Page 21 of Merrily Ever After
Both Megan and I groan as she clinks her glass with mine.
“So,” she says, waggling her eyebrows at me. “He was cute.”
“Who?”
“The guy you were talking to at the bar.”
“The bartender?”
“No.” Megan looks to Christian, who just shakes his head.
“She means the one obviously trying to flirt with you,” he says.
“Oh.” I shrug, taking a sip of my drink.
“You don’t think he’s cute?” Megan presses.
Christian smirks. “Zoe doesn’t date.”
“Ever?”
“God no,” I say. “Just on Thursdays.”
Megan’s frown deepens, giving her an adorably confused look. Christian looks less patient. I know he thinks I’m playing with her, but I can’t help that my go-to reaction is sarcasm. Especially when it comes to this line of questioning. I think everyone would find it more normal if I was a serial dater. Those people can be understood. Pitied, yet understood. But someone who simply doesn’t? Puzzling. Bad. Burn her at the stake.
“I’m fine as I am,” I tell her. “Single and not ready to mingle. Besides, do you know how much I paid for my vibrator? I am more than satisfied.”
“Okay,” Christian begins with a grimace, but I’m on a roll.
“It came with a little travel pouch. And it has a flutter function.”
“So does mine,” Megan says, jerking her thumb towards Christian, who promptly coughs into his drink.
“I’ll send you a link later,” I stage whisper, and she grins as some new arrivals peer into the snug before moving on.
“It’s always so busy in here,” she mutters.
Christian gives me aseelook because he hates this pub, but I don’t care because I love this pub, and it is my choice to pick for pub night. It’s also literally five minutes from my apartment, but that’s beside the point.
“You two wouldn’t even be sitting here if it wasn’t for this place so show some respect,” I say, ignoring them as they make goo-goo eyes at each other. It’s been just over two years since they got together and fell madly in love. It would be incredibly annoying if I didn’t care for them both so much. I met Christian first because his brother Andrew got together with my twin sister, Molly. But while theirs was a romantic love, what I shared with Christian was even deeper. Platonic sarcasm and a love of money. Honestly, I thought our friendship couldn’t get any better, but then Megan burst onto the scene with her brightly colored hats and occasional charming chaos, and it was like the best 2 for 1 deal ever. “So,” I say. “How do you guys feel about kids?”
Now it’s Megan’s turn to splutter as she chokes on a mouthful of wine.
Christian glances back to me. “You timed that.”
“Maybe. You going to help her?”
“Nah.”
She grabs his glass of water and throws him the finger.
“I presume you’re talking about one kind in particular?” Christian asks. “Aka yours?”
“A bunch of them, actually. It’s Tiernan’s birthday party next week and I’ve invited all his friends to come and get high on sugar. I need help herding them.” I smile innocently. “It will be good practice for you.”
Neither rise to the bait.
“Next Friday?” I ask. My son was born on Christmas Day, so I always try to do something a few days before. “You’re not going home until the weekend, right?”
