“Oh, for fuck’s sake, that was one time.” I’d been a gladiator, Superman, a doctor (not my most inspired costume, I admit), Waldo from Where’s Waldo, and a thousand other personas for Halloween, yet everyone always brought up the fucking rat. “I did it to prove I could pull anyone I wanted even if I was dressed as a rat. And I did.”
The Morgenstern twins. That had been a good night.
The memory of one of my favorite threesomes usually got me going, but tonight, it did nothing for me. Not even a flicker of excitement or desire.
Weird.
“That’s what you always say.” Alex sounded unimpressed.
“Because it’s true. Ask the Morgensterns.”
“Whatever makes you feel better.”
A scowl knotted my brow. “You’re such a goddamn asshole. I don’t know how I was ever friends with you,” I grumbled, accepting my drink from the bartender with a nod of thanks.
Alex’s lips curved, but the air between us suddenly weighed heavy with ghosts from the past—pickup basketball games, late-night study sessions, parties and guys’ trips and random memes we sent each other throughout the day.
Well, l sent him memes and he replied with frowning or eye roll emojis, but Alex had a shit sense of humor, so I didn’t expect him to appreciate my excellent meme selection.
Jules’s advice may have pushed me to extend a tentative olive branch, but the truth was, I missed having a best friend. I missed having Alex as my best friend. He was cold, rude, and grumpy as fuck, but he’d always had my back. Every fight I got into, every bad day I had, he’d been there to bail me out and talk me down.
I took a swig of beer to wash down the sudden tightness in my throat while Alex quietly sipped his drink.
The bar was starting to fill up, and soon, the room buzzed with enough activity to drown out the silence roaring between us.
I finished my beer and was about to order another one when Alex interjected.
“Two more Macallans.” He slid his black Amex across the counter and flicked a glance in my direction. “On me.”
My first instinct was to turn it down, but I wasn’t dumb enough to say no to a free premium drink.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
More silence. God, this was fucking painful.
“How are things going between you and Ava?” I finally asked.
Ava always gushed about their relationship, but she was Alex’s first real girlfriend, and I was curious as hell about his perspective. If I hadn’t witnessed it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have thought him capable of a long-term relationship.
Alex’s face softened. “We’re good.”
“Good. That’s high praise coming from you.” I wasn’t joking. The strongest positive term I’d ever heard him use was fine.
Gourmet steak cooked by a world-famous chef? Fine.
Flying in a private jet? Fine.
Graduating top of his class from Thayer? Fine.
For someone so smart, he had a limited vocabulary.
“I love your sister,” Alex said simply.
My glass froze halfway to my lips. Of course, I knew he loved Ava, but I never in a million years would’ve guessed he’d admit it to anyone except her.
The Alex I knew had zero tolerance for sentimentality. Make it verbal sentimentality and his tolerance dropped into the negatives.
“Good.” I regained motor control. My glass touched my mouth and whiskey flowed into my stomach, but the shock from Alex’s statement lingered. “Because if you hurt her again, I’ll take that stick out of your ass and stab you with it.”
“If I hurt her again, I’ll let you.”
A tense beat passed before I let out a short laugh. “You’ve changed.”
Part of me appreciated the growth, while another part mourned how much time had passed since our friendship ended. Enough that we were funhouse mirror versions of ourselves—the same people at our core but distorted by the changes wrought over time.
“Everyone changes. Without change, we might as well be dead.” It would’ve been an inspiring quote had Alex not delivered it with all the emotion of a block of ice.
“Speaking of Ava…” He rolled his empty glass between his finger, his expression even broodier than usual. “I’d hoped we could talk before the girls came back.”
“What do you think we’re doing right now? Chopping liver?”
“I mean talk.”
My smile fell.
There it was. The giant, trumpeting elephant in the room.
Alex and I had avoided talking about what happened since our confrontation after he broke up with Ava.
How he became my friend only to get closer to my father.
How he’d used Ava and broke her heart.
How he’d lied to me for seven fucking years.