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“Sofi sure lookedfriendly with that date of hers,” remarked Joey, one of Austin’s best friends since childhood.
Austin couldn’t help his immediate response of glaring at Joey. He then softened his face as he pondered why it bothered him so much that Sofi had looked happy on her date. She should look happy. That’s what Austin should want for Sofi. Yet, he didn’t. At least not completely. His conflicting emotions were confusing him.
“It’ll never work,” Matt, Austin’s friend who’d dated Sofi before she’d gone to Mexico, said into his mug of nearly empty beer.
Austin spun to look at his friend. What was that supposed to mean? Austin didn’t like that Matt was implying that something was wrong with Sofi. That she was the reason the two of them hadn’t worked out. Austin knew it had been Sofi who broke things off with Matt before she’d left, but so far he’d seen Matt make no effort to win her back. And Sofi was a woman worth pursuing.
“Don’t give him that death glare, Aus,” Memphis said from the other side of the table.
After ax throwing, or stalking Sofi’s date, Austin and his friends had decided that they still wanted dinner even if they couldn’t continue chasing Sofi. So they’d decided on a little dive that served the best tacos in town and a whole bunch of cerveza. Not that Austin was drinking, since he was their driver. Matt hadn’t been invited to the Sofi-date-stalking portion for obvious reasons, but when Sofi had pushed them away, Austin had decided to invite the guy who’d been moping for the last year or more since Sofi had dumped him.
“Why not?” Austin asked, his attention still on Matt. “He’s acting like it’s Sofi’s fault that they broke up.”
“It is,” Matt said.
Out of the corner of his eye Austin saw that this time it was Memphis glaring at their friend, who was already on his third cerveza.
“Do you want to die today, man?” Memphis asked Matt, who just shrugged in response.
Austin was still feeling defensive of Sofi, but at the same time he felt sympathy for Matt. He hadn’t realized Sofi had done such a number on him. It was almost as if he were still mourning the relationship when it had been over for more than a year and they’d only dated for a few months. Austin guessed if any woman could make a man pine after her for so long it would be Sof. He honestly could not imagine his life without her. If she ever left him . . . he’d never recover. Thankfully Sofi wasn’t the kind to leave friends. Just boyfriends.
“And it’s his fault,” Matt added, ignoring Memphis and jerking his head in Austin’s direction.
“My fault? Because we’re friends?” Austin asked, sliding back on the bench he shared with Matt even as he leaned forward. He was curious. As well as a little annoyed.
“You can’t be that blind. He can’t be that blind, can he?” Matt turned to Joey and Memphis as he asked the question.
Joey shook his head as Memphis said, “Shut up, Matt. You’re too tipsy to avoid saying something you’ll regret.”
“Or maybe I’m just tipsy enough to say what needs to be said,” Matt countered, his voice rising.
Austin felt like he should know what they were talking about and yet he was lost. It was obvious Matt was saying he was the one who was blind. But what was he blind about? Sofi? That couldn’t be the case. If there was one place in his life where he saw clearly, it was anywhere Sofi touched.
“She loves you, dude,” Matt declared as Memphis lunged across the table just moments too late to silence him.
Austin froze. His ears took in Matt’s words, but his mind refused to accept them.
“Sofi?” Austin asked. Memphis had slid back down into his seat, his face covered with an expression Austin couldn’t quite place. It wasn’t fear, but it wasn’t sadness. After a moment of study he realized it was guilt. Memphis felt guilty for what Matt had revealed. But who did he feel guilt toward?
Matt nodded as he raised his hand to try to get the attention of their server.
Memphis leaned across the table to shove Matt’s hand down. “I’m cutting you off.”
Matt muttered something unintelligible but it sounded like a few four-letter words directed at Memphis. Memphis chose to ignore them as his attention turned to Austin.
“Who was he talking to?” Austin asked Joey and Memphis, the guys who hadn’t imbibed beyond what they should have. The guys who weren’t nursing broken hearts.
Joey shook his head, his expression clearly stating he wasn’t going to get involved. Memphis shrugged.
“I really liked her. But she only ever loved you,” Matt said, his gaze clearly on Austin.
“Because she’s my best friend,” Austin said, knowing Memphis would back him up. Memphis always backed him up in this. Sure, he’d heard this plenty before. When people saw a male and female best friend of a certain age, they just assumed there had to be something more. But with Sofi and Austin, what you saw was what you got. Memphis got that.
“Shut up, Matt,” Memphis groaned as he leaned his head on the booth behind him.
Why wasn’t Memphis speaking to Austin? Matt was talking out of his rear. They all could see that, right? Nothing he said was making sense. Yet, Joey and Memphis weren’t acting like the man was crazy, the way Austin wanted them to. Because Matt was crazy. Or heartsick. Or whatever. What he wasn’t? Speaking the truth.
Austin looked at his brother, who still had his gaze fixed somewhere in the air.
