Someone snorted next to Carter. I did a double take.
“Brea? What are you doing here?”
She swallowed the mini quiche Lorraine she was eating. “I was invited,” she said defensively. “Liz said I could come.”
“Honestly, Mark,” Dana drawled. “Maybe you should have just stayed home if you can’t behave.”
I glared at Brea.
“And you abandoned your date,” Carter said with a snicker. “You didn’t even last, what, five minutes?”
“She’s right there,” I said, gesturing as Memphis Eve came over to us. Brea froze when she saw her. I smirked at Brea.
I hope she’s jealous.
Memphis Eve and Brea exchanged some sort of look. I put my arm around my date’s waist. “This is Memphis Eve,” I told Brea, not totally sure why I cared that she cared I had a hot date.
“I see a gal I know,” Memphis Eve said, leaning up to press a kiss to my cheek. “Meet me at the bar in five?”
Allie and Kate exchanged a look after she sauntered away. Brea angrily ate a shrimp popper. I was satisfied to see she was annoyed.
Allie cleared her throat.
“What?” I growled. “You wanted me to move on. So I did.”
“Yes, but with, like, a normal person, not an Instagram bot.”
“She’s nice,” I told them.
Brea still had that sour look on her face.
“I think I could use a Coke,” Liz chirped.
Wes nodded. “I’ll grab one for you.”
“You don’t have to—”
Wes maneuvered her to a seat then loped after me.
“Maybe Memphis Eve wasn’t the best idea...”
“What the fuck?” I snapped at him. “You, Carter, and Grant have been hounding me for months about dating. You set this up. This was your idea. I didn’t even want to bring her here. I didn’t even want to be here!”
Wes held up his hands in a placating gesture. “I just don’t want you to jump into anything is all. This was supposed to be fun. She’s not someone you should marry.”
“I wouldn’t. Besides, she’s not really my type,” I admitted.
“Let me guess—your type has a coffee addiction and is a wedding dress maker extraordinaire,” Wes said with a sly smile.
“What the—” I sputtered.
“Liz has a whole conspiracy in her head about you and Brea. She tells me all about her theories every night in between requesting food that might make her puke, might make her cry, or might make her so happy that she sends me out for it again. Not that I’m complaining,” he said, a dopey smile on his face. “It’s worth it.”
He looked back to Liz. Brea was sitting next to her, still staring after me, a furious expression on her face.
Liz blew Wes a kiss. My heart ached.
I want that, too.
