Boots, Booze, and Broken Hearts

The heels clicked first—sharp, purposeful. A declaration of intent by a woman with the drive to succeed. By the time Juniper reached the top of the staircase, heads had already turned.

Perfect.

Every eye in the room tracked her like prey. Boys stared with slack jaws. Girls blinked like they were watching expensive wine spill from an upturned glass. The game that they thought that they were playing, that they thought that they were winning, had changed. New rules. New stakes. New player.

Her hips swayed like she was on a catwalk. The red satin crop top shimmered under the overhead lights. The leather miniskirt clung like a second skin. Her boots added three inches and a sense of dominance she could feel in her spine.

She didn't once glance at anyone directly. She didn't need to.

Let them look.

Let them wonder who she was, and why the hell they hadn't noticed her sooner.

This wasn't Juniper's first rodeo. She knew exactly what was happening in the hearts of the girls, in the groins of the boys. This was what she lived for. Well, this was what she used to live for.

In the past few minutes, Juniper had gone through some intense soul-searching, some introspective examination of her goals. Her whole future was laid out ahead of her, school, career, success. But it was her approach to everything else that was askew. Why had she been so self-focused? All the games she played, all the teasing, all the flirting, it had all been short-sighted. None of it took her to where she needed to be. None of it had brought her to Joey.

Her brother. Her obsession. Her one true love.

It was surprising to her, an intensely motivated young woman, that she hadn't realized how she'd been ignoring her feelings for Joey for so long. Until Joey said it, she'd somehow missed that her intense devotion to her brother had never occurred to her, but that didn't make sense. Being head-over-heels in love with someone didn't just happen all of a sudden. No, that kind of affection grew over time, took deep root, and spread its boughs to shade every aspect of a person's life.

And yes, Juniper had allowed herself to lose so much ground by pretending it wasn't real, that her feelings weren't there. She thought about every time she'd lured a boy, every time she'd teased a man. It all must have been purely to distract herself with the unrequited love she was experiencing.

It was the only thing that made sense.

And now, thanks to her lack of self-awareness, Juniper was far behind the crowd.

She'd embarrassed herself when she first arrived, screaming accusations like some unhinged ex. She'd been wrong—so, so wrong. He hadn't hired girls to pretend. The girls here loved him. Really loved him. As did she.

Juniper scanned the crowd as she descended. Laughter bubbled. Music pulsed. Bodies danced, coupled, clung. She flicked her eyes from group to group.

Where was he?

Her heart beat faster. The farther she moved through the crowd, the more anxious she became.

No sign of Joey.

But then—there. One of the girls she'd seen earlier. Beautiful. Poised. The one who'd been sitting at Joey's feet when Juniper had first arrived. Long dark hair, dusky skin, a white sleeveless top and jeans that looked hot on the girl. Not Juniper-hot, of course, but hot enough. Their eyes met.

The girl gave a polite smile. "Looking for someone?"

Juniper hesitated, her confidence faltering just a little. "Joey."

The girl's smile deepened. "Of course you are. I'm Indira."

Her voice was warm, but there was something underneath it—this girl wasn't intimidated by Juniper at all. Every other girl at the party had stared at her while she passed, each one doing the calculation of how threatened they were by her presence. But not Indira.

Was it because she had seen how quickly Juniper had backed down when Joey confronted her? Or was it something else? Something worse?

"Where is he?" Juniper asked, trying not to sound ****.

Indira tilted her head. "Upstairs. With his girlfriends."

Girlfriends.

Plural.

The word hit like a slap.

Juniper's mouth opened but no sound came out. Girlfriends? As in—multiple? She felt the floor drop out beneath her, even though her heels held her steady.

Indira must have seen it. She gave a small shrug, almost apologetic. "You'll have to wait your turn," she paused, then, "If he wants to give you one."

It was so casual. So final.

Juniper stood there, reeling.

She wasn't just late to the game—she was losing. Badly.

He had girlfriends. More than one. He was with them now. Upstairs. Doing God-knows-what. And Juniper was here in a skirt the size of a napkin, dressed to seduce her own brother, and somehow still not enough.

She turned without a word and stumbled toward the kitchen.

The crowd parted for her automatically, but she didn't feel powerful anymore.

She felt invisible.

She found a bottle on the counter—something amber and half-empty. She didn't bother to read the label. She unscrewed the cap and poured herself a Solo cup halfway to the top.

Her hand shook.

Juniper had never gotten drunk before. Not really. It had always felt trashy. Weak. But right now, weakness sounded like a blessing. She didn't want to think anymore. She didn't want to feel. Just when she finally found her one true love, she’d found out that he wasn't interested in her. He was fine without her. That Juniper would have to be alone.

Without Joey.

She raised the cup and drank.

The burn was awful, like fire and sadness.

She coughed, wiped her mouth, and drank again.

Maybe at the bottom of the cup she'd find a way to forget her feelings.

Maybe.