Chapter 23

Lance and Jennifer were already at the restaurant when I arrived, only a few minutes late. Obviously, they'd both gotten there early. Their drinks were already halfway done and they were so wrapped up in conversation that I felt like I was crashing a date.

Starched tablecloths. Candlelight. Chandeliers. Shit, am I crashing a date?

I'd been invited but this was a nice restaurant for a friendly meetup between old pals. When I arrived at the table, Lance smiled at me and Jennifer kicked out the chair kitty corner to hers at the table.

"There you are," she said easily. "We've been waiting for you. I was starting to wonder if you'd stood us up."

"Nah." I smirked as I sat down. "I didn't have any better offers tonight, so here I am. Sorry to interrupt."

She scoffed down a laugh and took a swig of her wine before giving Lance a pointed look. "Is he interrupting, Lancelot?"

"He's always interrupting," Lance joked, then rolled his eyes at her. "Let's not start with that nickname again. I wasn't trying to be a knight in shining armor that day. I just helped a girl over the rocks on a hike. It was no big deal."

"Oh, good," I said jokingly. "I got here just in time for the old college war stories to start."

Jennifer chuckled. "You're so late, we're almost done with the old college story part of the evening."

"Well, that's okay," I said. "I was there when it happened. I don't need to rehash those years every time I see someone who was there when it happened as well."

"But it's so much fun to talk about old times," Lance said sarcastically. "How else will we figure out if someone has gone senile yet?"

"And suddenly I get it," I said. "The rehashing is all about seeing who has forgotten the most. Considering the amount of alcohol we consumed though, not remembering might not have anything to do with being senile."

Jennifer laughed. "Gosh, we did consume a lot of alcohol, didn't we? It was crazy. How did we drink that much and survive?"

"Our guardian angels were working overtime," Lance said, chuckling.

We talked a bit more about what had happened back in college. Then Jenn got us caught up with everything she'd been doing and we told her more about our own lives since. Lance's face lit up when she told us she was very much single and I groaned internally, feeling like I absolutely was crashing a date.

Working in tech, she had a few interesting stories to tell before she finally brought up the inevitable. "So, Dash. What's with all the gossip in the tabloids about you these days? You were doing so well being all mysterious publicly and then suddenly you were everywhere, supposedly dating a reality star."

I laughed it off, ignoring the pang of annoyance over the fact that the entire world thought my business belonged to them now. "It was nothing. Just gossip, is all."

Lance made a face and Jennifer called me out on it. "You know what they say, the best lies always have a little bit of truth to them."

She didn't make me either confirm or deny it, letting it go without making me say it, but I had been thinking about Serenity all night anyway. I was always thinking about her these days. While I was enjoying myself with Lance and Jennifer, I'd never had anyone on my mind as much.

Somehow, I still had not managed to get her out from under my skin and it was really starting to get to me. Although I'd never been out with her with friends, I still missed her as we ate, drank, and laughed, and I had no idea when this torment would ever end.

On the plus side, Lance and Jennifer were really hitting it off, and it was good to see him so happy. He'd always had a bit of a thing for her back in the day and it looked like he was picking up right where he'd left off.

Eventually, our conversation turned to the business side of things and Jennifer smiled at us. "Look, boys. I love the estate where you host stuff. We're definitely going to book this event with you, so we'll talk about options for food and stuff, but it's a done deal."

I grinned. "Of course, it is. If you can get the estate, you take it. Simple as that."

Her nose wrinkled. "Always so damn modest."

"Doesn't mean I'm wrong."

She laughed. "No, I guess it doesn't. It's quite a place. Is it true your Mom's not getting married there?"

Lance reached out and touched her forearm, shaking his head at her with his eyes wide. "It's a touchy subject."

"Ah, so it is true then." She gave me a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Dash. I know how close you were to your dad. It must be hard watching her get married again."

It's even harder when you can't stop thinking about the woman planning the wedding."Thanks, but it's okay. At first, I was a bit shocked about them wanting to get married so soon, but we talked about it and I'm okay now. The reality is that Dad is gone and waiting forever isn't going to bring him back."

She grimaced at me. "Yeah, but it still sucks."

I thought about how Serenity had commiserated with me when we'd spoken about it, inadvertently comparing her to Jennifer. It did suck, but I didn't feel any better about it after talking to Jen. Why is it that the only woman who really gets me doesn't fucking want me?

I sighed, but at this point, I was ready to leave. Jennifer stood up suddenly, smiling as she waved in the direction of the restrooms. "Excuse me for a minute, please."

We nodded, and once she was gone, I leveled with Lance. "Look, bro. This was fun, but I'm going to leave you two alone now. Let me know how it goes?"

"Don't leave yet," he said, then pressed his palms together. "We don't have to stay here, but don't leave us alone yet."

"You want me to be your chaperone?" I frowned. "Why? You don't need me. Clearly, you guys are hitting it off, so let me give you the space you need to really hit it off."

"You really think so?"

"I really think so."

He grinned. "So do I, but still. Don't leave yet. Before you got here, she mentioned a few times how excited she was about catching up with both of us tonight. If you leave now, she might decide to call it herself."

"Fine, but I'm not staying here. This place is date central and I feel like a third wheel."

He let out a bark of surprised laughter before he looked around, his eyes widening as if he was noticing it for the first time. Then again, he'd been staring at her all night, so maybe he really hadn't noticed the romantic ambiance before.

When Jennifer got back, I told her we should probably move somewhere else and she nodded enthusiastically. "As much as I respect polyamory and people's right to love whoever they want, I just realized on my way to the bathroom that this probably looks like a romantic evening for three."

I laughed. "We'd be lucky to have you, but alas, I've done my time in the gossip pages for this decade. Try me again in the next one."

"You should be so lucky," she joked.

After I'd paid for our meal, we took off to a bar nearby that Lance and I went to often. In the dark interior of my favorite watering hole, I finally managed to put my worries out of my mind for a while, focusing only on my friends and allowing myself to relax.

It got late fast, and by the time I checked my watch, it was almost midnight. Tipsy and damn happy that I hadn't thought about her for a few hours, I laughed and shook my head at an equally tipsy Lance and Jen.

"That's it for me tonight, guys," I said. "I'm calling a car service. Can I call for you as well?"

"It turns out that Lancelot here lives just a few blocks away from me, so we're going to share," Jennifer said, sending him a secretive smile.

His cheeks flushed and I wondered when I'd missed this arrangement being made, but ultimately, I was happy they were finally getting out of their own way. Ha, and Lance told me I was the one who needed to get out of my own damn way. Pot. Kettle.

Shrugging at them, I called for a car and paid my bill, trying to ignore the paparazzi when the three of us left the bar. They'd been after me since all those articles about Serenity and I had run, not relenting at all when the news about her and Ethan had broken.

At this point, it was becoming tiresome but mostly I did a good job blocking them out. Instead of paying them any mind, I went about my goodbyes, shaking Lance's hand before turning to hug Jennifer. "It was good to see you, babe. Sorry about the circus."

She chuckled against my cheek. "No worries, Dashy boy. I know it's not your doing. Have a good one."

"Yeah, you too." I waved at them before I left.

Once I got home, the alcohol was starting to wear off and I was suddenly bone tired. After forcing myself through a shower, I got in bed and passed out before my head had even hit the pillow. Falling straight into a dream about Serenity, I held her tight as she climbed into bed with me, smelling of my body wash and wearing one of my shirts.

As I molded my body around her back, my cock nestled against her butt. I started getting hard and she giggled, turning in the circle of my arms to bat her lashes at me. "Did you bring a flashlight to bed?"

"Nah," I murmured as I brushed the backs of my fingers over her cheeks, tucked her hair behind her ear, and leaned in for a kiss.

"I love you, Dash," she whispered against my lips, and the next thing I knew, I was wide awake again, panting and hard as a rock. I sat up in my bed, all alone and wondering where the hell that had come from.

Groaning, I scrubbed my hands over my face and lay back down to sleep more, but it never happened. I willed myself to get back to that dream, willing to admit in the utter darkness of my bedroom that I'd so badly wanted it to be real.

That didn't happen either, though. Instead, I tossed and turned all night, wondering when I had become this guy. I definitely hadn't been him before Serenity, and now, all I could do was hope that the damage wasn't permanent.