“What about you?” he adds.
“Yes, I have.” I nod, the motion making my head swim a little. “My ex has a pet boa constrictor. He kept it in the basement. Next to his guitar collection. If by some insane stretch of the imagination he gets custody of Felicity, I’m going to sneak in there and kill it.”
“You should,” Nash says, with an intensity that surprises me. “What kind of asshole has a boa constrictor and a baby in the same house?”
“A stupid asshole,” I agree, bobbing my head again. “The stupidest asshole who was ever an asshole kind of asshole.” I take another swig of beer, willing the alcohol to do its work. I can’t think about Liam taking Felicity anymore tonight or I’m going to go crazy.
Maybe I already have.
That would explain why I’m suddenly so chummy with Nash.
He clears his throat. “Yeah, I heard. I’m so sorry you’re going through this. I can imagine how hard it must be.”
“Thanks.” I fight to swallow past the fist suddenly shoving up my throat.
Kindness from Nash is harder to take than sarcasm.
Kindness lowers my defenses.
It makes me remember things…
Stupid things like how good it felt to rest my cheek against his solid chest, feel his strong arms around me, hear his husky drawl telling me how much he cares in a way that made me believe it.
But that was all a lie. Nash proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt, and I would be a fool to forget it, even over a decade later.
“Whatever,” I say, banishing the dangerous thoughts with another drink. “It’s fine. I’ve got time before the hearing. I’ll figure something out.”
“I’m sure you will,” he says, but he’s watching me out of the corner of his eyes, concern still written clearly on his face.
“Seriously, Nash, I don’t need you to feel sorry for me,” I say, refusing to cry. I can’t lose control in front of him. It would be too mortifying. “I wish Mason had kept his mouth shut,” I mumble, though I’m not really mad at Mason.
I’m mad at myself for being such an emotional wreck. I should be used to this kind of thing from Liam by now. I should be stronger.
Nash grunts. “Well he didn’t so… Guess I owe you a confession.” Before I can assure him he doesn’t owe me anything, he takes a deep breath and says, “I broke up with someone recently, too. I ran into her a few minutes ago, and found out she’s already engaged to marry a loser I used to play football with in high school.”
I blink. “Wow. That sucks. I think mine is worse, but that really does suck.”
Nash sighs. “He’s the same guy she was cheating on me with. The one I found in my bed when I came home from work a little too early one afternoon.”
I wince around another swig of beer. “Ouch. I’m so sorry. Cheating is the worst. You’re definitely narrowing my lead in the pain Olympics.”
Nash’s lips curve in a wry smile. “Well hold on because I’m about to close the gap. Instead of walking away without saying anything like a sane person, I lied and told her I was engaged, too.”
My jaw drops. “What? So you just…made up a fake fiancée?”
“Yep.”
I giggle. “That’s nuts. I didn’t know you were nuts.”
“Neither did I,” he says with a laugh, his eyes rolling up to study the roof of the tent. “I don’t even have a girlfriend. I haven’t dated anyone since Rachael left, and I’m sure she knows it. It’s not like it’s easy to keep secrets in this town.”
I snort. “What? In this not-at-all gossipy cesspool? Yeah, if she doesn’t know you’re lying now, she will by tomorrow. Or maybe tonight, depending on who she runs into while waiting in line for corn dogs.”
“I know,” Nash says, color flushing his cheeks. “So yeah. I’m about to look like a bigger fool than I do already.” He glances down at his beer. “Too bad my friend, Sandra, moved away.”
“Why? Who’s that?” I ask, my buzz making me unapologetically nosy.
“She always hated Rachael. With a burning passion. I probably could have convinced her to get engaged for a while. Just to save my damned pride.”
I frown. “No way. You wouldn’t really do something like that?”
“Yeah, I would,” he says, with a shrug. “We almost got married a few years ago, actually. She has Crohn’s disease. She was going through a really rough patch with her illness and couldn’t afford her meds. Since neither of us had any romantic prospects on the horizon, we were going to get hitched so she could be on my insurance.”
My lips purse and the lump reforms in my throat again. “Wow. That’s…really sweet. Illegal, but very sweet.”
He shrugs again, more uncomfortably this time. “But then she met someone amazing and she and her new girlfriend moved to Boulder. They’re getting married this spring, and I don’t have any other female friends as crazy as Sandra, so…”