I'm Not Charlotte Lucas(30)

Andy released me slowly, and I felt the desire to step back, to claim my own space and evaluate how I felt.

“Thanks for dinner,” I said, catching my breath. I stepped down into the gutter and skirted the hood of my car. I needed space to process everything that had occurred over the weekend.

Space and maybe sugar. We hadn’t even ordered dessert. Andy hadn’t even asked if I wanted dessert. He might be super sugar-conscious, but that didn’t mean I had to be. I slipped into my car and gave him a little wave before pulling onto the street.

I needed Beth and ice cream, stat.

***

“So clear this up for me,” Beth said, shoving her spoon into the Cherry Garcia pint and setting it on the coffee table in my small attic living room. “You went on a date with Naomi Price’s ex-boyfriend last night, he left your phone in his pocket, and he didn’t bring it back to you when he came to help you plant a garden this morning?”

I shoved a bite of chocolate-chip cookie-dough ice cream into my mouth and frowned. “You say that like he did it on purpose.”

She lifted one sleek, arched eyebrow. “He probably did.”

Shaking my head, I dug out another chunk of cookie dough. “It was set to vibrate. He never heard my phone until he was standing next to his hung-up tux when I called it. It was just good timing.”

Beth lifted an eyebrow and reached for her ice cream. “His pockets were completely full of your things, and you’re telling me he didn’t even notice? He drove home, got undressed, and didn’t once realize that there was a phone and half of an emergency date-kit in his pocket?”

When she said it like that, it did sound a little weird. “It was two in the morning, Beth. I’m sure he was just as much of a zombie as I was.” There. An explanation, and a reasonable one at that.

She went still, eyeing me like I had just started rapidly speaking in French, and she didn’t know whether I was serious or not. “Then you followed up that spectacular evening with another date. With Andy.”

“You don’t have to say his name like he’s a five-year-old boy. He’s a full-grown adult with a real job and a lot of—”

“Money?”

I glared. “No. I was going to say self-confidence.”

“I just don’t really get it,” Beth finally said, lifting a shoulder and sweeping her long, black hair behind her. Her nose crinkled like she’d smelled something sour—or maybe that was her natural reaction to talking about Andy. “He didn’t really treat you well last time.”

“We were both under a lot of pressure then. I had to find a place to live. He was starting his practice. Neither of us was really ready to dive head first into a relationship, but we did anyway. It was all just bad timing. This time feels different, I guess.”

Beth’s voice was soft. “You can’t change people.”

“I’m not trying to. I’m just giving us another chance.” I remembered the words Andy had used and clung to them like bonnet strings in a heavy wind. “We’re just having fun.”

Silence was heavy and thick. I could tell Beth was barely holding back from sharing more of her opinions, but I didn’t want to hear the negativity. “So you had a bridezilla today?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” she said, rolling her eyes and shifting seamlessly into a different conversation. “But if you think I’m going to talk about that, you’re ridiculous. I want to hear every tiny detail about the ball. Did Liam talk about Naomi Price? I can’t believe you went out with a guy who dated Naomi Price. We just watched her in Mad for You last week.”

She was going to die. “He didn’t talk about her a whole lot. But that was okay because I just talked to her myself.”

Beth’s mouth dropped open. Her hands went slack, spoon of ice cream falling onto my floor. “Shut. Up.”

I picked it up and took it to the sink before bits of chocolate and ice cream could melt onto my rug. Then I returned for Beth’s ice cream and put it back in the freezer with mine. My little kitchenette wasn’t great for cooking, but it was useful for the basic necessities. She turned on the couch to watch me hand-wash the spoons. I wasn’t privileged enough to have a dishwasher up here. My parents would only go so far, and a refrigerator, microwave, and basic cupboards were their limit.

“Who was Naomi’s date?”

This was going to kill her even more. I bared my teeth in an apologetic grimace. “Rhett Myers.”

I had never seen Beth as stunned as I did at that moment. Her mouth hung full slack, eyes wide like the lids of our ice cream pints. When I returned to the sofa she just followed me with her eyes. “You saw Rhett Myers in person?” she whispered reverently.

“I sat two people down from him. Liam made a joke to Rhett, and the guy laughed.”

Beth looked like I had just handed her a goldendoodle puppy. “You heard Rhett Myers laugh in person?”

It occurred to me that if I had truly been a good friend, I would have sacrificed all my dignity and asked Rhett for an autograph or a selfie. I didn’t know a single person who fangirled over the guy more than Beth. She was an adult and still had posters of him all over her bedroom walls.

“He seemed nice,” I said insufficiently.

“Is he in love with Naomi Price?”