I nodded.“Well, first he gave me a choice.Mistress or wife, but— Shit, come to think of it he only gave me the choice.He didn’t ask.”
“That bastard.”She delivered the words with all the enthusiasm of cardboard.
“What?”
Her face.The one that said, “you know better” while also saying, “you are one dumb white chick, you know that?”I squinted at her because I honestly didn’t know why she was singling me out on this.
“When’s the wedding?”
My shoulders went up at her sharp tone.“I don’t know.”
“Valentine’s Day next year, or?—?”
“No.”That was Allie’s day now— her and her husband’s.I couldn’t take that date from them.Although waiting a year to see if Ringo was serious or not was probably a good idea.
“So, when?”
The futility of loving him hit me.“Maybe never?”
She took the stool across from me and watched me prep lime wedges.“You know your problem?”
“I have a bitch-ass friend with a big mouth and an attitude?”
Kat snorted.“No.You don’t know how to be happy.”
I protested.“Oh, that I know how to do.You’ve been with me many of the times when I’ve been happy.”
“I mean with a guy.”
My mind went blank.I didn’t have a smart comeback for that.“I was happy with Johnny.”
“No, you weren’t.”
Was she serious?
Kat ignored my glare and pushed on.“You were unsure when you were dating.So much so, you made a pact to not sleep with him until the ink dried.Then, you got all caught up in wedding plans—I think that did make you happy.I swear you were more like your sister in those moments than I’ve ever seen you.Anyways, once the plans were made you opened your eyes and immediately knew he wasn’t all he was cracked up to be, and you suspected he was cheating on you.You told your lawyer to find out, and went on fooling yourself.”
I regretted ever confiding in her.Although, that regret wasn’t as deep as the remorse I felt about dating Johnny.I’d wasted a ton of time and money on him.“I’m not fooling myself.”
“No?Then why do you think Ringo is the one?”
“Oh, he’s the one.If there ever was a man perfect for me, he’s it.”
Her eyes focused on me.The scrutiny was so sharp, I felt it cutting through the layers of my bullshit.“What?”
Kat sighed.“You have always been the kind of person who brags about herself but does it in a way everyone knows you’re joking.Which makes me think you don’t value yourself.And if someone is perfect for you, then they aren’t worth the risk.So, you pick the most awful choices possible.”
She had a point.A terrible one.But she was wrong about Ringo.“Let me list some things.One, he’s good-looking.He’s athletic…”He can cut a man’s throat in under three seconds.“He’s got a good smile.”A totally disarming one that is lethal in the right circumstances.“And, he’s got money, or at least a lot of friends with money and doesn’t need or want me to buy a car.”
“Fucking Pornstach.”
I narrowed my eyes at her for her interruption.
“Go on… extol the bonafides of your latest conquest.”
Something in her tone warned me.“I thought you were okay with him?”
Her hesitation was telling.
