Page 80 of The One I Love
“No,” Wes says. “Tell us. Right now.”
I take a deep breath. “Amelia and I are together. We’ve been for a few months now. That wasn’t a lie. It’s the truth. I love her.”
Porter comes back with four shots, which we all down in one gulp.
“Thanks,” I say to Porter. “You didn’t need to do that.”
“Yes, I did,” he says. “That fucker used my bar for too many years for his side pieces. It was about damn time karma came and bit him in the ass.”
“Wait!” Simon shouts, turning all our eyes to him. “Is Amelia Mary?”
I nod. “Yes. Amelia is Mary.”
Simon jumps out of his seat and starts pacing. “Holy shit! How could you not fucking tell me?”
“Mary is Amelia?” Wes joins in.
“Holy shit, this is huge,” Simon says, now pacing back and forth. “I have so much to say. There’s so much to unpack.”
Wes pulls out his phone. “I have to tell Betsy. She’s never going to believe this.”
I hope Betsy’s ready for some Academy Award acting, or she’s never going to hear the end of it. My phone dings.
Amelia: Why is my ex-husband wondering why I didn’t tell him we’re getting married?
“Fuck!” I yell as I jump up from our table.
“What?” Wes asks.
“We need to go. Amelia just got a text from Paul.”
“Holy shit! This day just keeps getting better!” Simon says as we sprint out of the bar. “The manual labor was totally worth this day.”
Chapter 24
Amelia
“Who’s goingto tell me what the hell happened?”
Shane, Simon, and Wes continue to look at the floor from their seats on my living room couch. None of them are making eye contact with me. They know they’re in trouble.
They’re right.
“Okay, so if no one is talking, I’m going to say what I think happened and please, someone correct me if I get anything wrong.” I start pacing in my living room, feeling like a mom scolding her teenage sons who just got caught drinking. “You were at the bar. Paul walks in. You guys start having a pissing match.”
“It wasn’t a pissing match. He was being his normal douchebag self.”
I shoot a glare at Simon for interrupting. “I wasn’t done.”
“Sorry,” he says, bowing his head back down to look back at the floor.
“As I was saying. You guys were going back and forth because someone said something, and I’m going to go on a limb that Paul started going after me, which caused Shane to Hulkout. Before we know it, our relationship is outed, and I’m suddenly engaged. That sound about right?”
Not a word from Larry, Curly, or Moe. They just continue to hang their heads.
“Hello? Anyone want to say anything?”
I know I’m not saying names, but I really need Shane to speak up. Apparently my telepathy skills are working today as he looks up at me, his face covered in remorse. “We fucked up.”
