“What a nice surprise,” he whispered as my lips brushed his closely shaved skin. His voice was paper dry.
“Ethan . . . ,” I breathed. “Why?”
“Madison, have a seat.” Chase stood across from Ethan, his death stare making Ethan flinch. I walked over to him, feeling my shoulders slump. He pushed my seat back. We began piling food onto our plates. Ethan retold the story of how Clementine had dropped take-out sashimi bits into an empty fish tank in his office on her latest visit, drawing laughs from the table.
I stiffly shoved one forkful of food after another into my mouth. I couldn’t taste anything. I wasn’t sure if I was more worried about Chase’s family finding out we weren’t together or about the conversation I would have with Ethan afterward. Chase snaked a hand between us and squeezed my hand under the table. Nuclear currents ran through my spine.
“Can I just back it up a little?” Julian rubbed at his chin, chuckling good-naturedly. “I’m trying to figure something out. Maddie said you and she are friends, Dr. Goodman. But I thought Clemmy said she saw you two hugging real long and real hard—‘like couples in the movies,’ I believe were her exact words—at your clinic a few weeks ago. Didn’t you, Clemmy?” He turned to his daughter, then back to me. “So which is it? Are you friends, or are you something more?”
Clementine looked down, blushing.
“As I said,” I gritted out, not giving Ethan a chance to answer, “I am with Chase.”
“My bad, Maddie.” Julian lifted his palms in surrender, taking a moment to make sure everybody was thinking about that time Clementine had told them about me kissing Ethan. “I just thought . . . well, this is silly, anyway, but I thought maybe something happened. I saw you at work the other day. You weren’t wearing your engagement ring,” Julian remarked as he cut his roasted chicken into tiny, meticulous pieces. “Yet here you are, with your engagement ring.”
He was becoming more and more blunt, presenting his elaborate case against us. I knew I had to get out of it myself. If Chase intervened, it’d look like another bickering match between him and Julian, and like I was making excuses for him. I shrugged it off. “The ring is very expensive. I don’t want to lose it or have someone cut my finger off in a dark alley for the piece of jewelry.”
“Smart,” Katie pointed out, popping a blueberry into her mouth. “Cutting off fingers with rings is a thing. Heard about it in a true-crime podcast.”
“Are your friends happy about the engagement?” Amber pressed, a fake smile marring her lip-glossed mouth. “I should think they’re planning one hell of a bachelorette party.”
“My close friends are excited, yes. We’re going to celebrate low key. I haven’t told my colleagues yet, though. You know, life is not about flaunting expensive rings and marrying your way up the tax bracket.”
Dang, dumping Martyr Maddie for a while was fun.
Amber winced. “I can see how that’d be awkward. I mean, Black & Co. and Croquis are sister companies. I wonder if people think you slept your way to the top.”
“Oh, I’ve had this job since long before I met Chase. Marrying into money is not an Olympic sport for me.” I smiled back. Chase pretended to cough to stifle a laugh. Lori polished off her glass of wine.
“Clementine, excuse yourself,” Amber barked, still staring at me. Ronan snapped his fingers, and a waiter appeared, ushering Clementine to the kitchen to sample the dessert. The dining room was now a full-blown war zone. The gloves were off.
“Interesting.” Julian tapped his chin.
“The things you find interesting amaze me. Is that what happens when you live a sexless, loveless life?” Chase asked dryly. Lori gasped. Ethan and Katie looked among all of us like we were crazy.
“Redirect that conversation,” Ronan groaned. He looked exhausted, and suddenly, I understood why Chase hadn’t been fighting back against Julian. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to. He knew it’d drain his father. Chase had been trying not to upset Ronan all throughout our fake engagement. He’d tried to pretend he was taking Julian’s undermining behavior and petty comments in stride. But he wasn’t. Julian got under Chase’s skin, and today, Chase had finally snapped.
“You’re right, Ronan. We should be talking about other things. Ethan, you’re such a catch.” Amber reached to him, rubbing his arm. Subtle as a tank. “Young, handsome, a pediatrician. I have so many single friends who would love an introduction. Are you seeing anyone?”
Ethan rubbed the back of his neck, his gaze darting to mine. “Actually . . .”
What is he doing?
The horror in my face must’ve been visible, because Ethan backpedaled on whatever point he was trying to make. “Not exclusively, no.”
Martyr Maddie, always doing the right thing. Even if it’s dating a guy just to make him feel better, Layla’s voice singsonged in my head. But it wasn’t just that. I was desperate to fall in love with Ethan so I wouldn’t get hurt, and I’d ended up hurting him in the process.
There was silence, punctuated by good old Lori. “Ethan told me he ran the half marathon too, Katie.”
Katie lifted her head from her plate, her eyes zeroing in on Ethan. “Really? Who sponsored you?”
“Doctors for Africa. What number were you?” Ethan’s face opened up. So much light poured into his expression. I didn’t think I’d ever seen him so . . . present.
“Nine two two three. Yellow shirt. You?”
“Three five two seven. Pink.”
“Phew, good thing we didn’t run together. We’d look like an ice cream cone next to each other.” Katie wiped invisible sweat from her forehead. They held each other’s gaze, a thread of something flirtatious entwining them into the same moment. Ethan was the first to look back at his plate, stabbing a piece of glazed potato with his fork.
“Maybe next time we won’t get so lucky,” Ethan said.
Or maybe you will, I thought. Ethan and Katie looked so easy talking to each other.
“So. Just to make sure we’re all on the same page. Ethan and Maddie are just friends?” Julian filled my wineglass to the brim. Was he trying to get me drunk? Probably, based on my disastrous visit to his family’s Hamptons home.
“Is that concept foreign to you?” Chase sat back, spearing his cousin with a dark glare. My hand was still in his under the table. “Or are you simply obsessed with my fiancée in general?”
“Fiancée. That’s a bold statement,” Amber muttered into her wineglass.
“Are we going to open the subject of bold here, at the table, Lady Macbeth?” Chase inquired dryly. Amber nearly spat her wine out. I put a hand to Chase’s arm. His muscles flexed under my fingertips. He was a beast restrained.
“I can hold my own,” I whispered.
“Don’t I know it. I’m still hoping to get my balls back for Christmas.” Chase sighed, kissing my temple. “Sorry.”
It was a lie, of course, but one I appreciated, even if it was a part of an elaborate Chase act.
“I just want you boys to get along.” Lori sighed, looking between Chase and Julian. “I know emotions have been running high, but nothing is worth your friendship. Blood is thicker than water.”