Chapter 1623

[ 650 words ]

The group gathered around and sang Happy Birthday.

“Make a wish, Lex.”

Claire motioned for Dane to hit the lights while she lit the candles on the cake.

Zara had spent five minutes giving Lex a quick makeover using the brand-new cosmetics she had just gifted her.

Skylar gently placed a paper birthday crown on Lex’s head.

With all eyes on the birthday girl, Claire pulled out her camera to capture the moment.

Zara held up her phone, recording everything.

For the first time in her life, Lex felt like the center of the universe.

Tears pooled in her eyes, catching the candlelight and sparkling like stars.

Lex clasped her hands together in deep concentration and made her wish.

She opened her eyes and blew out the candles in one breath.

Skylar was dying to know what she wished for, but she bit her tongue.

Instead, she handed Lex the plastic cake knife.

“Time to cut the cake!”

Lex took the knife, and Skylar immediately chanted, “First cut through the middle, let the good times sizzle!”

Following the prompt, Lex sliced right down the center.

“Next cut across, never suffer a loss!” Skylar cheered.

Lex made the second cut, a massive grin plastered across her face.

She had never realized birthdays could actually be this fun.

Back home, she wouldn’t have dared mention her birthday.

Because she was born a girl, her mother had been berated the day she was born and hadn’t even been given a decent meal to recover.

Her parents considered her an unlucky burden; they were never going to throw a party for her.

“Thank you guys, seriously.”

Lex had only drank one glass of sparkling wine, but she felt entirely intoxicated on happiness by the time she finished her cake.

The last time she had felt this elated was when she received her Official Admission Letter from The Cabinda University.

Actually, no. Even that hadn’t felt this good.

Because getting accepted meant she had to beg her parents to let her actually attend.

If they had said no, they could have easily ruined her life.

Plus, she had been drowning in anxiety about how to afford tuition and rent.

But this was different. Her

roommates were amazing, and she finally had real friends who weren’t just toxic acquaintances like Nanette!

The party raged on until midnight before finally winding down.

By now, the campus dorms were locked for the night.

Reid planned to drive Zara back to her house, but she absolutely refused to leave.

“I’m sleeping at Claire’s!” Zara declared, clinging to Claire’s leg like a koala.

Claire blinked.

She was completely bewildered.

Reid let out an exasperated laugh.

Did she think he was going to kidnap her or something?

Was the drama really necessary?

“Claire only has two bedrooms. There isn’t enough space for everyone,” Reid pointed out.

He had scoped the place out

Leasehol to steal Claire’s interior

earlier not to snoop, but because et

ideas for their future place.

sŵnovels

So, the two of them had taken a quick tour.

“We can camp in the living room! We’ll just grab some blankets. We’ve done it before!”

Zara stated it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

They obviously weren’t going to take the guest room; that was Dane’s territory.

The living room rug had cost tens of thousands of dollars-it was literally more expensive than a bed. It would crime not to sleep on it.

be

Wait, Zara hadn’t said that. Skylar had.

“We literally just partied in the living room. The rug is dirty. You still want to sleep on it?” Reid stared at her in disbelief.

“It’s fine, Claire can just toss a couple of bedsheets over it,” Zara reasoned.

It wasn’t actually filthy, but they could pretend it was just to be safe.

“Dane is staying over too. You guys being here is going to make it awkward,” Reid whispered, trying to reason with her.

Zara, possessed by sheer density tonight, turned right to Dane and asked loudly, “Dane, are you crashing here?”

“Because if you are, we’ll leave.”

Reid’s eye twitched. Who asks a guy that right to his face?

That was essentially guilt-tripping the man into leaving his own girlfriend’s apartment!

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