Chapter 26
James
THREE WEEKS LATER
“You’re sure you’re okay with this?”
“For the last time, yes,” I say. Then I give Mika my best smile to soften the edge of my tone.
But seriously, she’d asked me about twenty times, in a dozen different ways, if I’m okay with this, and if I have to hear it one more time…
Of course I’m okay with this.
Why wouldn’t I be okay having dinner with my best friend—former best friend—and her live-in boyfriend?
Sounds great.
I open the door to the trendy Italian restaurant Mika's been yammering about all week and allow her to go in first.
I’m not really big on all the crowds and hype around the “opening” of restaurants, but Mika knows someone who knows someone and acted like getting reservations on a Friday night was like the Heisman Trophy of eating or something, so I’m trying not to be a dick about it.
The place is noisy and packed, which I kind of hate, but it smells amazing, so I try to think positive.
Mika tells (shouts) our name to the frazzled hostess, who points to the back of the restaurant. Mika nods before beckoning me to follow her.
I take a deep breath and wind around the tiny, too-close-together tables, trying to brace myself for what’s to come.
And then I see her.
I see Nadine, and all thoughts of thinking positive about the evening fly out the window.
I don’t think I can do this.
But, of course, I have to.
Mika and I have been on a handful of dates now, and I’m officially out of excuses for dodging this double date.
Nadine and Paulo stand as we get closer.
Nadine so that she can hug Mika, Paulo so that he can shake my hand in that weird, man-to-man thing that guys do.
If Paulo or Mika notice that Nadine and I don’t say hello, much less hug, neither says anything.
“This place looks amazing,” Nadine gushes as we all sit down around the too-small table. She and Mika are sitting across from each other against the wall, with me across from Paulo on the outside.
This leaves Nadine and me kitty-corner from each other, which I guess is as good as can be expected given the circumstances, but it still feels too close.
Mika doesn’t know about our fight, and from the placid look on Paulo's face, I suspect he doesn’t know, either, so we’ll have to play nice.
And since Nadine's currently talking, playing nice means looking at her. Pretending to listen.
She’s wearing a black sleeveless top with a low scoop neck and a bunch of layered necklaces. Nothing special. Her hair’s pulled back in a long ponytail, her makeup all smoky and Friday-night-out-ish.
She looks amazing, and that pisses me off. I don’t want her to be miserable—not really—but I don’t exactly need her to look like that, either. All pretty and glowing and…happy.
“I’m so glad we could do this,” Mika is saying, because oh my God are we still talking about the restaurant? “We could have gotten a better time next weekend, but obviously that won’t work with James going back to Michigan.”
