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“So is this conversation,” I teased her, clinking our glasses once she finally stopped talking. “Cheers, Lizzie.”
“Ooh,” she cooed, lifting her eyebrows, “to what?” I watched her eyes sparkle in suspense, buying time while my delay tortured her.
“Oh,” I scanned her face, avoiding the eyes she batted at me, lifting my free hand to graze her cheek, “everything. Your friends. Your job. Your…boyfriend.”
Lizzie sipped from her champagne, eyeing me over the rim of her glass. I swallowed and returned my glass to the bar, smiling at Lizzie’s inability to respond. I heard her shriek, spinning around and squealing instantly at the couple greeting her.
“You came!”
“Of course we would.” I recognized Jesse as he hugged Lizzie in greeting. Lizzie’s arms snaked around me once she finished hugging the couple.
“You guys—” Lizzie was interrupted by an eager Ella, who was actually bouncing between us.
“Oh my god!” Ella took my breath as she battled Lizzie’s embrace to squeeze the air from my lungs. I looked helplessly at Jesse, who was laughing before taking a glass of beer from the bartender.
“Hey, Noah.” He nodded. “It’s great to see you.”
“You too,” I coughed, unable to speak with four arms weaving around me like dainty, and ridiculously aggressive, vines. “Ladies…air…”
“Sorry.” Ella blushed as she pulled away. “It’s just so amazing to see you…and,” she glanced at Lizzie and me, “well…”
“Right.” I chuckled, kissing the top of Lizzie’s hair, feeling her body limp as I wrapped my right arm around her back. “Hi, Ella. Jesse.”
Their smiles brought to life their friendship, but anyone who understood knew they were missing part of their group. Anyone who knew, that was. Anyone who saw through the laughter, the conversation, could see the patient unease displayed on their expressions. From Ella nibbling on her bottom lip to Lizzie’s fourth glass of champagne, something felt off for them, and it radiated into me.
I tried catching up with Jesse, learning he was three years younger than me and he worked in educational policy. He was a policy wonk with a beard and polka dot socks and a laugh that surrendered anyone within earshot. He and Ella didn’t mention Sean, and I was desperate to ask. The small-talk game didn’t exist with them, though, so there wasn’t an awkward space to fill or an artificial need for me to try and remind them I knew them once, however morbid it was. We simply talked, and it was so different than with Ben or Silas. It was…hopeful. Granted, it could also have been the babe latched around me, whose heart I could feel pounding against my ribs whenever she squeezed me.
I didn’t think she even noticed, and I liked that. A lot. Just like I really liked her. I listened while she and her friends discussed something about Ella trying to poison her boss, definitely an issue I’d want to ask more about in private, smiling at the right moment and answering any questions they had about me, not that there was much to share. Or that I wanted to share.
Declan wandered back a few times, taking Lizzie with him to meet more people I didn’t know. It was the final time they left that Jesse poked the elephant.
“I’m really sorry I haven’t had a chance to talk to you, or actually meet you, since we met. It’s really all a blur.”
“No worries, man,” I reassured him, smiling kindly. “I’m happy to meet you now.”
“I know, but…you did a lot for us that day, and I know I speak for all of them when I tell you we haven’t forgotten. But,” his palm met my shoulder as he started to laugh, “you’ve also done us the massive favor of occupying Lizard, which we will forever appreciate.”
“Lizard?” I took a champagne flute from a passing server, taking a swig while Jesse snickered in front of me. He shook his head with a boisterous laugh spilling between us.
“Sean started it. It’s her nickname,” he explained. “Lizzie’s one of my best friends, and she’s also a basket case, but one with a heart deeper than an ocean.” I nodded along, smiling while Jesse essentially gave me his version of the talk about Lizzie. I wondered what she told them, how much her friends knew about me or whatever Lizzie and I were, how we even got there. Boyfriend. Callie no longer counted, and I knew it by the way Lizzie made me feel. I had hope with her, and it felt how the books said it would. Calm, exciting, deserved. She was beautiful inside and out, and I had a hard time focusing on anything Jesse told me while Lizzie sauntered toward us.
Ella bounced back from the restroom, adjusting her short brown hair while she glanced around at the crowd. “I’m done,” she announced with a smile. “I want to go home. Noah?”
“Yeah?” I turned to Ella as Lizzie took my hand, feeling the spark rush throughout my body.
“Do you want to get coffee or something next weekend?”
“Why don’t you come to dinner on Sunday?” Jesse added. “Lizzie’s hosting this weekend.”
“This weekend?” I peered down at Lizzie, catching her eyes. They were wide, hesitant, and encouraging in the same vibrant glow of blue. I kissed the top of her head and let my cheek rest on her curls. “Dinner with everyone at Lizzie’s this weekend sounds amazing. I’d love to.”
***
It felt great to leave the bustle of downtown, our focus on the quiet walk home. Lizzie gave up on her heels, which honestly I battled admiring all night because of how gorgeous her legs looked in them, and I carried them in my left hand while my right intertwined our fingers.
“You didn’t tell me Jesse and Ella would be there tonight,” I stated gently. “I would’ve been a better boyfriend if I knew that.”
“I didn’t think they’d come. This night’s been in the works for months. I’m sorry.” She shrugged. “You’re not going to stop calling yourself that, are you?”
