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He glanced at her. “Why, babe? I thought you’d be into it.” She just shook her head and looked at me apologetically. Greg leaned back into his seat, but not before he said to me, “Think about it.”
The waiter arrived with our meals then, and as he distributed them, I studied Greg. We had been best friends in college. I’d enjoyed getting to know him again, but the bond we’d had in college didn’t seem to exist anymore. Gretchen was right: he was a dick. Maybe he always had been. Inviting Jordan with the assumption that he could lure me away from David made me mildly sick to my stomach.
I noticed that Brian was watching him too. It struck me as odd the way he stared at him over his glass of wine, but I forked a bite of salmon and ignored it.
“So, Jordan,” Gretchen said, “seeing anyone special these days?”
“I see some special girls at this table right now,” he said, glancing at me. I bent my head and looked at my plate.
“Well, hands off, chap, they’re all spoken for,” Brian joked, but his voice held an edge of warning.
“I know, dude,” Jordan replied. “I’m messin’ around.” But he was giving me his best fuck-me eyes, and he had been all night. Flirtatious by nature, but not afraid to go for what he wanted; it was what had drawn me to him in the first place. I silently thanked the universe that I had David and wouldn’t have to make up an excuse to shake Jordan later.
“So, is it serious with this new guy?” he asked me in a lowered voice.
I nodded. “Yes. Very.”
“And where, pray tell, is he tonight?”
“New York for work. He gets here in the morning.”
He winked. “I see.”
I made a face and soon found myself at the opposite edge of my seat. Since Brian’s girlfriend was the only person I didn’t know at the table and Jordan was making me uncomfortable, I quickly asked her what she did for a living. Her voice was so soft that I could barely hear her response. I just nodded and took another bite since I wasn’t sure what to say.
Gretchen leaned over to me a moment later and whispered, “What’s with her? She’s creepy.”
I stifled a laugh. “She is not, Gretch. Maybe a little shy.”
“He probably just keeps dummies around who’ll listen to him talk about himself.”
“Be nice,” I scolded.
“Do you think she’s cute?”
“Yes. Why?”
“She’s all right, I guess,” Gretchen said and then sat back in her seat.
Brian was more pensive than I’d ever seen him. When I looked up, this time his eyes were on Gretchen. I wondered if, impossibly, he’d heard her, because he looked tense. His eyes quickly shifted to me, and he smiled. I smiled back. Regardless of Gretchen’s opinions, I liked Brian, and I could tell that he was watching out for me in David’s absence.
“More wine?” Jordan asked, positioning the mouth of the bottle over my glass.
“I shouldn’t.”
“Come on.”
“No, I think I’m good.”
“Livvy,” he sang, the way he used to when he was trying to convince me of something.
“Jordan,” I replied in the same voice, shaking my head.
He put the bottle down. “Did I tell you how pretty you look?”
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked.
“I was just thinking about us. You know. We have a long history.”
“History, yes. Future, no.”
He pouted animatedly. “Listen, babe, I’m not a kid anymore. I was stupid to let a girl like you get away. I’m happy to hear about Bill.”
“How can you say that? That was my marriage.”
“Because it gives me a second chance,” he said.
“I have a boyfriend.”
“Who’s in New York,” he pointed out.
I stared at him a second and then burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
It took me a moment to catch my breath. I wiped a tear from my eye. “What’s funny is that my boyfriend is ten times the man you ever were.”
“Aw, Liv, come on.”
I continued smiling. “Sorry, babe.”
He leaned in further, and I once again slid to the edge of my seat. “Think about it. We make perfect sense. We were college sweethearts.”
I shook my head. “Nope. There’s literally nothing you can say to convince me. I am totally and completely taken. I might as well be – ”
“Olivia.”
I whipped around at the endlessly deep voice. David was standing behind me with his arms crossed, and just his tone alone was enough to quiet the table. He wore an expensive suit and a hard gaze. “David? What are you doing here?”
“Who’s this?” Jordan asked. He squared his shoulders as if he was sizing David up.
“Boyfriend,” David bit out, glaring at him. “Who the fuck are you?”
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“You came early,” I said as my shock melted into a big smile.
“Who is this guy?” David responded.
“Honey, this is Jordan Banks – ”
“Jordan?” he clipped. His face reddened as his nostrils flared. “Ex-boyfriend Jordan?” His eyes cut across the table. “Brian?”
“Sorry, mate,” Brian said. “I didn’t know until I got here, and they told me he was just a friend.”
“Mate?” Gretchen uttered under her breath. “Is he Australian now?”
“Olivia,” David commanded, crossing his arms tighter.
I gulped. “Yes?”
“Outside.”
I nodded and pulled my napkin off my lap.
“Liv?” Jordan asked. “Is there a problem?”
“No,” David answered for me. “And I’d advise you to keep your mouth shut.”
“Ten times,” I told Jordan, as I pushed my chair out. “I meant that.”
He slumped in his seat as I left the quiet table behind. Outside, the evening was much warmer than Chicago, but I shivered anyway.
“We’re apart a couple nights, and you’re having dinner with your ex-boyfriend?” he started in.
“It’s not like that,” I said, rubbing my hands over my sleeved arms. “Greg has some twisted idea about recreating the past, and he invited him without telling anyone.”
“You didn’t know he’d be here?”
“No, baby. I swear. I’m totally uncomfortable with this. Trust me?”
He pressed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and his index finger. “Yes. I trust you, and I trust this,” he said, motioning between us. “It’s everyone else I don’t trust. And I don’t like the way he was leaning on you.”
I pursed my lips and remained quiet.
He cocked his head. “What?”
“You have no idea how happy I am to see you.”
“Why aren’t you arguing with me?”
“Because you’re right.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re right.” I meant to sound confident, but the words came out squeaky. “I was clear that I have a boyfriend, but he won’t back off.”
His shoulders tensed. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
I put my hand on his forearm. “I’m telling you because I trust that you won’t explode. If you freak out every time I tell you something like that, I’m going to stop telling you.” I slid my hand up his bicep until he visibly relaxed. “It doesn’t matter to me. I see right through his garbage. He’s no threat to you. Nobody is.”
