DREW
I shiftedmy weight as I waited outside the studio for Kate to arrive. My feelings vacillated every couple of minutes between anxiety and excitement about the viewing parties. The host ofFinding Your Soulmate, Rodrigo Martinez, and I were supposed to pop in on a few viewing parties the fans had announced on the show's website. And tonight was the first night we'd be crashing the parties.
I loved my fans and how enthusiastic they were about my journey to find love. But I worried I'd end up being a disappointment in real life.
Kate drove up in her white Jetta and came out wearing a light pink blouse tucked into a gray pencil skirt. Her skirt had ridden up on her drive, and I only allowed myself to rake in her long toned legs for a second before forcing my gaze up to meet her eyes.
But that was almost as bad because her eyes had always been hypnotizing to me. Aqua blue—the same color as the ocean in Hawaii.
"I'm not late, am I?" she asked, tugging her skirt down. "I was with my mom and my nephews this morning, and then had to go home and shower before coming here."
"Did you end up staying the night after your dinner there yesterday?"
She tossed some of her golden blonde hair over her shoulder. "Yeah, I didn't feel like going home alone."
Home alone?
Why would she be going home alone?
"Where was Nolan?"
Her face went blank for a moment before she said, "H-he's out of town. I don't like staying home by myself." She chuckled somewhat awkwardly, and I couldn't ignore the feeling that there was something she wasn't telling me. "I'm kind of a big baby now, I guess."
I furrowed my brow as I studied her.
Something was off.
But if I asked, would she say what was going on between her and Nolan?
Her husband never seemed to be around, and Kate only said something about him if I brought up the subject first.
Most newly married women I knew couldn't stop bringing their husbands up in conversation.
"Actually, that reminds me," she hurried to say. "My family wanted me to invite you to lunch on Sunday. We'll be celebrating Aiden's birthday so they have a few things planned, but everyone would love to see you again and have you be a part of it."
My gut twisted.
Aiden's birthday.
He'd be turning twenty-eight if he hadn't died at twenty-one.
"So what should I tell them?" Kate asked, interrupting my thoughts.
I looked at Kate's upturned, hopeful face as she stood in front of me. Was it possible her family didn't hold anything against me after everything that had happened the night Aiden died?
"Yeah, I'll come," I finally said, even though the thought of celebrating my best friend's birthday without him made me feel hollow inside.
It had been seven years, but it felt like it was only yesterday when Aiden was speeding down the road, trying to get me as far away from Kate as he could after he caught us making out on his couch.
"Great! I'll text my mom." She pulled out her phone, not seeming to notice the knife of guilt that twisted in my stomach at the memory of that last night with Aiden. When she was done typing, she put her phone away and smiled. "Did Dion tell you which viewing parties we'll be crashing tonight?"
"Last I heard, they found two in Santa Monica that looked fun." I held the studio door open for Kate then followed her inside, hoping to escape the ghost that still haunted me.
And I almost felt normal again when Dion greeted us in the main office. Dion shook our hands before giving us the particulars of the night.
"So, what will everyone be seeing onFinding Your Soulmatetonight?" Kate asked twenty minutes later as we followed the SUV with the other people from the show. Kate had been nice enough to bend the rules and let me drive the company car.
I tried to remember back to the first week of filming. "Tonight, the audience will meet Ebony. We go on a date to the horse track. She ends up being way better than me on a horse, but she doesn't brag about it too much."