Page 26 of He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

‘Hello, handsome,’ she says in a seductive voice to the bartender. ‘A tuaca sidecar,extracherries.’ She holds two fingers in the air.

He rolls his eyes, a half-cocked grin on his face that says he enjoyed her flirting.

‘Anyway,’ she continues, not acknowledging what I just witnessed. ‘We sold out. As soon as the venues were announced, tickets lasted ten minutes. I can hardly believe it.’

‘I can. You’re a rock star!’

‘Hardly.’

‘How’re things with Dylan? Is it weird to be broken up and still working together?’

She shakes her head. ‘Dylan and I were never right together. He always wanted to “fix” me. Why did you never tell me how annoying that is?’

I frown. I would have, trust me – that’s the kind of friendship we have – but I never actually knew Dylan. Tonight is the first time I’ve ever seen him in person, and he didn’t exactly run over to meet me.

‘Because I’m a terrible self-centered friend who chose a man over the people I’m closest to for nearly a decade.’

‘Stop,’ she says, her eyes on the bartender.

‘I’m serious,’ I say, taking a sip of the drink I’m still nursing because it’s way stronger than I expected. ‘I owe you so many apologies. I’ve been a jerk. Worse than that, actually. What’s worse?’

Mercy cocks her head, a sly smile growing. ‘I believe the words you’re looking for are Professor Tristan Wells.’

I laugh to myself. She’s not wrong.

‘We all do stupid shit, Hols. Me included.’ She stops, choosing her words slowly. ‘For instance, the guy that just made my drink, we, uh, banged one out in the bathroom last week, and I told him to pretend like it never happened. Cause it never will again. It’s not personal, just business. I had needs, and he was there. What the hell, right?’

‘Mercy!’

She shrugs. ‘When you start noticing the new Jake from State Farm in a way you wish you didn’t, you know it’s time to find a real man to take care of things. The boy got lucky.’

I whip my head around to take a second look at him. He’s cute. I don’t know why she’d cut him off already. But that’s Mercy. She doesn’t do ‘love’.

‘You little minx,’ I joke.

‘Icky Vicki was never this much fun, was she?’

‘Not even a little bit.’

‘Now tell me how you’re doing. Likereallydoing?’

I take a giant breath, blowing it out slowly. ‘Honestly, I don’t know. One moment I’m fine; the next, I’m in a ball of tears wishing the floor would swallow me whole. There were so many red flags I ignored, Merc.So many. What’s wrong with me?’

‘Nothing’s wrong with you.’

I scrunch my face at the sound of her voice before finally turning to my mother. I kind of thought she’d work the room, somehow finding her fans everywhere she goes like she always has. But, nope, here she is joining us at the bar.

‘You simply picked the wrong guy,’ Mom continues, taking my drink and helping herself to a sip. A big sip. ‘It happens. I slept with my first agent when I was sixteen – a total felony on his part. But it felt like something I needed to do to get to the place I thought I wanted to be. The sex was fine.’ Mom scrunches her nose the same way I do when displeased. ‘But fine doesn’t last a lifetime. Take my advice and find the guy who can piss you off, then rock your world after. That’s where the good sex lives.’

I glance around the room, looking for a garbage can I can puke in. Mercy raises a single eyebrow, a crooked grin on her face. She enjoys my mother’s mouth far more than I ever have.

‘If I had to guess,’ Mom continues as if I’m not wishing I could burst my own eardrums right now. ‘You and Tristan’s love life was just fine?’

She wants to talk about mysex life?

‘Maybe…’ I finally say.

‘I knew it. You need passion, Hols. Someone who makes your toes curl, your panties wet, and your heart melt.’

---