Ugh. Izzy Avery why do you insist on sitting next to me? We are done. You decided that. Where is Lexi?

I roll my eyes as Izzy goes on about how tomorrow night she will be opening and closing Versace’s show. But then one of the other girls says, “Isn’t that the same time Louis Vuitton is doing their show? I heard Hannah’s opening and closing that one.” Izzy’s face immediately contorts and her fists clench. She turns to the other model, “Hannah? Are you sure? She doesn’t have any staying power. She’s a flavor of the season.”

The other girl’s nostrils flare, “That’s what you wish,” she mumbles beneath her breath.

Izzy faces me again, her long chopsticks nearly swiping my cheek. I want to pull them out of her head and poke her with them. But then I see hands reach out and pull them from Izzy’s hair. Her tresses drop to her shoulders. “What the fuck?” she shrieks. “Who the hell takes chopsticks out of someone’s hair?”

“Question should be, ‘who the hell puts chopsticks in their hair?’ That’s so nineteen-nineties,” Lexi says, towering over her. “You need to move, I’m serving Brett a sake bomb.” She gives Izzy a dirty look, “Did you drink my glass of wine?”

My cheeks are hot in embarrassment, “Izzy, I told you that was Lexi’s.”

“No, you didn’t,” Izzy says, lying.

Lexi continues to put some beers down along with Clarissa. They set up some popsicles and chopsticks across each glass and place the sake shots on top.

“That is my style.” I grin, noticing her bleach blonde tresses sway across the soft glowing skin of her arms as she arranges the drinks. Thank you, for thinking of a way to get rid of this bitch. I turn to Izzy, “You need to move, Izzy. Lexi needs to sit next to me to have her sake bomb.”

Izzy giggles, “That’s fine, I can help you with your sake bomb.”

“Izzy, move,” I demand. “You’re being rude. You drank Lexi’s drink and are now hoarding the place she was sitting in.”

As stern as I was, Lexi blows my attempt out of the water. “Izzy, being the most gorgeous woman in America may make you a great model, but it doesn’t make you great company. Move your ass.”

I smirk, and Clarissa cracks up, “BOOM!” she yells. The model on the other side of me moves, and Clarissa takes her place. But Izzy stays, staring into air as if nothing had been said.

“Earth to Izzy Avery,” Lexi yells, with her hands on her hips. “Move!”

Izzy is still staring into blank space, as if she heard nothing. I tap her arm, calling her back. “Izzy, can you please move so Lexi can do a sake bomb with me.”

“Can I stay?” she asks with a sweet pout.

I don’t want her to, but I know it’s safer to tell her she can. “Uh, yeah. You can sit on the couch across from us.”

She pecks me on the cheek, “I know you still have feelings for me, Brett. Don’t fear that. I’ve never stopped feeling for you.” Her words make my stomach churn. She gets up and sits across from us. Lexi sits next to me with a wary expression. She knows there’s something going on between Izzy and I. But admitting that I dated Izzy is humiliating.

“Well, let’s do these bombs,” Lexi says.

“Have you ever done a sake bomb before, Driver?” I ask.

“Nope.”

“Well then, I’ll have to teach you.” I see a grimace on Izzy’s face, but I continue. “After you place the shot on top of the chopsticks, we say ichi..ni..san together. Then we pound the table. Once your shot falls in your glass, you throw the whole thing back.”

“Ich, ni, san?” Lexi repeats. “What does that mean?”

Izzy rolls her eyes, “It’s ichi not ich. It means one, two, three, bozo.”

“I recall a time you didn’t know what ichi, ni, san, meant either, Izzy,” I say back bitingly without thinking. Damn. I close my eyes, certain that Lexi might find out that Izzy and I used to date and the messy story behind it. But she seems unfazed.

Lexi balls her hand into a fist, “Let’s get to it.”

Clarissa holds her fist above the table. “Ready?”

“Ichi, ni, san!” the three of us say, pounding the table. My shot and Lexi’s land in the glass, but Clarissa has to pound the table a few extra times. The two of us throw ours back, watching one another, but Lexi can’t keep from laughing as I gaze at her, chugging mine back. I finish mine quickly. She pulls back.

“That doesn’t taste right!” she cringes.

I smile widely at her. “There was a couple of problems with that bomb. First off, the sake was cold. Secondly, that was an American beer. It doesn’t taste the same without Japanese beer.”

Izzy glares at the pair of us, “There’s Brett Brock sharing all his knowledge of Japanese culture again,” she says with her snide, mean-girl sarcasm. “Brett, is there anything about Japanese culture you don’t know?”

Izzy’s up to her old tricks again. I’ve seen her play them before, but never against me. She’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. If I stay much longer, she’ll get into every detail of our past. I feel anxious. I need to get out of here before she says too much. She continues, “Brett knows everything about Japanese culture, Lexi, from sake bombs to being entertained by geisha. He loves to eat out Japanese.”

What does that even mean? Is she implying that I’m a cheater? Lexi looks at me questioningly. I squint at Izzy. I know if I fight back, she’ll make a scene. Izzy doesn’t back down from anyone.

I read the text. It’s my mother. Mamma saves me again.

“Sorry, Clarissa, Lexi, I got to get going.” I gesture to my phone. “Work emergency.” I speed toward the kitchen to the backdoor.