Page 78 of The Other Room

“I do know her!”

“Aaron, just please grab a drink and go. Don’t fuck this up for me, man.”

He blew out a defeated sigh then stuck his finger in my face. “Fine. But I want details later.”

“Fine. Just go!” I gave him a playful shove, and he hopped off the stool.

Bob, the other bartender slinging drinks tonight, hurried past us but called over his shoulder, “Aaron, you need a beer?”

“Yeah, Bob! Thanks!”

Glancing over my shoulder, I worried Jo would arrive and see Aaron here and think I wasn’t serious about tonight being a date. This wasn’t a night to hang out with friends together. Tonight it was about us. Just us. A couple’s night.

“Here you go. I’ll start you a tab.” Bob slid the beer into Aaron’s waiting hands while he blew by.

“There. You’ve got a beer. Now get out of here.”

“Who is it?” he asked one more time.

“Go!” I shoved him again.

He chuckled, but as he started away, he stopped and froze. “No freaking way, Matt.”

“What?” I followed my friend’s stare with my own.

“Dude. That is fucked up. Seriously? You’re dating Nikki?”

“What?” I choked, searching the crowd harder. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Aaron spun to look at me, disappointment and condemnation stiffening his face. “Dude. Just because Jake is engaged now doesn’t mean it’s okay to go for Nikki. Bros before hos, and she is a bona fide ho. Does Jake know?”

“Does Jake know what? What the hell are you talking about?”

“Um, I’m not stupid, Matt. Your secret date? The one you won’t tell me about. Yeah. Cat’s out of the bag. And for the record, I think it’s totally shitty and not even a little cool. Dude, you just got people to forgive you for kissing her in the first place. Have you lost your fucking mind?”

What the hell was he talking about?

“Not cool,” he said, shaking his head as he started away.

“Aaron,” I called after him. “I don’t even know what–”

The crowd parted and I saw her.

Holy shit. Nikki.

She stumbled up the walkway with a flock of blonde floozies trailing behind her. It looked just like high school again. Nikki at the lead and her adoring protégés following behind like a row of lost ducklings.

A knot wound its way around my stomach, and I struggled to keep my mouth shut.

Aaron’s harsh words slammed into me. Nikki. He assumed Nikki was my secret date.

And nothing could be farther from the truth.

As I watched her stumbling through the crowd, I realized she was already drunk. Her glassy eyes teased every man she passed, and I struggled to see what any guy saw in her. How I had chosen to spend so many years fixating on a distraction, even when she was with Jake.

And then I saw her flip her hair and giggle at a man who smiled at her, and I finally knew. I finally understood why it had to be Nikki all those years.

She was the opposite of Jo.