“Where’s Livy?” Staci was talking to Mason, but my attention was focused solely on them as soon as I heard her name.

“She’s on a date.”

My heart stopped at his words.

“With who?” Staci seemed excited for her, and I wanted to ask her whose team she was on.

“Some guy she met at a coffee shop. I wasn’t too impressed with him.” Mason shrugged his shoulders.

I wanted to ask him where they went, but I didn’t need him suspicious of me. Not to mention my fiancée who was sitting by my side glued to her cell phone.

Staci pulled out her cell phone as well and started texting before a smile lit up her face.

“She’s going to come by here after.” She looked directly at me as she said the words, and I narrowed my eyes at her. She and Livy had become best friends ever since Livy started working at the shop, and I wondered how much Livy had told her.

“Are you almost ready?” Emily wrapped her arm around mine.

“We just got here like thirty minutes ago, Emily,” I whispered to her, and she just rolled her eyes before going back to her phone.

I knew that it was stupid, but I wanted to be here when Livy came. It was driving me insane to think about her on her date. Did she like him? Would it become something serious?

I downed a few beers as I watched the door waiting for her to arrive. My friends were all laughing around me, and I tried to join in, but every time the door opened I was on alert.

When she finally walked through the door, I finally breathed a sigh of relief. Until I saw some douchebag walk in behind her.

He was wearing a baby blue button-down shirt and black dress pants, and as much as I hated to say it, he actually looked like he fit next to her. Staci waved her hand in their direction, and Livy’s face lit up when she saw her.

She made her way over to us, and she faltered slightly when she saw me. Apparently, Staci didn’t tell her that I would be here.

Her date pulled out her seat for her directly across from me before sitting down himself. I gave him points for being a gentleman, but that didn’t make me want to rip his head off any less.

“Hey, guys. This is Josh.”

We all said our hellos, and Brandon shook his hand. Emily had finally put her phone down, and she was looking directly at Livy. I wasn’t exactly sure what the look was about, but I could see a glimpse of the catty Emily that I didn’t like.

“Hey, Emily.” Liv smiled at her, and Emily smiled back.

I watched Josh as he put his arm over the back of Livy’s chair, but she didn’t seem to notice. I watched him watching her as she and Staci gabbed on about who only knows what. He looked like a good enough guy, but he wasn’t good enough for her.

Livy would glance my way every so often, but as soon as I caught her gaze, it’d dart away.

I left the table to order a round of shots, and Brandon followed me.

“What are you doing?” he asked as I threw a shot of whiskey down my throat.

“Getting drunk,” I said sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes. “That’s not what I mean. What are you doing with Livy?”

“Livy’s on a date.” I looked behind me to watch her date lean in close to talk to her.

“And you’re here with your fiancée yet you both continue to eye fuck each other regardless.”

I ran my hands through my hair. “No. We’re not.”

“Yes. You are. Everyone can see it except maybe you, Livy, and Emily. Even her date’s been watching her watch you. Now I’ll ask you again, what the fuck are you doing?”

I threw another shot back and stared at my best friend. “What do you expect me to do?”

“Break up with Emily for starters.”

“It’s not that easy.” I shook my head. I had been thinking about ending things with Emily ever since Livy came out from behind that curtain at the strip club, but I would crush her. “We’re not just dating, Brandon. I’m supposed to marry that girl in two weeks.” I looked over at Emily who was still sitting on her phone and ignoring all my friends that surrounded her. She looked so out of place with them, so out of place with me.

“And did you hear how thrilled you are about that? You just said that you’re supposed to marry her. Not that you’re going to, not that you can’t wait, but that you’re supposed to.” He shook his head like I was the biggest idiot he had ever met. “You’re not supposed to marry someone because you’re scared of hurting them, Parker. You’re supposed to marry someone who sets you on fire. Someone who you can’t stop thinking about and who thinks about you more than they do themselves.” He took a deep breath and stared me straight in the eye. My usual jokester friend completely serious in that moment. “I heard a quote once that if you want to know what someone loves then you should look at what they photograph. I think that goes for drawing too. How many portraits have you secretly drawn of Livy even since you and Emily have been together? How many drawings have you titled something else, but they only remind you of her?”

I stared at him and let his words sink into me.

“What about Mason?” I looked at my other best friend who now had his sister in a hug as they laughed.

“Fuck, Mason. If he can’t see how much you love his sister, then he’s as much an idiot as you are.”