We were all leaning in toward each other and at that point, so nobody was paying attention to the sounds coming from the other room. That’s how we lost track of what was going on with the other half of our party. We found out that the guys were no longer distracted when we heard Mark clear his throat from the doorway. We all jumped back with a start and looked up at him in guilty surprise.
“Sorry to interrupt your, uh … conversation, but the game’s over if you would like some male/female interaction,” he said suggestively with a flirty smile at Beth.
She met his gaze directly, and even though she was blushing, her expression said that she was imagining some very interesting male/female interaction indeed. And as for him, I had never seen him look at her that way before. He was looking at her like Braden looked at Gabrielle. Furthermore, everyone in the room realized it, including to the two of them. The sexual tension between them was thick enough to cut with a knife.
“Mark, are you saying that you would like to interact with Beth,” Jess teased, breaking the moment of charged silence.
“Believe me, I’d love to, but I’d like to live to see twenty-eight even more,” he said with a laugh and headed back into the other room. We all looked at Beth simultaneously.
“I might be able to work with that,” Beth said as a huge grin spread slowly across her face. Smiling like that with her cheeks pink and her eyes glowing she really was gorgeous. Mark didn’t stand a chance.
We got up and headed into the living-room, settling ourselves next our respective, and in Beth’s case, prospective, partners. It was interesting watching them together in close physical proximity. She crossed her legs and I saw him glance over and let his eyes travel their length. He rested an arm on the back of the couch and she moved back and over ever so slightly. They were so aware of each other and I could see already that this was escalating beyond just he’s hot/she’s hot. There was a more powerful attraction there. Maybe it had been there for a while, but Mark hadn’t seen it because he hadn’t been looking. Well, he was looking now and that inspired Beth to look more boldly.
Something else occurred to me then. Adam and I had probably been exactly the same way. No wonder it wasn’t any surprise to our friends when we got together after decades of being enemies. They had seen it all along. They knew we wanted each other. So, if we wanted each other so much, why did he have to go out with his buddies and act like a player wannabe? I didn’t think he would actually f**k anyone else, but the thought of him getting a lap dance in some strip club made me sick, and I felt myself getting angry again. It was Gabrielle who brought it all to the surface.
“So, do you guys plan to have a bachelor party for Adam?” she asked lightly and my heart slammed into my chest wall. What was she doing?
“A bachelor party?” Braden repeated, sounding slightly guilty. “Well, uh yeah, I guess we thought it might be fun to have a guy’s night out together in Vegas. You know, explore a little bit.”
“Yeah, maybe have a drink, check out a show,” Cam said with a smile.
“That sounds fun,” Jess said smiling at Cameron brightly. “I guess we’ll have a bachelorette party for Lily too then. I’m sure they have some really good ‘shows’ for ladies.”
“Hang on,” Adam said, sitting up quickly. “What kind of bachelorette party?”
“Maybe we’ll check out some nude co-ed mud wrestling.” I bit out, unsuccessfully trying to keep the tension out of my voice. I had been simmering for too long.
“What, were you eavesdropping?” Adam asked angrily.
“Eavesdropping?!” I sputtered. “I was walking back from the bathroom! You weren’t exactly whispering in code! The next time you want to plan some pre-marital debauchery maybe you could be courteous enough to wait until I’m more than fifty feet away!”
“Pre-marital?! Fuck that, Lilith!” Adam flew to his feet and glared down at me, his face flushed with rage. “We were kidding around! But maybe you feel like you can’t trust me because you’re the kind of person who listens at doorways yourself!” He was livid. My mouth popped open. I felt like he had just punched me in the gut.
“Adam! Lily!” Gab cried out, sounding horrified. “Don’t say anything else! Please! I just wanted to embarrass them a little. I didn’t want this.”
“Yeah, don’t say anything else!” Braden emphasized.
I felt the blood drain out of my face and I went numb. We had lashed out at each other as if all of our time together had been erased, as if it were all a dream. We had turned on each other in seconds and gone right for the jugular. “We can’t do this anymore,” I mumbled, and suddenly Adam looked like a cornered animal, angry and scared.
“Please go into the other room and apologize to each other and talk,” Gabrielle implored.
I stood up on shaky legs and started to follow her to the bedroom. When I had gone a few steps, though, I realized that Adam hadn’t moved. I stopped walking, turned and just stared at him, terrified. It felt like my blood froze in my veins and I couldn’t breathe. I looked into his eyes, silently begging him to come with me, to make it right again somehow. There had to be a way to make it right because if we didn’t my heart would die.
And then he started to follow and I almost passed out with relief. I went into the bedroom with Gabrielle and Adam followed me in. Then she left and shut the door. I couldn’t look at him so I just stared the floor. We were silent for a few seconds and then he spoke, his voice filled with pain.
“Are you going to leave me?” I looked up, stunned, and then even more stunned, when I saw his eyes. I had never seen such anguish before. It hit me like a hammer to the ribs. My throat got so tight that I couldn’t breathe and I gasped. Then I broke down.
“Why would you even ask that?” I sobbed and more collapsed than sat on the bed. My whole body was shaking.
“You said, ‘We can’t do this anymore’ and the look on your face was like, ‘I can’t believe I was going to marry this ass**le’.” He sounded a like a hurt and frightened child.
“I meant we couldn’t attack each other anymore,” I answered, barely intelligible. I knew that I was ugly crying at that point but I didn’t care. Through a blur of tears, I saw him release a ragged breath.
“Thank f**k you told me,” he said, voice breaking. “I would have gone nuts. I don’t know what I would have done.”