Page 27 of The Spare

I flash her a playful glare.

“I meant me too. This is a solidarity groan.”

“Oh, knock it off, you two. We’ll have fun. And all the drinks and Uber ride home are on Daddy Warbucks.” Lilly waves her black Amex card in the air before Claire grabs it and pushes it down.

“While I appreciate the gesture, let’s not advertise it to everyone in line. I’d preferred not to end up like a Dateline episode when we’re all found dead behind the club later.”

Georgia’s eyes pop wide.

“A little less drama, Claire. You’re scaring the children,” I add.

We inch forward right as I catch a familiar figure walking past. His stride is steady as he approaches the bouncer, bypassing the line. “Asshole,” I mutter under my breath, not realizing I’ve said it aloud.

“Yeah. What makes him think he can just waltz on by?” Lilly pouts.

“It’s not a bad view,” Claire says, staring at his ass.

Grrr. Why does this dickhead have to be so damn attractive? I hate him. Why is it the older he gets, the better looking he gets? Me? The more pathetic. The fact he still has any effect on me at all is simply pathetic. “Well, he’s all packaging and no substance.”

“What? You know him?” Claire grabs my arm to get my attention. “Spill, sista.”

“There’s nothing to tell. We were childhood friends. One of us grew up.”

Georgia laughs.

“I feel like there’s more you aren’t telling me.”

Deciding to remain vague so I don’t taint this night with my friends with any of Sam’s bad juju, I contemplate how I can put it that these Southern girls will understand. “Let’s just say, some roads are dead ends with pretty scenery.”

“You can say that again,” Claire agrees.

What feels like an hour later, we finally make it inside the club and locate a table near the dancefloor. Claire wastes no time ordering drinks while Lilly and Georgia head straight to get their groove on.

“Oh, to be young again,” Claire drawls with her chin in her hand.

I shake my head. Knowing what I do now, I’m not sure I’d want to go back and repeat my twenties. It was a lot of work getting into and through medical school. And my dating life has been abysmal in every decade.

“So, fess up. Why are you really back here?” I nudge her arm.

“Remember the tall, dark-haired drink of water from the last time I was here? He apparently sent himself a text from my phone in the middle of the night so he’d have my number. He called after I got back home and asked for a date. Not just a sleepover.” She shrugs. “It might end up being a nice little diversion, nothing more. I certainly can’t fit a long-distance relationship into my crazy life. But the sex was so good it had me humming while I worked on the ranch all week. So I wasn’t about to turn down an encore.”

“I knew it.” I laugh.

“It’s really hard to have a relationship in a small town. Everyone knows your every move. I mean, the last guy I dated thought he could get away with cheating by going to the neighboring town. Little did he know that gossip travels across zip codes in the sticks. My ranch hands were so mad when they found out, they helped me climb up into his deer stand to hang wind chimes from it.”

“Oh my god. I would’ve loved to have seen the look on his face.”

“Me too. But not enough to get anywhere near him again. The dickwaffle. He was lucky I gave him the time of day. He only had three brain cells, and usually two were on a lunch break.”

The waiter arrives with our drinks. He’s barely left our table before Claire turns to get his attention. “Hey, could we actually get four bottles of wa⁠—”

When she stops mid-sentence, I turn to face her. “What’s wrong?”

Claire is squinting toward the bar. “Isn’t that the guy with the hot ass that breezed by us when we were waiting in line?”

Spinning on my seat, I follow Claire’s line of vision to see none other than Sam Lee chatting it up with a hot blonde. Shocker. “Yeah. So?”

“I had to look twice. That girl could be your doppelgänger.”