Page 49 of Last First Love
The women who are mean-mugging me definitely heard that because one of them laughs and the other applauds. Just loud enough to draw Aaron's attention to the pair of them.
"Well hello there, ladies. I can tell from your response that you're already acquainted with my friend Daniels and his many failings. Can I buy either of you a drink tonight?"
The taller of the two women gives him a toothy smile. She has lipstick smeared across one of her big front teeth and I can see it from here. Gross.
"I'd love a drink. Long Island Iced Tea." She leans forward and shows us both the swells of her breasts, lightly dusted with freckles.
Any other time, I'd be staring at them like they were the most beautiful present under the Christmas tree. But today, I don't even spare her chest a glance, which is yet further proof that I'm so far gone on Lily that it's tragic. Maybe this is why I've always done a hump and dump before, so I wouldn't end up feeling like this.
The two women post up on either side of Aaron, and the non-lipstick-toothed one leans into him, pushing her body up against his. And if I didn't feel bad about what I'd done before, now I certainly do. Aaron has basically lived like a monk since the death of his wife. He's never dated and as far as I can tell, he doesn't have any interest in dating either.Other than whatever weirdness was going on with him and Toni D’Souza earlier.
And because of my series of stupid decisions, here he is, being viciously boob-mauled by a woman that I had maybe banged once upon a time.
What a mess.
"Ladies, look. I'm sorry. I can pretty well guarantee that I owe at least one of you an apology for not being the man you thought I was going to be." I wince. "But if it cheers you up any, I'm in a bad place and definitely suffering now."
Lipstick chuckles. "It actually does cheer me up, but I can't help thinking you're as full of shit tonight as you always have been."
I put my hands up in front of myself, fending off the sting of her words. "Hey, hey. I never act like I'm anything other than what I am, whether I'm with a woman or hanging with my bros. I'm a good time in the short term, and I'm funny and almost painfully good looking."
All three of them look at me with thinly veiled disgust. "No, actually." Lipstick's lips curl up in a sneer. "You probably aren't such a bad guy underneath all the bullshit, but that's all you ever give people. A thick coating of crap instead of who you really are."
Aaron shrugs. "She's not wrong. I've known you for years and I still feel like you're giving me bullshit at every available opportunity."
I feel like I've been punched. See, here's the thing. The unofficial rules of the bro code mandate that a bro (Aaron) is supposed to have my back when I'm under attack from outside forces (Lipstick and her sidekick). And yet he's turned his back on me, even though he's supposed to be here with me, for me, making me feel better about the flaming disaster of my life.
I give him a hard look."She is wrong though. I'm the funny guy, the one that everybody likes to be around." I pause, then keep going when nobody answers. "I'm the one who makes the jokes. The life of the party."
All three of them are giving me a look that can only be pity now. Finally, Aaron sighs. "No man. That's not it. We hang out with you despite all your ridiculous joking around. I mean, you're completely full of crap about everything all the time, but you're actually a good guy underneath all that silliness."
It stings, it really does. Hurts like a heavyweight champion's punch right in the dick. Is it possible that Lily isn't talking to me because she feels the same way these people do? Even after I've been real with her? Am I actually a bad guy?
Sidekick licks her lips. "Aw, we hurt his feelings." She says it in that pseudo-baby talk kind of way that makes my stomach churn.
Lipstick's face flattens out. "Good." She kicks the leg of my chair. "You were a humongous jerk to me, but you were a flaming mega-super jerk to Lily."
My face pinches up. "That's not true. I wouldn't do anything to hurt her."
All three of them stare at me again, like they're waiting for me to solve a math problem or something.
"Stop it. She said she was worried about people talking about us, and I fixed it. It was actually a stupidly easy fix. I stopped the gossip before it could start so she would quit telling me that we couldn't be together because of what people were going to say."
"Stupid, yes." Aaron shakes his head. "You are so deeply stupid I can't believe that you can walk and breathe at the same time. If someone tells you that they're worried about something terrible happening and then you go out of your way to make that very specific terrible thing happen that she was afraid of, then you're a jerk."
Wait, what?
Both women are nodding, looking as smug as possible under the harsh yellow florescent lights of the bar, and if I weren't already sitting down, I would have probably fallen over.
"No." I say decisively. "That's not right." I feel like I can't catch my breath and my pulse is pounding in my ears. "I was fixing it. I didn't mean to make things worse."
Lipstick shakes her head. "At least you figured it out this time." Then she gives me a sad, tiny smile that shows off her pointy little lipstick tooth. "Maybe next time, try not to be such an idiot."
I plop my entire head into my hands. The weight of what they've said is crushing me right now, threatening to squash my entire being under my heavy mistake.
"I can't believe this. I was completely wrong? Really?" I look up and only Aaron's there now, but he's not even looking at me. He's staring at the wall like the answers are written there.
"Aaron," I say. "What's going on with you?"
