AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Not believing her, David addressed Jules. “What am I missing?”
Ignoring Paige’s Don’t you dare glare, Jules said, “Well, let’s just say that the last time we were here was … memorable.”
David watched Paige grab a menu and become totally engrossed in it. “How memorable?” he prompted.
Jules quickly told him how Anthony had overheard some fairly interesting nuggets of conversation between her and Paige, starting with the ‘stellar’ blow job Paige had bragged about giving David and the fact she’d pulled his hair ‘pretty damn hard’. Jules also told him about the wall sex reference (which she magnanimously took the blame for), at which point he gave Paige a long, satisfied look.
“Oh my God,” Jules exclaimed, reaching over to knock Paige’s menu down. “He totally pushed you up against a wall and fucked you—”
“Here are your drinks,” Anthony said evenly, appearing at the table.
Paige immediately lifted the menu to her face once again, avoiding looking anywhere near the waiter as he set everyone’s drinks down.
They quickly ordered their dinners, and when Anthony had vanished again, Paige turned to Jules. “You. Are. The worst.”
“I’m sorry,” Jules apologized, not sounding the least bit sincere.
Picking up her glass of red wine, Paige took a drink. “Bullshit apology not accepted.”
“What can I say? In my defense, I didn’t see him. Or hear him, either,” Jules said, picking up her own drink. “He should have to wear a bell around his neck, like cats do, to warn their prey when they’re about to strike. Speaking of which, how are your two new cats?” she asked, switching her attention to David.
For a while, the conversation was easy as they all got caught up with one another and enjoyed their meals, and it wasn’t until their plates had been cleared that Jules turned serious.
“So, today, for shits and grins, I media-stalked Ashley during lunch,” she said, picking up her phone to swipe and scroll until she found what she was looking for. “This may or may not surprise you, but she and Liam are still together.”
Jules handed her phone to Paige, who leaned toward David so he could see the screen, which showed a posting on Ashley’s Instagram account. It was a picture of her and Liam—last name Hollis—in what appeared to be a high-end bar, with Ashley holding a martini glass and Liam a can of Bud Light.
If anything, David’s opinion of the prick actually fell at seeing him drinking that horse piss ... from a can.
“Holy shit,” Paige murmured, looking at the picture with interest and eye-rolling at the tagline, #goingstrong. Her gaze hovered briefly over Ashley, who looked beautiful as always and didn’t appear to be suffering any ill effects of having signed away the rights to her child, before landing on Liam. Paige wasn’t surprised to see he was an attractive man with brown hair and eyes, nor was she surprised that he didn’t look like he was an asshole to children in his spare time; most assholes and abusers hid in plain sight, as she well knew. “Unbelievable.”
“What a bitch. It really didn’t matter to her what Liam did to Jacob,” David said, his voice hard. Then, with one last look, he handed the phone back to Jules. “I’ve seen enough. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. I debated not saying anything, but figured you’d want to know.”
He nodded; it was definitely something he wanted to know.
Shortly after that, Anthony came by with the check, and while David was getting his credit card from his wallet, Paige excused herself to go to the bathroom.
“I’ve never seen her this happy,” Jules mused, when Paige was far enough away from the table to be talked about without being heard.
“Thank you,” David said.
Jules gave him a droll look.
He returned the look. “What? Can’t I take credit for making her happy?”
Instead of answering, she asked a question of her own. “What are your intentions with my girl? Because you seem to be just treading water.”
“I intend to marry her. Again,” he told her, surprised to find himself being completely—and unexpectedly—honest.
Jules tilted her head, her expression completely neutral. “You do?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Hmm. You and your plans.”
“They happen to work, thank you.”
