Chapter Seventeen
DELILAH
“So let me get this straight,” Theo says, tapping his spoon against his coffee cup. “You’re…dating Ian Chase?”
I purse my lips. Can I call it dating? I mean, I want to call it dating, but we haven’t exactly discussed a label, so…
“We’re…something?”
Ava snorts. “Something involving their genitals.”
“Could you not be so crass?” Theo says with distaste.
Ava sticks her tongue out at him. “I once watched you make out with the drummer of a ska band in a dive bar after J?gerbombs, of all things, and you want to talk to me about crass?”
“Dee,” Theo says calmly, “might I suggest again you find new friends? I’m only thinking of your image here.”
“Says the man who tongue-humped a guy with a soul patch,” Ava quips sweetly.
“Both of you need to keep your voices down.” I glance around the busy coffee shop, noting the people milling about. “And can we not do this today? I’m still mildly freaking out about tonight, and you two are supposed to be comforting me.”
“I’m sure it’ll be totally not awkward at all to have dinner with your long-standing-crush-turned-maybe-boyfriend’s ex-wife,” Theo deadpans.
“Stop being an ass,” Ava chides. “Ian told you that they weren’t ever really in love, though, right? That’s something.”
“Not like that,” I confirm. “But she’s still important to him.”
“She’s also one of the most popular artists to come out of Massachusetts in the last twenty years,” Theo notes.
“Thanks,” I say dryly. “That’s helpful.”
“And you’re a successful, young, hot baker with her own television show,” Ava reminds me. “There’s nothing for you to be intimidated about.”
“I’m not…intimidated per se,” I tell her truthfully. “It’s more like…I want her to like me, you know? She’s important to Ian, practically his best friend, so it feels like it would be a disaster if she didn’t.”
“Oh, shut up,” Theo grouses, taking a sip of his Earl Grey. “You’re sunshine personified, when you’re not being a pain in my ass. It’s impossible not to like you.”
“Wow,” I laugh. “Thanks for the glowing review.”
“Don’t hire your friends as your agent if you want them to blow smoke up your ass.”
“Is it weird that his ex is going to know about the two of you before Jack?” Ava muses.
I frown. “Maybe…But I think I’d like a more solid definition of what this is between us before I involve Jack. He’s already going to be weird enough about it as it is.”
Ava narrows her eyes. “You don’t think Ian thinks you two are serious?”
“It’s not that,” I start. “I just don’t want to push it, you know? I’ve wanted this for so long, and it’s like now that I have it, I’m terrified of jinxing it somehow.”
“Well,” Theo says, clucking his tongue, “the two of you had better be extremely careful until you get it figured out. If the media gets ahold of this, there’s no taking it back.”
“I know that,” I tell him. “Which is another reason why I don’t want to be too hasty. I don’t want Ian to feel like he has to commit to anything if this blows up in our faces. I want to give him time to make sure that he really wants this without the internet picking apart his business again.”
“Are you worried about all of that?” Ava gives me a concerned look. “I mean…He seems like a nice guy, but with everything that happened with his ex…”
I have to bite my tongue to keep from jumping to his defense; it’s not my business to share everything Ian told me about what really happened all those years ago, which is why I can’t come out and say that none of what people read is remotely close to the truth. Even if it kills me to continue letting people think that Ian could ever be capable of what he’s been accused of.
“I trust him,” I say instead. “He would never do anything to purposefully hurt me.”
“Let’s hope not,” Theo says thoughtfully. “Because if this blows up as bad as his last relationship, it could be just as damaging for you as it is for him.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s all fun and games to let the internet think the two of you are in some sort of situationship, but if they find out that not only is it actually happening, but then if Ian somehow bungles it all, you’ll be nothing more than the dumb girl who fell for his bullshit again.”
“Hey,” Ava cries indignantly. “Don’t be an ass.”
“I’m just telling you how the good people of social media have a tendency to kick people when they’re down. That’s not to say it might not gain you some sympathy, but I’ve seen the dark side of the web too many times not to worry that it might not go the other way.”
“He won’t hurt me,” I say again, firmer this time. “That’s not who he is.”
“For your sake,” Theo answers with sympathy in his gaze, “I hope you’re right.”
There’s a beat of silence that passes between us at our little table, the sounds of chatter and chimes of the nearby cash register filling the air as the three of us mull over Theo’s words.
“Anyway,” Theo goes on, clearing his throat, “I’m glad you told me. I will make sure to keep an eye on the gossip about you two a little more closely so I can stay on top of things.”
I don’t say that he’s almost made me regret telling him at all, knowing that it would be stupid to engage in this thing with Ian without giving Theo a heads-up. It is what I pay him for, after all.
Ava shoots Theo a look, but blessedly changes the subject. “So what time is dinner tonight?”
“Seven,” I tell her. “They live on the other side of town, so Ian is picking me up at six.”
“Do you know what you’re going to wear?”
“No idea,” I sigh. “What do you wear when you’re meeting your…Well, when you’re meeting the ex-wife?”
“Something that accentuates your tits,” Theo says flippantly.
Ava and I both turn our heads to gape at him, but he just cocks an eyebrow. “What? I may not be attracted to them, but even I know they’re great tits.”
“He’s not wrong,” Ava chuckles. “Might as well give yourself all the confidence boosts you can.”
I shake my head at the both of them, grabbing my drink—yeah, it’s the same one Ian ordered for me when we first hung out here, because I’ve started drinking them again like a total sap—fiddling with the straw as I try to quell the nerves that flutter in my belly when I think about tonight.
It’s going to be fine, I tell myself. It’s a good thing that he wants me to meet her.
Maybe if I repeat it enough times, I’ll stop feeling like I might hurl.
“Was it your intention to make sure I can’t focus on anything anyone is saying tonight when you put on that dress?”
I can’t help the grin that forms on my lips, catching Ian’s disgruntled expression when I peek at him from the side while we’re walking up the driveway. “You don’t like it?”
“I like it too much,” he mutters.
“My friends said it would give me a confidence boost to accentuate my best features,” I tell him, gesturing at the scoop neckline.
Ian squeezes my hand, pulling it up to his lips to brush them against the back of my knuckles. “While it is a very good feature, I wouldn’t say it’s your best.”
“Oh?” My chest flutters. “What would you say my best feature is?”
His lips quirk, his gray eyes playful. “I’ll be happy to show you later.”
“Are you trying to get me riled up before I meet your ex? Because that’s low.”
He turns my hand to press a kiss against my palm. “I’d call that karma.”
“I’ll show you karma, you—”
My words die off when the door we’ve just stepped up to swings open before we even have a chance to knock, a tall, willowy woman with jet-black hair and cheekbones that make her bright smile seem even wider beaming at us from the entryway.
“You made it!”
“Kind of the point of RSVP’ing,” Ian chuckles.
The woman, who I know is Mei from her pictures, slaps him on the chest. “Don’t be a jerk.” She turns her attention to me, her smile widening. “And you must be Delilah.”
“Dee is fine,” I tell her. “Everyone calls me Dee.” I peek over at Ian. “Except this one.”
Mei’s eyes have a knowing look about them, but she just gestures us inside. “Come in, come in. I hope you like empanadas. Bella is cooking.”
“That sounds amazing,” I tell her as we step inside.
Their house is huge; even the foyer is immaculate with its gleaming tiled floor and its high ceiling that boasts a sparkling chandelier. I can see a wide living room in the other room with cream-colored couches and warm-burgundy throw pillows, and I can only assume that the put-togetherness of it all is Mei’s handiwork, given that she’s the artist.
“Your house is beautiful,” I comment, still looking around, a little awestruck. “Ian said you guys just moved in?”
“Just before the wedding,” Mei tells me as we take off our shoes. “Bella insisted on doing a lot of the work herself, which meant it took a little longer.”
“Your wife helped build it?”
“She’s a general contractor,” Mei tells me. “Which means she gave anyone we tried to source out jobs to hell if they didn’t do everything just right.”
“Excuse me for wanting to make sure the place was perfect,” a slightly accented voice calls from the other room. Mei rolls her eyes as she takes off in that direction, and we follow her. A woman several inches shorter than Mei but with the same inky black hair is at the counter, arching a brow at her wife. “She likes seeing me in a tool belt, so it all evens out.”
Mei huffs. “Bella.”
“Is this your girl?” Bella glances at Ian, but then her dark eyes flick back to me. “What are your intentions with our Ian?”
“Bella!” Mei gasps.
I look over at Ian for help, but I notice he’s covering his mouth with his hand like he’s trying not to laugh, so I take a shot in the dark. “They’re terrible,” I tell Bella. “Just the worst.”
Bella nods seriously, the slightest tilt to her mouth when she says, “I like her.”
“You’ll have to forgive my wife,” Mei says exasperatedly. “She thinks she’s funny.”
“?Perdón? No te ríes cuando uso mi boca para—”
“Callate,” Mei hisses.
“I know enough Spanish to know I don’t want her to finish that sentence either,” Ian mutters.
“I wish I didn’t know enough Spanish,” Mei sighs, but there’s a pink tint to her cheeks, so I have a feeling she isn’t as irritated as she acts.
“I only know French,” I offer. “So I’m blissfully in the dark.”
“Oh, I’ve always wanted to learn French,” Mei gushes. “Ian told me you studied in France?”
“For a few years. It was a great experience.”
“I bet dirty talk is great in French,” Bella sighs.
I can’t help but laugh as I wind my arm around Ian’s waist. “It absolutely is. Right, Ian?”
“That’s it,” Ian huffs, pointing between Bella and me. “You two aren’t allowed to be friends.”
“Oh, I think it’s too late for that,” Bella says with a grin.
I meet it with one of my own. “Much too late.”
Mei goes back to chastising her wife with hardly any real bite, pulling Ian in for backup every so often, to no avail. I watch it all happen with a smile on my face, the nerves I’ve been carrying for tonight melting away when I realize that everything here is exactly as Ian said. That there’s nothing between him and Mei but deep friendship, one that I can sense just by watching the two of them together.
“Dee,” Bella calls, waving me over. “Come help me finish up and let the squares set the table.”
Ian peers down at me as if silently asking me if I need his help, but I just give his side a squeeze before pulling away from him. “Gimme an apron, and I’m in.”
“This was a mistake, wasn’t it?” I hear Ian asking Mei as they leave the kitchen.
I hear Mei’s answering sigh. “Yeah,” she says. “Probably.”