Page 32 of My Book Boyfriend
The coat check is behind the reception tables, under the stone staircases that flank the spectacular Beaux-Arts hall. Aiden stops.
“Hold on for a minute,” he says to whoever called him. “I’ll take your coat, Lily.”
I remove my coat and hand it to him, but no appreciative glint in his eyes warms me this time.
“I’ll join you shortly. Don’t go too far,” he says and leaves to get in the coat check line.
I move off to the side under the arches next to the band stage.
The sound of a saxophone serenading the night fills the cavernous, stone hall, and then a jazz singer croons the lyrics to“I Got It Bad (And That Ain’t Good)” melding with the saxophone and trumpets.Longing.For the wrong man. My chest tightens. Ella Fitzgerald knew how to make you feel that pain.
Astor Hall is dimly lit, with black-tie couples standing around in groups of two or four. It smells of orchids.
“Here’s your coat check.” Aiden hands me a plastic, numbered ring. His gaze sweeps the room. It’s like he’s searching for someone. Not me.
“There you are,” a high-pitched voice squeals off to my left. A woman in a bright-red dress bounces up and hugs Aiden. She has the blonde, Grace Kelly hair Bella tried to give me.
“You’re finally here,” she exclaims. She locks her arms around his neck and leans back to stare at him. His arms go around her, his hands splayed against her skin. A backless dress.
Who is this?
A cold heaviness fills my stomach.
I step back, shocked. And because she’s kind of pushed me out of the way. Accidentally.
Aidenfinallyreleases her. But she doesn’t let go of him. She promptly holds on to his arm with both her hands.
Definitely not accidentally.
“This is Lily.” Aiden gestures to me. “And this is Everly.” He beams down at her.
Beams.
Looking at her like I want him to look at me.
My stomach knots.
“I’ve heard so much about you.” She shakes my hand enthusiastically but is most definitely checking me out.
I haven’t heard about her at all.
“Aiden and I met two weeks ago on a flight back from Texas. I asked his neighbor to switch seats.” She giggles. “And when he mentioned last night that you guys were going to this, I told him I was too.”
I smile. Weakly.
“I was so impressed with Aiden’s green thumb, but then he explained that you gave him that plant when he moved in,” she says. “And that you don’t mind watering it when he’s traveling for work. And that you have a ton of cats.”
I sound like I’m ninety years old. Like I’m his neighborly, pushover cat lady.
That’s how Aiden sees me.
“We have three cats,” I say.Say something witty. Not about the cats.Aiden pats Everly’s hand on his arm. I don’t know what to say. Those interlocked arms. My stomach roils and churns like I’m on a boat that just hit a swell.
A server offers us crab cakes, and we all take one. Everly has to release Aiden’s arm, but she still stands very close to him.
“We should get drinks,” Aiden says. “What can I get you ladies?”
Oh no. This is not a hi-and-bye situation.
