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Hannah lifted her shoulders lazily. “I only told him that his shirt really molded his muscles nicely and asked whether he looked as good out of his clothes as he looked in them.”
Meg snorted and Adam shook his head. “Lena, I would have hoped you’d have learned how to rein this one in by now.”
Hannah flicked her short blonde hair back and leveled my brother with a saucy look. “Adam, you should know by now there’s no reining me in.”
Meg and I glanced at each other, smirking. I knew Meg would never be worried about Hannah’s harmless flirting. She had known my bestie for years and knew never to take her seriously.
“Though he more likely bailed after listening to Jenna’s endless pontificating about empty calories and the evils of processed sugar,” Hannah snarked.
“Sorry that I care about what I put in my body,” Jenna huffed.
“Putting something in your body is exactly what you need, sweetheart,” Hannah chortled. I kicked her underneath the table. “Ow!” she yelled, rubbing her shin.
“Be nice, Han, or I’ll have to take away your wine,” I warned, shaking my finger. My two best friends liked each other, though it wasn’t obvious at the moment. They squabbled like children, but I knew deep down they cared about each other. Even though I had met Jenna at college and Hannah was my friend from childhood, the three of us made a nice trio. They balanced each other out. Hannah was an in your face, no filter, party queen. Jenna was a bit uptight and a complete health nut. But they were both the most loyal friends a gal could have.
Hannah pulled her wine out of my reach. “You wouldn’t dare,” she gasped. I let out a long, pained sigh and Jenna handed her the half-full bottle as a peace offering. The two women clinked their glasses together and drank the rest of the wine.
“I was surprised Jeremy didn’t come, Adam. Given how long Lena worked at your office, I thought he’d come to support her,” Dad piped up. He never paid any attention to my friends’ antics. He was used to their craziness.
My body tensed all over at the mention of Jeremy Wyatt’s name. The thought of him filled me with annoyance. To think I had ever thought anything could happen—
Stop it, Lena. Don’t go there.
I had worked at Adam’s law office for the past year as his assistant and part-time paralegal. The experience was invaluable, and I had learned almost as much there as I had sitting in classes. The one drawback was having to see Jeremy on a daily basis. Particularly when I found everything about him to be loathsome and frustrating.
That wasn’t entirely true.
For a brief few hours six months ago, I let my guard down. He had walked me home one night after a party at Adam’s best friend, Kyle Webber’s house. It was nice. We chatted about all sorts of things. He held my hand. I had forgotten for the briefest of moments what a pig he was.
Then…
It didn’t matter.
Lesson learned.
Though to be fair, I should have learned that lesson four years ago when he shit on me the first time. And to think I wasn’t usually the sort to make bad decisions because of a pair of trousers. It seemed Jeremy was always my exception, whether I wanted him to be or not.
Jeremy Wyatt was a jerk of the highest order. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t come to my graduation. I never expected him to. Even if his absence felt too much like a slap in the face.
I didn’t care.
Maybe if I said that to myself enough times, I would start to believe it.
Adam glanced at me, his smile something like a wince. “He had prior commitments he couldn’t get out of. He sent his congratulations and a card.”
“Commitments being a euphemism for a new screw toy,” I muttered before I could stop myself.
Adam gave me a pointed look and I gazed blandly back. My feelings about his partner weren’t a secret and I had never tried to hide them.
Meg pulled a white envelope out of her bag and handed it to me. Marlena was written on the front in Jeremy’s spikey, bold handwriting. He used my full name just to irritate me. It worked too well. “He wanted to make sure you got this,” she said, giving me a look that was both sympathetic and apologetic. As if she were sorry for being the messenger. Meg knew all about Jeremy, my feelings, and the too many times he left me feeling like a complete moron.
I shoved it straight into my bag without opening it.
The server came then, saving everyone from the discomfort that only Jeremy Wyatt could create. I ordered another bottle of Pinot Grigio, not caring about the stern looks from my parents. I was an adult. I had just graduated at the top of the class from one of the best law schools in the country. I deserved to get sloppy.
