Maddie Forest didn't want to go to this birthday party. She didn't like parties in the first place—they were always too loud, there were always annoying people who she had to pretend to be nice to, and there were never enough snacks. But she especially didn't want to go to Theo Stephens's party. It was likely to be as boring, self-important, and pedantic as the guest of honor.
But, unfortunately, one of Theo's best friends was her best friend, Alexa, and Alexa had asked Maddie to come with her to the party. Alexa's brief fling with some doctor in L.A. had just ended badly, and Maddie could tell she was still upset about it. So instead of being either snug at home in a caftan watching House Hunters and eating delivery pizza, or out somewhere with Alexa, drinking wine and eating fancy pizza, she was looking for parking in one of the worst neighborhoods in San Francisco in which to find parking. “Don’t worry, we don’t have to stay all night,” Alexa said as they circled the block. “I know you’d rather be watching HGTV, but I couldn’t skip Theo’s birthday and I wasn’t in the mood to come alone.” Alexa must have been desperate to have her there, because she’d told Maddie if she came, she would wear whatever Maddie wanted. There were few things Maddie loved more than when she got to style conservative Alexa in something edgy and force her to branch out. “I’ll protect you from the bros. Just give me the nod whenever you want to take off,” Maddie said. “Not all of Theo’s friends are bros!” Alexa said. “Not even most of them. There are just a few who rub me the wrong way. His brother should be there tonight—he’s kind of a bro, but also hilarious and Theo’s opposite. You’ll like him. Anyway, thanks for coming. I know this isn’t really your thing.” Maddie sped up as she spotted a parking space down the street. “You’ll pay me back for this next time I need a buddy. Just don’t make me wear a shift dress and a cardigan that time, please.” Alexa looked down at herself as Maddie pulled into the parking spot. “Speaking of, are you sure about this outfit? I have way too much cleavage with this dress.” Maddie turned off the car. Too much cleavage? Please. Alexa had been corrupted by her conservative work wardrobe, and now she thought even the hint of a breast was shocking in public, especially if she was around people who knew she was the chief of staff to the mayor. Her dress had barely any cleavage, come on. Well. Okay. That wasn’t quite true. But it was barely any cleavage in comparison to other dresses Maddie could have put her in. “I’m very sure. I’m a professional, remember? That dress has just the right amount of cleavage for a Saturday night out at a bar.” She checked her makeup in her car mirror. Yes, she’d put the perfect amount of highlighter on her brown skin; just enough so she looked like she’d been at the beach earlier that day, but not so much that she looked like C-3PO. She got out of the car and linked arms with Alexa. “And stop tugging at that dress. You look fantastic. Let’s go dazzle these men.” When they walked into the bar, Maddie surveyed the crowd. Lots of jeans and hoodies, as she’d suspected. She shook her head and followed Alexa to the back of the bar, where the party presumably was. Oh, yep, there was Theo. The one good thing about Theo: you could always count on him to dress well. He had on well-fitting dark jeans and a soft blue button-down. He greeted Alexa with a big hug. “You made it!”