Page 25 of Just for Fun
“Not really,” she huffs in annoyance. “You said you know…” She pauses to count in her head. “Three couples who met on theHolidatesapp?”
“Yes,” I nod.
“But only the one couple is getting married, right?”
She sounds like she’s scared of the answer I’m about to give her, and I hate that I have to disappoint her like this.
“Well, technically, they’re all getting married.”
Zara gasps. “What?”
“Ray and Hayden are getting married first. But our other friends, Cal and Evie, have been living together for a while now, so I’m sure that’s coming soon.”
“What about the third couple?”
“That would be Ray’s father and his fiancée. I don’t know them that well, so I have no idea when the wedding is. But they are engaged for sure, I know that.”
Zara continues staring at me like I just fell from the sky. She is not happy with any of what I just told her.
“That’s just terrible,” she murmurs.
Her reaction to all of this is throwing me off. For one, it’s not like she and I are about to get married. For two, who cares what other people are doing? It’s their life, let them live it.
“It’s not that serious,” I shrug. But that seems to be the wrong thing to say.
“Marriage is very serious,” she snaps at me. “When you get married, you commit to the other person and any children you may have together. People can’t just leave a commitment like that and not look back.”
By the time she is done speaking, my eyebrows are up into my hairline. This conversation is too deep for me, and I don’t know how to respond. I came here for some boring dinner with the boring girl I found through a random online service that’s definitely not into any love matches.
Now, I am sitting across someone who is possibly a bit off her rocker, making me wonder if I should just say that this won’t work out, then continue looking.
“I apologize for my sudden outburst.”
My eyes fly to her face. She looks genuine when she says that, but I’m not gonna lie, this whole thing is too damn weird.
“So I need a date for the Fourth of July party,” she continues without waiting for me to acknowledge her words of apology. “And you need a date for a wedding. Am I correct?”
“Uh…”
Should I just leave and cut my losses? Her eyes beg for my help.
“Yeah, that’s correct.”
“When is the wedding?”
I run a hand over my face before pushing the hair out of my eyes. I wish Alex was here with me to slap some sense into me. I obviously need help. I should stop drinking. Every time alcohol is involved, I end up in a goofy situation.
Except that I’ve been sipping on an ice tea, no alcohol involved.
“The wedding is in a couple of weeks.”
“Oh, that’s great.” I am a little scared of how excited she sounds. It’s a bit fake. “The wedding is a couple of weeks before my party. So we’ll have to see each other two more times. After tonight, I mean.”
I lift the glass of ice tea and bring it to my lips. I start drinking and don’t stop until it’s empty, in an effort to avoid having to say any words.
“Two more times,” I murmur.
She licks at her lips nervously, which is really not good for me. All I can picture is her kissing me with her lush mouth. Or wrapped around my…
