Page 46 of Magnetic God

He asks, “What sounds good to the two of you?”

Nothing sounds good, but I stay silent.

Dave answers, “I could go for lobster.”

“Lobster?”

“Yeah. Not a fish man?”

I can feel Brooks’ gaze burning into the back of my head, but I don’t look.

Finally, he says, “Shellfish is a common allergy.”

“I’m not allergic. Are you, man?”

Brooks waits a beat, giving me a chance to tell Dave that I’m allergic. But I keep my damn mouth shut. I’ve already told Dave about my allergy. Clearly, he didn’t remember.

Finally Brooks says, “Lobster sounds great.”

“Excellent. I know just the place. Ever hear of Martin’s?”

Brooks answers, “No, I haven’t. Do they serve whisky there?”

“I don’t think so, but their wine selection is amazing.”

I know he’s asking about the whisky because it’s his favorite drink. And I hate that I know that. As much as I hate that he’s the reason I, too, love a good whisky.

Pulling out my phone, I scroll through emails while Brooks and Dave chat with each other. By the time we get to the restaurant, I’m ready to get out of the vehicle. Being around Brooks while Dave is here is too much.

We’re seated right away, which is unheard of. It has to be because Brooks is here, because that’s the only thing that makes sense. When the head Chef comes out, shaking Brooks’ hand, I know I’m right.

Brooks smiles. “Always good to see you, Bassandeh.”

“You, too, Henderson. Are you going to the meeting next month?”

“I am.”

The Chef’s eyes widen. “Shit. I addressed you wrong. Habit, my friend. It won’t happen again.”

Brooks waves his hand. “No worries, friend. But if you have a bottle of Macallan lying around, I won’t say no to it.”

“I’ll do my best.” He turns to me and Dave. “Have a good evening.”

When he’s gone, I ask Brooks, “What was that all about?”

“Just saying hello.”

“No, the part about addressing you wrong. What did he mean?”

“A joke between friends.” He turns his attention to Dave. “So, how did the two of you meet?”

Dave puts his arm around the back of my chair. “We met at one of the events she hosted.”

I smile up at him. “Your brother’s wedding, right?”

I didn’t want to do the wedding because there was a lot of drama on the bride’s end, which I was well informed of because the bride was Renee’s cousin. Finally, I agreed to plan the wedding, and it surprisingly went off without a hitch. At the reception, Renee introduced me to the groom’s brother, who ended up being Dave. The romantic inside of me loved the idea of our meet cute. The realist knows that it doesn’t change anything because Dave and I aren’t ever going to be anything more than a casual fling.

“Yeah, it was Adam’s wedding.” He says to Brooks, “I don’t know how Hannah did it, but she got both of them down the aisle and they’re happily married.”

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