Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 95080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
“That’s valid,” Matt agreed, staring at his handsome husband.
“So all you have to do,” Eric pressed on, “is be your regular charming self. The girls will have a great time, and they’ll want to hang out with us again and again, and we’ll get to keep Ira and Courtney forever.”
“Of course we will. We’re fabulous.”
I groaned, and Eric shook his head.
“What?”
“We’re really not that fabulous,” I told Matt. “We’re all kinds of boring, and our circle is only five people if we’re counting Ira and Courtney.”
“Can that be right?”
“We all have acquaintances we see once in a blue moon, but every Sunday for brunch, every Wednesday for dinner, and every Friday for drinks, it’s just us. When was the last time we were out in a big group?”
Matt opened his mouth to speak.
I cut him off. “Not counting college.”
He went quiet.
“There, you see? Our normal is you, me, Eric, and Ira, now Courtney as well, having dinner, playing cards, and putting in a movie we never finish because we talk through it.”
“Which I hate, by the way,” Eric chimed in. “I still don’t know what happened at the end of Life of Pi.”
Matt rolled his eyes.
“But really, we’ve all been friends so long, we forget sometimes how to be social. And now that Ira’s found someone, if we want to keep him around, we have to get her friends to like us too.”
“You’re right, you’re right. I’ll make it happen.”
“Excellent,” I praised him.
“Plus, it’s good practice for when you get a new guy,” Eric said brightly, and took another sip of his drink. “I mean, I like Ira a lot, but I love you. Matt and me, and you and your new guy, we’ll be bonded for life.”
I looked at him, and so did Matt.
“What?” Eric seemed confused at the attention.
“New guy?” I questioned him.
He scowled. “Of course. You’re not going to be celibate for the rest of your life, Trace. That’s ridiculous. There’ll be someone new in our group eventually.”
“Not by inviting the ex along there won’t,” Matt commented.
“I’m sorry, what?” Eric did not sound pleased.
“Yeah. You get to see him tonight if he shows.”
The him could not have been uttered with any more revulsion.
“Oh joy,” Eric groaned.
“Stop that. I couldn’t say no.”
“No,” Eric said dramatically and with conviction. “There. See how easy that was?”
“I—”
“For fuck’s sake, Tracy, you don’t hold on to a guy who lies to you.” Eric’s gaze was back on me, and I saw the disappointment and concern in his bright-blue eyes.
“Eric—”
“No,” he snapped. “He slept with that guy and—”
“I didn’t say we were ever going to be more than friends,” I pointed out.
“Why would you even be friends with someone who fucked you over?”
“I—”
“And you never really loved him anyway.”
This was new. “I’m sorry?” I said defensively.
“Guys,” Matt began.
“Feelings for, yes. I’ll even go so far as to say deep feelings, but love? I don’t think so,” Eric went on. “It was infatuation that got way out of control.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about you and the walking, talking Ken doll.”
“He’s a doctor,” I said, feeling compelled to defend my ex. “He’s brilliant.”
Matt cleared his throat. “Guys,” he tried again.
Eric made a jerking-off motion. “Yeah. A guy who screws around on you is a goddamn fucking genius.”
“One has nothing to do with the other.”
“And he’s not,” Matt chimed in. “A genius, that is. Not by a long shot, which is the real point.”
I was scowling. Eric had his arms crossed, glaring back.
“Let’s just drop it,” Matt said. “I see the girls.”
I was going to argue with Eric some more—and he looked more than ready to keep going—but Matt told us both to shut up and plastered on a big smile as Courtney and her friends, April and Jennifer, crowded around us.
“Hey,” I greeted Courtney, trying to shake the irritation out of my voice as she leaned in to hug me.
“Oh, honey, are you sure you should be out? Aren’t you hurt?”
I didn’t know the other two girls well enough to make a judgment yet, having only met them once before, but Courtney I truly liked. She was so good for Ira—his champion, the whole wind-beneath-his-wings and all that. “I’m fine,” I promised her. “You remember Matt and Eric?”
“Of course,” she cried happily, obviously delighted to see both him and his charming husband, again.
“So,” Matt said conspiratorially, playing it up with an evil smile, “how big of a drink did you need after going to meet Mrs. Kohn?”
Courtney choked. “Oh my God, no, she was lovely. Really.”
Eric’s smile turned even more sinister. “You can dish. Go ahead.”
She was laughing and shaking her head. “No, you don’t even know. She was so nice to me. Ira had me so nervous, and it was nothing like he said it would be.”
“Ira can be a little…” Matt seemed to be searching for the right word. “Overzealous in his panic?”