peeve?” Marissa polished off her mimosa.
Rose sneered. “What brand of toothpaste does he use?”
I noticed that Alicia’s eyes were round and the corners of her mouth were turned down, and felt sorry for her despite myself. It had to be embarrassing to be shown up by your fiancé’s female best friend. “His mother’s homemade lasagna, he hates it when people snap their gum, and he uses Crest.”
All five women at the table stared at me in silence.
“Anyway…”
“But wait.” Rose the roommate pointed her finger at my face. “Didn’t you and Gabe date at one time?”
My stomach turned. Alicia knew about Gabe and me dating? Well, of course she knew that Gabe and I were more than friends for a brief time. They were engaged, for Pete’s sake. I wondered how much detail he’d shared with her. Did he tell Alicia how much I’d loved him, and how much it destroyed me when it ended? Did he share with Alicia how awful those months afterward were?
I could feel the weight of all their eyes on my face. “I…I don’t know if I would call it dating.”
Marissa tapped a fingernail on her glass. “Well, what was it, then? If it was significant enough for Gabe to sit Alicia down and explain it all to her?”
I began weaving together tapestries of curse words in my mind, inventing colorful ways of inviting Alicia and all of her bridesmaids to go to hell. I wanted to tell Alicia that she didn’t deserve Gabe, or the rest of the Parker family, for that matter. Heat rose from the collar of my shirt like a teapot, warming my face. Just as I was toying with the idea of flipping the table over and screaming like Tarzan, someone else wormed his way into my thoughts.
Gabe.
Whether or not I liked it, Gabe loved Alicia Von Longorial. He’d made his choice, and if I loved him, or ever had, I would make it work between Alicia and me, no matter what it took. I didn’t like her. Not even a little bit. But Gabe loved her, and I loved Gabe. That had to be enough for me. Even if it meant going against my natural instinct to cuss like a trucker and possibly pull some hair extensions out of their perfectly coiffed heads. And if they didn’t think I knew those were extensions, they were kidding themselves…
My eyes locked with Alicia’s. “Gabe probably wanted to make sure you knew everything about his past with me, right from the get-go. He didn’t want you to think that he and I were trying to keep something from you. Because there was never anything…” I paused and gulped. “…real between us.”
My fists clenched underneath the table. Lying about my relationship felt downright sacrilegious. “We were just…sixteen, and curious, I guess. It never meant anything.”
Liar, liar, liar…the word echoed in my head like the beat of a drum.
“It didn’t mean anything?” Rose repeated. She was perceptive for a model.
“No.” I forced myself to laugh breezily. “Gabe’s my best friend. Nothing more.”
Liar, liar, liar.
“Well, I must admit, that’s a relief.” Alicia sighed. “You’ll have to excuse my friends for being protective. They’re just looking out for me.”
I nodded, an image of my own overprotective roommates flashing through my thoughts. “I understand. I would do the same thing.”
Liar, liar, liar.
The other girls all nodded like nice, obedient bridesmaids, and I bit the insides of my cheeks. Alicia announced that it was time to go to the brunch buffet, so I followed the line of rail-thin women over to the food, trying to suck in my belly as I walked.
I watched each of the girls walk right past the pastries, cheeses, and meats resting on silver platters, focusing on the fruit trays like flies on…well, shit. They all plucked through the selection of fruits carefully, choosing only small chunks of cantaloupe and pineapple, with an occasional grape thrown in for some color. I looked down at the rapidly growing pile of hearty food on my own plate and my face flushed. There was definitely a distinctive difference between the plates. Meaning…I wanted to eat, and they wanted to graze.
When I returned to the table, the conversation while they nibbled on their “meals” ventured away from me and Gabe, and onto nailing down the look they all wanted to wear for their dresses. They clucked away, debating fabric, cut, and style suggestions, while I chowed down on my decadent food at the opposite end of the table.
I listened