Faking with Benefits : A Friends to Lovers Romance(95)

I close my eyes. “Are you going to tell me off? Trust me, I was hesitant, but she insisted that enough time has passed that it’s not creepy or pathetic to be dating an ex-student.”

“That’s not my issue.” She purses her lips. She’s wearing her favourite dusky-pink lipstick; Tender Rose, I think it’s called. At our wedding, I had to reapply it for her five times, because I kept kissing it off.

I grimace at the memory. I don’t miss Amy. I honestly don’t. But I miss myself, back then. I miss how optimistic and happy I was. I miss how utterly sure I was that the relationship would work out.

I don’t think I’ve been sure about anything since the divorce. It killed that part of me.

“What do you remember about her from school?” Amy asks carefully.

“Not a lot. She was smart and quiet. It was the year our divorce papers were going through, so…” I trail off. “I wasn’t fully present in classes.”

“Hm.” Amy tugs on her earring. “But you like her, don’t you?”

“More than I ever expected to,” I admit.

“I thought so.” She sighs heavily. “Look. I don’t want to ruin your day, or anything. But I have to tell you something.”

The tone of her voice is scarily sombre. “Yes?” When she doesn’t respond, alarm bells start ringing. “Amy, what is it?”

“I saw her kissing Josh earlier,” she says. “Behind the roses. I thought you’d want to know.”

My shoulders ease, relief flooding through me. “I see.”

She stares at me. Clearly, she was expecting a more dramatic response. “That’s it?” She asks, incredulous. “I see?”

“Layla and I aren’t in a committed relationship. She can kiss who she likes.”

Amy looks at me like I’ve gone mad. “I… Luke, don’t take this the wrong way, but… are you okay? Do you think you need to talk to someone? A therapist, or something?”

I blink at her. “What? What do you mean?”

“Do you think maybe you’re a bit depressed?” She asks gently. “Because from where I’m standing, it sort of looks like you’re going through a midlife crisis.”

I frown. “I appreciate the concern, but this is the best my life has been in a long time. I’m not depressed in the slightest.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Seriously? You’re almost forty years old, and you don’t have a wife. You don’t have kids. You don’t have a house. You share a flat with a couple of boys ten years younger than you—”

“Josh and Zack aren’t boys. They’re good men. And I don’t see why a ten-year age gap should stop me from being friends with someone.”

She looks at me like I’m an idiot. “You’re not just friends with them, Luke. You’re living in a flat with them like a student. And now you’re coming to my wedding with one of your ex-pupils on your arm.” She crosses her arms. “I’ve just told you that she’s spent the whole evening kissing my husband’s brother, and you didn’t even bat an eyelid!” I go to respond, and she cuts me off. “And it’s not just him, either. I saw her getting awfully close with Zack by the drinks table earlier. Zack Harding, Luke. A famous ex-rugby player. Do you seriously think you can compete with him in the eyes of a twenty-eight-year-old girl? Especially one like Layla Thompson?”

A bad feeling slips down the back of my throat. “What do you mean, ‘a girl like her’?”

She scowls. “You might not remember her from school, but I do. And everyone, students and staff, knew Layla Thompson to be a certain kind of girl.”

I close my eyes.

I’d assumed that Amy was unaware of Layla’s bullying in high school. I didn’t consider for a second that she might have known about it. “What does that mean?” I say carefully.

Amy sighs. “She was easy, Luke. I had girls in my office all the time, complaining that she’d stolen their boyfriends. She skipped between men almost daily, and there were plenty of rumours that she was exchanging… favours for money. She was generally considered to be the loosest girl in the school, and clearly, nothing has changed—”

“Amy,” I say sharply. “What is wrong with you?! Why would you talk about a student like that? Layla’s time in school was very difficult. We should’ve been helping her, and instead, we stood by and let her get bullied and cast out.”

Her lips quirk up. “So you do know. Let me guess. She told you it was all lies?”

I throw my hands up. “Whether they were lies or not, it’s completely inappropriate to judge an underage teenage girl on what she does in bed! She was a literal child, and you’re calling her loose?!”

She sighs. “I’m just saying that these things form patterns. If she was sleeping around then, she very well may be sleeping around now.” She presses her lips together, looking out over the lobby. “This has always been your issue. You can’t see what’s in front of you. You’re so caught up in your romantic little dream-world that you block out all of the warning signs.”

I frown. “I don’t know what you’re talking ab—”

“My parents begged me not to marry you,” she blurts out suddenly, shocking me into silence. “Begged me. My dad even promised to pay all the cancellation fees for the wedding. They knew I was making a mistake, and they were terrified it would haunt me for the rest of my life.”