Page 55 of Three Grumpy Groomsmen

“True.” Yet I still text him, because it’s the FBI. That seems serious.

No surprise, I don’t get a response.

We fall back into silence, and I let out a hefty sigh as my thoughts drift back to Ivy.

Fuck.

“Man, you need to get over it.”

I look up to find Harrison studying me. And obviously reading me clearly.

“That would be nice.” I say. “But I don’t think it’s gonna happen.”

“You need to go out with someone,” he tells me.

I roll my eyes. I date. I’m no monk. “That’s not the solution.”

“Well, it’s going to have to be,” he snaps.

I frown. Harrison never snaps. Except at Liam. And even then, it’s not until the other man hasreallygotten to him.

“Areyougoing to go out with someone?” I ask.

He nods. “You and me. Amelia and Cara.”

Amelia and Cara are two women we know in Charleston. They are friends who own a marketing firm together and who did some work for our restaurant about four years ago. They have often been our plus-ones when we need casual, no-strings dates who can handle the sophisticated, wealthy, gossipy social circle we sometimes have to interact with.

“I’m not going out with Amelia in an attempt to get over Ivy.” The two women have some things in common, but there is nothingrealbetween Amelia and me. There’s no way she’ll successfully distract me from my feelings for Ivy.

“Well, I’m going to see Cara.”

Yes, it’s interesting to me that my friend is going to try to get over a man by getting into bed with a woman. I notice he is not calling his guy-friend-with-benefits Wes, instead.

“Yeah, I’m sure being with Cara will be the same as being with Liam.” I reach for my whiskey again.

“That’s the point,” Harrison insists. “I need something totally different.”

And that’s probably as close as I’m going to get to a confession from Harrison that he is, in fact, upset about Liam.

“That’s the thing,” I say. “I don’t want different. I wantIvy.Exactly as she is. Different will only remind me constantly of her and all the things I want instead.”

Harrison frowns, but he looks thoughtful. “Okay, how about Kendall? She’s a lot like Ivy. Sweet, creative, stylish, smart.”

But I take a gulp of whiskey, then shake my head. “I want Ivy. Just Ivy.”

“So you’re just going to die alone, then? Is that right?”

I’mfinallystarting to feel the happy buzz of the alcohol in my brain. I salute him with my now empty glass. “Well, I’ve always got you.”

Harrison just shakes his head. “God help you.”

CHAPTER 14

Ivy

I drivefor the first hour after we leave the motel. I’m lost in thought, mixed up over what happened with Ford and Harrison, wondering if I should call or text and if I do what I would possibly say.

Liam is just as quiet, though. He has to be thinking about Harrison.

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