- Lucy -
hated to see him hurting, and I could tell he was really worried about her. To be honest, it kind of made me sick all things considered.
I mean, here he was, obsessing over ways he might be able to help her, and she was off fucking some other guy who didn’t give a shit about her.
Okay, maybe that wasn’t entirely fair. Maybe she knew Brad. Maybe they were both volunteering at the nursing home together and decided to grab lunch.
Or maybe that was horseshit.
I mean, Chelsea barely ate so lunch for her was more a social thing than a biological necessity.
And while I was no expert on Brad- though I could probably identify his decapitated body at a crime scene- I hadn’t gotten the impression that he was the kind of guy that went out of his way to spend a lot of time with lonely seniors.
After all, surely that’s the kind of thing you would mention if you were trying to bang a chick. It would be the perfect anecdote for putting yourself forward as a thoughtful and sensitive guy, the kind of guy it was safe to fuck on a first date.
But there had been no mention of anything even remotely altruistic over our lunch. Plus, that was Brad’s go to Tinder hot spot because he had access to all the private massage rooms in the hotel spa… which were surprisingly spacious.
Still, even though I never thought Chelsea was good enough for Aiden, I didn’t want her to be cheating on him. Not just because it made me sick to think about when I was supposed to be psyching myself up for ice cream, but because if she was carelessly hurting him, I’d have to kill her.
Then she’d never have to count another calorie again.
But I wasn’t going to say anything to him about it now when we were having a nice time. I didn’t want bad news interfering with our glorious ice cream parlor hounding tradition.
Besides, what if I was wrong? That would be disastrous. It might jeopardize his trust in me. Or worse, he might take her side and push me away. Then we’d both be broken hearted.
I mean, he was my best friend in the whole world. The only thing I could imagine that would be more horrible than someone hurting him was if someone came between us.
No. I couldn’t risk our friendship by gossiping about Chelsea unless I knew for sure that she was being unfaithful. After all, Fiona and I left before she and Brad did. Maybe they didn’t cross the street and go into the hotel. Maybe I was just jumping to unfair conclusions because of my own prejudices, like the fact that I didn’t trust people who thought ice cream was evil.
I sighed. Either way, I was fucked.
“It’s overwhelming, isn’t it?” Aiden asked, looking at the menu hanging high on the opposite wall. “What are you going to go for?”
“I think I’m going to get the cake batter ice cream in a sprinkle covered waffle cup.”
“Toppings?” he asked.
“No, I don’t want anything to interfere with my judgment of the ice cream itself on this initial assessment.”
“A wise choice.”
“You?”
“I’m going to go with the double chocolate swirl in a chocolate dipped waffle cone.”
“Toppings?”
“Peanut butter cup chunks,” he said. “For extra protein.”
I laughed. “Of course.”
“Do you ever worry that someday we’ll be collecting cavities like we collect ice cream places now?”
“You’ve got it all wrong,” I said. “What we’ll do is skip the cavity stage entirely and go straight to being gummy and toothless. After all, you don’t need teeth to enjoy ice cream.”
“But what about the peanut butter cups,” he said, sticking out his bottom lip.
“Don’t know what to tell you.”
He sighed. “Life is so cruel.”
“Maybe we could blend them up and you could drink them.”
He shook his head. “Too sad.”
“Won’t they melt in your mouth if you wait long enough?”
“Yeah, but I’d have to spend the whole day eating ice cream.”
“The horror!” I said, raising my hands to my cheeks.
“You’re right. That is exactly how I want to spend my retirement.”
“You and me both,” I said.
We ordered our ice creams and watched as the assembly line of “dessert specialists” mixed our concoctions to our exact specifications. By the time the woman plopped my ice cream in its temporary waffle nest, my mouth was watering so much I was afraid I would start drooling on myself if I didn’t take a bite soon.
Aiden’s chocolate eyes were as big as his cone when he turned to me at the end of the counter. “Can you hold this while I pay?” he asked.
“I already paid.”
“You shouldn’t have,” he said. “I’m the one that suggested this place.”
“Yeah, but you paid last time.” I grabbed a handful of napkins out of the dispenser and shoved them in my purse. “What do you say we find a nice bench where we can focus on the ice cream at hand.”
“Lead the way.”
We crossed the street and went through the black iron gates of Venus Park. Aiden didn’t lower his cone from in front of his face a single time on the way to the closest bench. The joy he got from having his own massive scoop of ice cream was infectiously cute. It was one of my favorite things about our ice cream outings.
“How is it?” I asked when we finally sat down. “Or is that a stupid question?”
He lowered the cone, revealing a smile framed by chocolate lips. “It’s heaven.”
I reached in my purse for some napkins. “The peanut butter cups were a good call then?”
“Best decision I’ve ever made.”
I laughed and handed him some napkins.
“It’s all over my face, isn’t it?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Just your mouth.”
He stuck his tongue out and swiped it along the entire perimeter of his lips, making a face full of intense concentration.
“Whoa, you looked really serious there for a second,” I said. “And also kind of like a monkey.”
“Whatever. I’d be devastated if I missed a drop of this. It’s too good.”
“And you don’t even need a prescription.”
He smiled. “How’s yours?”
I sucked another bite off my tiny plastic spoon, letting the cool sweetness dissolve on my tongue and slide down my throat. “I must say I’m impressed with how well they’ve married the cake batter with the ice cream. It’s super cakey and creamy at the same time. To be honest, I might never eat another vegetable again.”
“I can’t say I’m surprised. Cake and ice cream is a classic combo.”
“Maybe the best ever.”
I heard a crack and looked at Aiden just in time to see him suck a piece of chocolate coated waffle cone in his mouth.
“You’re going to get brain freeze,” I said.
“I tried to eat slower this time.”
“But you didn’t.” I shook my head. “Sometimes I think you’ll never learn.”
Suddenly, his forehead wrinkled and he started to squint. “Oh god- there it is.”
I laughed.
“I’m glad you’re amused,” he said. “It really hurts.”
“You did it to yourself though. As usual.”
He leaned one arm against the back of the bench and rested his forehead in his hand. “I blame the concussions.”
I looked at his furrowed face and smiled.
“It doesn’t seem fair that I should be punished for my enthusiasm.”
“Oh, it’s your enthusiasm that’s the problem, is it?” I asked. “I thought it was the fact that there’s a greedy little fat kid inside you.”
He looked up at me. “For the record, there’s been no sight of him since eighth grade.”
“Well, lord knows we saw more than enough of him back then.”
He shook his head. “You are too cruel.”
“Actually, I thought that year before your growth spurt was the best thing that ever happened to you.”
“Why’s that?” he asked.
“Cause you learned how to take a joke. It gave you a thick skin.”
“I’d trade my thick skin for your self-control any day.”
“Self-control isn’t all that great,” I said, looking at some chocolate he missed on his lip. “In fact, sometimes I wish I didn’t have so much.”