“Who’s this?” Jordan asked behind me.
“Boyfriend,” David bit out. “Who the fuck are you?”
Since David was still as a statue, I drew back. “You came early,” I said as my shock melted into a big smile.
“Who is this guy?” David responded, nodding over my head.
“It’s Jordan Banks, my—”
“Jordan? Ex-boyfriend Jordan?” David clipped. His nostrils flared and his gaze cut across the table. “Brian?”
“Sorry, mate,” Brian said. “I didn’t know until I got here, and they told me he was just a friend.”
“Mate?” Gretchen uttered under her breath. “Is he Australian now?”
David’s eyes met mine. “Outside. Now.”
“Is there a problem, Liv?” Jordan asked.
“No,” David answered for me. “And I’d advise you to keep your mouth shut.”
Before leaving the table, I turned back to Jordan. “Ten times,” I reminded him. “I mean it.”
Outside, I shivered despite a much nicer evening than it would’ve been in Chicago right now.
“We’re apart a couple nights, and you’re having dinner with your ex?” David started.
“It’s not like that,” I said, rubbing my hands over my sleeved arms. “Greg has some twisted idea about recreating the past, and he invited Jordan without telling anyone.”
“You didn’t know he’d be here?”
“No, baby. I swear. I’m totally uncomfortable with this. Trust me?”
David pressed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger. “Yes. I trust you, and I trust this,” he said, motioning between us. “It’s everyone else I don’t trust. And I don’t like the way he was leaning on you.”
I didn’t love it, either, if I was honest, so I remained quiet.
He cocked his head. “Why aren’t you arguing with me?”
“Because you’re right.”
He frowned. “Excuse me?”
“You’re right. I was clear that I have a boyfriend, but Jordan won’t back off. He seems to think because I cheated on Bill that I’d . . .”
“Are youfuckingkidding me?” David asked, shoulders tensing. “He said that?”
“Not outright.” I put my hand on David’s forearm. “But I’m trusting you not to explode. If you freak out every time I confide in you about something I know you won’t like, I’m going to stop.” I slid my hand up his biceps until he visibly relaxed. “It doesn’t matter to me. I see right through his garbage. He’s no threat to you. Nobody is.”
David’s eyebrows knit. “Since when do you like tattoos?”
I laughed. “I don’t.”
The look on his face betrayed his skepticism. “What does ‘ten times’ mean?”
My shoulders eased as David began to thaw. “I told him my boyfriend is ten times the man he is.”
David looked me up and down. “Ten times, huh? Did you use a ruler to figure that out?”
