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“I’ll give him a call,” said Lars.
“I’d hope so.”
Time to prove I could support Lars while still hating on his bestie. “Why don’t you drop me off at home after this and go check on him? My car is probably easier to drive in your delicate condition than your big truck.”
Lars’s smile was everything good and right in the world. “Thanks.”
The BBQ didn’t really pick up again after that. Guess meeting families just wasn’t my thing. So Lars was going to visit the Ex. It was fine. Everything was fine. And I refused to believe differently.
Fourteen
Cleo burst into my house a couple of hours later with a bottle of wine in each hand. She toed off her wet shoes and announced, “You’re not going to believe what Tore said when I told him I was coming to see you.”
“Tell me,” I said, setting out the glasses on the coffee table.
“Don’t you think we should sort out our problems without involving your best friend?” Cleo repeated in a low and cranky voice. “If he’d been open to listening to me and resolving the issue like an adult in the first place, I wouldn’t have had to come see you to cool off.”
“Did you kick him out of your condo?”
“Hell no,” she said. “I want to know exactly where he is when I’m ready to yell at him some more.”
“That makes sense.” I nodded and poured the wine. We sat on cushions on the floor with our backs against the sofa. It was our way. Something about getting down and disheveled in times of trouble worked for us.
“He cracked jokes through the whole damn show,” she said, taking a sip of white wine before wiping drops of rain off her face. “There I am, trying to enjoy myself watching something I’ve been waiting months to see, and the man would not shut up.”
“Rude.”
“What did Lars do to put that sad expression on your face?”
“We went to his parents’ house for dinner and his mom broke the news that Aaron’s fiancée dumped him and ran,” I said, grabbing my cardigan off the sofa. The temperature had cooled off care of the wet. “She also threw in a wee guilt trip for fun.”
“As you do.”
“As soon as we got home, he called the asshole and is now over there consoling him. Which is fine. I just...ugh.”
“So the new girl ran, huh?” Cleo raised a brow. “Good for her.”
I downed a mouthful. “Yeah.”
“You still have issues with Lars being friends with him?”
“I’m trying not to. It has nothing to do with me, really.”
Cleo tapped her nails against her knee. “Hmm.”
“I take it you asked Tore to stop complaining and he didn’t?”
“Twice. Just because he didn’t like the show, he didn’t have to ruin it for me.” She shook her head. “He behaved like a damn child. Then when he finally realized I was pissed at him, he got all defensive!”
“Idiot.” I downed a mouthful of vino. “I know Lars and Aaron have been friends a long time and there’s a bond there. But he was just such a shit to me. I don’t know how to reconcile it, but I don’t want it to be a thing between us.”
“You’re serious about him,” said Cleo.
I scowled and nodded. “I tried to keep things casual between us, but it feels like I’m fighting a losing battle. If this doesn’t work out I’m joining a nunnery.”
“Sounds reasonable. How much of you is angry at Lars for being Aaron’s friend, versus you being mad at yourself for staying with the asshole for so long and making excuses for his behavior?”
“Good question. Gah. Stop being so insightful.”
“Relationships.” She sighed. “The thing is, Tore didn’t have to like the stupid show. I just needed him to shut up and sit there so I could enjoy it. Now I know not to take him to a play, especially if it’s a tragedy, because it fries his little-boy brain and makes him act out.”
“Have you considered a ball gag?”
“I’d rather go on my own than run the risk of him yelling You can do better, honey to Ophelia.”
I snorted. “Hamlet is a total fuck-boy. I’m with him there.”
“Oh, I’m not debating that. It’s the appropriateness of interacting uninvited with actors during a live performance that’s the issue,” she said. “This is the problem with new relationships. Working through what you can and cannot tolerate. What you can do together and what you should absolutely do apart. And after all of that if the sex is good, deciding whether there’s enough common ground left to warrant still having anything to do with each other.”
“Yeah,” I said glumly. “I have the worst feeling Lars and I are in a relationship.”
Cleo cocked her head. “Has that honestly only just occurred to you?”
“The idea may have dawned on me a few days ago.”
