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“No shit. She looks just about ready to scratch your eyes out. What did you do?”
I chuckle. “You know how some people just ask for it?”
Marc shakes his head. “Ask for what?”
“For you to give them hell. To fuck with them. Jenna was like that. She would react to everything I did. So…I did more of it.”
"When you're a teenager in school, fucking with a girl, that's one thing. Marc whistles through his teeth. “This isn’t going to be a problem, is it?”
“What problem would it be?” I ask.
“Stacey is already strung out about the whole thing. And now this…you’re not going to cause trouble, right? You can't let this shit get in the way.”
“Nah,” I say. “I’m just here to have fun. And celebrate the two of you. You look so damn happy, man.”
Marc grins. “Thanks. I am. I didn’t think I would ever get married, but when I met Stacey…it all changed. I guess the right person will do that to you.”
“Make you sound like a pussy?” I ask.
“Fuck off,” Marc says, and I laugh, clapping him on the back.
“I’m happy for you,” I say.
“You should find someone to settle down with,” Marc says.
I shake my head. “No way, man. That’s not my thing and you know it.”
“Don’t you get tired of fucking around, never sleeping with the same woman twice?”
I hold up my hands in defense. “Hey, hey, just because you’re ready to tie the knot doesn’t mean suddenly every man wants to do it. You’re the exception, my friend.”
“The exception to what?”
“Most men are controlled by their women. You found one that will let you live, and that’s rare. I’m not about to do the same thing and get told how to live my life. I’m going to stand right here on the sidelines where I’ve always been, have my fun with whoever is willing to spend a night with me, and move on.”
Marc snorts. “You’re ridiculous.”
“It works for me, man.”
I glance toward the table where Jenna and Stacey are bowed together in deep discussion—gossiping about me, no doubt. Nina listens intently, but Kelsey and Tom casually flirt with each other.
There used to be a time when I wondered what it would be like to have someone in my life—someone solid, someone permanent. If I ever had to do something like that, I would imagine she'd be like Jenna. A girl with spunk. A girl who isn't afraid to be herself.
It would be nice if she toned down the hatred, though.
I shake off the thoughts and memories of the past. What's the point of dreaming about something that never was, and will never be?
We collect the drinks and Marc helps me carry them to the table. When we get there, Jenna is laughing at something Stacey said, and I watch her. She’s brilliant. She has an energy about her that I don’t remember—something that makes everything around her come to life. She’s like the sun, and the universe spins around her.
She feels me watching and when her eyes fall on me, her smile fades and a scowl takes its place. It doesn’t make her any less beautiful.
It just makes me wonder how the fuck I’m going to get back into this woman’s good books. Surely, after a decade, we could start over. I get why she hates me, but we were kids back then.
I take a seat at the table and join in on the conversation. We laugh and banter, tell stories.
When the sun sets, it's in a brilliant rain of fire. It paints the sky yellow and pink and purple, until it sinks completely and takes all the light with it. It leaves behind an inky sky, littered with stars—a bowl of diamonds upended.
It's fucking beautiful out here. I spend a lot of time looking up at the sky. But tonight, the star isn't up there. It's right here in our midst. She's ethereal. She's the sun and I want to fly too close to her. I want to burn.
