“Bingo,” Neil replied. I didn’t miss the note of irony in his tone. “To be honest, I’d rather forget about it. I need to keep my relationship with Mandy cordial for the sake of our daughter. So, if you don’t mind, I’d rather not discuss it anymore.” Alfie and I nodded in an awkward silence. I was about to make our excuses when Neil said, “Talk of the devil.” He nodded toward a long-haired blonde at the entrance, and for a few seconds my eyes narrowed in confusion until she turned around and I saw that it was Mandy.
I wouldn’t have recognized her from the petite, short, dark-haired girl that I’d always admired for her edgy look in college.These days Mandy was heavily made-up and had had too many face fillers. The thick black eyelashes contrasted with the long, box-dyed blonde hair. If Neil hadn’t pointed her out, I might not have recognized her.
Mandy acknowledged Neil with a curt, straight-faced nod, then squealed when her gaze switched to me, then Alfie. “Oh. My. God. It’s you. Y’all came,” Mandy said, stalking toward me with her arms held wide.
After a quick hug, she linked arms with both Alfie and I, completely ignored Neil, and began to steer us both in the direction of the gym. Alfie stopped walking before we’d gotten too far and turned to look at Neil. “Nice seeing you, man. Catch me before we leave, and I’ll give you my number. I’m going to have a lot of downtime this year and I’d love to catch up with you.”
Neil’s eyes went as wide as saucers and nodded. “I’d love that. I’ll be sure to catch up with you later.” Alfie stole a glance toward me, and although I’d made no comment, I’d still thought it strange that he wanted to connect with Neil.
The moment we stepped into the gym, both Alfie and I were mobbed by the hundred plus ex-students and their partners. As was usual with us, most of the men instantly gravitated toward me, the women toward Alfie.
I politely answered questions which were mainly regarding our first and latest albums but was aware that Alfie had one cautious eye out for my safety. Although he was naturally possessive, he was more so now that I was pregnant.
Fortunately, the throng of people crowding us didn’t last long when Mandy pulled me away. Alfie excused himself and followed. “Look who I found,” Mandy gushed to Will, who casually stood at the bar with a few other students from our music class.
My heart stopped the moment I saw Will, not for the same reasons as his likely had, but because I’d foolishly had an alcohol-fueled one-night stand with him. It was a decision I had regretted ever since.
I took a few seconds to regard him, and was shocked at how he’d let himself go. Gone was the thick hair, athletic build and ripped body, and in its place was a balding man with a middle-aged beer belly.
Alfie had always disliked Will and hated that I had been paired to collaborate with him back in college. Perhaps I crossed the line with Will, which might have been partly due to me having called off my friends-with-benefits relationship with Alfie at the time.
“Fuck me, would you look at this cutie,” Will bellowed, drawing attention from the crowd in the room. His eyes lit up and he beamed as he checked me out. I flashed a forced smile but silently wished for the first time that day that we hadn’t arranged to be there.
Alfie immediately pulled me close and wrapped a possessive arm around my waist.
“I thought you were in New Orleans,” I said, recalling the last thing I’d heard through the grapevine. Will not being expected to attend had been my main reason for accepting the invitation.
“I was. You can blame this little woman for me being back in Florida,” he said, slinging an arm around Mandy’s shoulder.
“You two are together?” Alfie queried, wagging his finger between them.
“Yeah… long story there,” Will remarked with a note of sarcasm in his tone.
“Does this long story have anything to do with tapping your best friend’s girl?” Alfie’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“What can I say? Things happen.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “Yeah, we had an affair. It’s not like we’d planned it or anything.” His eyes flicked to me, and I waited for the ball to drop by him saying something like “You know what I mean” in reference to what happened with us. My heart pounded wildly in my chest until he spoke again. “Next thing I knew, Mandy was pregnant, and Neil asked her to leave.”
“You’re a home wrecker and you’re still standing? Still with her? Had the nerve to show up here? I hope Neil knocked you the fuck out at least,” Alfie remarked with narrowed eyes.
Will chuckled nervously, but it had sounded more like quiet strangulation in his throat. “Yes, we’re still together, and we have a one-year-old son. It was a curveball in my plans for sure, but we’ve made it work,” he replied, shifting his gaze to Mandy.
The vibe between them felt stilted, and I figured by the red flush on Mandy’s face and neck, and her lack of eye contact with us, that she was suitably embarrassed.
“Neil and Mandy had a kid, Will,” Alfie admonished.
“Wait a minute, I wasn’t the one in a relationship… and we have a kid now too,” Will argued, then nodded at Mandy like she was the only person at fault, then his focus centered on me.
Fortunately, Alfie wasn’t done and pulled Will’s attention back on him. “Nah, mate. Rule 101—you don’t sleep with your best friend’s girl.”
For some reason Alfie sounded angrier than I’d ever heard him. Part of me wondered if he’d channeled his rage about Cody’s focus on me into that moment.
“Huh. Do you hear him, babe? Anyone would think this guy had morals. Weren’t you and Lily in a fuck buddy relationship while she was in college?”
“Will!” Mandy chastised and elbowed him in the ribs. “He didn’t mean that. Apologize,” she hissed under her breath. “They worked it out in the end, and these guys have been married a long time.”
I glanced around and noticed we’d drawn quite a bit of attention again. Some of my old classmates shielded their mouths with their hands and chatted among themselves, but their focus appeared to be squarely on us.
Knowing the last thing Alfie and I needed was more press about disharmony between us after the Delilah incident, I figured it was time we left. “Mandy, it doesn’t matter. We need to go. We didn’t intend to stay. We just wanted to pop in to say “Hi”, but we’ve got somewhere we need to be,” I lied. Even though we’d only been there a little over twenty minutes.
