He meets my eye in the rearview mirror and shrugs, but I catch his grin as he looks away. Despite everything that has gone wrong on this trip, I’ve truly been blessed with some excellent cabdrivers.
I slide out after Adam and the cab starts to pull away when my phone buzzes. Yet another text from Iris.
Did you get my voicemail??
Shit. She’s really freaking out about this. Not that she needs to—I was always going to do whatever I could to make her big day perfect.
“I’ll wait out here for you,” I tell Adam, who nods and heads into Kinky Boots with the air of a man walking the plank.
I shake my head and turn my attention back to my text chain. Considering how prominently Duchess was featured in my sister’s engagement photos, she’ll probably be the star of the wedding, anyway. So really, I should be honored. Both that Duchess likes me, and that Iris trusts me to care for her incredibly high-maintenance dog, who she possibly loves more than her future husband. And why shouldn’t she trust me with this? I can be responsible. I will get Duchess down that aisle, and we will look fabulous doing it.
Yes
OMG wait I just remembered this is Dempsey day!!!
Ignore me, we’ll talk later
Good luck!!!
Iris knows better than anyone how obsessed I am with Dempsey. She listened to me endlessly rave about them when I first discovered their demo, then rant after they slipped through my fingers. It’s why she chose their concert as the place to finally confront me about Griffin.
They were touring their debut album, and Iris snatched up tickets the moment they went on sale. Just two.
Sister night, she’d captioned the text when she sent me a screenshot of her ticket confirmation,no boys allowed.
It had been ages since Iris and I had gone to a show together. We did our preshow ritual, hitting the bathrooms before they got busy, the merch line before the good T-shirts sold out, and then grabbing bottles of water before finding the best vantage point. They were playing a popular venue in Echo Park, and Iris and I weaved our way along the side of the balcony until we found a spot right against the railing, close to the stage.
As soon as we were settled in, Iris turned to me. “So. When are you going to dump Griffin?”
My head reared back, and for a moment I could only blink at her. “What the fuck?”
She shrugged and lifted a single brow. She’s a few inches shorter than me, but standing there with her feet firmly planted and her arms crossed, she looked immovable. Ready for a fight. “You heard me.”
“Where is this coming from? I thought you liked him.”Griffin had made an effort with Iris. He’d taken her with us to fancy, Michelin-starred restaurants on more than one occasion. He’d referred some TV producer he knew from the country club to her for personal training. He’d been nothing but nice to her, because he knew she was the most important person in my life.
Iris sipped her water, finally letting her gaze flick away. She licked her lips and fiddled with the cap before finally speaking in a careful voice I’d never heard from her before. “He can be very charming. And he’s good-looking and rich. But, Ellie, come on.” She turned to face me again. “He is a complete jackass and he doesn’t treat you right. And I feel like you know that?”
My jaw clenched. She was being shitty. It pissed me off that out of nowhere she was springing this on me, calling my long-term boyfriend ajackass. But my anger accounted only for a small part of the heat washing over me. Mostly, I was embarrassed.
I stared at the stage, empty aside from the drum kit and sound equipment. We’d gotten here as soon as the doors opened, and the floor was finally starting to fill in. Dempsey would be coming on any minute.
“Have you been thinking this the whole time we’ve been together?”
She didn’t respond, aside from a purse of her lips.
My mind filtered through all the times they’d hung out together, Iris laughing at Griffin’s jokes, and I’d known it was forced, could tell her smile was strained, and I’d ignored it.
My hands tightened around my bottle of water, crinkling the plastic. “You could’ve said something sooner,” I snapped.
Iris scoffed, exasperated. “When would I have done that?At the party my roommates and I threw last month that you didn’t come to? Or at Mother’s Day brunch, when you brought Griffin for some reason?”
“Well, his own mom is dead—”
“Because he’s like a million years old.”
“So, what, this is all because you think he’s too old for me?”
“No.” Iris waved her hands, as if to erase her previous comment. “It’s not about his age. I don’t care about that. It’s—he’s yourboss. It’s fucking weird that he pursued you in the first place. But whatever, I’d get over that, too, if I thought he actually deserved you. If I thought he made you happy.”
