She had helped plan this party with Eden and Barron's moms. She even cooked a big pot of Sapa Sui, the Samoan version of Chop Suey, even though she had been told that caterers were booked. My mom couldn't resist.
Her Sapa Sui always was always popular, anyway. The delicious scent of garlic, soy sauce, and beef always drew a crowd.
"She's okay. I want her to slow down, but you know how she is."
Mom was older than my friend's mothers. I had been a late-in-life surprise for my parents. Their greatest joy and blessing, I was constantly told.
"She's been visiting Trenton a lot. I think my aunts are trying to convince her to move."
"Shit," Ryan replied as he searched my face. "Is she considering it?"
My chest tightened, as it always did whenever I thought of it. "I don't know. I'm too scared to ask," I confessed. "She's always said that she would never leave the place she and dad settled in or move away from where he's buried. But she's getting older, and the house is too big for her, but she doesn't want to downsize. She's visiting New Jersey a lot, too... sometimes I think it'll be better for her to move closer to family."
"What about you?"
I opened my mouth to answer, but Eden joined our circle and swiped my wine out of my hand before I could greet her.
"Sorry, Sof." She handed the almost empty glass back and carefully wiped the corner of her mouth. "I needed that."
I patted Eden's shoulder in understanding. I'd need a tequila shot if I had to put up with Maria, too.
"Why the fuck did he think it was a good idea to bring her?" I asked in genuine disbelief.
"Well, we did put a plus one on the invite," Eden offered weakly. I could tell by the tightness of her voice how pissed she was.
I reigned in my anger, too. I didn't want anything to upset the night.
But as I looked towards Maria, who clutched Simon's arm like a lifeline while she raked critical eyes around the room, I couldn't help feeling irritated. My eyes narrowed as Simon threw his dark head back, laughing at something one of his relatives was saying.
God, he was a smug bastard. And a massive dickhead. It was no secret that I disliked Maria, but the guy had paid zero attention to her since they arrived.
The other girl would gaze dotingly up at him and rub her generous cleavage against his bicep, but he simply ignored her. He was probably used to the attention and took it as his God-given right. Maybe he was regretting bringing her as a plus one in case she hindered his chances of scoring one of the gorgeous supermodels present.
Just then, Simon turned to look at me.
For a second, I was frozen by the intensity of his stare. A crackling electricity flickered between us as I felt the heat of his focus on me.
That soon fizzled out with a pop when Simon gave me a smug smile and tipped his drink at me. I rolled my eyes and buried my nose in my glass. That pompous bastard.
"You two seem friendly," Eden joked. She found it amusing that Simon continually tried to converse with me whenever we were in the same room. She had no idea how often we bumped heads.
"I'll never understand how Barron's related to him."
"They're not as close as they used to be," Eden mused. "Before Barr and I reconnected, I assumed they were still as tight as ever. But they haven't kept in touch since Simon went off to college."
Barron chose that moment to come over and wrap an arm around his fiancée's shoulder. He tipped her back and planted a lingering kiss on her lips.
"Yikes, guys, save something for the honeymoon."
Barron only grinned at me, his eyes dancing in delight. And why shouldn't he be happy? He had his dream girl and was about to make it official.
"I can't wait to give you shit when you get a boyfriend."
I rolled my eyes. "Please! I'm a lone wolf. No one has been able to keep up."
"You didn't invite a plus one?"
I had considered inviting Brian, the guy I slept with on occasion when we both felt the itch. But we didn't have that type of relationship, and I didn't want to do anything to change our dynamic. Besides, we had arranged to see each other tomorrow night, meeting at Malley's for a drink which was our usual routine before he came back to mine for the night.
