Lost In Me (Here and Now 1)

“Sorry about that. I wanted to do the whole workup again.”

“Don’t go into the office just for that. It’s fine. I’m eating.”

I take a deep breath of the cool night air and think about that voicemail. I scan my memory again and again, but I can’t remember an Elle. Obviously it’s someone I know from Nate’s life.

“Have you told Max yet?” Nix asks quietly.

“Tomorrow. That’s the plan.” I wanted him to be able to enjoy Will’s bachelor party without my nasty secret hanging over him.

“Huh. Maybe we should work out some sort of Bat Signal so I can interrupt with the blood work call if it’s not going well.”

“There it is!” Liz calls, pointing to the building in front of us.

There’s a long line out front, but the bouncer waves us over.

“Does he know we’re coming?” I ask Liz.

She snorts. “No, but we’re a group of five hot-ass girls going into a gentleman’s club. We probably won’t have to pay for a drink all night.”

I laugh, but my moment of good humor is cut off when a familiar voice calls, “Oh, look who’s there.”

When my eyes land on Meredith coming out of the club, I want to puke. She might have just had a baby a few months ago, but she’s as gorgeous as ever in a tiny black dress and heels, her long, silky blond hair hanging past her bare shoulders.

“What are you doing here?” I sneer.

She leans against the building and crosses her feet at her ankles. “Oh, nothing special. Just hanging with some…friends. I hear you lost your memory.”

“What’s it to you?” It’s not just a smartass retort. I want to know.

She shrugs. “I was out of town when it happened so I just heard. Me and baby girl got back last weekend. But I guess you know that since Max came to help me out for a while. He’s such a natural with kids.”

She winks at me like we share a secret, and I want to slap her.

Meredith’s eyes rake over Cally in her bride-to-be shirt. “What’s up, Cally? Are you here to pick up your check?”

Cally’s hands clench and her jaw ticks but she doesn’t respond.

Meredith’s glossed lips curl into an ugly smile. “Quite a step up from your…previous employment.”

Cally seethes beside me, and Liz steps forward. “Don’t you have a baby you should be home caring for?”

Meredith rolls her eyes. “That’s what babysitters are for.”

“You ladies coming in?” the bouncer asks.

“Have fun,” Meredith calls. “I know I did.”

I follow the girls into the club, but the energy of our whole group has changed. None of us are in the mood to party anymore. Instead, we all want to know what Meredith was doing here and if it had anything to do with our guys.

And that’s just what she intended.

“I hate her,” Lizzy spits.

Cally squeezes her shoulder. “Let it go. She’s petty and shallow and not worth our energy.”

Maggie forces a smile. “Come on. The guys reserved the room in the back.”

We follow her through the tables and past the stage to a private party room with its own bar. Will and Max are together at the back of the room filled with a dozen or so other guys I don’t know.