Chapter Nine – There Is Always an Easy Way Out

Dinner was set in an open-air pavilion close to the beach, so the sound of the waves reached them from time to time, as well as the pleasant summer sea breeze. From the crisp ivory linen tablecloth and the expensive candles flickering inside tall hurricane glasses to the tasteful tropical flower arrangements, the whole setup looked like something straight out of a magazine or an insta-reel for the rich and famous, making Lyn think again about how keen Brad must have been to marry into money.

He was too bitter. A glass of champagne – it definitely seemed like that sort of dinner – would help washing that away.

“We are the most overdressed people here,” Alexander took care to point out.

The sand must have been thoroughly cleared of any stray objects, so fine-grained it felt, and truthfully, Alexander’s remark wasn’t far off the mark. Even the ladies had abandoned their stylish footwear in favor of letting their toes sink into the powdery sand.

Lyn had no intention of letting Alexander believe that he had been right about something. It wasn’t because he was proud, but when it came to his old friend from college he felt his competitive spirit waking up, renewed with an edge made surprisingly sharper by the time that had passed without them seeing each other.

Alexander didn’t like it when people sucked up to him. No, that would be a too gentle way to describe the asshole’s usual behavior and pet peeves. He despised it when people tried to get into his good graces by being complacent and too accepting of his quirks. Brad was the only one who could get away with stuff like that. As a counterbalance, Lyn had always made it a point to contradict and go against Alexander, regardless of his chances of winning.

The jerk had to be so good at everything. Although he had been studying to get into med school, he held his own when in a debate with Lyn over any matter that should have been of a lot more interest to a pre law student than someone like him. He was infuriatingly right more often than not, which only made Lyn study harder, made him become more passionate about learning everything there was to learn so he would succeed and build the career he’d always been dreaming of.

In a way, Alexander was responsible for part of his success. A small part.

“Ah, here is the happy couple,” Alexander said, throwing one arm casually over Lyn’s shoulders and dragging him close.

Lyn huffed to express his displeasure, but his eyes fell on Brad who was coming to welcome them with a big smile on his face. His future wife was right behind him, allowing him to get a step or two ahead of her while she observed Lyn and Alexander with a sharp expression, her head slightly angled so part of it was shadowed. In Lyn’s experience of working with people, especially people with something to hide, that had to be the sign of an equally sharp wit or a well-veiled manifestation of suspicion.

“My men,” Brad said loudly and opened his arms wide. He pulled them both close and kissed them on the cheek. During those long-past college years, Lyn had suffered through similar bouts of affection from Brad, hoping so many times that they would become something more that he ultimately reached the point that they had led him to do something that couldn’t be forgiven.

“Hello, Isabella, I am Alexander, Bradley’s old friend,” Alexander said, extricating himself from Brad’s embrace and walking over to their common friend’s fiancée. “You look stunning.”

Lyn was too busy returning Brad’s hug, but he had to peek at the unusual scene in front of him. Alexander took Bella’s hand with a flourish and brought it to his lips. Although he couldn’t see what Alexander was doing, Lyn could read Bella’s expression with ease. For a woman who would soon turn thirty, she looked like a flustered teenager, pressing her lips together briefly, her eyelids dropping, her eyes becoming slightly unfocused.

“Hey, hey, that’s my woman you’re rizzing the hell out of,” Brad warned Alexander as he moved away from Lyn. “By the way, Bella, don’t let yourself be fooled by this fool. When we were in college, he broke hearts left and right. And he was so cold, he always made girls cry.”

“I was only stating the truth,” Alexander said in the same impassive manner that had rightfully earned him the reputation of a cold fish.

Not so cold, Lyn thought, briefly remembering his strange afternoon with Alexander, kissing and giving the guy a hand.

And Alexander was right. Bella looked stunning, as radiant as a soon-to-be bride was supposed to be in a flowing dress the color of champagne that only made the golden hues of her hair appear lovelier. She wore discreet jewelry, but everything she had put on showed obvious good taste and money.

“Hi, Bella,” Lyn said, hurrying to join the group and break the weird tension Alexander tended to bring with him everywhere he went. “I’m Lyn.”

Bella smiled perfunctorily at him. Lyn couldn’t help feeling a short sting. After Alexander – rich, insanely good-looking, and obviously a gentleman with charming manners – he had to look dowdy and uninteresting. It didn’t seem fair, after all the effort he put into looking the way he did, but not many things were fair in the world. He was here, after all, for Brad, not for her.

“So happy to meet the two of you,” she said, with a sunny smile that was more directed at Alexander than at both of them. A silly thought – that Bella didn’t like him – crossed his mind. But why? What could Brad have told her that would cause her to behave so strangely?

Maybe she was just a stuck-up b-lady, he decided, since dwelling on Brad’s fiancée’s feelings wasn’t on his list of priorities.

“Please, join us. We’ll show you to your seats.”

She seemed like the kind of gal who’d put the names of all those invited on tiny cards, even for an informal dinner like this one was supposed to be.

“Is Luke here already?” Brad asked her, as Lyn and Alexander followed them to the table. “I really wanted to introduce him to the guys.”

Bella shrugged his shoulders. Adept at reading body language, Lyn believed that to be a clear sign of annoyance. “You know Luke. He’s probably forgotten that he is supposed to be here instead of playing video games.”

So, Luke was younger. He had to be Bella’s baby brother. Playing video games? How young was he? Hopefully, their D’Artagnan wasn’t a pimpled kid still in high school who never touched grass. But Brad would never be close to someone like that. Lyn knew how much effort it had taken him to avoid being treated like a nerd and a geek by Brad during their college years. Still, Brad wouldn’t think twice about calling him that, as he had done so earlier today. He had told his future wife that Lyn used to be a huge nerd in college. It looked like Bella didn’t like nerds. Not even those wearing perfectly tailored clothes with not one hair out of place on their heads.

“Then I’ll go get him,” Brad said in his usual bright manner.

“Don’t,” Bella warned him in a tone that brooked no contradiction.

Lyn frowned slightly. She appeared to be quite domineering in her relationship with Brad.

“He’ll miss dinner,” Brad insisted.

“And you’ll miss the appetizer and my dad’s first toast if you go now,” Bella insisted back. “Let him go to sleep on an empty stomach if he’s going to be that much of an idiot.”

Idiot. Wow. There wasn’t much love lost there. Were they only half-siblings? Lyn couldn’t match Bella’s dazzling appearance with that of a nerd in a striped shirt, wearing prescription glasses.

“Okay, babe,” Brad said casually, wrapping one arm around her waist and pulling her close for a kiss. “As you wish.”

“I suppose we know who’s wearing the pants in this family,” Alexander murmured in Lyn’s ear.

Lyn grimaced. “Shut up,” he said under his breath. “When did you develop a sweet tooth for gossip like an old lady?”

Alexander shrugged. “I suppose we won’t get to meet our D’Artagnan tonight.”

Lyn took a quick look at his friend’s face. “What’s the sneer for? Ah, don’t tell me, you’re jealous.” Somehow, the idea was too funny to resist. He chuckled and shook his head. As far as his memories went, Alexander had always behaved as if he was friends with Lyn and Brad only because it was convenient for him, for obscure reasons only he knew. To become jealous of Brad having a new best friend now seemed ludicrous. Especially after all these years.

“Are you only noticing that now?” Alexander’s face seemed as impenetrable as ever in the golden fairy lights stretched over the pavilion. “I’ve always been jealous.”

Lyn snorted. This had to be Alexander’s usual strangeness at work. Had no one ever told him that he made people uncomfortable by saying out loud whatever crossed his mind?

Not that he made Lyn uncomfortable in any way. Lyn knew him too well, despite Alexander’s earlier reproach that Lyn had done nothing to get to know him better.

***