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In her head, this was how the conversation was going to play out:
He’d ask, “Why did you sneak into my room after our fight, you said you wanted to go to bed early?”
She’d explain it was because she’d been freaked out about going to college and losing her virginity to a frat boy.
He’d ask, “Why did you wake me up naked and on top of me?”
She’d remind him that he’d always said “waking up with a girl naked on top of me would be the hottest thing ever.” Also, that she just didn’t want to lose her nerve.
Then when he asked the big one, the one she’d been scared to face, “Why did you call out my brother’s name?”
She would finally admit that she was in love with Nate.
See. She had answers. She just wasn’t sure he’d want to hear them.
Neil cleared his throat and she straightened her back, ready to face her past and take responsibility for what she’d done. “So this Friday is the spring fundraiser at the country club and I was wondering, since you’re back in town, if you’d want to go with me.”
Eliza blinked several times as her brain tried to catch up to the conversation.
“You know, for old times’ sake.” He grinned and shrugged his left shoulder as he looked at her with bigger puppy dog eyes than Farmer had ever given her.
Over time so much about her relationship with Neil had faded. But some things were coming back quite clearly now. He pulled out the puppy dog eyes whenever he wanted to get his way, like if he wanted pizza and she wanted burritos. Or if he wanted to see an action movie and she wanted to see a romantic comedy. For some reason at the time, it had been kind of cute to her, now it just kind of seemed weird.
“Um, actually…” She walked over to the pile of paperwork that she’d gone through today from Dr. Lewis and lifted the correspondence on the top as proof. “I just found out today that Dr. Lewis sponsored a table for the entire office but he’s not feeling up to attending. He asked if I would escort Mrs. Lewis in his absence and I agreed. So, I already have a date.”
When she’d first seen the table confirmation and read Dr. Lewis’ handwritten note asking her to take his place she’d wanted to refuse. Nate would be there with Bailey and spending a night watching the two of them together…not her idea of a good time. But, she’d done the right thing and called Dr. Lewis to let him know she’d be honored. Now, she was happy she had because it made her rejection less awkward.
“Cool.” His smile grew wider and he added a wink. “It’s a date.” In several steps he crossed the distance of the room, heading towards the door.
She wasn’t sure if he’d misunderstood her and she wanted to make sure that they were in the same reality. “I’m going with Dr. Lewis’ wife and I’ll be at their table.”
Neil pivoted back, gave her a quick hug and kissed her on her forehead. “I know. And don’t worry, I love threesomes. I’ll see you Friday.”
And with that declaration he spun back around and left.
She felt like she was losing her mind so she looked at Farmer, who was wearing the same look of “Is this guy for real” as Eliza was sure she was wearing. “Surely, he’s not serious.”
He is serious, and don’t call me Shirley. She smiled at her internal voice’s Airplane reference.
But then the reality of the situation hit her and her amused grin fell. Whether or not he was serious didn’t change the fact that on Friday night she would be at the Masquerade Ball and so would Neil, Nate and Bailey.
So yeah, that was happening.
