The Lift

22

The night of the party came and David tried to focus on having a good time. Things with Preston were okay again and her not being at the party wouldn't change that.

David thought he was doing a pretty good job of being engaged in the moment, though he was also incessantly checking Instagram for Preston's story. He knew part of the gig was posting about the event.

After an hour or so, Jason came up to him. He was refreshing the page once again, and Jason snatched the phone, much to David's protest.

"What the hell?" David exclaimed. "I was doing something."

"David, this is your party. You invited all these people here. Get off your fucking phone and enjoy yourself. You'll see Preston tomorrow."

"That wasn't about Preston," David tried to lie.

"Uh huh, sure, yeah," Jason humored him. "I'd bet $5,000 I don't have that if I opened your phone, it would be open to Preston's page. God, David, you are worse than a lovestruck teenager."

"Just give me my phone," David said, totally ignoring Jason's words.

"That's what I thought," Jason said smugly. "Just... Put it away for an hour. Actually try to have fun with your friends." He sounded like such a dad.

"Fine, yes, whatever," David agreed and grabbed his phone back. He dramatically put it in his pocket, sulking away. He knew Jason was right, though he mainly threw the party due to pressure from Toddy and Zane.

But he did of course have a vlog to put up the next week. So David did what David does best: convincing people to do things they may not really want to do for his vlog. It kept him pretty well distracted.

So distracted that at first he didn't even realize it a couple hours later when Preston showed up with a man in tow.

"See, I told you it would still be going on," Preston teased Graham. It was almost midnight. As he took in the whole scene, she scanned the crowd of people for a black hat.

"You know," Graham said, following close behind her into the kitchen, "it's about time you finally introduced me to David. Someone's gotta get his ass in gear."

Preston turned sharply, catching Graham off guard. "Okay, what we're not going to do when you meet David? Say anything like that. We're friends. Just let it be. He's not interested. I'm not interested. We're happy. Got it?" Preston knew she didn't sound totally convincing but tried to play it off as much as possible. And even if she were a little bit interested in him, David wasn't, and wouldn't ever be, interested in her. She'd at least convinced herself of that.

Graham nodded, a mischievous smile still on his face. Preston rolled her eyes.

"Preston baby you're here!" they were suddenly interrupted by Heath.

"Did I hear the name Preston?!" Zane's voice was heard from behind Heath.

Both of them hugged Preston and offered her their drinks, which she declined with a knowing look.

"Ooh, and who is this handsome man?" Zane cooed. "Where have you been hiding him, Preston?"

Preston couldn't help but laugh at Zane's insinuations. "Zane, Heath," she gestured to each, "this is Graham, one of my coworkers and a close friend from Colorado."

The boys shook hands and Graham did accept a drink. Zane went to grab it while Preston facilitated small talk between Graham and Heath, her attention not really on the conversation. She was still searching for David. Still nowhere in sight, she sighed and brought her attention back to who was in front of her — he'd show up eventually.

And he was closer than she thought. David hadn't seen her show up right away as he was in the living room sitting down to film a bit with Scott and Todd. But once he stood up, he couldn't miss her. And then he couldn't miss the guy following her every move.

As he stood near the TV, he had perfect line of sight to Preston chatting. She looked so comfortable with Graham. He was exactly the kind of person most people would picture her with: tan, blonde, tall, athletic. Just another granola like her.

After a few minutes of Preston talking with Zane, Heath, and Graham, the crowd thinned around David and Preston finally spotted him, wildly gesturing for him to come over. He smiled genuinely at her but still begrudgingly made his way to her and the others.

David pulled out a fake vlog smile as he greeted Preston and Graham. Preston moved to hug him and he reciprocated enthusiastically, holding on for a bit longer than he normally would. When he let go, Preston acted unfazed. When she introduced David and Graham, they shook hands and Preston could sense David's tenseness. His smile and laugh were forced, and she knew it.

"David, Preston speaks so highly of you," Graham beamed. "Thanks for being so welcoming. She deserves a friend like you."

David just smiled and nodded. He then quickly excused himself and made his way outside. Preston watched him go up to Brandon and Alex. Why was he being so weird?

Preston focused her attention on keeping Graham comfortable, but once he, Zane, and Heath started talking about Florida, she knew she could go find David. Though she'd tried to keep an eye out, she'd lost sight of him after he'd moved on from talking to Brandon and Alex.

Moving through the crowd of people, Preston eventually found David outside leaning against the fence as he looked out over the skyline. 

She stopped for a few moments at the edge of the patio and just looked at him, clearly so alone in his thoughts. She wondered if he realized that she knew he was acting a bit off before. Even in the few months they'd known each other, Preston could recognize David's genuine smile and laugh from his vlog persona.

A light breeze, just a bit too cool for summer, shook Preston from her thoughts. She finally walked up to David and leaned her back against the fence, facing the opposite way.