by Magan Vernon
I shrugged. “You could have said anything really. Or told me you visited for holidays.”
He laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Thanksgiving this year was the only holiday I could afford to come home, and that was because Ashley Amber Van Hootsen paid my way.”
“Ashley Amber?” I widened my eyes.
“I know. I make fun of myself for that too. Her parents were Richie rich upper east siders, and I think I was her ‘artsy bad boy’ phase. She wanted to meet my family and see my humble roots, and since my family had been begging for me to come home, she came with for Thanksgiving. It was a disaster, and I realized it could never work between us, so I broke up with her when I got back to the city.” Jordan’s eyes finally left the object in his hand, and they met mine. “She was no you, Abbey.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” I asked, swallowing hard and trying to stick to my guns. He couldn’t just walk around and say a few nice things and kiss me and expect me to crawl back to him.
He blew out a breath. “I don’t know, Abbey, but ever since I came back in November, you were all I thought about. I didn’t even know how to go about approaching you, and it was like fate that I found you looking through that box of cameras. I actually saved that box, and it’s in my room waiting for you.”
“I don’t want some fling, Jordan. I can’t pretend I just want sex. That’s not what this is. If we start something, I want romance. Even if it’s fleeting. I want to know that even if you leave after this house is done; we have something real.”
He moved the pliers a few times on the metal object then handed it to me across the table. The piece of metal had now been forged into a flower, complete with thorny stem. “I can’t promise you flowers and chocolates, but I can give you all that I have, Abbey. I just ask that you give me as much as you can in return.”
I looked at the metal flower, thinking how it was like this relationship with Jordan. There was beauty in it, but one prick from the metal and that beauty would be over. “We can try.”
Chapter 7
Technically, I think Lia planned Sofie’s baby shower since they were best friends and her name was on the invite to RSVP, but by the looks of Conti’s back room, I had a feeling Dana had something to do with the over-the-top theme of “Under the Sea.”
Blue tablecloths covered all the tables with nets over them, and in the middle, rubber duckies floated in little bowls of blue water. Green crepe paper hung like faux seaweed from the ceiling and the walls, and in the middle of it all was the cake that almost killed me.
Dana kept bugging me to get this three-tier blue monstrosity together. Fondant fish decorated all sides, and on top was a fondant baby in a Speedo wearing gold medals. The thing took me all day Friday and part of this morning to finish. If I ever wanted a future in sugar art, I might have had it, but no way in hell did I want to do that again.
I had just finished setting up the cake when Mom went off to talk with some of Dave’s cousins or something, and I was left alone. Staring at my cake. Like usual. Just me and sweets.
“Abbey! I’m so glad you could make it!” Lia stood next to me, and I had to look down to greet her and make sure I wasn’t staring at the cleavage in her blue maxi dress.
“Yeah. Um. Wouldn’t miss it.”
That was a lie.
Lia smiled. “Sofie really appreciates it, and this cake is amazing. Dana said you decorated it? Holy hell, that’s amazing!”
I shrugged. “Yeah. I wouldn’t do it again, though, so don’t tell anyone I made it.”
Lia squeezed my shoulder. “I won’t.”
After that awkward conversation, Dana held up a clipboard and announced for everyone to be seated so lunch could be served.
The theme continued with the food, eloquently labeled on a shimmery blue menu on each of our faux gold place settings. We had “seaweed salad,” which I’m pretty sure was just regular salad, and “mermaid shells with crab sauce.” Then Sofie and Johnny stood by the cake, ready to cut into it like this was some sort of fancy wedding.
Dana got up and took a million pictures of the couple. Sofie just stood there with her huge pregnant belly, which looked completely awkward with how small she was. Seriously, she looked like she had smuggled a basketball under her dress. Her boyfriend, Johnny, was an Olympic backstroker and at least a foot taller than she was. He hovered over her with his big smile and spiky blond hair. Sofie didn’t even smile until he leaned down and whispered something in her ear.
Then she put her hand to her stomach and laughed. A genuine laugh.
Something about that little moment made my chest ache. This wasn’t just some guy and a girl forced together or trying to work it out. From what I understood, the whole pregnancy was an oops after a hookup against the Conti’s goat pen.
He loved her, and she loved him. That was evident whether they knew it or not. I couldn’t remember the last time a guy looked at me how Johnny looked at Sofie. Did Joey or Jordan?
I might have put that rusted metal flower on my desk, but he just did that on the spur of the moment while he was tinkering. It didn’t show much of anything in our relationship. Now watching the happy couple at the baby shower had me even more confused about my love life.
After we had all chowed down on the cake that didn’t turn out awful, I thought we would open presents next, but Dana stood, holding her ever-present clipboard. The girl had every activity timed down to the minute. “Okay, everybody. Gather around!”
People sat at the little round tables with blue tablecloths situated around the back room, and Dana motioned for Johnny and Sofie to sit in two dining chairs decorated with gold cardboard with the words “Mama Fish” and “Dada Fish” painted on each one in some fancy script.
“Now that we have your attention, we have a little party game to play,” Dana said, flashing a big white smile.
“People! People! Pay attention,” Dana shrieked, and everyone stopped their whispering as Dana’s face went from an angry scowl back to a big smile. “This is kind of like the Newlywed game except, well, they’re not newlyweds. I’ve not so subtly been asking Johnny and Sofie questions about their future baby. They each had five questions, and now, I’m going to see if they know how their partner answered.”
“What?” Sofie asked, her eyes widening.
Dana held up her clipboard and turned toward the couple. “Johnny, what did Sofie say she wanted your baby to be when he grew up?”
Johnny laughed, looking at Sofie then back at Dana. “A swimmer, of course.”
Some whoops and hollers came from the table where Lia sat with a bunch of girls and her swimmer boyfriend.
Dana pursed her lips together. “Close. Sofie said ‘whatever will make him happy,’ which could be taken as swimming.”
“Damn,” Johnny said, shaking his head but shooting a wink in Sofie’s direction before he looked at Dana.
Anger and jealousy boiled inside me but also sadness. Like why couldn’t I have that? Okay, so I was also a little bit happy. Sofie and Lia were always the odd ones out at school. The only reason I wasn’t a part of their group was because for some reason, Christy liked me, so that made me cool. If Christy hadn’t liked me, I would have been all by myself. But somehow, I had a feeling Sofie and Lia might have taken me in. But that was the past. This was the future, and I had to think about my own and where the hell I was going. Especially if Dave and Mom were getting married.
“Okay, Sofie,” Dana started, knocking me out of my daydreams. “Who did Johnny say he thought the baby would look like?”
“Um, him? He has the taller, Viking-like genes,” Sofie said, which caused some laughs through the crowd.
“Isn’t that what that blond relay dude said about you too?” a striking brunette yelled from the table where Lia sat.
Johnny laughed, turning his attention from Sofie to her. “Don’t be jealous of my mad Viking skills, Speedy.”
Their banter went back and forth for what seemed like forever until Dana
stopped them, laying the smack down with one big throat-clearing huff. “No. Actually, he said he wanted the baby to look like you, Sofie.”
“Awwww,” came from the crowd.
Johnny continued to whisper to the brunette, and I saw Sofie’s face fall. I wanted to stand and go and punch the guy right in the nose. But then I saw his body language. He wasn’t smiling and looking at this girl like he did Sofie. He was giving her the same goofy looks as he was Jay. As just a friend. This guy wasn’t going to hurt her or their baby. This guy was head over heels in love with Sofie White, and she had no idea how damn lucky she was.
***
I rode with Mom to the shower, and she offered to help load some of Sofie’s gifts into the minivan with Dave and the Conti boys, so I sat at the bar.
“Three glasses of Moscato and one for the sulking girl too,” a So Cal-surferish man voice said.
I looked over as Lia and her spiky-haired swimmer boyfriend sat down next to me. The brunette who was talking to Johnny also took the seat on the other side of Jay, and I found my back stiffening at the sight of her. She was definitely pretty with her wavy dark hair and tanned skin. But Sofie was really pretty too. Straightening her hair and getting her eyebrows done really made a difference.
“Am I the sulking girl?” I asked, pointing at myself and looking around the bar.
“Yeah, you. Have a drink. Take a load off. You just had to watch people open baby clothes for two hours,” Jay said, handing me the full glass of wine.
“Ignore Jay; he can be a pain in the ass,” Lia said, putting her hand up to swat his chest, but he caught it and kissed the back of her hand instead.
“And you love it,” he murmured.
“Ew, gross, get a room, you two,” the brunette said from the other side of the couple.
“Watch it, Jaybird. Any PDA with my sister can and will get your ass whooped,” Sonny Conti said, coming out of the kitchen and leaning on the bar.
Sonny was the middle brother and reminded me of all the stereotypical Italian boys from TV shows with his slicked back hair, olive skin, and macho attitude. Though he’d toned it down quite a bit since he met a girl and she started hanging around more. And unlike Joey’s attitude, Sonny’s was always geared toward protecting his sister.
“Ey, Abbey, don’t look so scared to death. I’m not actually gonna fight the guy. Have you seen his arms? Those things are meant for fighting and swimming. And whatever else I don’t want to think about him doing,” Sonny said, looking at me then laughing at his own joke.
“This is just how my face looks. Okay, everybody?” I said a little louder than I intended, circling the air in front of my face.
“Sonny, pour her a shot too while you’re at it,” Jay said out of the corner of his mouth.
I sighed, putting my head down on the cool granite of the bar top. “Y’all are nuts.”
“Ey, cheer up, Abbey. Last time I saw you in here was with that douchebag Joey, and then you got so lit, Dana had to drive you home. I just want to make sure our favorite baker is happy,” Sonny said, leaning over the bar top.
“Joey Bianchi? I didn’t even know you two were dating?” Lia asked.
I sighed, lifting my head up then took a sip of my drink before answering. “We weren’t. Well, not really. Either way, that’s over.”
“Joey … is he the guy who was here the night we met? The one with that Asian chick Scotty hooked up with and the bossy redhead who tried to screw Johnny?” Jay asked, looking at Lia.
From what I knew, Lia and Jay met on New Year’s Eve over a year ago when he was training near Friendship. She was his waitress at Conti’s, and Christy, Teagan, Joey, and our friend Marcus were at the table next to them. Teagan and Christy swore they partied with the boys that night, but by the giant diamond on Lia’s finger and Sofie’s pregnant belly from her swimmer, I had a feeling Christy and Teagan weren’t telling the entire truth.
“Yep. That’s Joey. The same guy you jammed with or whatever with Eddie,” Lia said, patting Jay’s arm.
“Wasn’t he also like your fifth-grade boyfriend? Do I have anything to worry about?” Jay asked, raising his eyebrows, and I couldn’t tell if he was serious.
I laughed before taking a big gulp of my drink. “You look like a blond Poseidon, and he looks like a chubby cherub. I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” I said.
Lia laughed so hard she snorted and then covered her mouth. “Oh, my God! That’s hilarious!”
“What? It’s true. No offense that I just sort of said your fiancé’s hot. Congrats on that whole engagement thing. I think I reblogged it on Tumblr.”
Lia smiled, shaking her head. “If you had told me back in high school that I’d be living in California with an Olympic swimmer boyfriend, Sofie would be pregnant and marrying an Olympic swimmer, and you’d be Joey Bianchi’s ex, I’m not sure I would have believed any of that.”
“Well, some of us wish we were somewhere else,” I muttered, draining my glass of wine.
Lia raised an eyebrow. “Is that a dig … or …?”
I shook my head. “Only at myself.”
Lia leaned her elbow on the counter, placing her head in her hand while Jay and the brunette made small talk behind her. “I know I didn’t think I’d spend my first two years of college in Friendship. Hell, if I hadn’t met Jay, I probably wouldn’t have gotten the courage to transfer to USC and take this internship I leave for next week. It’s crazy. All it took was one little thing, and that could happen for you, Abbey. I saw that cake, and I’ve seen the photos you take on Facebook. You totally have talent.”
“Thanks, Lia. That means a lot. Now if I can just convince myself of that. How the hell do you leave and enter the unknown? I mean, seriously, you left for USC and didn’t know anyone but Jay. It worked out, but what if it didn’t?”
Lia shrugged. “Then I would have figured it out, but sometimes, you have to take a leap of faith and not hide under sarcasm and excuses. Can’t let opportunities be the ones that got away.”
“Can I interrupt your girl talk and pour you two another glass?” Sonny asked, holding up a half-empty bottle of white wine.
Lia smiled, holding up her glass. “Fill us up, Sonny.”
Chapter 8
After Mom drove us home from Conti’s, I immediately showered and blow-dried my hair straight before applying makeup. Every time I saw Jordan, I looked like a complete hot mess with a high bun and either work clothes or a dirty tank top. Tonight, I was going to show him just how well I cleaned up and what he’d been missing all these years. Joey, too, for that matter. I don’t know who the hell he thought he was, but he wasn’t going to get me back. And if I had to make him jealous, I guess I’d suffer through it.
Mom walked by my bathroom door on her way to her office. She passed it but then slowly started backward until she stopped in the doorway and leaned on the frame.
“Someone is getting awfully fancy for bowling alley night.”
“This isn’t fancy, pfft,” I said, waving my hand over the length of my outfit. Okay, so maybe the strapless black top that I was pretty sure was a dress for short people, skinny jeans, and gold flats were more dressed up than I usually got, but I wasn’t going to admit that.
“There wouldn’t happen to be a certain ex-boyfriend of yours going tonight, would there?” Mom asked, raising her eyebrows at my reflection as I applied my mascara.
“Depends on which one you’re talking about.”
Before Mom could answer, the doorbell rang, and a muffled conversation could be heard from the landing below.
“That doesn’t sound like Christy or Teagan,” Mom said, and before I could reply, she was already out the door and looking over the balcony. “Well hello, Joey ...” Her words trailed.
I froze with my mascara wand almost to my eyelashes.
“Holy shit,” I muttered to myself.
Mom gave me a knowing look over her shoulder then headed downstairs.
I quickly finished applying
my mascara, smoothed out my hair one more time, and then made my way down the stairs as gracefully as a six-foot-tall girl could who was afraid to see her ex-whatever.
“Joey!” I yelled once I got to the landing and saw him standing there with his hands in the front pockets of his dark jeans. I could smell the cologne wafting off his white button-down, and I tried not to gag at the overabundance of musk. How did I ever find the guy attractive or worthy of my time? Oh yeah, desperate.
“Ey, Abbey, seven o’clock, right?” Joey said, running one hand over his slicked back hair.
“I don’t remember saying you could pick me up or that I wanted you to,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
Before he could say another word, my heart literally skipped a beat as Jordan appeared in the open doorway. While Joey was popping out all over his button-down, Jordan fit in his black V-neck and shorts like they were made for his body. His hair was neatly gelled and didn’t look too stiff, and his bright white smile matched the bouquet of white roses in his hands.
“Do I know you from somewhere? Mrs. D, did you get a new boyfriend?” Joey asked, hitching his thumb in the direction of Jordan.
I rolled my eyes, closing the distance between myself and the two boys. “It’s Jordan Webber, Joey. Remember? Your former BFF?”
Joey laughed and put out his hand to shake Jordan’s. “Oh, yeah. How’s it going? Haven’t seen you since you left for New York. Didn’t know you were around. Or that you were bagging Mrs. D. No offense at the language, ma’am,” Joey said, putting his hands up.
“This cannot be happening,” I muttered, shaking my head.
Mom smiled, taking the flowers. “Well, whether these are for Abbey or me, Dave and I will go put these in some water while y’all determine your driving situation.”
“Do you really need my help with that?” Dave asked, cluelessly raising an eyebrow.
Mom tugged his arm, forcing him to the kitchen with her.
“Well, this isn’t awkward at all,” Jordan muttered, running his hands through his hair.
