I’m off to a New Year’s Eve party at Jackson’s with a bunch of friends. It’s a cold night, but I don’t think we’re getting snow. I hope that you’re safe and warm this New Year’s Eve, and I hope that you have a very happy New Year. I’m glad I’ve gotten to know you better these past few months.

There. Friendly, but not too friendly. If he really was backing off our little online relationship, I didn’t want to look too clingy. I slipped my phone into my clutch on my way out the door, but once I got to Jackson’s I tried really hard to not check it. Which meant I tapped the email icon every five minutes or so. I frowned at my email inbox, empty of new messages, until Mitch took my phone out of my hand and put a shot glass in it instead.

“Hey, give that back.” I made a weak attempt to take my phone, but Mitch was something like twice my height and just held it over his head. I wasn’t getting it back until he was ready to give it.

“Nope. Not till you’ve done a shot with me. And then a shot with Park over there.” He nodded over to where Emily leaned against the bar. She saw us looking at her and waved, a grin spreading over her face.

“When did Emily get here?” I tossed back the shot—vodka, so there weren’t any accompaniments like salt or limes to contend with. I only coughed a little as it went down, warming me from the inside out.

“About three checks of your phone ago.” He took the empty shot glass away and handed me a bottle of beer as a chaser. His face darkened slightly, which was an odd look for the world’s most cheerful guy. “You getting stood up or something?”

“No. Nothing like that.” I wasn’t about to explain my odd online relationship in the middle of a crowded bar on what was supposed to be the most festive night of the year.

“Hmm.” Mitch looked me over critically and handed me back my phone. “Well, come on. That shot was just a warm-up. Come join the party. But let me know whose ass I need to kick later, okay?”

“You got it.” I turned off my phone and stuck it back in my purse. Screw it. Dex wasn’t writing me back tonight. He was probably out celebrating New Year’s Eve, just as I was. Except he wasn’t wasting the whole night staring at his phone.

Enough. I took a swig from my beer and clung to the back of Mitch’s shirt as he led us through the tight crowd. Funny how I’d had such a crush on Mitch when we were in high school. But now I was grateful that the crush had dissipated, replaced by a big-brotherly feeling. I truly believed that if someone hurt me, Mitch would hunt the guy down and make him regret it. And then get me drunk to help me forget. Of course, he’d do it with beer and tequila, never remembering that I liked wine better. It was the thought that counted.

Sure enough, when we got to Emily’s side of the bar, her sister April was there next to her, lining up shot glasses and lime wedges.

“Not too many,” Emily cautioned. “Tequila is not my friend.”

“Tequila is nobody’s friend,” April said as she handed each of us a lime wedge. “That’s the point.”

Mitch scoffed. “It’s one shot. That’s all.”

Emily squinted at him. “Since when is it only one shot with you?”

“She has a point.” Simon appeared on the other side of Emily, two longneck beers in his hand. He passed one over to Emily and kept the other for himself. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you stop at one.”

“It’s New Year’s Eve!” Mitch protested. “If you can’t let loose on New Year’s Eve, when can you?”

“I agree with Mitch,” I said, my usual bright smile back in place. I punctuated the statement by reaching for one of the shot glasses and the saltshaker and lime. Lick it, slam it, suck it. “Nothing wrong with saying goodbye to the old year.”

“I agree.” Emily followed suit, chasing the liquor with a swig of beer. “It’s been a pretty good year, after all. It deserves to go out in style.” She fiddled with the diamond ring on her left hand and stole a glance up at her fiancé. They exchanged a smile so intimate that I felt I was intruding by seeing it.

Bah. I nudged away my beer bottle and reached for another shot of tequila. So what if I didn’t have anyone to kiss at midnight. I wasn’t the only one. April and I clinked shot glasses and knocked them back together.

“I meant to say . . .” April leaned on the bar in my direction, and I leaned toward her in response, because it was getting kind of loud in here. “I’m so glad you joined book club. Sorry the books are so depressing, though.”

I waved a hand. “It’s okay. I’m one of those ‘history shouldn’t be forgotten’ kind of people.”

“Oh, me too.” April nodded earnestly, probably a little too earnestly, but we were both a couple shots in at this point. “Totally. But I’m also one of those ‘let’s read something fun after a long day of work’ kind of people.”

“Well, you should join Emily’s book club then.” I motioned between Emily and myself. “We’re reading fun books. Didn’t Emily tell you?”

April considered it, her head bobbing left and right on the end of her neck. Finally the bob became a nod, followed by a head shake. “I don’t know. You think this town is big enough for two book clubs?”

That was a valid question, considering that Emily’s book club still didn’t have a ton of members. But tequila made me optimistic. “It’s been great so far. They can have the depressing, important books. We read the fun ones with sex in them.”

A laugh escaped April’s mouth, a loud guffaw that I wouldn’t have expected from her. She clapped a hand over her mouth to contain the sound, but her eyes grinned at me. “Now that . . .” She trailed off. “. . . That is something I can get behind. I mean, if that’s the only way I can get any, I’m in.”

“I hear that.” I grinned, a little harder than was necessary, but again, tequila. “Go to the store. Emily will hook you up with the book.”

“I can’t believe she didn’t tell me about it. Em, why didn’t you tell me about the sexy book club?” She glanced over her shoulder, and I stifled a giggle. Emily’s arms were around Simon’s neck and he had her backed up against the bar, his hands low on her hips. She fiddled with the hair at the nape of his neck, and they didn’t have eyes for anyone else. There was no way Emily was thinking about book clubs, sexy or not.

My instinct was to avert my eyes, that feeling of being an intruder on someone else’s happiness coming back to the forefront. April obviously felt no such desire. Instead she whacked her little sister on the arm. “Get a room, you two! You do know you’re out in public, right?”

Simon backed away a step, a flush climbing up his neck as he ran a hand through his hair. He at least had the grace to look a little mortified, but Emily just rolled her eyes and whacked April right back with a grin.

“Nothing wrong with kissing my fiancé at midnight,” she said.

“It’s not midnight.” I handed her a shot glass.

“That’s right, it’s eleven forty-seven, so keep it in your pants for another thirteen minutes.” But April was smiling through her admonition, and we three girls did one more shot together for good measure.

Ooof. That was four shots in a very short amount of time, and with the way my fingers and toes were tingling, I was feeling the effects pretty quickly. I ordered a glass of water and squeezed two lime wedges into it. The alcohol had taken hold, and my muscles felt loose. I took slow sips of water as the room got just swimmy enough for me to feel good. A little silly. A lot happy. Happy New Year.

I’d taken an Uber to the bar, and I took another one home. Good planning ahead, Past Stacey. After another glass of water with a couple aspirin to stave off tomorrow’s hangover, I crawled into bed, switching on my fairy lights so I could see enough to plug in my phone. When it blinked to life, there was a notification. An email.

To: Stacey Lindholm

From: Dex MacLean

Date: January 1, 12:32 a.m.

Subject: Re: Happy New Year

I hope that you managed to stay warm, and that you didn’t get any snow while you were out tonight. I like to think of you as being as safe and warm as you wished I was. And I am. There are usually bars to hit up and parties to attend, but I ended up staying in tonight. Long talks with family ended up being a good way to say goodbye to this old year.

And now I’m sending you an email to say hello to the new year. Start as you mean to go on. I hope you had a great time out with friends, and that there was someone there to kiss you at midnight since it can’t be me.

I thought about getting my laptop, but it was on the other side of my apartment and I was tucked in bed with Benedick purring in my lap. So instead I pecked out a response on my phone.

To: Dex MacLean

From: Stacey Lindholm

Date: January 1, 1:13 a.m.