I shrugged. “You know what? I forgot.”
He looked over at Julie and then back at me. “I don’t follow.”
My heart started to race, the room closing in. “I need to go,” I said.
Which was when Amber intervened.
“That’s certainly true!” she said loudly.
Several people at the bar turned toward us, a few groups of people turning to look as well.
“I want you out of my party!”
Julie put her hand on Amber’s arm. “Darling, you should probably calm down.”
“Get out, or I’m calling the fucking police!”
Julie pulled back. “Or not.”
Amber lowered her voice. “Do you know how much that skirt cost that you ruined? A lot.”
“Do I want to know what you’re talking about?” Louis asked.
“Sunny publicly attacked me with a plate of peaches.”
Julie laughed. “I’m . . . uh . . .” She cleared her throat. “Sorry.”
Amber shot her a look. Then she turned back to me. “What are you even doing here? No one invited you. And believe me, no one wants you here.”
I turned toward Louis, my desire to take the high road disappearing with Amber’s entitled display. Now I just wanted Amber knocked down a few pegs.
“Amber is the person who hacked me.”
She laughed a little too loudly. “That’s ridiculous.”
I put my hands up in surrender, no need to raise my voice or make a big deal. Telling the truth was funny that way.
“And how do you know that?” Louis said.
“She told me.”
“She told you?” Julie said. “She confessed?”
“More like gloated.”
“I did not.”
“So you just happened to show up at my apartment the next night?”
She tried to pull off confused, as though trying to remember. “I think I had dinner reservations near there.”
“Please.”
“And even if I did go a little out of my way to revel in what happened, I still didn’t do it. I swear to you.” She turned to Louis. “I swear to you.”
Louis looked back and forth between us, he and Julie both, like they didn’t know whom to believe.
I met Louis’s eyes. “I don’t expect you to give me another chance. Please, though. Don’t reward her for what she did.”