I nod. “I was hoping Charlotte would pop over here and be my plus-one for the rest of the week, but she’s going on an anniversary cruise with her parents next week and she can’t do both because of her work schedule.” I look at Kat. “Charlotte told me to tell you and Josh congratulations and thank you for the invitation.”
“Tell her we hope to meet her another time.”
“What kind of work does your best friend Charlotte McDougal do?” Henn asks, sliding his arm around Kat’s waist as we continue walking slowly alongside Colby and Ryan.
“She’s a flight attendant.”
Henn’s smile broadens. “For what airline, out of curiosity?”
“Delta,” I reply.
Henn’s smile is absolutely beaming. “Charlotte McDougal of Delta.”
We reach the entrance to the restaurant and the larger group walking ahead of us ambles inside.
“Hang on, guys,” Kat says to our small group, making everyone halt. Kat calls ahead to Josh in the restaurant. “I’ll be there in a minute, PB! Save me a seat!”
“You got it, PG!” Josh calls back.
Kat looks at me. “Oh, you can go ahead, too, Tessa. I just need to chat with Henny, Colby, and Ryan for a quick second about a birthday present for Keane. Henn’s maybe gonna help us figure something out.”
“Oh, cool,” I say, feeling hugely relieved. For a split-second there, I had this weird feeling Kat wanted to talk to Ryan, Colby, and Henn aboutme. I look pointedly at Ryan. “I’ll see you inside.”
Ryan smiles warmly at me. “Save me a seat right next to you, okay?”
I feel giddy. I was hoping we’d sit together at dinner. “Ay, ay, Cap’n.”
With that, I practically float into the restaurant, feeling like my decision to say yes to a weeklong, no-strings fling in paradise with a beautiful manwhore was a truly stupendous idea.
52
Ryan
“How’d you figure it out?” I ask Henn, looking over my shoulder to make sure Tessa’s firmly inside the restaurant.
“Blancoonarroz,” Henn says. “You told me you said that to Samantha in the bar, remember?”
“Shit.”
“Now please tell me how the fuck T-Rod is Samantha?” Henn says. “Because my gray matter is splattered all over those palm trees way over there.”
I tell Henn the whole flippin’ story and Henn seems absolutely astonished.
“So youhavetalked to Charlotte?” Henn says. “You said you called Charlotte and she hasn’t called you back.”
“What else could I say in front of Josh?” I say. “Tessa doesn’t want Josh to know yet. Plus, he warned me off her on Day One.”
“But you two already know?” Henn says to Kat and Colby.
“I figured it out,” Kat says. She tells Henn the whole flippin’ story of how she put two and two together.
“You’re a genius, Kumquat,” Colby says.
“Why, thank you, Cheese.”
Henn snorts. “Dude, you’d better tell Jonas what’s going on. At the opening party, when Jonas thought you were dropping ‘Samantha’ like a hot potato, he had a few not-very-nice things to say about you behind your back.”
“Motherfucker,” I say. “I don’t want Jonas thinking I was being insincere about my soul connection with Samantha. But I can’t tell him yet—I just need a couple more days with Tessa and then this whole thing will be out in the open.”
