The Summer Girlfriend (Heart Beach, #1)(4)
“Come on, let’s head back,” Noelle said, urging Sheree toward the bathroom exit. “You’ve got more singing to do. Maybe you can sing ‘We Found Love’ if Raven hasn’t already.”
Sheree laughed and smiled at Noelle gratefully as she followed her out of the bathroom and down the dark hallway back to their private karaoke room. One of Justin’s groomsmen had managed to steal the mic from Raven, and he was belting out “Don’t Leave Me” by Blackstreet. The other guys were surrounding him and singing backup. Raven stood in the corner of the room with her arms crossed, glaring daggers.
Noticing that they’d returned from the bathroom, Justin rushed over to Noelle and Sheree. He wrapped his gangly arms around Sheree and sported a lopsided, drunk smile.
“Everything good, babe?” he asked. Sheree grinned up at him and nodded. Justin looked over Sheree’s head at Noelle. “Thanks for helping her, Nola.”
For a second, Noelle considered correcting him. But he was drunk, and it honestly didn’t matter if he got her name right. She wasn’t a permanent fixture in their lives. She’d been working with Bridal Bestie for almost two years, and sometimes when she got along really well with a client, she wondered what it might be like if they tried to be real-life friends. One of the reasons she was so good at this job was because she didn’t struggle to connect with other people. In her high school senior year superlatives, she’d been voted Most Friendly. But it was a lot harder to make friends as an adult. She’d long ago lost touch with anyone from the University of Maryland, and lately she saw less and less of her best friend and roommate, Tati, because she spent most nights at her boyfriend André’s place. Noelle was happy for Tati. She was blissfully in love and had finally found her person after kissing one too many frogs. But Noelle still missed her. Both things could be true.
Sheree would probably be cool to hang out with in real life. But these days, Noelle was more concerned about the money.
She’d had various side hustles over the years. Bartending, cater waiting, walking dogs, babysitting toddlers, walking dogs while babysitting toddlers. Being a hired bridesmaid was by far the easiest and highest-paying side gig she’d ever had. With her side gig money, her paychecks from her main job at Hidden Gems Books, as well as doing food delivery and rideshare driving, combined with a bit of financial aid and private loans, she almost had enough money to go back to college and finish her bachelor’s degree. Finally.
Suddenly, across the room, an argument broke out between Raven and the groomsmen. While Sheree and Justin went to intervene, Noelle checked the time on her phone. 12:03 a.m. Her contract stated that her services were no longer needed after midnight, so her work here was officially done.
When there seemed to be a break in the bickering, she approached Sheree, lightly tapped her on the shoulder, and whispered, “I’m sorry, but it’s after midnight, and I’m going home now.” She lowered her voice another fraction. “Um, I just want to remind you that the remaining fee for tonight is due tomorrow by twelve p.m. and you can pay directly through the website. I’ll send you the receipt to reimburse me for my ride home.”
“Oh, of course, of course!” Sheree twisted around and gave Noelle a firm, warm hug. It felt nice. Even if their friendship was pretend. “I’ll pay everything asap. Get home safe.”
Each Bridal Bestie client was different, but what they had in common was that they needed Noelle’s help in some form or another. People with big social circles weren’t in need of her services. More often than not, her clients were a little lonely.
Maybe that was another reason that Noelle was good at this particular side hustle. She knew how loneliness could house itself inside your body and sit on top of your heart. Even six years later, she still vividly remembered the emptiness she felt as she’d packed up her junior year dorm room, knowing full well that losing her scholarship meant that she wouldn’t be able to return to UMD to finish her senior year. Her ex, CJ, hadn’t bothered to say goodbye to her, even though he was the reason she’d gotten into trouble and lost her scholarship in the first place.
But then again, the only person she could truly blame was herself. No one had told her to get mixed up with him and jeopardize her future.
As Noelle stepped outside onto the sidewalk, a group of girls walked by, laughing among themselves as they marched on in their high heels. It was early July, and the air was hot and muggy. People were out and about, enjoying summer. Noelle couldn’t remember when she’d last taken time off to do anything that remotely resembled summer fun. Unless she counted the afternoon last August when she’d gone to that run-down indoor water park with Tati, and middle school boys had catcalled them while they’d floated down the lazy river.
Noelle lived in New Jersey, a state lined with beaches, but she hadn’t been to the shore in almost three years. Working and saving every bit of money to go back to school was more important.
Her phone vibrated with an alert that her car ride was four minutes away. At the same time, she heard the karaoke bar entrance door open and close behind her. She turned around and came face-to-face with one of Justin’s groomsmen, Brian. He was medium height with light brown skin, and he must have come to their outing straight from work, because he was still wearing a suit, although he’d ditched his tie and unfastened the top buttons of his shirt.
Noelle had noticed Brian looking at her across the table at dinner, and upstairs during karaoke, he’d sat unnecessarily close to her on the couch, “accidentally” brushing his hand across her thigh as he’d reached for his drink.