22.
ELIZABETH
My eyes immediately met Daniel’s as panic seared through me.
How had I avoided seeing Ben for the last eight years, but on one of the best nights of my life, he not only shows up, but he also knows my…he knows Daniel?
Ben’s eyes flashed between my body and Daniel’s, and his brows furrowed, his face holding tension I didn’t recognize. He extended his arm to shake Daniel’s hand, and Daniel reluctantly grabbed it.
“How do you guys know each other?” Daniel’s question hung in the air like a guillotine waiting to drop.
“Elizabeth and I used to—” Ben started to say.
I stopped him, “We knew each other once, but that was a long time ago. We don’t know one another at all anymore, not that we ever really did.”
“Don’t be like that, Elizabeth,” Ben said, his tongue drawing out my name, slow and meaningful, as he shifted his weight between his feet.
His brown hair had started to thin, and part of me loved the fact that he was already going bald.
Karma, I thought to myself, it’s nice to see you.
“Uh…” I stuttered, hating that I was forced to see him right now. I couldn’t stand the way my name sounded coming from his lips. “Don’t say my name like that, and don’t tell me what to do.”
Daniel’s grip on my elbow alerted me to the fact that I was making a scene.
I turned to him, apologetic and embarrassed. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Are you okay?” Daniel asked.
I shook my head, my feelings splayed out across the cement like someone had driven over them like roadkill.
Ben stepped between Daniel and me, forcing unwanted space between us. “Daniel, may I please speak to Elizabeth alone for a moment?”
My mouth fell slightly ajar with his words. “We don’t need to speak alone,” I spit, infuriated at his choice of wording. “I don’t need to speak to you at all.”
“Looks like she doesn’t want to talk to you, bud,” Daniel spoke with authority, his chest puffing out, as he pulled me back toward him.
Ben’s eyes pleaded with mine. “Please…please just let me talk to you for two minutes.”
He placed his hands together in prayer pose and I sucked in a breath, wondering what could possibly be so important that he would beg me like this. I reluctantly agreed, “Fine. Two minutes.”
He led me far enough away from Daniel so that he couldn’t hear our conversation, but I was still close enough where he could keep a watchful eye on us.
And watch he did.
“What are you doing with Daniel Alexander, Elizabeth?” Ben asked.
“Is that really what you wanted to ask me?”
“Elizabeth, listen to me.” His words rang with desperation. “I need to know what you’re doing with him?”
“How’s Kim?” I asked, pulling my virtual gloves off.
“Who? Who’s Kim?” His face crinkled.
Who is Kim?
WHO IS KIM?
Has he seriously forgotten her name?
I didn’t care how many years it had been. That name should have been tattooed on his fucking tongue or engraved on his memory when it came to me. I sure as hell related her name with his whenever he was brought up.
“You’re a pig.”
Recognition dawned on his face. “I haven’t seen her since college. But, Elizabeth, why was Daniel holding your hand?” He was clearly determined not to stray from this singular topic.
“My personal life is none of your business.”
“Yours might not be, but his is.”
“How do you figure?” I asked, my tone more than simply annoyed.
“Because he’s dating my sister.”
“Jenny?” I asked.
His older sister’s face filtered into my mind. It had been a long time since I last saw her, but it didn’t add up. I couldn’t see the Jenny I remembered with someone like Daniel.
“No, not Jenny. Kate,” Ben corrected.
That made more sense simply based on looks. Kate had always been really beautiful, and she was two years younger than we were. But she wasn’t at all motivated or particularly intelligent, if I recalled correctly.
Then, his words hit me all at once. He didn’t say they used to date. He said they were dating—as in present tense.
Currently.
Now.
“What do you mean, he’s dating your sister?” I asked, hoping he would correct me.
He only shrugged and took a tentative step toward me. “They’ve been dating on and off for years. Katie’s completely in love with him. She adores Daniel. What I don’t understand is, why are you here with him?”
This could not be happening. Daniel had told me he called off all his friends with benefits. He never said he had a girlfriend. Ben had to be wrong or mistaken. Maybe he had bad information or something.
I leaned over, my hands resting on my knees for support, as I shook my head before quickly standing back up. “This can’t be right,” I said, my voice shaking.
“How do you think we know each other?”
“I don’t know.” I remembered that I had just wondered the same thing.
“Kate’s been with him for two years. Why would I lie to you?”
“But he said he broke up with everyone else,” I confessed, my voice not sounding like my own.
“When? When did he tell you that? Because I can assure you that they are still together. She just sent me this picture.”
I watched as Ben dug out his cell phone and fumbled with it. He shoved a picture in my face. It was Daniel with Kate in his arms, smiles covering both their faces. It looked recent, too recent. Daniel’s facial hair in the photo matched exactly the look he currently sported.
Glancing behind me, I noticed Daniel in the distance, his body tense, as I started to fall apart. Tears pooled in my eyes. “I-I,” I stuttered. “I have to go.”
“I’m really sorry to be the one to tell you, Elizabeth. Maybe we could have dinner soon?”
“Sure. Whatever.”
His words hadn’t registered. Nothing registered, except the fact that Daniel was a piece-of-shit liar, just like all the others. I dropped the rose he had given me to the ground, and I walked away as quickly as my shaking legs would allow.