Since Forever Ago by Olivia Besse Read Free Book Online Page B

ignoring the fact that Riley was now clawing at her ankles. “Classy? Slutty?”
    “Slutty,” Liz replied, glancing down at their heartbroken friend before turning back to Audrey with a nod. “Definitely slutty.”
    “Slutty?” Riley wailed out incredulously. “Noah hated anything revealing. I don’t own any slutty clothes!”
    “Good thing for you that I have plenty, then!” Audrey chirped before skipping off to her room, leaving Liz to stare down at Riley with a blank expression on her face.
    “We’re doing this for you, you know,” Liz pointed out in a flat voice.
    “This is a cruel way of showing you care, then.”
    “What happened to ‘the new and improved Riley Benson’?” Liz teased, lowering herself onto the floor and poking Riley on the shoulder. “Hm, dating pro?”
    “I lied,” Riley squeaked out. “I admit it! I’m a liar! And this lying sack of shit would very much prefer to stay home and eat an entire tray of Oreos. So can you just leave me be, at least for today? Pretty please?”
    “No can do,” Liz said with a laugh, grabbing Riley’s arm and pulling her up from the ground. “ This is an intervention, my friend.”
    “Besides, you know what they say,” Audrey began as she waltzed back into the room, her arms filled with skimpy skirts and neon-hued dresses. “The best way to get over someone is to get under someone new!”

Nine
    ––––––––
    “I gave up my socks for this?”
    “Can you at least pretend that you’re having fun?” Liz cried out over the blaring electronic music, playfully nudging her glum friend on the shoulder.
    “Whoo,” Riley flatly replied, an unamused expression on her face as she looked around the rowdy nightclub. “Fun overload. Can we go home now?”
    “God, there are so many cute guys here,” Audrey gushed, poking her head in between her two friends and sighing gleefully. “It’s totally our lucky night!”
    Riley proceeded to frown at her peppy roommate as Liz let out a tired laugh. “I don’t know about me, but you two should definitely go on ahead and find some hot distractions. Especially you, Miss I’m-having-the-time-of-my-life,” she added, shooting Riley a pointed stare.
    “Why are we even here?” Riley loudly groaned. “Everyone knows that a club isn’t the place to meet your future husband!”
    “Well, I met Henry at a club,” Liz reminded her. “Didn’t I?”
    Henry was Liz’s impossibly boring boyfriend, an egotistic ex-frat boy who’d graduated from Yale just two years prior before settling down in Santa Monica to work at some hoity-toity venture capital firm. It was apparent that he came from old money, what with his condescending tone of voice and raging entitlement issues. He was the type to berate Liz in public for ordering the wrong varietal of wine to pair with her entrée or for incorrectly using “further” instead of “farther” in a sentence. Simply put, he was a douche commander.
    “You’re so lucky you’re in a committed relationship with someone so mature and responsible,” Audrey whimpered, gazing enviously at the glittering diamond ring that adorned Liz’s hand. Henry had presented his adoring girlfriend with his grandmother’s vintage Cartier ring on their first anniversary, a gesture that had made Riley wretch in disgust and Audrey wail in jealousy. “ I want to be engaged while still in college, too!”
    “It’s just a promise ring,” Liz said with a roll of her eyes.
    “Well, I don’t have anyone to promise me anything ,” Audrey muttered in response.
    “Fine, let’s change that,” Riley called out with a dismissive wave of her hand, surveying the room with narrowed eyes as Audrey brightened up at the prospect of obtaining her very own ring.
    “Nuh-uh,” Liz interjected with a firm shake of her head. “Today is about finding you a lover, not Gollum over here,” she added, prompting Audrey to let out an offended scoff.
    “I have enough lovers to last me a