My Best Friend's Boyfriend

The dinner was all right, but the guy wasn’t.

“So, what did you say you went to college for?” Adam asked.

“Education,” Logan said.

“Special Education. She works with developmentally delayed children in the Manhattan school system,” Camilla said. She was good at this art of conversation.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s right. Oh! I was developmentally delayed as a child.”

“You were?” I asked.

“Yeah. Didn’t talk until I was, like, four years old.”

“That’s pretty far along in your development. What happened?”

“I don’t know. I just didn’t talk. I guess my parents thought I was introverted or something until a doctor finally told them that wasn’t normal. But look at me now! I do public speaking events for a living, travel all over the world, and talk my way out of situations all the time.”

“You mean like…?”

“Speeding tickets. Being kicked out of restaurants. One time Logan and I went out to a strip club and I got all handsy with one of the women. I talked the bouncer out of kicking me out of the club,” he said.

“Adam, maybe you shouldn’t mention things like that on a first date,” Logan said.

“What? It’s entertaining. Girls love that story. Did you love that story?”

“Uh, yeah. It—it was a good story,” I said.

That was one of the few question he had asked me all night. All through dinner, he droned on and on about himself. I knew what college he had attended and what his last five speaking engagements had been about. I knew about his parents and what they did for a living, and I had listened as he’d rattled on about his three younger sisters. I knew his favorite color, his favorite place to eat, and his favorite vacation spot. I knew about that one time he went bungee jumping and almost shat himself.

He even busted out his cell phone and made me watch his entire twenty-minute TED Talk while talking over his TED Talk and mentioning things he wished he would have said in his fucking TED Talk. At that point, I shot a look over at Camilla, and she shrugged. I had known she wouldn’t care. To her, Adam was hot and that was all that mattered.

He was very attractive. No doubt about that. Nice arms, bright brown eyes, a thick head of black hair, tanned skin. We would have looked like a good couple together, but I didn’t care. One thing I hated was men who talked incessantly about themselves. If Camilla thought I was sleeping with this guy tonight, she was sorely mistaken.

“So, what are we getting into after dinner?” Adam asked.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m getting a little tired. Logan?” Camilla asked.

“Wherever you want to go, sweetheart, I’ll follow,” he said.

I swooned at his comment. Camilla had no idea how good she had it with him.

“I think we’re going to skedaddle, honestly. But you two can go do something,” Camilla said.

Adam’s eyes turned to me before they dropped to my bosom. He openly stared at my chest as I looked back at Camilla. She nodded toward the front door before she lifted her hand to show me what was going on. She had her fingers intertwined with Logan’s, and I shook my head.

She was insane if she thought I was going home with this guy.

“Actually, I’m a little tired, too,” I said.

“Then I’ll escort you home,” Adam said quickly.

“Nope. That’s fine. I know where my apartment is.”

“Then I’ll help you out to your car.”

“I took a cab.”

“Then the cab,” he said.

“Adam, I’m fine. Thank you for a lovely evening, but I’m ready to go home and get some rest. I have a long day at work tomorrow,” I said.

“What do you do for work?” he asked.

My jaw fell open as Logan groaned and shook his head.

“I work with children,” I said flatly.

“That’s right, that’s right. Sorry. Well, call me then,” he said.

He wrote his number on a napkin and slid it over to me.

“Thanks,” I said.

“I expect to hear from you. Maybe we can exchange pictures or something.”

“Yeah, maybe,” I said.

Camilla’s eyes lit up as I slid out of the booth. Adam tried to put his hand on the small of my back, but I kept scooting away. I didn’t want the man anywhere near me. He tried to kiss me on the cheek, but I backed away, then put my hands on his chest and slowly pushed him backward.

“I’m just not that kind of girl,” I said.

“Oh, not a ‘kiss on the first date’ kind of girl, huh? I can dig it. The second date then,” Adam said.

“Sure. The second date.”

Logan pulled Adam off to the side, saving me.

“Come on, Ava, what are you doing?”

I whipped my head over to Camilla. “What do you mean, what am I doing?” I asked.

“Adam’s practically falling all over himself to get you into bed.”