Blake places his hand around my waist and pulls me to him. “Remember,” he says in my ear, shivers running down my spine. “They aren’t important. They don’t matter. Let’s just do our thing and go.”
I nod, licking my lips. He’s right. These people never liked me, not the real me. Just the me they thought was acceptable once Alan was with me.
Speaking of Alan.
Oh shit.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
He’s walking toward me, wearing a grey suit, no tie, a beer grasped casually in his hands. I’m not sure how it’s possible but he seems to have extra swagger.
Where the hell did he get the swagger from, that extra confidence?
I paste a stupid fake smile on my face while the rest of me stiffens.
Blake notices. “This the cold fish?” he whispers at my back.
I don’t say anything, my mouth is locked in this ridiculous grin.
“Amanda,” Alan says smoothly, stopping a few feet away. “What a surprise. Really didn’t think you’d show after what happened last time.”
“Well nothing says engagement quite like my vomit,” I tell him.
Blake bursts out laughing behind me, while Alan is stunned. Actually I’m stunned. I can’t believe I said that though I guess acting poised is a bit of a stretch for me.
“Ha,” Alan says slowly and now he’s wearing the fake smile. “You still have that way about you, don’t you?”
“Hi, I’m Blake,” Blake says, offering his hand and what I assume will be his phrase of the night.
Alan eyes his hand, eyes me, eyes Blake. Then the fake smile is back and they shake.
“Alan,” he says. “I assume Amanda has told you all about me.”
“Only the bad parts.”
Alan frowns at him, Blake is totally deadpan.
“Ha,” Alan says again, more unsurely now. “You found someone as equally dorky as yourself. So where did you two meet?”
“Dorks anonymous,” says Blake. “We’re in recovery but it’s a tough road.” He winces in mock strife.
This time Alan can barely offer up a smile. “Uh huh.” He covers his mouth with his beer and I swear he’s muttering something under his breath.
“Sweetie?” A tall leggy Megan Fox-type woman comes slinking over.
“Oh!” Alan exclaims, putting his arm around her. She’s at least two feet taller than him in her heels and in her short Grecian-styled white dress she looks like she just strolled off the Victoria’s Secret runway. “This is Georgia. She’s my girlfriend.”
I smile at her as we shake hands. I feel like her bones are light enough to belong to a bird and I immediately think of Phenelope. “I’m Amanda.”
“Oh I know,” she says with a small smile. She looks at Blake. “And you are?”
He gives her the long head nod. “Blake.”
“Amanda and Blake. Well this is awkward,” she says and we all laugh, even me. At least she knows how to break the ice.
“Where did you two meet?” I ask her, partly out of conversation, partly out of curiosity.
They grin at each other. “Well,” Alan says, his chest practically puffed out. “I met her at a conference. Doctor Ron Teethington was in town doing a lecture. If you don’t know, he’s one of the leading health experts on gum disease and how it manifests itself into long-term illness. He’s one of the reasons why we’re fighting to include dental work into BC’s health care plan.”
Blake snorts. “Wait a minute, wait a minute,” he says, waving his hands. “He’s an expert on teeth and his name is Ron Teethington?”
Alan frowns, exchanging a wary glance with Georgia. “I’m not sure what the problem is.”
Yup. That’s the Alan I remember.
“Are you shitting me?” Blake exclaims, laughing now. “Teethington!”
“Easy, Sterling Archer,” I warn Blake, elbowing him in the side.
“Doctor Teethington is the leading expert in his field,” Georgia tries to explain, not appreciating our lack of reverence for her beloved dentist.
Blake looks at me as if to say, you were with this guy for four years?
I paste another smile on my face, aiming it at them as I grab Blake’s arm. “Well it’s been really nice to see you.”
“Did you know that Georgia is in med school?” Alan adds quickly. “She’s going to be a genetic scientist. She’s going to cure the world of all diseases. How about that for a career.”
We’re not even together anymore and yet he still has to take a shot at my writing.
“Wow,” Blake says drawing out the word and widening his eyes in mock shock as he looks at Alan. “That must mean your dick is a lot bigger than mine. Congratulations.”
I have to clamp my lips shut to keep from laughing as I haul Blake toward the bar and away from their confused faces.
“Oh my god!” I exclaim as we get to the bar, swatting him across the chest. “Now he’s not going to get the joke and he’s going to think he has a larger penis than you.” I look over at them across the room, yelling at them, “Which is so not true!”
“Two beers,” Blake says to the bartender before turning to me. “I cannot believe you were with that guy for four years. Oh my god. How did you not go bloody insane?”
I shrug sheepishly. “I settled. I was flattered and then I settled.”