“Itisa bad idea. He has a child and you have no idea what you’re doing with your life. What on earth are you thinking?”
“Mom—”
“It really scares me, Sam. When you lie and manipulate people? It reminds me of your father.”
Perry jogs over to us, apparently oblivious to the ton of emotional bricks my mother has just dropped onme.
“Jen! My dad’s about to do the toast,” they say. “You ready? I think it’s better to do it now while he’s still relatively sober.”
I watch Mom recompose her face into a smile. “Let’s go.”
I don’t knowif Perry’s father remained sober for his toast, but I certainly did not. The run-in with my mom sent me right back to the bartender.
I’m standing at the edge of the park, far enough from the reception that the guests won’t see me with a duffel bag slung over my shoulder, ordering a Lyft.
“Samantha.”
Apparently, I’ve been discovered.
Hal is wearing a suit and no knit cap. It’s jarring. It doesn’t fit with the carousel of images in my brain. I picture Jughead Jones at prom and I’m almost certain he still wore his crown.
He takes a step back with his hands up. “Don’t hit me.”
Given the night I’ve had up to now, I can only imagine the intensity of my resting bitch face.
“Why are you here?”
“I was supposed to be your plus-one.” He approaches again, cautiously. “You blocked me. I had no way of knowing whether you wanted me to be here.”
“The blocking should’ve been a pretty good indication of what I wanted,” I say.
“Okay.” He nods. “I’ll go.”
He turns and starts crossing the street.
“Where have you been for the last month?” I ask. “You just stopped showing up to work.”
“Why would I want to pour shitty drinks if we’re not talking?” He stops suddenly. “I spent a little time in New York.”
“With your author friend?”
He shakes his head. “She’s back with her boyfriend.” His mouth twists and he steps back onto the sidewalk. “I didn’t have sex with Leen that night. I want you to know that.”
“ ‘Thatnight.’ ”
He rolls his eyes. “Yes, after you froze me out, I saw her again.”
“You led me to believe you weren’t interested in fucking around with other people. Was I so off-base to assume that meant we were exclusive?”
“We never actually said we were exclusive,” he says.
“But youknewthat’s what I wanted.” I look at his noncommittal face. “Like, please, just admit that so I don’t feel like we’re living in two different realities. Tell me the truth.”
“You caught feelings,” he says. “I understood that.” He reaches into his pocket for his key fob. “Do you want a ride?”
“Don’t touch me,” I say, but I start walking down the blocktoward his Prius. “I’m only agreeing to this because of surge pricing.”
“I take it you haven’t been saving yourself for me, either.”
