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Chris was pretty sure he wouldn’t. If someone didn’t want him, there was no way he was going to get down on his knees and try to change her mind. The only thing that did was make the dumper stay with the dumpee out of guilt and how was that fair to anyone?
Cass stood up, smoothing her hands over her navy dress. “Good-bye, Chris.”
“You don’t want to at least wait for the dessert you ordered?” he asked.
“No. I told the waiter on the way to the bathroom earlier to pack it up to go.”
Damn. I was looking forward to trying the Oreo cheesecake she ordered.
“All right then. Have a good life.”
She turned away without saying anything in return, and walked past the tables of happy couples talking over glasses of wine and low light candles. The hostess by the door handed a paper to go bag to her, and then she disappeared out the darkened door. A few of the women glanced at her walking out on him, and gave him concerned looks.
It was humiliating to be left alone in a romantic, dimly lit restaurant before the check came, but Chris was surprisingly relieved. Obviously, Cass had concluded their courtship had run its course first, but she was right. He’d gotten comfortable with their relationship, but ultimately, he hadn’t been excited to go out with Cass. It had started to feel like a routine. If he’d been really paying attention, he would have realized that they hadn’t had sex in nearly a month.
How in the hell had he not noticed that?
The waiter came by his table. He was a tall, gangly guy with a patch of hair on his chin. Chris hated the pitying expression in his gaze, so Chris grinned conspiratorially.
“Hey, do you mind adding two more slices of cheesecake to the bill? I’m heading to a friend’s place.”
The waiter’s eyes widened for a second before he grinned. “You got it.”
Now that his waiter thought he was the man, he could leave the place with some dignity.
He pulled out his phone and scrolled through the numbers, pausing on Kelly’s name. It was a little past eight, and Kelly was a night owl. Dollars to donuts she was up binge-watching something.
Chris tapped on her name and shot her a text.
You up for some company?
What happened to your date with Cassidy?
She dumped me before dessert.
; Ouch. That sucks. But yeah, okay, you can come over.
I’ll be there in forty with Oreo cheesecake.
Aw, are we going to have girl talk and eat our feelings?
Shut up.
Hey, I am letting you horn in on my Reign marathon. You better be nice to me.
Chris laughed aloud, and after he paid for his meal, he walked to his car still grinning. One of the perks of having a friend like Kelly; unless she had a work emergency, she was never too busy to hang.
He lost his smile as he realized that was going to change once she started dating. And he was a jerk because he didn’t want it to.
When they were teenagers, it had been Ray, Kelly, and Chris against the world. Sure, he’d gone off to school and Ray had been overseas, but they had kept in touch. Phone calls. Letters. Emails. They were still the three musketeers.
Until the day Ray died. Chris could still feel the raw pain in his chest when Ray’s mom had called to give him the news. His thoughts had immediately gone to Kelly, of being with her and then they’d have each other to get through it. Chris had taken off in the middle of the night to get back to Sweetheart, and shown up at his parents’ place at two a.m. It had been too late to go straight to Kelly’s, but as soon as nine in the morning rolled around, he was knocking at her front door. After Chris managed to snap her out of the grief-filled haze she was in, things were immediately better being near Kelly. It was as though a little part of Ray was still with them when they were together.
He’d stayed for as long as he could, but it still hadn’t felt long enough. Kelly had come to visit him a couple times, but once she got Something Borrowed up and running, she hadn’t been able to get away as much.
On his breaks, he’d come home, eat dinner with his parents, and then take off to visit Kelly. He’d moved back after law school to be close to her. And over the years, no matter what was going on or who he was dating, Kelly was always there.
