“He did what?” Megan screamed. She was sitting beside me on the sofa, her feet tucked underneath her.

I nodded. Thank heavens the other girls were running late, so I could run the whole terrible story past Megan in private. I sipped the Bloody Mary she’d handed me as soon as I arrived. She saw how stricken I looked and knew the very thing to make me feel better.

“I knew he was a spineless worm, but he’s turning out to be a complete psychopath. You should be glad you’re not with him. You don’t want to be with someone like that. Are you glad it’s all over?” she demanded.

I took a little sip my drink. It was very good, actually. “I don’t know! Jesus, it only happened on Monday!”

Her eyes became round. “You still want that jerk?”

“No, of course not. It’s just the way he rushed out to get engaged to her, and the way he acted just now like nothing had happened between us. It was like bizarro world. I guess it hurt me.”

“They’re both sick. That’s the only way to describe it,” she spat. She looked at me, all expectation. “So? What did you say?”

“I didn’t say anything,” I murmured, looking into my glass to avoid meeting her eyes. “Somebody else did the talking for me.”

“Okay. Now you’re starting to really intrigue me. Who did the talking?”

I laughed. “Don’t freak out, but remember Max?”

I looked over to see her eyes get even wider and rounder than I’d ever seen them. “Your neighbor? Mr. You’re So Fucking Big?”

I giggled. “Yeah. He saved me. I think.” I gave her the details, watching as her jaw dropped further with each detail.

“He’s your hero,” she breathed, hands crossed over her chest.

“Oh, spare me. Since when are you such a romantic?”

“Since romantic things started happening in your life, Mimi Young!” She jumped up and down on the cushions, clapping her hands. Her silver bangles clashed musically.

“It’s not romantic. It was just a coincidence that he happened to be there.”

“You might try to sound convincing when you say things like that. I don’t even think you believe it yourself, girl.”

“I do believe it,” I insisted firmly.

“You don’t.” She laughed. “You forget, I’ve known you since the first day of freshman year. I remember the shy little girl sitting on the edge of her bed in our dorm room. I know all about you, including all your tells.”

“My tells?”

“What you do when you’re lying,” she said with a grin. “Even when you’re only lying to yourself.”

“What do I do?” I asked, suddenly curious.

“For one thing, you touch your ear. Left hand, left ear.”

I dropped my hand to my lap. Megan threw her head back, laughing. “Next,” she said once she’d calmed down, “your nostrils flare out.”

“Oh, no.” I pinched them closed.”

“I’m just saying, you might want to think twice about spending money at the poker tables.”

I sighed, chuckling in spite of myself. “All right,” I murmured since it was just the two of us and she could read me so well, anyway. “There might have been a bit of drooling going on. I might have swooned a little.”

“A little?” I was sure she was about ready to crawl out of her skin. “He’s like a knight in shining armor. He keeps coming to your rescue.”

“He was in the right place at the right time. He was probably chasing me down to embarrass me over Monday night, to tease me or whatever, and he overheard what was going on. I told him about Josh, remember.”

“Right, and he spared you the embarrassment of being in that situation alone. He’s right—I bet that Lillian bitch told Josh to walk up and talk to you. I would bet anything she wanted to twist the knife in your chest.”

“Yeah, well, the joke’s on her. I don’t know what I ever saw in him.” I shook my head mournfully. “And she’s marrying him! Shouldn’t she know better? He won’t change just because there’s a ring on his finger.”

“Who knows? Maybe she thinks she can change him.” We both laughed, knowing that was impossible.

“Yeah, it’s easier for her to blame me, even though I had no idea she existed until Monday.”

“I guess she’s pregnant and desperate,” Megan conceded, jumping to her feet. Her long, loose caftan flowed, effortlessly exuding style as she moved. At least I hadn’t run into the Glamazon in my running clothes. I stood and followed her into the kitchen. It was a cramped little galley kitchen, just like mine, though hers was painted a sunny yellow to make up for the lack of windows.

“Well, at least now you don’t need to worry about going to the party alone,” Megan opening the fridge and taking out a carton of tomato juice.

“I’m not going to the party at all.”

“You have to go.”

“No, I don’t.”

Megan calmly mixed another Bloody Mary for us. I made a mental note not to go overboard like I did on Monday. It was just not worth it. It took me two full days to recover.

“You have to go because if you don’t. It means she wins. And you can’t let her win. Do you want her to think she’s intimidated you!? Believe me, if you don’t show, that’s exactly what she’ll think.”

I leaned against her counter. “I don’t care what she thinks.”

“If I were you, I’d go. Salvage my pride by showing up with an absolute hunk. From what you’ve told me, Max will do everything he can to make you look good.”

She handed me a fresh Bloody Mary.

“Trust me,” she said pouring herself one too. “My intuition is never off when it comes to things like this, and I think he’s the real deal. He could have left you sitting there alone Monday night, but he brought you inside and tried to help when you lost your mind.”

We clinked glasses. “Well,” I said biting my thumb. “I told him I don’t want him to go with me. I don’t know what crazy stunt he’ll pull next.”

She took a sip. “Well, you’ll just have to tell him, you’ve changed your mind.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because we made a bet that he’d come to me for help before I went to him.”

She grinned over the rim of her glass. “I think this could be the beginning of a very, very good romance novel.”

“And I think you’ve already had too much to drink. No men for me in the immediate future. I need a break after Josh.”

“Okay, then…” she trailed off, eyebrows arched.

The doorbell rang before I could ask what she looked so damn pleased with herself about.