Page 77 of She Used to Be Nice
“Hey, where’s Blair?” Emma asked, looking around.
“Her plane was delayed.” Noah rubbed his hands together excitedly, his mood switching like a light. “Okay, gang! We’ve got a dinner reservation at Venga Venga! Let’s head out!”
Avery scoffed.Gang? What did he think he was, a fucking camp counselor?
After a twenty-minute Uber ride, they arrived at the restaurant, where Noah didn’t even need to tell the hostess his name for her to know who he was and that he’d made a reservation. It reminded Avery that she’d made no reservations this weekend, for anywhere, and had never called Noah back about any of the plans. She could barely grapple with the reality of spending an entire weekend in his house, let alone contribute to planning said weekend. Another part of her believed that if she didn’t call him back, she could convince herself this weekend wasn’t happening. But watching Noah give a breezy, confident hello to the restaurant owners like he was the town mayor smacked the reality of it allacross Avery’s face: She was here and this was happening. She was about to spend the weekend at her rapist’s house.
“That car ride was gorgeous,” Morgan swooned as they sat down at their table. “I’ve never seen so many mountains in my life.”
“Wait until you see the views on the hike tomorrow,” Noah said with a smile. “You’ll lose your mind.”
Morgan loaded guacamole on a chip. “I looked it up! It looks so beautiful.”
Avery turned to Morgan. “Did it say the hike was difficult?” Avery watched Noah give a waiter a friendly pat on the back and enthusiastically shake his hand. She could not be more disgusted by the whole display. “I’m severely out of shape.”
“The website said moderate,” Morgan replied.
“No, don’t worry, it’ll be easy,” Noah added as the waiter left.
Avery scowled at him. She hadn’t asked for his input, but of course he was giving it anyway. Of course he would only care about himself and be oblivious to what Avery wanted.
“Great,” she said flatly.
“Yeah, it’s the least strenuous hike that also offers the best views.” Noah put his arm around Blair, who’d taken a cab from the airport and met them at the restaurant. “Blair can vouch for me. She helped me choose the best one.”
Blair replied by shifting her eyes in his direction and saying nothing, then leaning away from him and sipping her margarita.
Avery raised an eyebrow. That was odd.
Noah unwrapped his arm from around Blair’s shoulders and took a sip of his beer. Blair still didn’t look at him. Avery removed a taquito from a platter and bit it in half, observing Noah and Blair from across the table.
“I’m pumped to work out outside in the fresh air,” Charlie said. “I hate the gym. I need to breathe actual oxygen, not some old dude’s sweaty socks.”
“You’re welcome to use the gym at the house, too, if you want,” Noah said. “No old dudes.”
Charlie laughed in shock. “You have a private gym? Damn, thatShark Tankmoney’s doing you good.”
Pride oozed from Noah like unidentified liquid from hot city garbage. “I don’t want to share too much yet, but.…” He dipped a chip in salsa and smiled. “Yeah. It’s pretty good.”
“I still can’t believe you got Mark Cuban to invest!” Morgan squealed.
“Believe it. You’ll see how my pitch went down when the episode airs this week.”
Everyone around the table murmured their excitement, but Avery was focused on Blair and the fact that she wasn’t reacting, which was incredibly out of character. Normally she would’ve been the first one to brag about Noah’s appearance onShark Tank. But all she did was stare down at her plate and push her food around in silence.
Avery leaned over to whisper in Morgan’s ear. “Is Blair okay?”
“I think she and Noah are fighting,” Morgan whispered back.
Avery blinked. “Oh.”
“Well, cheers to you, man,” Charlie bellowed. He lifted his beer in Noah’s direction, and everyone else followed suit. “Congratulations on making a deal with a shark.”
“Hear, hear!” Viraj shouted.
Avery shot her eyes to the corner of the table, where Noah had started murmuring something in Blair’s ear. Blair’s eyes bulged as her lips moved rapidly in response, her brows furrowed like she was pissed. Avery couldn’t stop staring at the two of them, overwhelmed by her need to know what was going on.
She tapped Morgan on the shoulder. “Do you know what they’re fighting about?”
