"Josh!" I turn to see Liam standing on the other side of the dance floor. "Let's do the lift."
I frown. He can't be serious. We tried it once in his apartment after we'd downed a bottle of tequila and watched Dirty Dancing, and he'd not only dropped me, he'd also pulled a muscle in his back.
"Liam, no. It's too dangerous."
He beckons to me. "We can do this. Come on!"
I shake my head. "Quinn, we can't ..."
"Goddammit, Kane, there's no time for debate! The song's about to end! Do the damn lift!"
I glance at the villains who are gazing at us smugly. I stop dancing and smile back. "You haven't won yet, bitches. Watch carefully, because I'm about to make you believe a man can fly."
Without waiting for their reaction, I run full pelt at Liam. Jesus Christ, I hope he was lying about not working out while he was on that stupid island, because I've put on about forty pounds of muscle, and I really don't want to die.
Everything seems to slow down as I reach him. He sets his mouth in a determined line before bending his knees and grabbing my hips, and when I jump into the air, he straightens his arms and pushes me above his head. For a gut-churning second, I think I have so much momentum I'm going to sail headfirst into the chocolate fountain, but at the last minute Liam corrects his position and I'm able to balance perfectly, one arm out in the classic Superman pose as my cape flutters behind me.
The sight is too much for the villains. They break into rapturous applause, as do the rest of the nearby partygoers. Even the DJ joins in by playing the Superman theme song.
The applause is still going when Quinn lowers me to the floor with a grunt.
"Fucking hell," he says as he stretches out his back. "How much do you weigh these days?"
"Rude, much? It's not polite to talk about a hero's weight."
Cassie and Elissa come over for hugs, and for the first time in all the years I've known him, Ethan looks impressed with me.
"You're insane," he says, clasping my hand and giving me a bro-hug. "But fuck, that was funny."
Even the super villains come over and congratulate me. It turns out, they're three of the hyena dancers in The Lion King. Appropriate.
Elissa orders another round of drinks, and I down my shot before heading over to a nearby couch to collapse. Damn, if I ever needed a reminder I'm not eighteen anymore, that dance off was it.
Elissa smiles as she comes and sits next to me. "That was freaking epic, my bestie."
"Yeah?" I say and rest my elbows on my knees. "I wish Angel were here to see it."
"Oh, she'll see it." She holds up her phone. "Don't you worry about that."
I lean back into the couch and sigh. "Cool. Wake me up when it's midnight, okay."
"Sure. Or, I could get us some food, so we can sit here and gossip about people."
She knows me too well. "Get the food."
???
"And that guy," whispers Elissa, "was caught backstage at Seussical, snorting cocaine off The Cat in the Hat's ass."
I laugh and wipe my mouth with a napkin. "I thought he went to rehab."
"He did. It didn't stick. Word is he's heading out to Hollywood. There's no way he can support his habit on theater wages."
I shake my head. It never fails to amaze me how much scandal there is on Broadway, and Elissa somehow knows it all.
While she devours a particularly large piece of brie, I study a girl a short distance away talking with Jack, Zoe, and a guy I haven't met.
"Lissa, don't be obvious, but do you know that whore over there talking to Jack and Zoe?"
A look of disappointment passes over Elissa's face. "I'm hoping it's the alcohol making you say that. Slut shaming girls isn't usually your thing."
"I'm not slut shaming. She's dressed as an ol' timey whore from the Wild West. Look."
She checks the girls out then shrugs. "She doesn't look familiar. Why?"
"She keeps glaring at Cassie."
"Seriously?" She indicates the guy next to glarey-girl who's dressed like a Wild West villain, all in black with a ten-gallon hat. "See him?"
"Yeah."
"That's Connor Baine. You remember I told you about him being in love with Cassie, right?"
"Ohhhh, yeah. Another Grovian I didn’t meet at the wedding. Cassie dated him for a while after Ethan dumped her, right?"
"Exactly. If the whore is staring daggers at Cassie, it's probably because she's the latest in Connor's rotating roster of girlfriends. He might have told her the story."
"Huh. Awkward."
"You got that right. Cassie and Connor used to be almost as close as you and I. But since they got all groiny with each other, they barely speak."
"See? This is why we were smart to never hit the sheets together."
"Also, because you're like my brother."
"That, too."
"And judging from the way Connor's been staring at Cassie, he's still holding a major flame. The boy needs to let it go."
I break into the opening strains of the Disney song, but Elissa gives me the stink-eye, so I shut up
"What about Zoe and Jack?" I ask. "What's their history?"