“Well, if you get tired of him and want to party, come find me.”
“Right, I’ll do that.” She steered away from the black-clothed blob into the midst of the mingling people, trying not to feel weird about the fact that a guy just hit on her. That never happened. She must look smoking-hot tonight. Well, that was nice.
“Greer?” A person in a dark outfit and a colorful scarf approached her from out of the crowd. “Wow, I hardly recognized you!”
That made two of them. Squinting hard, she leaned forward, peering. The woman’s hair was a brownish-blonde and pulled into braids and there was no telling what she was dressed as. But the voice was vaguely familiar. “Taylor?”
“It’s me! You like my costume?” She twirled, which looked like a blur, of course, and nearly crashed into a person walking past. “Sorry,” Taylor mumbled before moving back toward Greer.
“Um, I can’t tell what you are.”
“Oh. Well, I’m a Hogwarts student. Gryffindor. I should really be Hufflepuff but they were out of those at the costume shop.” She patted her scarf. “Which one are you?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen Harry Potter. Say, have you seen Asher tonight?”
Taylor’s shocked gasp echoed in the room. “Not seen Harry Potter! Did you not even read the books? How can you not have read the freaking books?”
“I don’t know?” Taylor sure was being loud. But at least she was here, and she could guide Greer around the room, because being without glasses? It was rougher than she’d anticipated. Greer reached out and grabbed Taylor’s arm. “Can you help me out? I can’t find anyone at this party.”
“It is pretty crowded,” Taylor said sympathetically. “I’d rather be home playing Warcraft or Excelsior, but what can you do, right?” She linked her arm with Greer’s. “You look great without the glasses.”
“Thanks.” Sure, she was blind, but you suffered for greatness.
“You want to go see Gretchen and Hunter? They look super cute tonight. They’re giving off more sexual tension than Scully and Mulder.”
“That’s all right. I’m looking for someone else.” It was bad form to avoid the bride at the engagement party, but Gretchen tended to have a big mouth and she’d totally call Greer out on her uber-sexy ensemble. Greer needed to find Asher before she accidentally smeared her eye makeup or spilled a drink down her front, or something.
“Who did you say you were looking for again?” Taylor asked, steering them through the crowd.
“Asher? Do you know him?”
“Vaguely,” Taylor said, and she didn’t sound super happy. “Wouldn’t you rather hang out with Chelsea, or maybe Sebastian? I saw them over in a corner.”
“No, I want Asher,” Greer said firmly. “Where’s he at?”
Taylor sighed. “Well . . . he’s drunk and kind of being an ass. He made fun of my costume.”
“Because you’re a Hogwart?”
“Oh my god, how do you not know Harry Potter lingo?” She sighed dramatically. “Muggles. Damn muggles.”
Greer was starting to wonder if Asher wasn’t the only one drinking. But Taylor turned down a hall and started to steer her toward a new area. That was encouraging. She resisted the urge to check her lipstick and fuss with her hair. She’d looked good the last time she’d seen her reflection. She was just nervous, that was all. “So Asher was drinking?”
“Yeah, he and a few of the guys were hanging out in the corner bro-ing down or whatever you call it when guys act like jackasses at a party.” Taylor steered them through another hall. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“I won’t.” Asher was her objective here tonight. Nothing else mattered. She’d stand up in front of a dozen drunk guys in a skimpy costume as long as Asher saw her. He’d make things worth it.
They rounded a corner, and there he was. Sure, he was a blur in her gaze, but the way he threw his head back and laughed? That blob was definitely Asher. She knew that laugh. She knew everything about the guy, from his favorite foods to his favorite music to the time that his ex, Donna, gave him underwear for Christmas. Some people obsessed over science, or gambling. Greer obsessed over Asher Sutton.
She had ever since she started college. She’d moved to New York City to attend NYU, but her father didn’t want her to live in a dorm. So she’d gotten an apartment close to campus and while it was nice, it was also lonely. Greer didn’t make friends easily, and classes were so large that she didn’t feel comfortable speaking up. So she’d put up an ad for roommates. It wasn’t that she needed the money; she had a trust fund. She wanted the company.
Gretchen had been the first to answer the call for a roommate, and then Chelsea. Both were so bubbly and fun that life in New York City was suddenly no longer scary and friendless. She had people now. Taylor showed up a short time later, and was the enthusiastic computer nerd of their group, and their apartment was full. There was one bedroom left but they’d decided to keep that for storage or visitors . . . until Asher knocked on the door one day.
Barely eighteen-year-old Greer had taken one look at him and fallen in love. He was handsome, cheerful, witty, and talked to her like she was a person. She found herself offering him the last room before she even had a chance to discuss it with her other roomies. She knew from the moment she saw him that this was the man she was destined to marry.
It wasn’t until he moved in that she learned about his childhood sweetheart, Donna. She’d been devastated, but determined to love him from afar. It was clear that Asher was devoted to Donna, and wasn’t there something to be said for a guy that had been with the same girl since he was fifteen? He was loyal and devoted. Donna was a bit of a flake, but if Asher loved her, there had to be something worth seeing, so Greer had liked her, too.