In Real Life by Jessica Love

Author:Jessica Love
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781466870994
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2016-03-01T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

16

We wait for Jordy outside the casino, on the bridge over the Strip that connects New York–New York with MGM Grand. It’s sort of surreal, standing on a bridge with cars going under us, a replica of the entire Manhattan skyline on one side, and a ginormous golden lion on the other. But my entire time in Vegas so far has been surreal, so the scene is fitting.

Down the Strip, away from Mandalay Bay and the pyramid of the Luxor, I see the bridge in front of New York–New York on my left and the Eiffel Tower at Paris Las Vegas, a giant Coca-Cola bottle, and Planet Hollywood on my right. The rest of the casinos spread down the street, one bright blur of lights I can’t separate from each other.

“Impressive, huh?” Nick joins me in looking out at the lights. “It’s weird. It sorta seems like it goes on forever, but it also feels like they’re close enough, you could walk there.” He shakes his head. “But trust me. They aren’t as close as they look.”

I don’t say anything. I focus on the lights, my fingers wrapped around the metal fencing that probably keeps people from jumping into the street after a huge gambling loss, and I try to figure out what to say to him, where I want this friendship of ours to go. He isn’t the person I thought he was, and I don’t know what I still want, especially with Frankie in the picture.

“Locals don’t really come out to the Strip much,” he says with a pained sigh. “But I’ve been here a lot lately.”

“Frankie?” I ask. I turn around and lean my back against the railing, facing out toward Mandalay Bay.

“Yeah.” He stares at his hand as he picks at his thumbnail. “She’s always blogging stuff going on out here, and she drags me along.”

Frankie stands a few feet from us, phone balancing between her ear and her shoulder, yapping away while she taps on her tablet. Then off the other way on the bridge, Grace and Alex and Lo and Oscar are doing their couple thing. I’ve hardly talked to my sister and my best friend since they paired off with dudes the minute we got here. I need them. I need them to help me figure this out, and they’ve ditched me for guys in my time of need.

“I’ll be right back,” I mumble to Nick.

“Wait,” he says, his voice cracking. “Ghost, I need to—”

“I need to talk to Lo and Grace.” He has a girlfriend. I don’t care what he needs to do.

“Emergency meeting. Now.” I take Lo and Grace each by an elbow and pull them away from their flirting.

“Hey,” Grace says, “we were planning the rest of the night.”

“Do it later,” I say through clenched teeth. “I’m having a crisis and I would love a minute of my older sister’s and best friend’s time, if that’s not too much to ask.”

I guess my voice or my harried expression is desperate

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