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“Look, I think he’s just really desperate. He doesn’t know what to do with himself.”
“What?” I snapped.
“You have to understand – he’s confused. He thought you loved him.”
I began to feel light-headed as her words sank in. “Does that mean you’ve – you’ve slept with him recently?”
“What?” she exclaimed. “With Bill?”
“Bill? No, I’m talking about David. What are you talking about?”
“Like I said, I’m not comfortable with this. This is between you and Bill.”
“I don’t understand. Did you or did you not sleep with David?”
Her eyes darted away from mine, looking anywhere but at me. “No,” she exhaled. “We kissed once, that was it. I saw Bill earlier tonight. He said he freaked and lied to you, and he begged me to play along. He said it was ultimately in your best interest. That it’d help you realize what you’re getting into.”
I rolled my lips together as tears of relief threatened. He didn’t sleep with her. He didn’t lie to me. “Thank you for telling me the truth.”
She nodded. “It’s really a favor to Bill. He deserves loads better. In fact, you and David just might be perfect together.” She turned back to her group, effectively dismissing me.
Maybe it was the alcohol or the fact that I’d had a tough week, but in that moment, her comment weaseled its way under my skin. “Excuse me?”
“Go away, seriously, Liv. I have morals, unlike you, that I’m not willing to compromise by lying. That doesn’t mean I want to be friendly with you. I think what you did was pretty selfish and disgusting.” Selfish and disgusting. I wondered if those were the things Bill, Lucy and Andrew called me when they were together.
“Mind your own fucking business,” I told her. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“Are you kidding?” she asked, turning to face me again. “I know that you let David have sex with you while you were married. Which was really stupid because you gave up everything for someone who’s pretty much unattainable.”
“Unattainable?”
“Guy like him, he’ll never settle down. He’ll get tired of you too.”
“You think David got tired of you?”
“Of me?” She laughed. “No, I mean all the other girls. He just follows his dick. He wasn’t getting it from me, and you were obviously an easy target.”
My mouth was agape when Gretchen bumped me aside. “He could have screwed you in a second if he wanted to,” Gretchen sneered.
“Gretchen, seriously? What do you know?”
“I know that a guy who’s interested doesn’t go on four dates without making a single move.”
“Like you’ve ever made it to four dates? Everyone knows you’re a slut!”
I snapped. Before I knew what was happening, I had tossed my drink in her face, drenching her in a sticky concoction of vodka and soda. And a lemon rind, which bounced off her chest and landed in her cleavage.
She screamed so loud that Gretchen and I hopped back two steps. She lunged, sending Gretchen and me back further before her friend stepped between us to restrain her. “Are you kidding me?” she screamed at us. “You’re both trash! Stay the fuck away from me and my sister!”
Gretchen and I retreated hastily and grabbed Ava and Bethany, who were standing with their mouths open, to run upstairs.
When we had run a block down the street, Gretchen stopped and burst into laughter. I looked at her, horrified, before joining in and soon all four of us were in hysterics.
“Did you see the look on her face?” Bethany cried. “She was livid!”
“I feel awful,” I said between fits of laughter, “but she had it coming.”
“Maybe we are trashy sluts,” Gretchen put in. “But I’d rather be that than an annoying, judgmental bitch.”
“Amen,” Bethany agreed.
“Oh my God,” I said, exhaling. “Can we please go somewhere else? I’m too pumped to go home. Brian Ayers texted me this afternoon. He invited David and me to some party at a bar around here. Should we go there?”
Gretchen made a face.
“Come on,” I goaded. “Try to play nice.”
“This from a girl who just dumped a cocktail on her best friend’s sister.”
They giggled as I rolled my eyes and messaged Brian.
After I’d sent the text, I stared at the phone as we walked, trying to think of what I wanted to say to David. Eventually I just slipped it back in my purse.
Brian, like the gentleman he was, greeted us out front. “Well, I will certainly be the hero of the evening with four beautiful women on my arm.”
“Thank you, Brian,” I said, accepting his elbow. He offered his other one to Gretchen, who frowned. She pretended she hadn’t seen it, giving Ava the opportunity to step in instead.
While I waited for a drink at the bar, I noted that Ava and Brian seemed to hit it off. Watching them laugh and flirt made me miss David more. When I approached them, Ava was recounting our night, and Brian put an arm around me.
“This one doesn’t take shit,” he told Ava before turning to me. “I knew you had edge, remember?” I smiled and nodded as I recalled his affinity for my leather dress at the Meet & Greet party back in May.
Ava excused herself to the restroom. I looked for Gretchen and spotted her deep in conversation with Bethany and two men in suits.
“She doesn’t waste any time, does she?” Brian commented.
“What is it about her that bugs you?”
“Nothing, honey. Just not my type.”
“Why not? You said you like smart girls, which she is, and there’s no denying that she’s gorgeous.”
“What you say is true, Liv. But she’s also high-maintenance and snobby.”
“Let me get this straight. Pretty girl tries to kiss you, you turn her down.”
“Yes.”
“Because she’s high-maintenance and snobby?”
He sighed, still watching her. “Look at her. She’s beautiful. Why does she wear all that makeup and dress like that? She doesn’t need it. I want a girl who’s comfortable in her own skin.”
I didn’t respond but peered at him.
“She’s pissed I didn’t fall for her charms,” he continued. “She’s very smooth, I’ll admit, but it doesn’t work on me. It’s not genuine.”
I turned back to look at Gretchen. It made sense as to why she’d called him names. Not many men had turned her down since Greg broke her heart in college. Brian had wounded her pride. “She is genuine,” I told him. “She’s good. She’s a catch. So I guess you both lose.”
“You know very well that she has a new boyfriend, so what does it matter?”
“True. And it’s an old boyfriend anyway. They dated in college.”
“Oh? And they’re back together?”
“Yes. Back then, he broke up with her suddenly and left for Japan that weekend. She was a mess, but I guess now he wants to work things out.”
I glanced at him. He wiped the shock from his face quickly, but not before I’d caught it. “I see,” he said. “Well, good on them. Where’s David?” he asked. “I thought he’d join you.”
“Girls’ night,” I explained.
“I was most shocked when I found out about you two.”
“You and everyone else.” I sighed.
“Isn’t it going well?”
“Yes,” I said. “But you know, divorce is tough on everyone involved.”
He nodded pensively. “I like to tease Dylan, but, actually, I noticed the way he is with you right away. Different, but in a good way.”
My face softened. “Really?”
He smiled down at me. “Really. You bring out something good in him. The circumstances suck, but you are a terrific match.”
My next question tumbled out of my mouth. “You don’t think I’m just another one of his girls?”
“Olivia,” he said with surprise. “Absolutely not. Any man with sense about him ca
n see that you aren’t the trifling type. And David has a great deal of sense. He doesn’t always use it when it comes to women, I’ll admit, but maybe that’s because he was keeping busy until you came along.”
I realized that I was smiling. Putting it that way bothered me less than thinking he’d slept his way through Chicago.
“And really,” Brian added, “your husband is abominable.”
I laughed. “You just saw the worst side of him.” I rose on the balls of my feet and thanked Brian with a kiss on the cheek. When I came down, I was met with Gretchen’s grimace.
