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“Yes,” she says slowly. “But … why do you need someone to vouch for you? I don’t understand?”
I draw in a breath, let it out slowly. “It’s not just the Jonathan thing. I haven’t been very good to her, period. And I don’t think she trusts me. We’ve been through a lot, and I worry this might be the one thing …”
“What do you want me to do? Sign an affidavit—Alec Mansfield is an okay guy? Give you a letter of recommendation? Put my stamp of approval on your forehead—Grade A?”
I just stare. I don’t know what I wanted. Just someone to tell Stassi, when she finds out the truth, that I’m not that terrible person who wanted to hurt her. Now that Carlina puts it that way, though, it sounds like a stupid idea.
She shakes her head. “I don’t know, Alec. I’ll think about it. But I live in the present. I don’t like to wallow in the past, and I don’t think you or that girl of yours should, either. A word of advice. You guys are together? Live for now. Enjoy each other. Don’t worry about ghosts. They can’t hurt you.”
She’s about to get up when I look up and see a familiar face. It’s Cooper’s fiancée, with Cooper, trailing behind.
He catches sight of me and waves, then sees Carlina. “Hey, hey. The gang’s all here. Reunion, huh?”
Carlina gives him her famous, flirty smile. “Look at you.”
“Long time no see.” He’s learned a thing or two about being in a relationship, because he doesn’t look, especially with his fiancée right beside him. “What are you doing with this old shithead?”
Carlina giggles in that sexy way that made my high school self salivate. She squeezes my arm and presses herself into me.
“Oh, you know,” she says, “reminiscing about the good old days.”
Cooper nudges me and speaks into my ear. “Hell man, you nailing Carlina again? I always said you were the luckiest son of a bitch.”
“Nah. We were just leaving actually.”
He chuckles and winks at me, mistaking my sentiment for something else entirely.
“I bet you were,” he says.
“No, really,” I say but it’s too late. He’s turned his attention to his fiancée and the menu.
I wave him off, heading for the exit, behind Carlina, who is again capturing every male eye in the place.
When I get to the door, Cooper calls, “Stassi said you’re coming this weekend?”
I’m knocked so off-balance that it takes me a second to remember what this weekend is.
Sunday supper … the big announcement.
Fuck.
How is that going to look to her brothers when I’ve just been seen hanging out with my ex-girlfriend?
33
Stassi
I pop a pimento olive into my mouth and smile.
Okay, so Alec forgot to bring me my goodies after his “catch up” with Carlina last night. But I can’t bring myself to care. One, because when he realized he’d forgotten, he went out special, this morning, to the store, and I found them waiting in the fridge when I woke up.
And two, last night, he came home only an hour after his shift ended. Apparently, they didn’t have that much to catch up on.
So now, I’m eating my pimento olives and brownie sundae for breakfast and feeling pretty happy about myself. Funny, I never actually liked pimento olives when I didn’t have a bun in the oven. Or, really, brownie sundaes, either.
But put them together … it’s the most delicious thing on Earth.
I know, weird.
As I’m using an olive to scoop up some hot fudge, my phone rings. It’s my mom. Since I’m in such a good mood today, excited about our grand reveal to our family this weekend, I answer. “Hi!”
“Oh, you’re so chipper,” she says, but she sounds worried.
There’s only one reason for her to be upset when I’m happy. And that’s when she knows she’s about to ruin my mood. “What’s up?”
Her voice is low. “I just talked to your brother, and he mentioned he ran into Alec last night at a restaurant … and Alec was on a date.”
“Oh, that wasn’t a date,” I say, still chipper because it’s just a misunderstanding. “It was just a catch-up. She’s an old friend from high school.”
“Friend? Oh.”
My stomach falls. There’s more to this, something she’s not telling me. “What do you mean, oh?”
“Well. Apparently, they were quite cozy. I believe the words used to describe them was, Couldn’t leave there fast enough and all over each other.”
My gut sinks even lower. “They’re comfortable with one another because they used to date. That’s all. And you know how Cooper always blows things out of proportion and constantly has his mind in the gutter. I’m sure—”
“I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding, but those weren’t Cooper’s words, honey,” she says, pain in her voice for having to break this to me. “Those were Abby’s.”
I swallow. “Oh …”
