“I live in West Virginia,” I said.
“Oh yeah—“
“With my boyfriend,” I added and watched with satisfaction as Quinn-with-no-sense-of-personal-space deflated right before my eyes.
“Oh, boyfriend, huh?”
I finished chalking the tip of my cue stick and handed it to him with a smile. “Yeah, for over three years now.”
“That’s cool,” Quinn said, clearly souring and wishing he could leave. Nadine and Jim stopped mentally undressing each other and we started playing pool.
Quinn, whose mood had already taken a turn once he realized he wasn’t getting into my pants, became even pissier when I won fifty bucks off him.
“You’re a hustler,” he accused, handing over his money.
“I never told you I couldn’t play pool. It’s not my fault you made assumptions based on my boob size,” I said, tucking the bills into my pocket.
Quinn turned red and stomped off.
“He doesn’t lose well, huh?” I asked his friend.
Jim shrugged. “I should go. He’ll probably leave me here if I don’t. I’ll call you, Nadine,” he said and I heard the false promise in his voice. He wasn’t going to call her. Why pretend otherwise?
The insincere song and dance of meeting that special someone. really sucked. And I was thankful that I no longer had to be a part of it.
I had found my someone.
Nadine preened until he left and then she pouted. “Thanks Ellie. I almost had him hooked,” she complained.
“You’ll thank me for it one day. Why don’t we get out of here? I’m pretty tired,” I said.
The walk back to the apartment took twice as long with Nadine stopping every few minutes to rest her feet. I had told her four-inch heels weren’t the smartest footwear. But she chose to listen to fashion over practicality.
When we were back at the apartment, Nadine got us both a glass of water. “To combat my inevitable hangover,” she explained.
I got my own glass of water and sat down beside her.
“Today was fun,” she said.
“It was,” I agreed.
“So, what do I have to do to get you to move here?” she asked, grinning.
“You know, twelve hours ago, I would have said not much.”
Nadine’s eyes widened. “Really?”
I drank the rest of my water and put my glass on the floor by my feet. “It’s been rough since going back to West Virginia. I can’t find a decent job. I keep running into people I’d rather not see. I’ve always hated it there,” I found myself admitting.
“Then why in the hell are you living there? And if you tell me because that’s where Flynn is I will strangle you. Don’t bethatgirl, Ellie,” she threatened.
“Yes, it’s because of Flynn,” I began and stopped Nadine before she could interrupt.
“And I’m notthatgirl. You don’t get how things are with us. He gets me. Better than anyone. He loves me completely and without judgment.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your dreams, Ellie.”
“I thought I was,” I admitted, drinking the rest of my water and putting it on the floor. “I thought that I was putting what I wanted aside in order to be with him.”
