“I am,” I say, because drinks with Sam earlier went really well.
“That’s wonderful.” Aunt Elin rubs my shoulder. “I’m happy for you.”
Ezra catches my eye and smiles warmly. When my aunt yawns, I offer to call her an Uber so she can head back to her hotel, and several minutes later, Joey and I hug her goodbye. I letgo of the door once she’s stepped out, but when it doesn’t snick shut, I turn, assuming she’s stepped back in.
Instead, the third surprise of the night appears.
“Sam?”
I don’t have time to decipher the odd look on her face before Ezra pulls her in for a hug and presses a kiss to her cheek.
My stomach sinks.What the hell?
“Hey, babe,” he sings.
Babe?With that, my stomach plummets straight to the floor.
Her astonished face says it all, but in the next heartbeat, the deer-in-the-headlights look shifts to one fitting of a doting girlfriend. Damn. I’m the trained actress, but I may have some competition here.
Completely oblivious, Ezra turns to me. “Millie, this is Samantha, my girlfriend.”
Sam—er,Samantha—flinches, though Ezra doesn’t notice.
“Samantha, this is Millie, Joey’s cousin.”
The urge to shed my skin like a snake is almost impossible to ignore. Never have I been so humiliated. And there’s literally nothing I can do about it. Not here. We’re celebrating my best friend’s biggest accomplishment. I absolutely cannot make a scene. So I do what I’ve been doing most of my life—I pretend.
While a handshake feels like overkill, I force a smile and politely offer a “nice to meet you.”
Convincing enough.
Ezra guides Sam by her lower back to the newly engaged couple, where introductions are made.
We’re gathered in a circle later—Sam included—when Joey nudges my side. “What’s with you?”
Guess I’m not so convincing, after all.
“Nothing.” I force a smile, praying she’s distracted enough not to see right through me.
“Cam and I are going to head out soon, have a little private celebration of our own.” She waggles those money-making brows.
“Go,” I tell her, grin still in place. “I’ve got cleanup duty.”
“Oh, shoot. I didn’t even think about that.” A frown mars her face for the first time tonight. “We can stick around to help.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Ezra pipes in. “There’s no way you’re cleaning up after your own party. We’ll hang back and help. Right, babe?” He turns to Sam.
Great.
Shortly after Cam and Joey leave, the remaining guests follow. I’d sneak out the door along with them if I hadn’t promised Iris I’d lock up for her. She’s been at the café for over twelve hours; I couldn’t possibly let her stay a minute longer.
And then there were three.
The tension in here is so thick I couldn’t cut it with a jackhammer if I tried. I haven’t yet decided what bothers me more. The discovery that Sam is a lying little cheater or finding out that she’s been cheating on me with a man I once hooked up with.
My stomach twists in a painful knot. This is so fucked up.
As I go through the motions of cleaning, I pray silently that I can make it out of here unscathed. But when I accidentally stare—or maybe it’s a glare?—at Sam across the table for a little too long, Ezra notices.
