“That’s not much of a threat, woman,” I grumble. We’re at the new bar that just opened downtown called Drink. It’s a small hole in the wall filled with, from what I can tell, college-aged kids and rich snobs who never had a hard time in their life, unless you include chipping a nail or their daddy freezing their trust fund for a few days.
“I thought we both could use a change of pace,” she defends, but she doesn’t look exactly happy to be here either. “But you’re right, it blows. Which is why you have to tell me about Gray!”
“I told you, there’s not much to tell,” I all but growl, shifting in my seat.
“Oh, please. Last week you couldn’t stop talking about him. All I heard was Gray this and Gray that. Today it’s over, end of discussion. I’m getting whiplash from the change.”
“He went back to Texas to visit his family.” I shrug, staring at my drink and wishing I could just go home, curl up on the couch like I have for the last five days, and sleep until I have to get up in the morning.
“So? That does not constitute a breakup. I swear, C, if you kicked him to the curb just because his vine wasn’t going to be around to swing through the jungle on, I may kill you myself.”
I roll my eyes at her. I decide to talk with her, knowing that if I don’t, this is just going to go on all night, and I really need to talk about something else if I’m going to survive tonight.
“Our last date, he took me to a dance.”
“So? You love dancing!”
“A society formal at the Riverton’s Country Club.”
“Oh, shit.”
“He was very sweet. Even picked out my dress.”
“Okay. So far, I’m seeing no reason to cut the man loose. I mean…”
“It was this beautiful silk and lace, deep red,” I interrupt her, “that probably cost a fortune.”
“Again, C, not making a connection.”
“It was a black and white formal.”
“Oh hell.”
“Yeah, that’s not his fault. I have a very good hunch that it was all Cammie’s fault he picked out a red dress.”
“What? I mean, why would he…”
“He went to the one shop in Addington to buy formal gear. You know, the one where Cammie’s best friend Eliza works.”
“Holy fuck-nuggets Batman.”
“Pretty much.”
“Someone needs to bitch slap that cunt-a-saurus for freaking days.”
I think about the sprinklers and start to tell Mer, but I just don’t want to get into it right now. As much as I hate Cammie, she’s not my problem. I have this sneaking suspicion that it’s me that is the problem right now. I let my doubts push Gray away, and the truth is… I miss him.
“I miss him,” I whisper out loud.
“Oh, honey,” Mer says.
“I got scared, Mer. I like him. I really like him.”
“C…”
“Like, really, really liked him,” I stress.
“So tell him that.”
“He’s gone.”
“He’s in Texas. Not some third world country. Text him.”
“But we broke up,” I sigh. “Jesus, I feel like I’m back in high school worrying over Clinton Sparks.”
“He was an asshole.”
“Maybe Gray is,” I argue.
“I never thought I’d see the day that Claudia Cooper was afraid to live her life.”
“You take that back!”
“Nope. Not going to happen.”
“You’re such a bitch.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing. Now find your lady balls and text your man.”
I sigh, looking at my phone. “I could just text him to see what he’s doing,” I reason, nerves filling my system.
“My freaking Lord, C, you are jinxed.”
“What?” I ask, jerking up.
“Cammie and her Witches of Crossville crew just came in. You’re jinxed.”
“Or maybe my best friend just picked a particularly horrible place to meet,” I grumble, because really, this place is just the kind of people Cammie would hang around.
“Point made. Jesus, they’re going to sit right behind us. Try not to move. If I have to talk to her, I may projectile vomit,” Mer says, and I agree with her. So for the next five minutes, other than making weird faces at each other, we say nothing. Mer makes silly faces imitating Cammie, and I might giggle a time or two, but we remain mostly silent.
Until the topic of conversation changes. “Cammie, where have you been? I was going to tell you about the new shipment of dresses we got in from Paris last week. They are to die for!”
“Father and I just got back from Texas,” she says, her voice hitting on every nerve ending I have. Mer mouths the word “Texas” and I stare at her, my fists clenching. It really pisses me off that Gray does business with these people, even if I don’t have a say so in it.
“What on Earth were you doing in Texas? It’s so hot this time of year,” one of the girls says.
“My fiancé is there. He wanted me to meet his family.”
My blood runs cold at her words. Her fiancé? Meet the family?
“You got engaged to Grayson Lucas and didn’t tell us? I thought he was dating that mechanic,” another girl says, and she says the word “mechanic” like it’s dirt beneath her fingernails.