Sighing, I recount the story of how Lucy and I met in the ER, how the fake dating scheme evolved with Lucy mistakenly believing I wanted to reunite with Sam, and then how last night at TNT culminated in a kiss.
“But I called her this morning,” I finish. “And we’re going out to sushi on Tuesday.”
Ian’s brow furrows. “Is this still part of the fake dating or did I miss something? And what about the Sam thing?”
Luke smirks, and I glare at him.
“I told her I wasn’t into Sam,” I say, hating every bit of this conversation.
“Why didn’t you just tell her from the beginning that you were interested in her?” Ian is still confused. “Why even let her think you were interested in someone else?”
Ian isn’t wrong, but I bet that being a tennis star makes it alittleeasier to woo the ladies. I can’t imagine him lacking the confidence to go after anyone.
“God, at the time, it made sense. She was just so desperate to get rid of Weston, and she felt so guilty that I wasn’t getting anything out of our fake dating scheme. I guess I just didn’t want to give her a reason to change her mind about spending time with me.”
Luke shakes his head. “Damn, man. I never thought I’d see you so whipped.”
I kick him under the table.
“Ow!”
This is another part of the guy code of conduct I can get behind. If one guy is being a dickwad to another guy, kicking is fair game.
“You deserve it, asshole. How about you?” I ask Ian. “Anyone special?”
“Despite whatCrowdmagazine says,” Ian glances pointedly at Luke, “I’m single. I don’t have time for a relationship. I’ve tried that before, and it didn’t go well because I travel a lot.”
Luke scoffs. “I don’t think that was the problem with Mandy.”
“Wait,” I say. “Mandy Spellman?”
Ian’s eyes cut to mine, something unreadable in his eyes. I speculate that maybe he’s not entirely over what happened with Mandy. “Oh right, you know her from Thatcher.”
I’m not sure anyone could have gone to Thatcher High School during Mandy’s time there and not known who she was. She was voted Homecoming Queen, Prom Queen, and Most Likely To Succeed. Most of the guys wanted to date her, and all the girls reportedly wanted to be her.
“Yeah, we didn’t really hang out during high school,” Ian continues. “But we ran into each other at Willow’s Wine Bar when she moved back here after college. We dated for a couple of years, but it didn’t work out because I was so busy. And I think the paparazzi got to be a bit much for her.”
Luke doesn’t say anything, but I can tell he has more thoughts that he’s holding back. From what I remember, Mandy was not the warmest person.
Not like Lucy.
“So where’s the paparazzi now?” I ask, trying to stay focused on the conversation and not on the woman I’m crazy about.
“I guess you two aren’t as exciting as someone I might be dating,” Ian laughs. “Naw, but really, I don’t think they know where I am. Word travels fast though, so I’m sure they’ll catch up to me soon. But I’m living the high life with you two until then.”
“Speaking of the high life, are we ever getting together with Trix to play video games?” Luke asks.
“Oh shit,” I say, slapping my forehead. “I keep meaning to text her about that. Let me do that right now.”
Ian says, “Trix Winstead?”
I had forgotten that Ian would also know Trix from high school—so many random connections. “Yeah. It feels like everyone went to Thatcher.”
“What’s she up to these days?” Ian asks.
“She’s the CEO of TechMedCo. It’s a medical app company,” I say, typing out a message.
Ian shakes his head. “That woman is brilliant. I’m not surprised.”
