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“Yeah. Likewise.”
Truth be told, I barely knew the guy. We’d had a few classes together, sure, and I think we might’ve even been linked up on a group project. But nothing to warrant that big ol’ friendly hug. Kinda weird, really.
“We were pals back at UCLA,” he said. “Ran in the same circles.”
Both Sam and Will glanced back to the rest of the party.
“Well, why don’t we let you two get caught up?” asked Sam.
“Yeah,” said Will. “We’re kinda slacking on our hosting duties here. I think the people are feeling neglected.”
He flashed a warm, movie-star smile to let us know he was messing around. Will had always been cool and humble like that, even more so after he and Sam rocked his insanely successful comeback.
“We’ll see you guys in a bit,” said Sam.
With that, Will wrapped his arm around his fiancé’s waist, and the two were off.
James didn’t waste any time getting into it. “Damn,” he said. “How long’s it been, man?
“Gotta be…ten years? Something like that.”
“Fuck. And you’ve been killing it since graduation.”
“Never graduated, remember? Dropped out for the band.”
His face went blank for a moment, and I could tell that I’d dropped a bit of info on him that any actual friend would know. It was all right to see him, I suppose. Sure, he was doing the thing where I’d bump into someone from way back who now was pretending like we were best buds, but at least he was being friendly about it. Pretty common stuff after you get some fame.
“That’s right. Smart as fuck move if you ask me—all the big tech dudes dropped out. Not me though. Parents were pretty gung-ho about that shit.”
“Yeah. Could be—” I didn’t get a chance to finish before a serious expression took hold of his features.
“Hey. You haven’t seen Shania around here, have you? Shania Simms? You remember her?”
He was clearly pressing for info, and I was getting a weird vibe from it.
“Sure do.”
No way he was getting more info than that. What was I gonna say, “Sure, she accidently saw my dick a few days ago?”
Well, might make a good story down the road.
“I know she’s good friends with this crew, and I’ve been meaning to talk about some, ah, stuff with her.”
The weird emphasis on “stuff” just added to the whole vibe. And as he talked about her, there was an intensity in his eyes.
“I’ll let her know you’re looking for her.”
Probably wasn’t going to happen, but seemed like the thing to say.
He clapped his hand down on my arm and gave it a squeeze. “Anyway. Good seeing you! Go grab a drink, I’ll see you around!” And with that he was off, looking like he was scanning the room for someone.
A drink sounded good. And I guess James and I had something in common—we both had the same woman on our minds.
Chapter Ten
SHANIA
The house was huge—and that was good for me. Not because I was in the mood to ogle what was possibly one of the nicest homes I’d ever been in, but because it gave me the chance to hide out from James.
Ugh, such a shitty, shitty situation.
He was the last person I wanted to see. Well, maybe if Mr. Stump were to show up in that full toga he’d worn to the last Christmas party, manboob hanging out and all. That wouldn’t exactly be a welcome sight.
But at the very least, he’d just be annoying.
James, on the other hand? He was something else. It was a total shock to see him, and of course we’d made eye contact right away, meaning any chance I had to give him the slip was instantly gone.
I could tell the girls, sure. But that was the last thing I wanted to do. Tonight was about the two couples, and I wouldn’t have felt right making it this whole dramatic production about some shit that happened like, almost a decade ago.
Nope, I’d suck it up and…hide out on the lower-level balcony. Yes, the place had multiple balconies, one for each floor. Meanwhile, there I was renting a barely six-hundred-square-foot studio that I could afford less and less with each passing year.
I was so freaking happy for my friends—don’t get me wrong. But there they were, getting more and more successful while I was still barely making ends meet. Was my dream of opening my own place nothing more than some stupid fantasy I’d come up with to distract me from reality?
Whatever was going on, it made me want to guzzle the glass of pinot grigio in my hand and go right for another.
But before I could make a decision on that particular matter, the sliding glass door opened, and my heart skipped a beat—I was convinced that it was James, finally having found me.
It wasn’t, and relief hit me like a breeze off the Pacific when I realized it was Pepper.
