“How long have you two been together?”Allie asked them.
“Two months.”
“And you, Shay, and Luke?”
“Six,” Shay answered.
“How did you and Luke meet?”
There went that tension again.Allie suddenly felt like she had to walk on eggshells with everyone.Was it some big secret knowing how two people met?“It was a club,” Shay finally replied.“We bumped into each other and started dancing.”
“She just took me in her arms and led me around,” Luke added, locking eyes with Shay as a dopey grin came across his face.Another man in love.
“Allie, I hear you met Carson through a blind date,” Shay mentioned, turning the focusoff of herself.
Allie was in the middle of chewing when Shay asked her question.She finished her bite before wiping her mouth.“Yes, though it wasn’t a very good one.”
“It couldn’t have been that bad if you’re here now.”
“He made up for it,” Allie said, grinning at Carson who grinned ear to ear looking back at her.She wondered if they looked like a couple in love.But it was way too soon to be thinking about that.They had only begun dating; however, it didn’t stop her heart from racing and butterflies tickling her stomach every time he looked at her.
“We all started out the same way.We didn’t like our men, but they grew on us,” Zoe commented.“Some took longer than others.”Her head tilted toward Greg.This time, Allie joined in the laughter.
“She secretly loved me from the moment we met at the night club, though she’ll never admit it out loud.”
But Zoe had told her they’d met through a work association.So, was one of them lying about how they’d met?If they were, why?
“I plead the fifth,” Zoe said before digging into her food.
“Regardless, it all worked out,” Greg added, leaning back in his chair, his plate already cleared.“Allie, I’m glad you gave this knucklehead another chance.He’s been a different man since you came into the picture.”
“He smiles now,” Jack included.
“Thanks, guys,” Carson responded in a sardonic tone.
“It’s true.You used to be all serious and grumpy.Now you’re sunshine and rainbows.”
“I wonder when Allie’s going to text,” Greg mocked in a high-pitched voice.
“I’m seeing Allie tonight.”Rob giggled.
“Alright, that’s enough,” Carson interjected.“I’m not that bad.”
Everyone laughed at that.
“Allie’s no better,” Sandy added.
Allie turned her head at Sandy to glare daggers at her ex-best friend.“What the hell, San?”
“What it’s true,” Sandy insisted, blinking her eyes trying to appear innocent.That woman hadn’t been innocent since the day she was born.
“Hardly.”
“I haven’t heard from Carson yet.Does he still like me?”Sandy mocked, then realized what she’d said.“I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have said that.”
Allie was too shocked by her friend’s comment to say anything.Anything she had ever told Sandy had always been held in the strictest of confidence.And now Sandy had just spilled one of Allie’s insecurities in front of Carson and his friends.
“Well, Allie doesn’t have to worry on that front,” Carson stated, taking her hand that was balled into a fist on the table.“I like her very much.”
