Holly tried a coquettish look. “Darling, don’t kill me, but I thought this was the best way for us to handle this conversation.”
Holy shit, I’d been bait-and-switched. “I… it was hard enough for me to agree to meet you alone.”
“I know, honey,” she whined, pouting. “But I thought if you got to witness the way Evan and I are together, in person, you’d understand. You know? You’d forgive the love.”
I was speechless. I tried to think of anything to say so Holly wouldn’t keep talking, but I came up empty.
“Sweetie, I know it’s hard and I’m so sorry. I’d normally never subject a person who’s single to sit here and watch me and Evan, ‘cause we can get so mushy sometimes,” she rolled her eyes at herself and giggled, “but I think our circumstances are special because we’re best friends and if we don’t fix this problem fast, I might not have the maid of honor I’ve dreamed of since I was a little girl. It’s going to be my dream wedding, Isla. My dad said no limit on the budget, which is amazing!”
I stared, in disbelief as Holly squealed. This meeting wasn’t about giving me the jacket and talking things out. It was just a ploy to flaunt as much as humanly possible. I wanted to hurl and right in time, I felt Evan’s crawling touch.
“Isla.” When I turned to him, he greeted me with a casual smile and a hand on my back. I wished I hadn’t shed the raglan over my halter sundress before getting out of the car. Blind to Holly, Evan’s fingers slowly curled to stroke my bare skin. “I’m so glad you’re here. You look amazing,” he murmured to me. But when Holly cleared her throat, he went straight to her.
“Got you your drink, babe,” she said, handing him the vodka Red Bull and presenting him with duck lips to kiss. He took the drink, oblivious to her face until she said, “Babe!” repeating herself when the peck he gave her didn’t suffice. I then clutched my leather bomber jacket as I sat there, forced to watch Holly squeeze Evan’s knee as they stiffly made out. God, save me. I looked away, searching for Abram through the window.
But just as I cursed the fact that he wasn’t in the car, I felt an arm slip around my waist, pulling me in. My breath hitched in my throat. I recognized the brawn of Abram’s torso against me before hearing the velvet of his voice in my ear.
“Sorry, babe. I needed a drink after that call from work.”
Eyes wide, I caught both Evan and Holly’s reactions. They weren’t looking at me – they were both looking at him. Evan’s hands balled into fists while Holly stared, bug-eyed with her jaw dropped so I could only see her lower teeth. She looked like a Piranha. Once my own shock subsided, I felt a trickle of satisfaction and a buzz building under my skin.
With a handful of Abram’s shirt, I pulled him down to press a quick but hot kiss on his lips, my arousal heightening as I tasted his tongue for the very first time. As I pulled away, I squeezed his thigh, sliding my palm up to graze his crotch for the briefest second before flashing a smile. “Of course, baby. Let’s get you a drink,” I murmured, sitting back and trying not to giggle at the ravenous look in his eye – like he needed more. And fast. But he recovered to grin to himself as he ordered a drink from the bar. Then with a hand on my back, he turned to Evan and Holly, wearing a smooth, megawatt I-could-buy-you type smile. “Abram. Nice to meet you guys.” They both shook his hand.
“Evan and Holly,” I supplied when neither spoke.
“Evan and Holly. Right,” Abram said, as if I’d never spoke of them till now.
Holly was unblinking as she finally tilted her head at me. “Um. This is your… friend, Isla?” she asked through a tight smile.
“Boyfriend,” Abram corrected as he drank from his scotch, tilting his head to look at my backless dress. I wasn’t sure if he was playing the role of distracted, horny boyfriend or if he really was entranced by my skin. Either way, I was entertained.
“Please excuse whatever he’s doing right now,” I laughed genuinely.
“Sorry,” he apologized to them with a grin. “She was covered all day so I’m taking this in for the first time.”
Evan clenched his teeth. “Yeah, no, I get it, bro,” he muttered. When Holly flashed him a look, he draped a heavy arm around her shoulder. She stared at him until he kissed her lips. As they exchanged glares and low mutters, I looked up at Abram.
“Thank you,” I mouthed. Running his hand down my back, Abram winked at me. He opened his mouth to say something but Evan loudly cleared his throat.
“So, how’d you guys even meet?” he blurted his question.
“I don’t know how appropriate it would be to tell that story.”
I howled on the inside. Abram wasn’t lying but his suggestive little chuckle made it seem like we’d met in a drunken, sex-crazed one-night stand. Evan crossed his arms like an angry gorilla. “Really.” He looked pointedly at me. I bit my lip back, trying not to crack up in his face.
“I…”
“Well, that’s funny, ‘cause that’s just like us,” Holly said suddenly, her voice high-pitched. “I mean Ev and I met ages ago, obviously, but our first night was…” she actually gave a moan. “Just like… wow. So hot.”
Oh my God. I wanted to cover my face. This was becoming an official train wreck. I wanted to just run away but I could tell Abram was having fun. In the car, he’d looked even more pissed about my story about Holly than my story about my mom. He seemed to enjoy tormenting her a little.
“Good to know,” he remarked in a way that made Evan shake his head with embarrassment. Holly was unfazed.
“Yeah. Our sex life is… pretty crazy.”
That was it. Once she said that, I excused mys
elf to the bathroom so I could finally let out my pent-up disbelief and laugh in that holy-fuck-what’s-happening kind of way. But my privacy lasted barely ten seconds.