Chapter 1 #2
I despise being in the middle of disagreements, but especially ones involving the two of them. Nate was the one who backed off once he saw how uncomfortable I was as I tried to mediate.
“Ah. That’s tonight. How could I forget? I’ll have to do it some other time then. What was the bar name?”
“Winners something. It’s on ...” I trail off when Nate immediately pulls out his phone and looks it up. “Are you planning something?”
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
I hum. “If you can’t do whatever you’re planning tonight, then you could come over.”
Now he pauses. “Sure, yeah. I’ll be late, though.”
The second he says it, I know exactly what he’s planning. “Nate. You are not crashing Rob’s bachelor party.”
My best friend freezes and he looks up at me slowly. “That’s ... not what I’m doing.”
“For some reason, I don’t believe you.”
“He won’t even know I’m there.”
“I seriously doubt that. Why are you even worried about this?” I shake my head. “It’s just a bachelor party. He’s drinking with some friends.”
Nate is quiet for a long moment. His mouth tugs downward into a frown, which looks wrong on his face. I know my best friend is capable of a lot of deep thought, but we keep things between us light for a reason.
“Bachelor parties are when a lot of things can go wrong. I understand he only wants his close friends there, but isn’t that a little suspicious?” The lower timbre of his voice urges me to think about it.
Rob and I have had a fair share of issues over the years. Nate knows about some of them, but not all. There have been times when Rob seems to forget I exist. Times when I caught him liking other women’s pictures on Instagram. And worse, times when I wondered if I should stay with him.
But he’s been on his best behavior since asking me to marry him. He gets distant sometimes, but I do the same.
Still, he was adamant about not inviting Nate .
“I can see why you would be worried.”
“I don’t wanna make myself known. I won’t even talk to him. But if something happens there, something that you don’t agree with, I want you to know before you marry him.”
Nate has never once stepped in between Rob and me.
There was a time back when I first started dating him where I was afraid that Nate was upset with me for some reason.
But that faded, and he returned to being the best friend I always knew.
He’s been there through some of the fights too.
He’s clearly been unhappy with Rob, but stepped back when I said I would forgive him.
If he has concerns now, then I better listen to them.
“Fine, but please don’t get caught.”
“I won’t.”
“When you find nothing, come over. I’m gonna tell you I told you so a hundred times, but then we can have fun.”
Nate nods. “I think I can live with that deal.”
The conversation slowly slides into silence. I’m trying not to think too deeply into Nate’s worry when I see a familiar face walking into the burger shop.
“Be subtle, but my boss is behind you.”
Nate immediately turns around fully, staring Levi down as if he’s the coolest person in the world.
So much for subtlety.
“Come on, don’t you know how to not let people know you’re looking at them?”
“Nope,” he replied. Of course, Levi can tell someone is watching him and his gaze slides to our table immediately. “Oh, look. I can say hi.”
“You’re lucky he’s a nice guy,” I hiss as Levi walks over.
“Hey, Maisie. Out for lunch?” Levi smiles at me like he always does in the office.
He’s kind and professional in the same way he’s always been, but I know a lot about him through his wife, who I hang out with every now and again.
At first, I’d been nervous that striking up a friendship with his wife would change things in the office.
So far, he was the same kind boss I’d grown used to.
“Yep. He invited me out.” I point to Nate, who immediately holds his hand out.
“Nate Hansford. I’ve heard only good things.”
“You must be Maisie’s fiancé who I’ve not met.”
I’m glad that I’m finished with my bite or else I would have choked on it. “No, no, he’s not my fiancé.” I rush to say it.
Levi’s eyes go wide and his cheeks color. “Oh, brother then?”
That was a stretch. Nate and I don’t look alike, and we both hated it when we were called brother and sister.
“No, just a friend. Nate’s been around me for my whole life.”
Levi does what most people do when they find out Nate is not my partner. He looks between us, his brow furrows, and then he shakes himself out of it before smiling. “Well, it’s nice to meet you. Is the food good here? I’ve been meaning to try it.”
“I only take Maisie to the best places,” Nate says, his voice light as always.
Levi hums. “I like that. I do the same for my wife.”
Nate and I tense at the mere comparison of being like Levi and Amy. Those two are obsessed with each other in a way I didn’t know was possible.
“I’ll let you two enjoy lunch,” Levi says. “It was great to meet you.”
I let out a long breath when he walks away.At least Levi didn’t ask the barrage of questions we were used to. Those ranged from if Nate was gay or if we’d dated a long time ago and it didn’t work out.
The real answer is that we’re simply ... friends. We met when we were kids and dating wasn’t on either of our minds. Then we grew up, real life hit, and it never happened. Our friendship is worth so much to me that I would never risk anything.
Then I met Rob in college and that was that .
“He seems nice,” Nate says. “Friendly. He’s the one who suddenly got married, right?”
“Yep. And I go to his wife’s book club.”
“You’ve had this job for, what, years now? I’ve not heard a complaint.”
“It pays the bills.”
“You like it.” He smirks in my direction.
“Yeah, yeah. I do. You’ll never let me live it down that you found the job listing.”
“And got you to apply. You were so sure you wouldn’t get it.”
I sigh and cross my arms. “Fine. You were right about this one. Don’t get used to it.”
“Face it, I’m right about most things.”
“Except when you mean to go left.”
His smile drops. “You’re never gonna let that go, are you? I got us caught in front of the arena one time?—”
“It took hours to get outta there.”
“But we had fun! We listened to the Mulan soundtrack and belted out every lyric!”
“And then not to mention the time when you got Dr. Pepper and Coke, and gave me the wrong one because the employee told you it was on the left. I hate Dr. Pepper, Nate. You tried to poison me.”
He rolls his eyes. “And then I got you cheese fries to make up for it. Without you asking.”
“Don’t gloat about your apology skills. You’ve already tested the limits today.”
He leans in, and the smile is back. “And you know I’ll keep testing them. It’s kinda my thing.”