15-05-2021-052358It-Ends-with-Us

I laugh and elbow him, then lean in to his ear. “That’s Marshall.
Wrong guy, but nice effort.”
Allysa grabs my arm and starts to pull me away from Devin.
Marshall begins speaking to him, and my hand is reaching out behind
me as I’m being pulled in the opposite direction.
“You’ll be fine!” Devin yells.
I follow Allysa into the kitchen, where she shoves a glass of
champagne in my hand. “Drink,” she says. “You deserve it!”
I take a sip of the champagne, but I can’t even appreciate it now
that I’m getting a look at her industrial-sized kitchen with two full
stovetops and a fridge bigger than my apartment. “Holy shit,” I
whisper. “You actually live here?”
She giggles. “I know,” she says. “And to think, I didn’t even have to
marry him for money. Marshall had seven bucks and drove a Ford
Pinto when I fell in love with him.”
“Doesn’t he still drive a Ford Pinto?”
She sighs. “Yeah, but we have a lot of good memories in that car.”
“Gross.”
She wiggles her eyebrows. “So... Devin is cute.”
“And probably more into Marshall than me.”
“Ah, man,” she says. “That’s a bummer. I thought I was playing
matchmaker when I invited him to the party tonight.”
The kitchen door opens and Devin walks in. “Your husband is
looking for you,” he says to Allysa. She twirls her way out of the
kitchen, giggling the whole time. “I really like her,” Devin says.
“She’s great, huh?”
He leans against the island and says, “So. I think I just met The
Beggar.”
My heart flutters down my chest. I think The Neurosurgeon has a
better ring to it. I take another sip of my champagne. “How do you
know it was him? Did he introduce himself?”
He shakes his head. “Nah, but he overheard Marshall introducing
me to someone as ‘Lily’s date.’ I thought the look he gave me was
going to set me on fire. That’s why I came in here. I like you, but I’m
not willing to die for you.”
I laugh. “Don’t worry, I’m sure that death glare he gave you was
really his smile. They’re superimposed most of the time.”