Bentley laughed. He had a row of ten juicy hot dogs cooking on the top grill and another ten burgers cooking on the larger grill, below. He used the silver tongs to turn them every few minutes. "I work out a lot," he responded.

The girls quietly watched the boys from a distance.

Pam's phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her string bag. "Oh, Patrick's here," she said.

They heard the slam of a car door. Patrick appeared around the side of the house. He pushed open the patio gate and strolled up to the group. His forest green eyes lit up when he saw them. He nodded to the girls, winking at Pam, before he made his way over to introduce himself to the guys.

"Who owns that sweet, flashy Bentley out in the driveway?" Patrick asked. He placed several bags of potato chips and pretzels on the table near the grill.

"That'll be this guy, who happens to have the same name as his car." Charles turned his attention to Bentley. "Here, Patrick. Slam him hard on the back."

Patrick raised an eyebrow. "Uh, why?"

Charles grabbed his arm. "Do it. You'll see what I mean."

Patrick, laughing at Bentley's bemused expression, slammed his fist against his back. "Oh, whoa. His back is like a rock," Patrick said. He rubbed his palm as if it was sore.

"Nah," Charles said. "He just eats concrete for breakfast."

Bentley finished grilling the burgers and hot dogs. He slid them neatly onto several plates. "Protein, boys. Lots of protein will do it. And pull ups. And push-ups. And sit ups. And—"

"We got it," Charles said, laughing.

Bentley made a fist, flexing his arm. He bent and kissed his bicep.

"Now you're just showing off," Charles said, enviously, staring at Bentley's massive shoulders.

"Guess I am," Bentley laughed. He flashed them a gleaming smile, then called out to the girls. "Who's hungry, ladies?"

Erin raised her hand. "Me first!" she said, sitting up in her chair. Before she could stand up, she paused, seeing Pam's look. "Oops. It's Sara's birthday. SARA'S FIRST!" Erin yelled.

Sara waved her hand in the air. "I'm not that hungry. You go first, Erin. I insist."

Suddenly, the patio gate creaked open.

Trevor appeared with the soccer captains, Dan and Chad. "Excellent! We're just in time for the food!" he said.

"Ugh, move over, Trevor," Ella called. She pushed past him and walked up to Sara. She gave her a quick hug. She wore a bright orange dress. "Hey," she said to Pam and Erin.

The other girls nodded a friendly greeting.

She then spotted Charles, her ex-boyfriend. "Oh...it's you." 

Charles let out a fake, exaggerated groan. He turned back to the grill.

"Sara! Your house is so festive. Look at all the fairy lights and balloons!"

Sara glanced up to see who had spoken.

Dalia and Kimber breezed through the gate.

Sara clapped her hands, overjoyed. "Girls! So good to see you both again."

Thank goodness they didn't bring Layla with them, she thought with relief. She was still annoyed that Layla had broken her phone when she'd tried to talk to Bentley at Ella's Sexy Sleepover.

Sara gave them each a hug. She'd seen Dalia at the gym right before her double date. But she hadn't really seen Kimber except for random meet ups at school.

"Trish is going to swing by later," Ella said, reading a message on her phone.

"Sounds good," Sara said. "It was wonderful of you all to show up."

Ella rolled her eyes dramatically. She sighed. "You know...you could have TOLD us your birthday was today! Who DOESN'T want EVERYONE to know when it's their birthday?"

Sara shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal, really!" She looked at Erin and Pam for support.

Erin let Trevor kiss her cheek. "We'd never let Sara get away with not having a party on her birthday." She looked around. "Speaking of which...why is it so quiet out here? Trevor, turn on some MUSIC! I want to DANCE!"