“Coffee in Starbucks tomorrow? One o’clock?” he asked.
I smiled. “Sure.”
“I think your friend is ready to go.” He smiled and nodded at Olivia who was putting on her coat and giving Rory’s friend a kiss on the cheek.
We walked over to them together and I linked arms with Olivia. As we made a move to leave, I glanced over my shoulder at Rory. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Chapter 10
Rory
I’D BEEN SUMMONED TO a meeting at Olivia’s flat. I wanted to give it a miss, but I wouldn’t hurt Olivia and David for the world. I could suck up another meeting with Lacey, since she’d made her feelings plain at the cake tasting.
Don’t get me wrong, I wanted her. I’d lost count of the times I wanted to reconnect and picked up the phone to call Olivia and ask for Lacey’s number. However, I never had the guts.
Although, seeing her in the bar ... it had been like fate. All that long auburn hair waving as she held court, telling some story. Her smile lit up the whole pub and my cock had stirred in my Calvin Klein’s like it always had.
I wasn’t so sure going backwards was a good idea. I was still into her—still loved her, in fact—but the damage was too deep. Sometimes when you destroyed a thing, it couldn’t be put back together again, no matter how good the glue. I recalled a school trip to the St Mungo’s Museum of Religious Life and Art. In those days Salvador Dali’s The Christ of St John of the Cross was on display there. It had been damaged by a vandal in the 1960s, and while the restorers did a great job, you could still see the damage. Perhaps I had vandalised what I had with Lacey beyond the best restorer’s abilities.
I’d play it cool. I’d got over her before, and I didn’t have to get over her this time, since there was nothing to get over. Two meetings and the tiniest bit of flirtation didn’t count. It was nothing. I could do one more meeting around mutual friends.
David welcomed me into Olivia’s little flat in Kelvinbridge. It was more of a bedsit really. Olivia didn’t make much money, but she’d been determined to be self-sufficient, refusing to move in with David until the wedding. Which reminded me, I needed to find myself a flat. I had more than enough money saved, and I could get something decent—somewhere like the place Lacey lived. I earned enough and my outgoings were modest. I could have a proper bachelor pad like in the movies instead of my dingy flat in White Street. Our landlord was the “if it isn’t rat-infested, it’s fine” kind. And until now, I’d had simple tastes.
Lacey lounged on the bed, feet up, shoes off, her elbow on the pillow, typing on her phone and smiling. Of course, she looked fucking gorgeous.
Jealousy surged through me. “Someone interesting on Tinder?”
She glanced up from her screen. “WhatsApp work group chat. There was this sick cat ... Oh never mind.”
“Why? We’re all dying to hear about the cat.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t recall you being this much of a prick when we were together, Rory. Have you hit your midlife crisis early or something? I’m sure buying a Ferrari would suit you better than being a douchebag.”
Lacey certainly still knew how to deliver a burn to a guy. However, with my usual bravado, I grinned and dropped down to sit on the sofa. “You always were a bit high strung when you had PMT, Lace.”
Okay, I was being a dick—and a sexist one—but it annoyed me she wasn’t more bothered by all this as I was.
“I’m actually on my period. Last day, so I can confirm it’s you being a dickhead that’s annoying me, not a hormonal imbalance. But good try.”
“Yo, time out children,” said Olivia, walking between us and holding her hands up as if keeping us apart. “No need to make me practice my mummying skills yet. My first scan showed there’s only one of these little critters in here, so I have another few years before I need to become a referee between siblings.”
I snorted. “I can assure you, Liv, my feelings towards Lacey have never been fraternal.”
I looked over at Lacey. She caught my gaze, her cheeks turning pink as she bit her lip and tried not to laugh.
“Yeah, I know.” Olivia rolled her eyes. “I shared a flat with Lacey when you guys got together, remember? You two could get pretty loud.”
“Second that,” said David. “As your flatmate in the early days of your relationship, I can testify to the loudness of both your sex noises.”
I raised my eyebrow at my best friend and then at his fiancée. “Right back at the two of you. You’re hardly quiet yourselves. It’s like the diner scene from When Harry Met Sally.”
Olivia sat on the bed beside Lacey and lifted a hand to high five Lacey. “We do have our men well trained in chick flicks of the eighties and nineties, do we not?”
Lacey gave her friend a sad smile. “Well he’s not ...”
“Anyhoo,” Olivia rushed on, “we have decided the stag and hen nights are going to take place in Byres Road, and we will all meet up and go into town to a club after.”
“Woah, are you saying we can’t go to a strip club?” I asked. “It’s a rite of passage for a man getting married.”
Olivia looked at David. “You don’t want to go to a strip club, do you hon?”
David glanced from his fiancée to me and shrugged.
I lifted my hand and made a whipping gesture. Then I made the mistake of checking out Lacey’s reaction. She was glowering at me.
I moved over to the bed and sat beside my ex, placing a hand on her knee while David promised Olivia he wasn’t bothered about strippers.
“Hey, I was joking,” I whispered.
“You don’t have to be so immature.”
“You used to like my jokes.”
“You used to be funny.”
“I still am. I’m still a lot of things you used to like.” I crawled around her and sat next to her with my back to the pillows.
She smiled at me shyly, as if not quite sure what to do about this turn of events. She reminded me a little of the girl I had first met in the Queen Margaret Union.
“How’s work?” I asked Lacey.
She raised an eyebrow, surprised I was interested in something that mattered to her. But I always had been. I’d never been a douche—apart from at the end.
“It’s great, really. I love working with the animals,” she said.
“And the humans?”
She smiled. “I like my colleagues. It’s the rules I hate. The fact we have to charge ridiculous amounts for basic health care for pets.”
“Don’t the PDSA have a centre for pet health care if you’re on benefits?”
Again with the eyebrow arched in surprise.
Jesus, she really did have a low opinion of me. I loved her. I’d been with her every step of the way.
“You worked there when you were a student vet,” I said.
“Oh yeah, of course. It was the year you were in France. Maybe that’s why I thought you wouldn’t know.”
“I knew everything, Lacey. I loved you. I contacted you every single day when I was in France for my course. I listened and paid attention. I’m kind of bummed you think I didn’t, if I’m honest. Yes, I was a complete dick to you at the end, but when we were together, I was all in.”