Chapter 11

Tuesday afternoon, Renee cleaned the living room as best she could. There wasn't much she could do about the half-peeled, ratty walls, but her friends all knew she was having work done. She also could've told them to have their meeting at someone else's house and she would skip, but she really needed her adult time. It was why she hosted every month. That way, she never had to rely on Graham to take care of Sadie. She just had everyone come over after Sadie was in bed.

Declan had missed dinner. He texted to say he was working late with Ronan. She felt bad about that, like he was taking on other jobs because she hadn't paid him. After everyone left tonight, she planned to address it again. He'd blown off her offer of cash yesterday morning, so that had to change.

She'd just finished washing the dishes from Sadie's dinner and was working on making a cheese plate and appetizers for book club when her phone rang. She slid the cheese plate into the fridge and answered the phone. "Hey, Mariah. How's the bride-to-be?"

"Frazzled, but okay."

"Anything I can do to help?"

"Wedding stuff is mostly handled. I'm here working on the table assignments for dinner and I noticed you don't have a plus-one."

Renee rolled her eyes. "You know I'm not dating anyone."

"Well, that's kind of why I'm calling."

Renee could almost hear the cringe in her friend's voice. "Spit it out."

"Graham is coming as Tina's plus-one," Mariah blurted.

Renee's jaw slipped open and she froze in anger. She closed her eyes and inhaled slowly and deeply. That mother fucker.

"Renee?"

She released the breath. "I'm here. It's fine. I give zero fucks about who he's dating."

Mariah cackled. "I'm so happy to hear that. I mean, I didn't think you were hung up on him or anything, but you know..."

"I'm pissed. Not because he's Tina's date but because he'd already agreed to take Sadie next weekend and he backed out. The weasel didn't even tell me why."

"Douche."

"Yeah, that's par for the course for him. He doesn't deserve any more of my energy."

"If it'll make you feel better, I'll sit him at the table with my Uncle Stan and Aunt Eileen, who've been married for forty years and hate each other. And my cousin Emily will be there to hit on him. She's almost sixty and just divorced her fourth husband."

Renee couldn't help but laugh. "You're a good friend."

"I know. I can probably come up with a hot guy to be your date. You can make Graham jealous."

Renee snorted. "Why the hell would I want to make him jealous? That implies I'd want him back. No, thank you."

"Maybe jealous isn't the right word. Regretful? He should know how bad he screwed up."

"And having a hot guy on my arm would do that how?"

"To remind Graham of how hot you are. That other guys are totally into you."

Renee laughed again. If only it were true. "I'm fine going solo. But thanks for the offer."

"Let me know if you change your mind. See you Friday for the rehearsal, or do you need to miss because you have Sadie?"

"I'll be there. My mom will stay the weekend. Thanks for the heads up about Graham. I can get all my anger out before Saturday, so maybe I won't feel the need to punch him."

"If the desire doesn't fade, I'm sure we can find a dark corner for you to catch him in."

"You're terrible. You shouldn't encourage my violent tendencies toward my ex."

"We've all been there."

"See you Friday." They said goodbye and Renee went back to prepping for book club.

An hour later, Sadie was in bed and all four of her book club friends had arrived. They started in the kitchen, snacking and drinking, and catching up on gossip. Sadie was less likely to hear her say anything about Graham from the kitchen.

Renee had just told them about her conversation with Mariah and then picked up a quesadilla to snack on.

"What an asshole," Lisa said.

Renee nodded. The best part about book club was hanging out with people who understood and were supportive.

Julie refilled Renee's glass with more margarita mix. "I'm with Mariah. You need to bring a hot-as-fuck date and rub it in Graham's face. Let him be jealous of your date because he's missing out on?—"

"Stop," Renee cut her off. "What am I supposed to do? Hire a gigolo?"

Lisa snorted. "Who the hell uses that word? What are you, eighty?"

Renee threw a tortilla chip at her. "Sorry I don't know all the hip, new language. I'm not on SnapTok or any of those new-fangled thingies." She'd made her voice sound like a senior citizen and they all laughed. They stood there for over an hour talking about their lives and not even getting around to the book.

Kim poured the last of the margarita into her glass and said, "Uh-oh. I think we're out."

"That can't be," Renee said. "We haven't had that much." But the empty bottle sat on the counter mocking her.

"I can do a liquor store run," Zenia offered. "I haven't had a drop."

Renee eyes her suspiciously. "Why not?"

Zenia smiled and lowered her eyes. "I might be pregnant."

Everyone squealed and rushed to hug and congratulate her.

"It's not definite yet, but the home test was positive."

Renee held up crossed fingers. "They're pretty accurate."

Zenia had been trying to get pregnant for over six months.

"Thanks, everyone. I'm more than happy to run to the store even if I can't partake."

They didn't want Zenia to leave, and Renee remembered Declan. "Hold on. I'll text Declan and see if he can make a stop on his way."

Julie's eyebrows shot up.

"Just stop. He's Tyler's friend. He's the one doing the work." She waved her hand at the walls in the dining room. She sent a text and then said, "Let's go sit down and finally start talking about the book."

A moment later, Declan responded.

I'll bring the booze if you'll let me talk about the book.

She laughed and everyone turned to look at her, so she read the text aloud.

"Bring it," Lisa said. "If he thinks he can hang with us, come on." She raised her hands and danced her way to the living room.

Kim followed, but said, "Does he know what we read?"

Renee cleared her throat. "Yeah, he picked up my ereader the other night and started to read it. He said he was going to finish it on his own."

"An enlightened man," Julie said. "Can't wait to meet him."

They settled in the living room and Renee let Declan know her friends invited him to hang out. He responded with a winky emoji.

Every book club started the same, with someone giving a summary in case one of them didn't quite get through the book. It rarely happened when they did genre fiction, but they did it every time so no one would feel left out. It was Zenia's turn for the recap and she took a lot longer than usual because she wanted to make sure she hit every emotional moment between Malcolm and Cecile.

By the time she wrapped up, the front door opened and Declan came in. He had a toolbelt slung over his shoulder and a gallon of margarita mix in his hand.

"Hello, ladies. Where do you want this?"

Lisa and Julie outright ogled him. Then Lisa said, "He's like your very own cabana boy, plying you with alcohol."

Declan snickered. "I live to serve."

Renee stood. "I'll take it. I assume everyone wants another round?"

He leaned on the back of the chair where she'd been sitting. Lisa tilted her head toward him and gave her wild eyes. Renee mouthed, "What?"

"Have I missed the book talk?"

"We barely started," Renee answered. "Zenia gave us a blow-by-blow summary instead of a quick recap. There's still some food in the kitchen if you want some."

"I think I'm going to take a quick shower. I'm a little ripe from work."

"Okay. Thanks for the booze."

He disappeared toward his room and Lisa jumped up and followed her to the kitchen.

"What is wrong with you?" Renee asked.

"Dude. He's hot. Take him to the wedding."

"What? No." She poured margarita mix into the blender and dumped in some ice.

"Why the hell not?"

"Because he's my brother's best friend. He's my friend. I can't ask him to pretend to be my date." To end the conversation, she turned the blender on.

Lisa shook her head and went back to the others. Renee finished blending and filled glasses for everyone. Hopefully, Lisa wouldn't mention her hare-brained idea to the rest of the group. She didn't need that kind of peer pressure.

Declan took a fast shower so he could drop in on book club. It made no fucking sense and he knew it. He didn't belong with a group of women discussing a romance novel, but he liked hanging out with Renee. He grabbed a beer from the fridge, loaded a plate with the appetizers the women hadn't eaten, and went to the living room.

As he sat, the one with the blond ponytail said, "Did you actually read the book?"

"Yes. Well, Renee gave me the summary of the first half of the book, so when I got my copy, I skimmed. But I read the rest. Do you want to give me a quiz?"

She narrowed her eyes and puckered her lips. "No, I guess I believe you. I'm Lisa." Then she pointed to the other women. "This is Kim, Julie, and Zenia."

"Thanks for letting me join. I've never done book club before. How's it work?"

Renee smiled. "There are no rules. We pretty much just talk about what we liked and what we didn't."

"Cool." He almost launched into all the things he liked but then figured he should wait his turn as the newbie and see how things played out.

"You want to start?" Renee asked.

"Sure." He wiped his hand on his sweatpants. "I thought the relationship was pretty realistic. I don't get the pretending to be a couple part. They were obviously attracted to each other. Why fake it?"

"Because if they admit they want each other, first, we wouldn't have a story. But more importantly, they would be giving in to the societal and familial expectations that they've worked so hard to avoid," Julie said.

"I get dodging family expectations. I never thought about it when it came to relationships, though." He nodded. It made sense. "But even when they both knew they wanted each other, there were a lot of games. I'm not into games."

"Really?" Renee said. "Tyler has told me some stories. Juggling different girls for each night of the week."

He shook his head at Renee. "Sure, when I was like twenty. I haven't done that for years. And I always—always—made it clear to every woman I was with that I was not exclusive. No games."

She opened her mouth like she wanted to argue. Instead, she licked her lips and took a sip of her drink.

"What was your favorite part?" he asked her. He barely resisted winking at her as he thought about how she'd gotten herself off after reading to him.

"I love how Cecile refused to back down on her dreams. If he wanted an heir, he had to compromise and not run off. She wasn't about to let him have his cake and eat it too. She'd be his wife in name only and he could have his freedom, but if he wanted a family, he was damn sure going to be part of it."

"It's not much of a compromise for the right woman."

Their gazes locked and he felt trapped in some kind of game with her that he didn't know the rules for.

"Whew. Is it hot in here?" Lisa asked. "Watching the two of you is almost as bad as Malcolm and Cecile."

Renee looked at her friend, so Declan's gaze followed. The woman was fanning herself.

"We're talking about the characters. Obviously, Declan saw exactly what the author wants us all to see: that for the right person, for real love, we're willing to change our lives."

"Yeah, right," Lisa responded smiling.

For the next hour or so, they pulled the book apart and talked about favorite scenes and lines. Julie taught him how to highlight text on his phone so he could mark passages and quotes so he wouldn't have to try to remember. The whole time, he avoided direct eye contact with Renee.

It was almost eleven when they wrapped up. Declan stood and piled up plates to take to the kitchen.

Lisa handed him her empty plate. "So, are you doing anything interesting this weekend, Declan?"

God, he hoped she was just being friendly. He really didn't want to shoot down one of Renee's friends, but he had zero interest. "Just working around here."

"Hmm." She looked around him to where Renee was putting away food in the kitchen. "Before you got here, Renee was telling us about why Graham—you know about Graham, right?"

"Her asshole ex-husband? Yeah, I know Graham."

She smiled again and it was both approving and a little wicked. "Renee told us he's coming to her friend's wedding this weekend with one of the other bridesmaids. We've been trying to convince her to show up with a hot date that would let Graham know she's so over him."

Declan glanced over his shoulder. "She is over him."

"We know that. But we're not sure he does."

"Okay." The thought of Graham trying to worm his way back into Renee's life irritated him in a way it shouldn't.

"You know any hot, single, young guys who might be able to dote on her for a night or so?"

"You want me to find her a date? She'll never go for that. In fact, she might cause me bodily harm for suggesting it."

"Oh, you sweet boy," she said.

"Fuck," Zenia said. "She wants you to go with Renee."

"Me?"

"You, what?" Renee asked from behind him.

Lisa leaned back in her chair with a smirk on her face.

"Oh, Lord." Renee touched his shoulder. "Forget anything they suggested. They're half-drunk full of bad ideas."

He grinned at her. "Some of us are all about the bad ideas."

Lisa let out a whoop and Renee glared at her again.

Declan was smart enough to know not to say anything because Renee was clearly irritated by her friends. He cleaned up the rest of the dishes and glasses in the living room and took them to the kitchen while Renee said goodbye to her friends.

He filled the sink to wash the dishes and wondered what Renee had told her friends about him. They were full of jokes and innuendos. He had the first stack of dishes washed when Rene came in.

"You didn't have to do the dishes."

"I'm here. They were dirty."

"Thank you." She picked up a towel and started drying. "About what Lisa said..."

"You mean about being your date to the wedding?"

"Yeah. I'm not expecting you to do anything like that."

"So Graham canceled on Sadie so he could go to the wedding that he knew you were already going to?"

"Yep. He's the date of one of the other bridesmaids."

The dude was such an asshole. "I'm in."

"What?"

"I'll be your date."

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm not asking you to give up another weekend—this time for people you don't even know." She stacked the dishes to put in the cabinet.

"I know you. What's one night for a friend?"

"It's not one night. The wedding is in Galena, so I'm heading there Friday afternoon and I won't be back until Sunday."

"Okay."

"Stop."

"I don't have any plans other than working on the house. Part of me really wants to piss off Graham. He's an asshole. Plus, it's a wedding so easy to get laid. Bridesmaids are always looking to hook up." He set the last glass in the drainer.

"I'm a bridesmaid and I will not be looking for anything."

"I didn't realize you're in the bridal party. That adds to Graham's douchey-ness. So if I go, who has the hotter date?"

Renee laughed. "Are you asking me to rate your hotness against a woman's?"

"Yeah. I already know I have a hotter date than Graham does. I want to make sure he knows he's beat on all fronts."

Renee shook her head. "I appreciate it. I really do, but you should enjoy your weekend. You've been working here and now with your brother. I don't need you to do more."

He didn't know how to explain to her that he wanted to do this. He liked being around her. He felt better about himself and his life when she was around. Even with the jokes she made, he never felt like a loser. His family didn't mean to make him feel that way, but he did. They all had their shit together. Renee was more like them than he was, but he was different with her.

They worked in silence to finish cleaning up, and for the first time since he came here, things felt tense or awkward. "Book club was a lot of fun. Thanks for letting me join."

"I think my friends had fun, too. It's not too often a man reads romance and doesn't make fun of it."

"Do you always read romance?"

"No, but we do read more of that than other genres. Sometimes we do a thriller or a mystery, and there are a few occasions when we do some literary fiction. I don't like those months. People are always miserable and dying in those books. Life sucks enough. I want a happy ending."

"Makes sense. Now that I've been to one meeting, does that mean I can join whenever?"

"I guess if you really want to. Don't you have friends to hang out with?"

"Not ones that read. At least I don't think they do."

"I'll let you know when we're meeting again. We still have to pick the next book."

"Cool." The kitchen was back to normal and it was time for bed.

Renee nodded and said, "Good night."

As she skirted around him to get to her room, he reached out and grabbed her wrist. In a quiet voice, he said, "I'd like to take you to the wedding. Let me be there for you."

She looked at his hand on her wrist and then at his face. "I'll think about it."

Then she slid from his grasp.

"Good night, Rennie."

"Still hate it," she called without looking back as she walked away.