Page 64 of And Then There's You

“Good thinking,” she says with sex practically pouring out of her eyes. I certainly have no expectations for tonight. I don’t know what I want to happen, if anything, but it is “yes weekend” and even if it wasn’t, it’s best to prepare for whatever Lexy has planned, just in case. We laugh when we get a few looks for spitting toothpaste out in the middle of the parking garage aisle. Ready as I’ll ever be, we take off again.

It takes us at least ten minutes to find the door. We ultimately had to look up hints because none of the employees we ran into would tell us if we were headed in the right direction. Finally we find it–a huge dark teal door with a push bar on the front that makes it look like an emergency exit. There’s a small pink and white donkey right above the bar indicating we are in the right place. Anxious to see who she’s going to be spending the night with, Lexy pushes hard on the door, slipping through it quickly. I hardly have enough time to get through behind her as it starts to close.

The place is extremely small, so I spot them right away. Even if it wasn’t, they would stand out because they are easily the most attractive men in here. Troy stands to greet us, dressed in his typical dark jeans and signature white Adidas, but he’s got on a light blue button up shirt that matches his eyes and is tight in all the right places. His blond hair sticks up slightly and perfectly. He looks good–really good. I only catch a small glance of his friend before Lexy practically slams into him.

“Lexy,” she says seductively and only inches from the man’s face.

“Nolan,” he laughs, looking back at her, his eyes grazing over her entire body appreciatively before he looks at me, reaching out his hand to shake mine.

Wow, he’s attractive too, but his look is a little more preppy than Troy’s, and for some reason he exudes a slight “I’m better than you” attitude. He apparently was in the same fraternity as Troy, but at a university in California. Honestly, I have no idea how all that works considering I went to one frat party in my life and probably didn’t make the most of the college experience. They work together now.

“Maci,” I respond as Troy’s arms wrap around me for a hug. His cologne triggers my memory of the last time I had my arms around him on the back of his motorcycle a year ago. It’s equal parts sweet and spicy, and being here is strange but warm and comforting at the same time. He sits down in the booth, sliding in so there’s room for me on the end next to him. Lexy and Nolan are already curled in the corner talking about something. The lighting makes it feel a tad too romantic for the situation. There's a deep red glow blanketing the entire room and twinkle lights are falling from the ceiling every few feet, but it's so dark I can hardly read the menu.

“We already ordered Steak & Black Bean Nachos and the truffle ones too because apparently that’s what they are known for, but I wasn’t sure what you wanted to drink.”

“Thanks.” I look up from the menu at him, a sudden shyness coming over me. This is weird, like I’m living in an alternate reality where Troy didn’t run off and we stayed friends, or something more.

“So...” He looks at our friends. “Guess we don't have to worry about them getting along.”

I haven't looked in their direction since I sat down, but now I see it's probably not going to be long before they are taking up one space on the bench instead of two. I love her, but it’s so typical of Lexy. She might be right about at least part of the night. I’m never sure if situations magically play out how she predicted or if she just plays the role and makes it happen. Either way, I’m glad things aren’t awkward with Troy. I also hope I don’t do something to change that, like getting drunk and bringing up his letter or something.

The nachos are amazing, and I ate way too many of them. I blame Lexy and Nolan because their ridiculous and unrealistic immediate infatuation with each other kept them from helping us eat much. It is Vegas and “yes weekend” though, so who am I to judge? Troy leans back against the booth, pointing to the skillet, offering me the last chip. I take it and join him, sipping on my drink. This place is tequila and mezcal only, so that's what I’m sticking to tonight. It’s not my favorite, but the last thing this night needs is a laundry room night repeat.

As I’m setting my glass on the table, Lexy stands. “We are leaving,” she says with a very telling smile on her face. “Don’t wait up.” She doesn’t invite us to join them.

Nolan throws a couple twenties on the table and gives a small wave as he lets Lexy pull him toward the door.

“Well then.” I laugh. It wasn’t awkward before, but I worry it's about to be–even though it's not like the lust birds were participating in our small talk. He told me about his cousin who he moved in with when he got to California and how he met Nolan at a bar one night and found out they coincidentally are part of the same fraternity. I told him about meeting Lexy at the bar where she works and how we ended up moving in together. Luckily, he didn’t ask how I ended up in California in the first place or why I needed a new place to live. I do not want to get into anything regarding Mack. What a buzz kill that would be.

He looks at me, and his face goes serious. Oh Lord. I was worried about being too drunk, but maybe I’m not drunk enough for this.

“So…I have to ask. Did you ever read my letter?”

“I did…but not until a couple months ago. How did you get it to me anyway?” I’m genuinely curious, it's been baffling me ever since I found it.

He shrugs. “Carley. I gave it to her one day before class, the week you showed up at my house and wouldn’t talk to me.” There’s no hostility in his voice, just a reminder.

“You mean the class you never came back to?” I let out a nervous laugh.

“Yeaaah.” He shifts in his seat, his eyes looking everywhere but mine. “They had an opening for the same class on opposite days that worked with my schedule, so I switched. I’m sorry about that.” He looks at me genuinely when he says it.

“I get it.” I do get it. Did it suck he left without saying anything? It did. Would dating Troy have prevented me from the heartbreak of Dean? Yes–though I don’t regret my time with him. After that I found Mack and it was like all of that was for a reason. Then he did the one thing he knew would upset me more than anything else and my heart broke again. I was lost after that, I’m still so lost and everything is confusing. Maybe the situation with the girl who broke Troy’s heart was similar to mine with Dean or Mack. If it was, I get it, or at least I can empathize with him. For a second, I consider telling him why I understand, but he cuts off my thought.

“You do? I’m guessing things didn’t work out with Dean? At least I feel like that’s a solid assumption based on the fact you’re here.”

He asked gently, but an old ache finds its way into my heart. I realize I haven’t thought about Dean for a while, until this conversation. I don’t want to start now. “A lot has happened in the past year,” is all I decide to say about it.

Luckily he can sense I don’t want to talk about it and reverts back to a previous thought. “After I talked to Carley about asking you out, I changed my mind. I knew I wasn’t ready to date again, and I didn't have the confidence you’d even say yes, despite Carley’s insistence. I mean come on, the girl knew you for like an hour. But when you said yes to coffee and then our date, it kind of felt like it revived me from the pathetic state I was in. We had such a good time, but I didn’t think it was fair for you to be a rebound. You deserve more than that. I wanted to reach out to you so many times, especially when you were at my house, but, well, you remember how that went…maybe.” He laughs, surely recalling me being very drunk and kicking him out of his own laundry room.

I bring my hands up so my face can hide behind them, rolling my eyes at myself even though he can't see them. Pulling my hands away, I say, “Why on earth I thought it was a good idea to “catch up to the crowd” using a shot luge is still beyond me.”

“Oh that note, want to take a shot?” He holds his hand up to get the waiter’s attention. “Let’s forget about whatever happened in the past and have fun tonight. We are in Vegas, and it's…what are you calling it? “Yes weekend?” So you have to say yes,” he winks.

This time I let him see my eyes roll. Before my brain processes what happened, he leans in and kisses me softly on the lips, pulling away quickly and ordering a round of tequila shots for us.

CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

“Ready?”Troyasks,threeshots later, as he signs the receipt on the table.

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