Page 9 of The Plus Ones
“Are you guys fighting again?” We both realize that Finn is back and he’s scrunching up his little face at us.
“No!” we both say, a little too quickly and a little too loud.
“We don’t fight,” she says. “We just don’t get along. It’s fine. It doesn’t affect you at all. We’re still your godparents. Let’s go see what the other kids are up to.” She takes his hand and leads him back to the family room, and I count to myself in my head—one, two, three—and she gives me a saucy little glance over her shoulder before disappearing.
There it is.
That tiny opening.
Try as she might, she just can’t hide that she cares, even a little bit.
A great-looking guy and the sweetest-looking lady approach me, blocking my view of the sassy loudmouth in the other room. Vince and Nina. Perfect couple number three in our circle of friends. Vince is holding out a martini glass with a candy cane hanging from the rim. He was once a bartender before becoming a minor real estate mogul, so he’s always the guy to mix cocktails at parties, and every time I’ve let him pick something for me, he’s come up with something that he knows I’ll hate but will drink anyway.
“Happy holidays, big guy,” he says, handing me the martini glass and slapping me on the back. “Long time no see.”
“Hey there, handsome,” Nina says, leaning in to kiss me.
“Hello, lovely.” I’m always careful not to be too friendly with Nina, because I have no doubt that Vince would break my hand if he thought I was touching his wife inappropriately.
Christ, what’s a guy gotta do to get a nice, pretty schoolteacher like this to fall for him? I look over at Vince. Be a great-looking former bad-boy with a dragon tattoo and a steady day job, I guess.
“What are you making me drink this time?” I stare down at the creamy light-pink liquid and sniff it. It is minty fresh.
“A Drunken Elf!” the asshole says, a little too eager to watch me take my first sip. “Rum and pink lemonade and candy cane. A man’s drink. Bottoms up!”
I take a sip. It’s actually pretty good, for a girly holiday drink that was mixed by an asshole. “It’s good. Thanks.”
He laughs, shaking his head. “You hate it. You don’t have to drink it.”
“No, I’m drinking it.”
Nina rubs my arm. “So polite. Hey, are you dating anyone? If you are, you could…”
Vince shoots her a look.
“Oh, Schmidt!” She covers her mouth with both hands. So adorable. She teaches little kids, so she doesn’t swear for real. “I forgot they’re fully-booked. Never mind.”
“Who’s fully-booked?” I ask.
“Umm.” She widens her eyes at Vince. “It’s this…”
“It’s a couples-only resort. In Antigua.”
“What about it?” I ask.
“Chase hasn’t mentioned it yet?” Vince looks around for Chase.
“Mentioned what?”
“It just came up all of a sudden, like—”
“Like two days ago, not even,” Nina finishes his sentence, in that way that couples do.
And I can see from the look on Vince’s face that he’s about to rip off a bandage, in the way that only guy friends do. “We booked a week at a couples-only resort in Antigua. Around Valentine’s Day.”
“Oh, nice. Just the two of you?”
“Just the six of us,” he says. “Chase and Aimee and Matt and Bernie too.”
