that he loves me. In spite of how awful and embarrassing the whole thing is, I smile back at him with my heart in my eyes, and his face loses the haunted look it had. “And no, we weren’t together all along. But we are now.”

Ginny turns to Max, coolly. “And you’re okay with this?” she asks.

His brows come together. “Why wouldn’t I be okay with it? They’re perfect together.”

“Because he’s your best friend?” she suggests with such venom that for once even he seems speechless. She turns back to me. “And you – Allison warned me about you. About all of this. And she was right. So how many boyfriends, exactly, do you have? And how many have you stolen from someone else?”

“Ginny, stop,” says James. He pulls me to my feet and wraps an arm around my waist. “I broke up with Allison before Elle and I ever got together.”

But Ginny isn’t listening. “But it was Elle who convinced you to do it. Because that’s how she is. This is exactly what happened with Timmy Phillips!”

It’s such a bizarre segue that I’m momentarily dumbfounded. “Who the hell is Timmy Phillips?”

“I liked him all through 7th grade and then he asked you to go out with him instead of me!”