Page 17 of Embrace
“Just come with me,” Court said.
To my utter surprise, she latched on to my arm and dragged me in the opposite direction from where I wanted to go. She was strong for such a tiny person. I would’ve had to really get aggressive to resist her, and that would’ve caused a scene. Since it was her party, I decided to give in a little and went without a struggle.
I was in sort of a daze as I tried to think of how to get out of whatever Court had planned for me as we walked down a narrow hallway.
“Listen to me, Pen. I know what’s best for you,” she said, guiding me as we entered a den. There were more muscular men and sexily clad women there. “Greg!” Courtney waved a hand wildly.
A tall man, about six feet five and built like a gladiator, turned away from the doe-eyed girl he was standing close to. The woman was still flapping her eyelashes at him as he stared at me. I was shocked that he seemed happy to see me. It was as if the sight of me hypnotized him or something. His reaction was very strange, since I’d seen him only once, maybe twice before, while I was still with Rich.
My plan of action was set. Step one was to be cordial until Court left us alone. Step two was to let him down nicely then ease back into the living room to socialize with my friends.
“So, here is she is,” Court said, opening her palms toward me as if she were presenting me as a gift.
“So she is,” Greg said, leering at me.
I tried not to frown, but I was sure I failed. “So what’s this about?” I snapped, failing at the being cordial part of step two.
“Just, uh…” Greg said as if he was lost for words. His gaze shifted to Courtney and back to me.
My eyes narrowed. Something was familiar about the way Greg was behaving. I’d seen it with patients who didn’t want their loved ones to know the extent of their illnesses. But Greg had no reason to behave that way. I began to wonder if he was pacifying Courtney because he wanted to be in Rich’s shoes.
Then Courtney squeezed his bicep in that hands-on way in which she flirted with men. I vaguely remembered her coming on to Jake in front of me.
“Gosh, Pen, be nicer to this handsome guy,” she said then performed a hair toss and finger rake.
“You wanted to meet me?” I asked, making a split-second decision not to turn on the charm.
Greg glanced at Courtney then back at me. “Sure,” he said. “I’m shocked because you’re more beautiful than I remembered.”
I was on the verge of graciously calling bullshit on that, suspecting that he hadn’t remembered me at all, when Rich called, “Penina!” His hand came down on my shoulder. “Or is it Vagina?”
He was the only one who laughed at his silly joke.
Instantly, Courtney’s fake grinning fizzled into a baffled frown as Rich wrapped his arms around her from behind.
“Where’s the doctor?” Rich asked, slightly slurring. He was drunk, which made sense. He always drank too much when something vexed him.
“The hospital’s full of doctors. Which one are you talking about?” I asked.
“The one you’re fucking,” he said.
Court’s eyes grew wide with embarrassment. My jaw dropped, as I, too, was speechless.
“The guy who drives you around town in that fucking limousine or whatever.” He reached out and tapped Greg on the shoulder. “Dude, he gets way further than I ever did.”
“Rich, shut up,” Courtney scolded him. “You’ve had too much to drink.” She shimmied out of his grasp. “Let’s just have dinner so you can get some food in your system and sober up and stop acting like an ass.”
Courtney stomped off, clapping her tiny hands while calling for everyone to make their way to the tent in the backyard for dinner.
“Seating arrangements have already been set. Don’t sit anywhere other than where you are assigned,” she said.
Rich hadn’t moved yet. He stood there glaring at me until Courtney came back, grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him as she had me earlier.
Greg Carroll put a hand on my waist as if he’d just taken ownership of me. “We’d better go,” he said, smirking at me as if he had decided to make a play for me.
Jake was the last person who’d touched me that way, and for a second, I felt how heartbreaking it would be if, because we were related, he wouldn’t be able to touch me that way ever again. Then I checked my watch. We hadn’t seen each other in four hours, and I wondered whether he was still planning on showing up or if he had been thrown into surgery.
If he was coming, then I prayed he would hurry up and get there. Something told me I was in for a long, awkward, and perhaps embarrassing dinner.
