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We walk out to the kitchen where Paige is opening a pizza box and another container with Caesar salad.
“What took you so long?” I ask.
“The delivery guy was my friend Mike from college. He owns Arturo’s. Isn’t that crazy? I didn’t know that. We might go on a date this weekend.”
“Glad to see you’re getting back in the saddle.”
Paige’s breakup with Ben was horrible. He broke up with her and threw her out of the apartment they shared all in one day. They hadn’t been getting along for weeks, and he just snapped. I had to go over there to calm the situation down, and Paige moved in with me for a couple of months until she drove me crazy. Then she asked Grace if she could stay at her place.
“It’s just a date, not a relationship.
“You never know.”
“Paige, can you come to my next fitting?” Lana asks.
“Sure, I’d love to see your dress. I hear fantastic things about the Vicarias.”
“They do such great work.”
I tuned them out while they chattered on about Lana’s wedding dress. I did it for two reasons, one, I wasn’t interested, and two, I knew her marriage was doomed. It was a fact that should make me happy, but I couldn’t be when I knew it would hurt her. I was torn between telling her what a cad Declan was and keeping my mouth shut.
I was afraid that if I said something, she would think it was because I wanted to sabotage her relationship with Declan. I wanted to save her from the grief that she would feel once she found out what a piece of garbage he was. The look of self-entitlement he gave me when I caught him made me sick.
“Zane, are you listening to us?”
I finished chewing my bite of mushroom pizza, “No, as a matter of fact, I’m not. What could I possibly know about wedding dresses?”
“You’re such a man,” Paige said, laughing.
“I don’t proclaim to be anything but.”
Now both Lana and Paige laughed together as Lana reached over to pat my hand. We finished dinner, and I let them talk me into watching Sixteen Candles, a movie from the eighties which I had seen at least ten times. Halfway through the film, Paige got a phone call and told me that she had to leave. I shot her daggers as she slipped on her sneakers. The last thing I wanted was to be alone with Lana.
After she left, we watched the movie in silence. Lana snaked her hand around my biceps and gently stroked it. Her touch was having a most unwanted effect on me; I was becoming aroused.
“Lana, stop.”
“What am I doing wrong?”
“You can’t touch me like that?”
“I’m just rubbing your arm.”
“Will you stop if I tell you how much I want to make love to you?”
She quickly withdrew her hand and bent down to put her shoes on.
“I should go.”
“I think that would be best before I do something I can’t take back. I told you that being together alone is bad. We can’t ever do this again.”
“Zane, is this how it’s always going to be?”
“I don’t know. Right now, it’s how I feel. Maybe it won’t be forever, but I have such strong feelings for you still. Please don’t be angry with me.”
“I’m not. I just wish things were different.”
I shut the movie off and walk her to the door. She plants a delicate kiss on my cheek. I make no move to touch her because that would cause me to lose control.
