Plus one with benefits

The envelope sat on his kitchen counter like it owned the place. Cream cardstock, gold lettering, the kind of thing you only splurge on when you want everyone to know you're blissfully in love.
Eric already knew whose names would be on it. Roselyn and John.

He'd told himself the divorce was civil. Mature. A clean break. He'd ignored the whispers that his friend had been more than a friend before the papers were signed. He'd even wished them well from a safe, social media-approved distance.

But this? An invitation to watch them exchange vows under fairy lights and peonies, to toast their happily-ever-after while pretending he wasn't the ghost in the room? That was a special kind of audacity.

He should throw it away. Burn it. Shred it into a thousand smug little pieces. Instead, he poured himself a drink and stared at the RSVP card. Should he go? Just to prove he could. Just to smile and clap and show them he wasn't the least bit bothered.

But go alone? Not a chance.

If they wanted him there, he'd make sure they got a show they'd never forget.