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My phone rang, and I tried not to scramble to answer it in the hope it would be Meg.
Of course, it wasn’t.
“Hey. Lena. What’s up?”
“Can I get a ride to Kyle’s? My car’s in the shop, and Mom and Dad are in the city seeing a play or something.” My sister sounded slightly frazzled, but that was her defacto demeanor.
“Yeah, sure. I didn’t realize you were coming tonight.” I grabbed my keys and wallet, and headed out to my car, glancing at Mrs. Hamilton’s house as I left. I was pleased to see her watering the plants on her porch. She lifted a hand, and I waved back.
“I wasn’t sure I could make it, but my plans changed.” She was curt, making it clear I wasn’t supposed to ask about what plans had changed.
Normally, I would have grilled her on why she sounded peeved off, but I was sort of distracted by other things at the moment.“I have to swing by the store and get some brews, then I’ll come and get you,” I told her.
“Meg told me she’ll be at Kyle’s. Is that going to be a problem?” Lena asked. It was going to be a problem for entirely different reasons than Lena was thinking.
“Nope. I’ll be civil,” I assured her.
“I really wish you guys would get over your shit.” Lena sighed.
If she only knew.
“I’ll be there in fifteen,” I said, getting off the phone.
I ran into the grocery store and beelined for the beer cooler.
“Hey there,” a voice crooned behind me as I bent over to lift two cases of IPA off the shelf.
As if this day couldn’t get any worse. I dropped the beer into the cart before facing my soon-to-be-ex-wife. “Chelsea,” I said with every ounce of disdain I could muster.
She was dressed to the nines in a tight-fitting black dress. Her hair was glossy and styled, her face painted with enough makeup to stock a department store counter. She jutted out her hip and tossed her hair over her shoulder. She was carrying a bottle of her favorite Merlot. She obviously had plans tonight. And I didn’t give two shits what they were.
She glanced at my cart. “It looks like you’ve got plans tonight. Going to Kyle’s?” Her lip curled as she said my best friend’s name. She didn’t like Kyle. She thought he was small town and beneath her. She was such a bitch.
“Yep,” was all I said, turning the cart and heading down the aisle. I could hear the clack of her high heels as she followed me.
“I’m heading into Philly for the opening of Club Diablo. Ryan got us VIP tickets.”
I had no idea who Ryan was. I could tell she wanted me to ask, but I wouldn’t. Because I didn’t care who he was.“Have fun,” I called out dismissively, heading towards the checkout.
Of course, she stayed on my ass.
I hefted the beer up onto the conveyor belt and tried to ignore Chelsea, who was still behind me.
“Just doing a little pre-gaming before we head out,” Chelsea went on.
I gave her a non-committal nod. She was standing entirely too close. I could practically feel her breasts rubbing against my back. She was close enough that I could smell the overly expensive perfume that she always insisted on dousing herself with.
“That’s great,” I replied blandly. The lady in front of me was taking forever to get out the coupons. I checked my phone for the hundredth time. Still nothing from Meg.
“Ryan’s a professional hockey player. He used to be with the Islanders. I met him through Sandra. She said he’d been asking about me for weeks.” Chelsea giggled.
I rolled my eyes. She was so transparent. I knew she was trying to make me jealous. It was pitiful. The truth was that would never have worked. All the times she cheated on me, my feelings had never been about jealousy. My pride had been wounded, but never my heart. That was a sad realization given how long we had been together.
“Sounds like you’re a perfect match,” I said, relieved that coupon lady was finally finished. I got out my wallet and quickly paid for the beer, loading it in my cart.
“Bye, Adam, I’ll talk to you later. Maybe I can come by this week—”
I walked out of the store before Chelsea could finish her sentence.
I brushed off the run-in with Chelsea easily. It was funny how unconcerned I was with the woman I had been with for the last ten years. What did that say about me?
I picked up Lena, who seemed to have perked up from when I spoke to her earlier. She prattled on about school on the ride over to Kyle’s, and I let her do all the talking for once. My head was elsewhere.
I noticed there were quite a few cars parked in Kyle’s driveway when we pulled up. I hadn’t realized he had invited so many people.“What’s with all the cars?” I wondered out loud as I grabbed the cases of beer from the trunk.
