23

“COLIN!” AN OLDER WOMAN SAYS in a very smokey voice. She’s just on the border of sounding like a frog; one thousand more cigarettes and she’ll be there. “So nice of you to come. Please, please, come in and meet our guests.”

My jaw drops open as I take in the scene around me. All I can think is, Damn, good thing I did the smokey eye look tonight. Every single person in the art gallery is wearing black … every single person except Colin and me, that is. He’s in jeans and a t-shirt and I’m in my red top and bedazzled blue shorts that cost me a chunk of babysitting change. I would fit in perfectly at a date consisting of dinner and a movie with a hot mechanic. Here, I look like the cleaning crew. I sigh, knowing I either need to slink around in the shadows or just own this thing. I decide on the latter and raise my chin just a fraction of an inch.

The cigarette lady smiles at me indulgently. “And who is your friend?” “This is Quin. She’s my brother’s girl and my biggest fan.”

I’m too shoc