I'm late.

I totally hate the feeling of being behind schedule and having to rush around to get ready.

But if Matty had had the damned car ready for me at five like he said he would, I would already be on the road instead of frantically trying to blow dry my hair right now. By the time we processed the mountain of paperwork necessary for me to take possession of my new vehicle, almost two hours had gone by.

I barely had time enough to haul my ass into the shower and pick out something to wear when I realized how late it was.

I was supposed to meet everyone at Livia's apartment at eight.

It's quarter past.

I find my phone on top of my bed, underneath Snowball, and call Liv. I can hear that Those Girls are already there, giggling and apparently revving up for a big night out.

When I explain that I'm running late, Livia mercifully tells me not to rush. "We're just having a couple drinks here first before heading out anyway. You're only missing the cocktail hour portion of the evening, so don't sweat it."

"I'll get there as soon as I can. Um, do you need anything?" It just occurred to me that I probably should have asked her that sooner.

"No, no. Tess brought a bottle of Goldschlager, if you can believe it, and Christian sent Vix over with a platter of unclaimed sandwiches."

Livia's sister Vix is married to a guy who owns a gourmet deli. When those two were merely dating, Chris had abandoned his job at a brokerage firm so he could move up north to be near her. I hate to admit it, but at the time, I thought that was really sweet. However, since then, he'd ditched the suit and opened a delicatessen right here in town. It's actually a pretty popular place—their "Outrageous Sandwiches" are addictive—but yeesh, talk about dropping out.

I wrestle into my Seven jeans as Livia adds, "Just get your butt over here in a timely fashion so we can HIT THE SKI BAR ALREADY!"

She says the last part extra loud, purely to instigate the response of ensuing hoots and hollers from her four party guests.

Yippee.

"Okay, I'll be there soon."

I finish up in decent time and slide behind the wheel of my beautiful new Beemer. I didn't even tell Livia that I was buying a new car today, so she is going to be blown away when she sees it.

I stop a block away from her house so I can lower the convertible roof for optimum presentation. It would have been nice to make the whole drive with the top down on such a perfect night, but my hair would have been a windblown, frizzy disaster if I had. I pull into her driveway a little ahead of nine and beep the horn.

When no one comes running out right away, I beep again.

Finally, Liv pokes her head out the door looking piqued. But then she registers me standing next to my shiny, silver sportscar and does a double take.

"Oh my God! Shane, is this yours?"

I strike a car model pose against the driver's side door. "Sure is. Just picked her up today. What do you think?"

She comes across the front lawn to inspect my new wheels. "What do I think? I think I like it!"

She hops into the passenger seat and starts playing with all the buttons and checking out the mirrors and cupholders like any human does when presented with a new car. "Shana, this is so nice!"

Nice? I could probably think of a million other adjectives that would better describe the forty-thousand-dollar piece of machinery she's sitting in.

I open my mouth to say as much, but Liv starts talking. "Do you love it? I can't believe you did this!" She offers an apologetic look before adding, "I wish we had time to go for a spin, but the girls are getting pretty antsy to get out of here and I still have to gas up the minivan."

"We're taking your work van?" Nothing like traveling in style.

Liv looks only slightly sheepish as she explains. "Well, yeah. There are six of us tonight and I thought it would be better than taking two cars into the city. Does it matter?"

I shrug. "No, of course not. It's not like I'd be volunteering to take this baby anywhere across the bridge anyway."

"Well, I should think not."

She giggles as she exits the car and proceeds to run her hand dramatically along the hood on her walk around toward me. That's when I realize she's trying to show off the glittering emerald on her left hand. I put a smile on my face and say, "Alright. Lemme see that thing."

She extends her hand regally in front of my eyes. I give the gorgeous rock an appraisal and offer, "Wow, Liv. It's really nice."

She doesn't pick up on my tone, and instead bats her eyelashes. "Oh, you like it? My fiancé gave it to me." She starts cracking up as she loops her arm through mine and escorts me inside.

Lounging around the sectional sofa in the living room, Those Girls all offer a greeting. It's so difficult for me to walk into situations like this. I know that they're not the biggest fans of mine. Even though the feeling is quite mutual, they outnumber me four to one, which always gives their tight little group the upper hand.

I find an empty spot on the couch next to Isla the Lemming and grab a chip out of the bowl on the coffee table. Liv's sister Vix stands up and asks, "Shana? Do you want a drink?"

"Um... I think I'll wait until we get to the bar. I can't stand Goldschlager."

Tess starts laughing. "I also brought a few bottles of wine, you know. The Schlag was just to be funny."

Vix adds, "I don't remember the last time I even saw a bottle of Schlag anywhere. Where the heck did you find it?"

Those two continue with their riveting conversation about the "Schlag" and their many memories associated with said beverage, completely forgetting that I'm sitting here.

Thankfully, Samantha has made a trip to the kitchen and plunks a glass on the table in front of me. "Here you go. White wine okay?"

I tell her that it is and thank her while taking a sip of my drink.

Sam turns to Livia. "So... Did you and Jack start thinking about setting a date yet?"

Livia lets out with a sigh and slumps into her chair. "Well, we can't decide. We're kind of leaning toward the spring, but nothing definite. Right now, we need to concentrate on finding a house."

They're buying a house?

Tess takes a break from her conversation with Vix to chime in, "You know you want May twenty-sixth. Who cares that it's my anniversary? I told you just to do it already."

Liv counters, "It wouldn't be right, Tess. Jack and I have already talked about it."

"You guys met on that day, broke up soon after, then got back together on the same date a year later--at my wedding, you're welcome very much." 

I'm surprised when Tess actually directs her next comments to me, but then I realize it's probably because I wasn't here for the initial rundown on this subject. "Next year, the twenty-sixth falls on a Saturday. Don't you think they should just book it for that night? I mean, it's like the perfect date!"

Liv interruptsTess's elated argument. "But it's your day! We don't want to do that to you guys."

Tess rolls her eyes. "Do what? Oh, please, it's your day, too. I think we can handle it. Besides, just think—I'll never forget your anniversary..."

Livia mulls this over briefly. "Maybe. But look, I just want to have one last weekend free from wedding planning until I'm forced to turn into Bridezilla on Monday, okay? We'll have a whole year to eat, sleep, and breathe this wedding. Tonight, I just want to have fun, so I'm officially dropping this subject as of now." At that, Livia imparts the news about my new Beemer.

Tess turns back to Vix as Sam says, "Oh, I'm so jealous. I haven't ever bought a new car! Is it nice?"

Again with the nice. "Oh, yeah... it's so cool. Well, I only picked it up a couple hours ago, so I haven't even really had a chance to check everything out yet, but yeah, it's fun."

Isla chimes in. "Did Tommy see it yet?"

"No, not yet. I had to come here practically straight from the dealership, but I'm sure he'll be wrestling the keys out of my hand tomorrow."

Tess and Vix must be finished with their gold-flecked walk down Inebriated Memory Lane, because Tess stands up and says, "Alright, ladies, let's get this party rolling. Time to show our future bride a good time."

And just like that, the subject of my new car is dropped like a hot potato as we shuffle out the door and into the minivan.

*** Update: Based on some of your feedback, I'll be tweaking a few things in this manuscript.

1. I've decided to edit everything I've already written in order to change over to past tense. Originally, I was trying to treat this as a companion novel to DOWN THE SHORE, which was written in present. But I only did it that way as an experiment, just to challenge myself. Fine. Mission accomplished. No need to torture myself by continuing to write in a way that feels unnatural to me.

2. I'll also be restructuring this book into a dual POV. I think getting Livia's side of things will offer some humor and romance, giving readers a break from the constant dumpster fire otherwise known as Shana Benedict.

3. It will also explain why anyone would be friends with a person like Shana. We've all had that bitchy friend in our lives. I want to show the rationale behind maintaining such a relationship. Fact is, Shana is funny. And loyal in her own warped way. And essentially, she didn't start out as such a raging cuntsicle. Her self-centeredness simply went unchecked for too long, and it's to the point where she and Livia are finding themselves at a crossroads because of it. 

The wedding is merely a catalyst for the deterioration of their friendship to come to a head.

I'll post new chapters tomorrow! Enjoy. (And thank you!) ***