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“Jordan’s already on his way,” she informed me. “Sorry, girl. I won’t tell David if you won’t.”
I scoffed. “You’re delusional if you think he won’t find out. He knows everything.”
“Deal with it tomorrow?” she suggested.
I rolled my eyes. “I guess. If I were still with Bill, I wouldn’t even think twice about it.”
“Seriously. It’s been years,” she said. “So did you meet Brian’s new girlfriend or whatever?”
“No, how is she?”
“I haven’t met her either. We haven’t exactly been chumming it up, the group of us.”
“Oh.”
“Whoa. I’ve never seen these before,” she said, touching my new earrings.
“A gift,” I replied giddily.
“So let me get this straight . . . David is gorgeous, sexy, romantic . . . and he buys you expensive things? You must be a tiger in the sack.”
I laughed. “I am.”
“What’s wrong with him?”
“Well, he can’t really cook,” I offered. “And he can be a little controlling.”
“So I noticed. Is it something I should be worried about?”
“No,” I said honestly. “I’ll take him being controlling when he makes me this sublimely happy.”
She giggled. “Bitch.”
“Greg made you that happy once. Doesn’t he still?”
She set the curler down and plucked at my hair. “Sure. I think this weekend away will be good for us though.”
“How come?”
“You know how it is in the city. It gets stressful.”
“Is everything all right?”
“Yeah, of course. I’m finally getting what I wanted. All this time I never stopped thinking about him. So, yeah, I’m glad he came around.”
“Good.”
I grabbed my purse, and we went downstairs. Brian introduced us to his girlfriend, Kat, who squeaked like a mouse when I shook her hand.
It was a temperate night and the restaurant was close, so we walked. The moment we entered, Greg yelled across the restaurant to Jordan, who was seated at the bar. I hadn’t given Greg a thorough lashing yet, mainly because I hadn’t had a chance.
“Hey, you,” Jordan said when his eyes locked on me. He stood and wrapped me in a hug.
“Hi, Jordan.” Jordan and I had dated my first two years of college. After he’d dumped me, we remained distant friends because of Greg. Even though it’d been seven or so years since then, I still got a few butterflies when I saw him because he was the first boy I’d
loved. He had dark blond hair and green eyes, solid and tall, but nowhere near David’s towering frame. He was good-looking, he’d always been, but he knew it in a bad way.
“That’s new,” I said, glancing at the tattoo peeking out from his sleeve.
“Yeah.” He placed his hand on my shoulder and guided me over to the table where everyone else was being seated. “You look great, Livvy,” he whispered as he pulled out my chair and then sat down next to me.
“I don’t think we’ve met,” Brian quipped from the other end of the table.
“Jordan,” Greg said as an explanation. “An old friend of ours from college.”
“Aha,” Brian said. His eyes darted between Jordan and me, and an anxious look overcame his handsome face. “I didn’t know we had a sixth.”
“Greg’s fault,” I said, shooting Greg a daggered look.
We promptly ordered a few bottles of wine. As Brian lamented about the day’s poor surf conditions, Jordan leaned over to me. “Greg told me about Bill. Sorry to hear it,” he said, but he was smirking.
“Are you?” I asked.
He grabbed a bottle of white wine from the center of the table and poured me a glass. “You got me. Not really.”
“Jordan,” I admonished.
“No, I’m just messin’. Divorce is rough, babe. Or so I’ve heard.”
“It is, but I have someone to help me through.”
“Gretchen?” he asked, raising his eyebrows playfully.
“No,” I replied. “My boyfriend.”
“I’m glad Greg invited me tonight,” he said, ignoring my comment.
“Why’s that?”
“Just ‘cause. Haven’t seen you since graduation. We get to catch up.”
I nodded but narrowed my eyes at him in warning.
Since David and I were the reason the group had come together, I did my best to keep the conversation flowing. I wished several times that David were there because I missed him. Part of me believed if I wished hard enough, he would appear.
Greg, Gretchen, Jordan and I reminisced about college, memories that came easier the more we drank. Whereas Gretchen and I got giddier as we drank, Greg and Jordan seemed to get more nostalgic. They grasped at a time in our past that was long gone.
When Jordan left for the bathroom, Greg leaned over Gretchen’s lap to get my attention. “So?” he asked just above a whisper. “Jordan?”
“Jordan what?” I retorted.
“You guys seem to be getting along.”
My eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“I’m just saying. How awesome would it be if you guys got back together now that you’re single again? It’d be like the good – ”
“Don’t fucking say it,” Gretchen interrupted. “And what the hell are you even talking about? Liv isn’t single.”
“You know what I mean. She’s no longer hitched.”
I glanced at Brian, who was thankfully preoccupied with his date. “Did you set this up on purpose?” I asked Greg.
“I just think it would be cool.”
Gretchen grimaced. “You’re a dick.”
