Page 44 of Best Man Speaking

“We’re going to keep up with this, then? Fooling around and throwing insults?”

“Julian would surely get suspicious if we continued to do one and not the other, and anyway, Hallie, you’re good at it.”

More than this, I think, it makes me feel young again, the way only a bad idea can.

In some ways, it feels like a do-over of our teenage years. I can only wonder if we’ll make better choices this time.

Hallie picks up her white cocktail napkin and digs a pen from her purse, then shifts in her seat, her thigh getting as close as it can to mine without moving onto my lap. She gives me an assessing look, most likely weighing up what a terrible fucking idea this is, and I smirk, lifting my chin in an almost dare.

She quietly mutters, “Worst idea ever.”

Thenshe presses her pen tothe napkin, where she scrawls “H+M Treaty (After Dark Edition)” along the top before jotting the numbers one through six down the margin. I can’t help but notice the way she has copied the exact format of the truce Julian sent us only several days ago.

“What’s number one?” I ask, ready to get this show on the road.

“That we don’t tell anyone, obviously.” Hallie doesn’t even look at me before she writes it down—the number one rule that, according to Jules, would get us uninvited from the wedding.

“Well, number two should be nothing changes outside of this. Being mean to one another brings me joy; I’ll seek therapy at a later date.”

Hallie reaches over and flicks the soft skin of my ear—not gently, I might add.

“If you think I’m going to start being sweet to you, you’re kidding yourself,” she replies, as if being sweet to me would be anything other than terrifying.

“Three, no touching in public.” Hallie’s choice, and one that doesn’t necessarily work for me.

“Public, as in where people can see? Or public, as in somewhere other than our own personal spaces?” I try to clarify.

Hallie’s blue eyes hit mine as she taps the end of her pen against her lush lower lip.

I want to bite it.

Her lip, not the pen. Or maybe the pen, too, if I can relieve it from her discreetly.

“As in where people can see.”

I decide to punish her for looking hot with a stupid pink ballpoint pen. “Excellent. Glad to hear cubicles in public restrooms are back on the list.”

“You disgust me,” she replies with an unimpressed smile.

Apparently, she hasn’t noticed she’s basically sitting on my lap—she’s already breaking her own rule.

“No snuggling,” I add cheerfully, mostly to be an ass, not because I have anything against it.

“No beds,” Hallie quips in response, and I have to say I’m impressed.

Snuggling and comfort ruled out in one swift move. Couple’s therapy might just be in our future.

I can do nothing but smile. “Kinky.”

She points her pen at me. “Shut up.”

I don’t hesitate with my last requirement on this list.

“No talking about the past,” I say.

“Is that a good idea?” she asks.

I don’t let my face give anything away. “Does it matter? You can live in the present or dredge through the past. Personally, I know what I’d rather you choose. Whatever this is, we’re doing it on borrowed time.”

---