Page 27 of Forever With You

“And I also missed that.” Katie pouted. “Such bullshit.”

Roxy grinned. “So are you going to give us the details?”

“Apparently you all already know everything.” I straightened out my straw wrapper and then began folding it again. “Not many details left.”

“There’s always detail,” Katie corrected. “But I don’t have to ask if he’s good or not, because one look at him tells me he’s good at it.”

A flush stained Roxy’s cheeks. “And that’s not the kind of detail we’re asking for. I know he went to see you after he left Mona’s Friday night. His car was in the condo parking lot.”

So he did drive a car. I shook my head. “He did stop by Friday night, but we didn’t do anything. He actually came over to apologize to me.”

Roxy’s brows climbed her forehead as she exchanged a look with Katie. “Say what?”

I glanced at the bedazzled girl next to me. “He came over to apologize for the way he acted.” I paused. “Obviously, that must be shocking behavior for him.”

“Shocking doesn’t really even cover it.” Roxy blinked a ­couple of times. “Did he try to get some after apologizing?”

“Not really,” I answered, letting the wrapper uncurl in my palm.

“Whoa,” Katie murmured.

I wasn’t sure if the whoa was a good or bad thing. “He seemed genuinely apologetic, to be honest. We chatted for a little while and then he left, but he did say something along the lines of me coming back to the bar.”

“Whoa,” repeated Roxy.

“Is this all really that surprising?” I sat back, dropping the wrapper on my plate.

Roxy nodded slowly. “Yeah, for Nick it is. Look, I don’t know how to say this nicely, but—­”

“He’s a dick?” I finished for her, and when she winced, I had to fight the grin. “Trust me, I know he’s a dick. I’ve never in my life had a guy act like that after we got together. And I’ve only forgiven him because, like I said, he seemed genuinely sorry. That doesn’t erase how he acted, though.”

“Yeah, he’s a dick,” Roxy said. “But he can be a really nice guy. Nick was there for me when I was dealing with that ... that creep, but he’s got relationship issues,” she finished.

“I don’t think he’s a bad guy,” I said. “I just think he’s not relationship material.”

Roxy was silent for a moment as she smoothed her hand over her hair, stopping when she reached the topknot. “I honestly think I’m his only female friend. He hardly talks to Calla. It’s kind of weird. It’s like she doesn’t exist to him.”

Okay, that was weird. I thought about how he believed he met the “one” but had been wrong. Was it Calla? I didn’t know enough about her to even hazard a guess at that possibility.

“But that’s just how he is.” Roxy’s brow creased as she continued. “And we’re not even that close. He’s not the most talkative guy. Sometimes he goes through spells when he is, but mostly, he’s kind of quiet, like an observer.”

Come to think of it, he hadn’t been real talkative the first night we got together. Then again, both of us had other things on our minds. “He was pretty talkative Friday night.”

“That’s pretty telling.” Roxy’s forehead smoothed out. “When you walked back into the bar Friday night, I just knew something was going to go down between you two.”

“Of course you did, because I called it the first night Steph walked in the bar.”

I turned to Katie. “You did?”

“Remember. I’m kind of psychic.” She tapped her finger off her temple. “I called it.”

“She did,” Roxy confirmed, grinning gleefully, while I’m sure I hadWhat the Hellwritten all over my face. “Katie told Nick that someone was coming into the bar who he was going to fall for and he was going to meet his match. Guess what?”

“What?” I said wryly.

“You strolled right on in that night.” She clapped her hands excitedly. “And here we are.”

For a moment all I could do was stare, and then I laughed. Some of the weird comments Roxy and Katie had made when I first met them now made sense. “I don’t see why this is such a big deal. Nick’s a player who normally doesn’t apologize or act decent to chicks he’s slept with. Knowing that doesn’t make him more alluring in my book. And even you said he was a dick.”

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