Page 120 of On Merit Alone
“Yeah,” Emily slowly supplied. “Why?”
“Are you guys going tonight? Or this weekend or something?” I asked.
She was quiet. I was quiet. I got the impression that the answer was yes but that I just wasn't invited. This made me feel bad and I immediately wanted to take everything back. I called Em because I thought she was the closest thing I had to a friend on the team. But I guess I had been wrong.
“Never mind Em. That was a stupid question?—”
“Are you finally asking to come out with us, Mer?” Emily cut me off, her voice sounding…excited?
I fidgeted. “Well just if you guys were planning on going.”
“Oh, we’re going. Sorry, I was quiet for a sec, I was texting everyone to get their asses ready. Merit Jones finally wants to go out!” she laughed. “Why? Did something happen? Is your boyfriend coming?”
“I don’t have a boyfriend.”
There was a pause of silence. “I thought you were with Ira.”
“Um,” I hesitated. I’ve never been one to put my business out there. Hence why it had taken me so long to simply attend an outing with the girls, but… “I don’t really know—It’s complicated.”
“Ohhh,” Em said, sounding like she suddenly understood something she didn’t before. “I get it. Why don’t you come over so we can get ready and you can tell me all about what pretty boy has been putting you through.”
“Seriously?” I asked, probably a little too excited. “You would do that?”
She laughed. “Yes, seriously, Cap. I got your back. Here, I’ll send you the address.”
I wasn’t a big drinker. I liked wine and the occasional cocktail if it was interesting enough to warrant me wasting my perfectly sound inhibitions on. But other than that, I was a water and orange juice type of person. So when the shots started making their way out to our group, I was wary.
Emily wasn’t lying when she said she was rounding everyone up. After showing up to her house, the one I learned she shared with her girlfriend of four years in the artistic district in town, we all got ready while sharing a box of these alcoholic sparkling water things. They listened to my troubles with Ira with wide eyes and laughs.Apparently, I was being crazy and it was clear (to them) that Ira was madly in love with me.
Just thinking about the way Emily and Audre stared at me like I’d grown two heads almost made me want to burst out laughing now. But when I was sitting in front of them in their living room, it made me shake my head in utter confusion, Emily reaching out to grasp my shoulder with a grave look on her face.
“Merit, I say this with the utmost respect. Youcannotbe this dense.”
“I’m not!” I said defensively. “You say he loves me, I say he… likes me well enough.”
The two women gave each other knowing looks. Em stood with a big sigh and a shake to her head. “Alright. Well, let’s get you ready to party and we’ll see how well he likesthat.”
So we did, playing music and talking about other things.Friend things. Comparing social media feeds and the funny videos we’d liked. Em commented on how wholesome mine was with all the dog videos, and so I showed her pictures of Cash, Ira, and I—further cementing the assumption that he loved me in her eyes. I commented on how thematically pleasing hers was and soon learned that she had a brand idea in the works.
Blown away, I asked to see it and she did me one better. She tossed my intended outfit aside and gave me a brand new one she’d just gotten in from her suppliers.
I started to feel better even before we stepped foot out of the house. Just being around people that I knew, learning more about Emily and laughing as medicine was making me feel much better. At one point I even sighed contentedly and told her just as much.
Em had only agreed and said, “Good, because there’s nothing to worry about. That man absolutely loves you.”
They still insisted on taking me out. Me and half the team by the count of how many of the girls showed up at the bar Em told them to meet at.
We got in, got a table, and all got drinks right away. It was as simple as that. When I tried to order wine, Charlie snatched the little paper list away from me and crumbled it up before she ordered me a margarita and told me to liven up.
When the drinks were served, dozens of curious eyes turned to me. “So… what’s up, Cap?”
Sipping my drink, I looked from one woman to the next before sighing. “I know Emily’s already told you guys.”
Smiles. Smiles everywhere, before I was being bombarded with questions.
“What’s he like?”
“Are you guys dating?”
