“We’re going for coffee?” Ryan asked, looking confused.
“You can have coffee if you want, but we’re here for the Cozy Cottage Jam session. Savannah Smith is playing, you know, we saw her at that bar last year?”
Ryan nodded at the memory, and I could have sworn I detected a hint of a smile. “Yeah, I remember. You brought that guy, what was his name? Henry or something.”
“Harry.” I pulled a face.
“What was wrong with him again?”
“I don’t remember.” Which was a total lie.
“Yeah, you do.” Ryan was clearly not accepting my response.
I caved. “Okay. He had a weird pimple on the end of his nose.”
He shook his head. “That’s right. A pimple.”
Wow, I had been so easily put off by the smallest thing. I had come a long, long way, baby. Not only was I on my fifth date with a guy tonight, but he was my boyfriend.
We pushed through the double doors into the busy café. There was a small stage with a microphone and chair where some tables sat during the day, and the place was already eighty percent full.
“Hi, Marissa!” Sophie said, grinning at me.
“Hey, Sophie.” I returned her friendly smile. “Look, I’m meeting friends here but I need to see if you’ve got room for one extra.”
Sophie glanced at Ryan and then back at me. “Cassie, Will, and Josh are already here.” She nodded at a table at the back of the café, and I spotted my friends, chatting and laughing together. “We’re pretty full tonight.”
“Just one more? It’s for my brother.”
“You’re Marissa’s brother?” Sophie asked Ryan.
“Oh, I’m sorry. This is Ryan.”
“Hey,” Sophie replied, smiling at him. “It’s great to meet you. You really look like your sister.”
“You think?”
“Totally, only you’re more manly and everything, of course.” She smiled at him from under her lashes.
I widened my eyes. Was Sophie flirting with my brother?
“Thanks,” Ryan replied with a laugh. “It’s often good to be manly when you’re, you know, a man.”
I watched the interchange, wide-eyed. What was that on Ryan’s face, a smile? My brother was smiling?
Sophie threw her head back and laughed at his comment.
I nudged Ryan in the arm. He shot me a look before returning his attention to Sophie. As I stood there like a third wheel while she continued to flirt with Ryan, I hoped it might spark something in him—because anything was better than watching him mooning over Amelia all day long.
“Yeah, and that’s why I like to wear this shirt.”
“Fascinating,” Ryan replied.
I reached into my purse. “Here you go,” I said to Sophie, handing over two tickets.
She took them in one hand and placed her other over her chest. “Oh, sorry! I totally forgot. Thanks. Take a seat. The extra ticket’s on the house.” She looked up through her lashes once more at Ryan. “Nice to meet you, Ryan.”
“You too.”
We made our way through the tables toward my friends at the back of the café. I began to rib Ryan.
“You are such a flirt.”
“Me? It was all her. I was just the victim.”
“Sure. A willing victim. Still, it was nice to see you happy for a change.”
“I’ve been a bit of a drag, haven’t I?”
I scrunched up my face. “Kinda?”
He shook his head and let out a puff of air. “It hit me hard.”
I rubbed his arm. “I know. But we’re here to listen to some music and have fun, so there will be no talking about She Who Shall Not Be Named, okay?”
“That sounds like a great plan.” He smiled at me. “Do they serve beer here?”
“How about we stick to the Cokes tonight?” I suggested, remembering him as a recent maudlin drunk.
“Sure.” He grinned at me, and it felt like I had my big brother back, the one I could hang out with, rely on, the one who hadn’t had his heart ripped out of his chest and flambéed before his eyes.
“I’m interested to meet this boyfriend of yours. You haven’t dated anyone seriously since—” He paused, looking up to the left as he thought.
“Eddie,” I said for him. “Seven years ago.”
“Seven years? Wow, that’s a long time between drinks.”
I spotted Bailey on the other side of the counter, handing some change over to a customer. I caught her eye and waved at her. We reached the table where Cassie greeted us enthusiastically. I introduced Ryan to Will and Josh, and they immediately began to bond in that male way guys do: talking about sports and how they were missing the big game tonight because they’d been dragged here instead.
“I think McConnell will smash it in the forwards tonight,” Will said as the others nodded their heads.
Not having any idea who McConnell was and what he was going to smash, I took a seat next to Cassie, shrugging my jacket off and hanging it over the back of the chair.
“I am so excited to meet Nash,” she said, her eyes shining.
“Not just spy on him from afar,” I joked. “I’m a little nervous about it.”
“Why?”
“What if you don’t like him?”
“Honey, you do, and that’s what matters.”
“How about I go order us some Cokes?” Ryan offered, standing up.
“Sure. Get three. Nash will be here soon,” I replied. “You guys want anything?” I asked the others.
“My girlfriend’s getting ours,” Josh replied with a smile. Josh and Paige had only been dating for a short time and were one hundred percent still in that “new flush of love” stage.
With Ryan at the counter, ordering our drinks, I took the time to look around the café. In a few short weeks, that would be my stool up there, my microphone. I tapped my foot on the hardwood floor. I had already begun to work out what I wanted to sing. I had learned how to play the guitar when I was a kid and still played from time to time. Now, it was time to get serious.
I looked over at the counter and spotted Ryan talking with Bailey. He looked even more animated than when he and Sophie were flirting. I shook my head. Perhaps all he needed was the chance to flirt with some good-looking women?
What was that saying? To get over someone you had to get under someone else? Euw! That was my brother! I didn’t need to go thinking about that, even if it made me happy to see him happy for a change.
“Is this seat taken, miss?”
I dragged my eyes from Bailey and Ryan to see Nash’s gorgeous face, grinning down at me. I stood up and wrapped my hands around his neck, planting a kiss on his lips.
“Now, if only I could get all the girls to greet me like that.”
“Only me, thank you.” I turned to face my friends’ inquisitive faces. “Everyone, this is Nash.”
Nash proceeded to shake hands with Cassie, Will, and Josh before taking a seat next to me. “So, I take it you’re over the ‘girlfriend’ freak-out from before?” he asked in my ear.
“Well and truly.”
We grinned at one another, and those hamsters started up their routine in my tummy once more.
“Oh, hey, man. You must be Nash,” Ryan said as he stood before us, balancing three Cokes in his hands.
I plucked one out and placed it on the table. “Thank you, brother. Yes, this is Nash. Nash, Ryan.”
The Cokes safely delivered to the table, the men shook hands. My best friends and my brother were meeting my boyfriend. There was something about it that made my heart swell.
Ryan took his seat next to Nash. “This place is full of beautiful women.”
“Is it? I hadn’t noticed,” Nash replied, taking my hand in his under the table.
I shot him a smile. Looking back at Ryan, I said, “I saw you talking with Bailey.”
“Is that her name? She’s hot.”
“Bailey is a fine-looking woman,” Will said, and Cassie slapped him
playfully on the arm. “What? She is objectively beautiful.”
“She is,” Josh chimed in.
“It’s true,” Cassie confirmed. “I don’t get why she’s still single.”
“She’s single, huh?” Ryan said, his interest piqued. He looked over at Bailey once more.
I shook my head at him. Although I didn’t want to think about Ryan’s love life, especially if it involved lusting after my close friends, it was nice to see him having a great time.
“Anyway, Bailey recommended we order dinner before the gig starts, so I got us a selection of those little tasting plate things.”
“Tapas?” I offered.
“That’s the one.” Turning to Nash, Ryan said, “What do you do for a living?”
“I work in construction. I’m a site manager.”
I listened as they chatted about their respective careers. With Ryan an architect, they found some common ground almost immediately.
Paige materialized at our table with a tray full of tapas. “Hi, Marissa. I didn’t know you were here.” She shot me a grin. “Right, I have bruschetta, meatballs—”
“Just throw them all on the table. We’re going to share,” Ryan interrupted.
“No problem.”
Once Paige placed the tapas on the table, I introduced her to Nash. I loved the way he stood up to shake her hand in greeting. If this were the Old West, he’d be tipping his hat at her and calling her “ma’am.”
“He is cute,” Paige said quietly in my ear, shooting me a meaningful look.
I grinned back at her, my belly warm. “I know.”
The audience began to clap as Savannah Smith walked onto the stage, dressed in a long, flowing dress, her brown hair curling around her shoulders. She greeted everyone, introducing herself, and launched into her first song. Although I didn’t know it—she wasn’t big enough to be on the radio yet—it was a soft, pretty ballad, the type of song I planned on singing myself.
We ate and chatted and listened to the music, having a wonderful time. Nash got on so well with everyone, which made my heart sing. Even Ryan seemed to be having a good time, and I was glad I’d dragged him off the sofa to come out with us.
With the music over, the food all gone, we decided to call it a night. As we prepared to leave, there were still a few tables of stragglers left in the café. We congratulated a tired looking Bailey and Paige on another successful Cozy Cottage Jam on our way out the door. I half expected Ryan to ask for Bailey’s number, but he didn’t, which was for the best; he still had a load more post-Amelia stuff to work through.
Out on the street, I rubbed my bare arms in the cool evening air. “My jacket! I must have left it on the chair.”
“I’ll get it for you,” Nash said, making for the door.
“No, it’s okay. I’ll do it.”
I pulled the door open and made my way through the café to our table. When I reached the table, my jacket was nowhere to be seen. I glanced around the other chairs, but no sign. I bent down to check under the table, nothing.
I straightened up, puzzled. I was certain I had hung it over the back of my chair when I arrived.
“Is this what you’re looking for?” a voice behind me said.
I turned to look at the person behind me, saying, “Thank y—” I stopped. I couldn’t say another word. My throat went dry, and my belly did a massive flip-flop.
It was my ex. The man who broke my heart into a thousand pieces.
Eddie.
Chapter 14
“Eddie,” I whispered, barely able to catch my breath.
“Hi, Marissa. You look great. It’s good to see you.” He smiled at me, and my mind was instantly awash with every memory, every feeling, from our time together. It was Eddie. My Eddie. The love of my life.
The man who had broken my heart.
I blinked at him. My heart hammered so fiercely, it threatened to burst out of my chest.
You know the first time you bump into your ex after you’ve broken up, and you want to look your best, with a hot new guy on your arm, everything in your life as it should be? Well, I was that person and this was my time. I had my career, I looked good, I had just spent the evening with my amazing friends, and I had Nash. It could not have been a more perfect storm in which to see him.
But in a flash, I was that sad and desperate girl he’d left all those years ago.
He extended his hand, offering me my jacket. I took it, mumbling my thanks, struggling to come to terms with the fact Eddie—Eddie!—was standing a mere three feet away. If I reached out, I could touch him, this man who had occupied my thoughts for so long.
I’d fallen into one of those weird Dali pictures with the melting clocks—only I was the one melting.
“What are you doing here?” I breathed, twisting the jacket in my hands.
“I came to see the gig. She was good.”
He had been here all evening?
He looked casually around the café, as though his throat hadn’t seized up and his mind wasn’t racing a mile a minute. And, perhaps, it wasn’t.
“This is a great place. I’ve never been here before.”
“Um, yeah.”
“It’s good to see you,” he repeated and smiled again.
“You . . . you said that.” I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his handsome face. I would love to say he looked terrible, that he’d lost his hair, put on ten or fifty pounds, perhaps even lost a few of his teeth. But he hadn’t. My god, he hadn’t. His dark hair was cropped shorter than it used to be, but his eyes were just as green, his body just as long and lean, suggesting he still worked out, still took good care of himself.
He looked like the same old Eddie, the Eddie who could make my heart sing, the Eddie I had loved with all my heart.
Damn him to darnation!
“Do you have a minute? I saw you were here with friends, so maybe you need to go back to them, only I’d like to talk.”
“Friends, yes. I was here with friends.” I thought of Nash, waiting patiently for me outside the café, and was forced to swallow my guilt. Why hadn’t I mentioned my boyfriend? Wasn’t that the general idea when you saw your ex? Rub in how incredibly happy you were and how him leaving you was really the best thing to ever happen?
He took a step closer to me. “If you have to go, maybe we could meet up tomorrow? I would really like that.”
“Tomorrow?” I let out a puff of air. Eddie wanted to see me tomorrow? “Oh, tomorrow. Yes, well, I have a thing, and then another . . . thing. So, sorry . . . I can’t.”
He looked utterly crestfallen. I wanted to wrap him up in a comforting embrace and kiss away his worries, tell him I was wrong, that I would do whatever he wanted. But I didn’t. I couldn’t. Seeing him was so unexpected, so totally derailing.
I locked my jaw, determined not to let him get to me. I had come too far. Hadn’t I?
“Okay. I get it. I was terrible to you, horrible. You didn’t deserve it.”
I nodded. Good summation.
“Marissa, you have to believe me when I say, not a day has gone by since we broke up when I haven’t felt like the total piece of dirt I was.”
I swallowed, bit my lip. Where was this going?
“And, well, seeing you here tonight reminded me how great those days were.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. These were the words I had wanted to hear for so long.
“They were great.” I glanced at the door. “Look, Eddie, it’s been so,”—gut-wrenching, confusing, off-the-charts insane?—“unexpected to see you. In a good way, of course. But . . . I really have to go.”
“I get it.” He nodded, looking forlorn once more. “I’ll see you around. Take good care, okay?”
I nodded back at him. “Thanks, I will.” With my jacket in my hands, on shaking legs, I walked toward the door.
As I passed him, he reached out and lightly held onto my arm, looking intently at me. “I . . . it was good to see you,” he said quietly.
I looked down at
this hand on my bare arm and then back up into his eyes.
“See you later, Marissa!” Paige called from behind the counter, bringing me to my senses.
I barely registered her as I pushed my way through the door and stumbled out of the café. I could still feel Eddie’s hand on my arm, hear his words ringing through my head. I took a deep, gasping breath, the world a blur around me as I tried to steady myself.
“Are you all right?” Nash asked, his hand on my back.
I looked up into his face, etched with concern. “Yes, yes, I’m fine. Sorry.”
Why was I apologizing?
“Are you sure? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
I shot him a surprised look. I had seen a ghost, one that had thrown me into a tailspin.
“Hey, you two lovebirds,” Cassie teased. “We’re calling it a night. See you on Monday, okay?” She gave me a quick hug, and I had to remind myself to hug her back. “It was so awesome meeting you, Nash.” I watched in a daze as she hugged Nash, too.
“Yeah, good to meet you, mate,” Will said, pumping Nash’s hand.
I watched as though through a camera lens as Nash and Josh also shook hands, bidding one another farewell. Then, it was Ryan’s turn. It was all happening around me, but I didn’t feel part of it. All I could think about was Eddie. Eddie turning up at my favorite place. Eddie saying he’d treated me badly and felt terrible about it.
Eddie wanting to see me again.
“Marissa?”
I came back to reality to see Ryan shooting me a quizzical look.
“Did you hear me?”
“Sorry, what?” I tried to focus on his face.
“I said, I can hitch I ride with Josh, if you like? He’s offered to take me home.”
I glanced at Nash and back at Ryan. “I . . .” What did I want? I was too confused. Part of me wanted to curl up on Nash’s sofa, eat chocolate, and enjoy the feeling of being safe, of being with a man who liked me, who was uncomplicated, who was new.
Another part of me wanted to storm back into the café and confront Eddie over what he did to me and . . . and, what?
And kiss him?
“You okay, sis?” Ryan asked, his head cocked to the side.
Finding some form of inner strength, I replied, “Actually, I’m not feeling that well, so I think I might just head home.” I turned to Nash. “Is that okay? I’m so sorry, I have a headache coming on.”
Three Last First Dates Page 13
