The Love Sucks Club by Beth Burnett Page A

topic for joking around,
considering the circumstances,” Susannah says, pointedly.
    “It’s fine.” I wave my hand, dismissing the whole conversation.
    “Sorry, Dana...” Sam starts.
    “Sam is so insensitive,” Olivia sniffs.
    “Wouldn’t it be nice if we all had a lovely time for once instead
of always bickering?” Susannah is losing patience with Olivia and Sam.
    “Actually, we do have a lovely
time,” Sam replies. “Dana and I are quite adept at lovely times. In fact, we’re
thinking of starting a business. Lovely Times “R” Us.” she lifts her fingers to
put imaginary quotes around the “r.”
    Esmé laughs. “I’d hire you, Sam.”
    If I’m not interested in this woman, why am I irritated that she’s
flirting with Sam? Susannah kicks me under the table. “Voldemort,” she says
without moving her lips.
    Sam is facing the door, so she looks up. “Sure enough,” she
mutters. “Voldemort and Mandy, along with a few other drunk freaks.”
    “Great.” I’m tempted to turn around, but I don’t want to give
she-who-shall-not-be-named the satisfaction of knowing I turned to look at her.
“What’s she doing?”
    “Looking over here,” Susannah says.
    Esmé puts her hand on my arm. “Are
you all right?”
    “Fine,” I grin. “I’m just fine.”
    Sam shakes her head. “In a second, Dana should say something and
we’ll all laugh.”
    She looks up at Voldemort and gives me the slightest nod. Turning
to look over my shoulder, I make eye contact with my ex across the restaurant
and turn back to my friends. I mouth something and the entire table erupts with
laughter. It lasts for a few minutes, culminating with Sam picking up a napkin
and pretending to wipe away a tear.
    “And you say I’m dramatic,” Olivia scoffs.
    “That was just adding visual interest,” Sam replies.
    We all laugh again. Esmé squeezes my arm
again so I put my arm around her. I’m well aware that I’m doing it to make sure
my ex knows that I have a pretty woman with me, but it also feels good to touch
her.
    “Do you want to leave?” Sam asks me.
    “I’m ready.” I’m suddenly tired. Having my arm around Esmé suddenly feels uncomfortable. We look into each
other’s eyes and I feel that she’s looking into my mind and seeing all of my
hidden skeletons. Needing a break from touching her, I casually remove my arm
from her shoulders and stand up. Susannah stands up, too.
    “ Esmé needs a ride home,” she says. “She
shouldn’t be walking home after dark.”
    Sam pulls her keys out of her pocket. “No problem. I can drop you
off after I take Dana up the hill.”
    “Good,” Esmé says. “I want to see where
she lives anyway.”
    Doubting that my opinion matters, I interject anyway .“ I don’t suppose I have a say in this.”
    “None,” Sam and Esmé say at the same
time.
    Bracing myself for the inevitable run-in with Voldemort, I set my
face in what I hope is a look of complete nonchalance. The five of us walk
toward the door. When we reach my ex, she smiles at me and reaches out her
hand.
    “Hey, Dana,” she says, smiling. “How are you doing?”
    “Fine, thank you for asking.”
    “Did you get my letter?”
    “Yep. Just wondering how you got it
in my house.”
    She smiled. “I stopped up there looking for you. Since you weren’t
there, I just went in and set it on the counter.”
    Making a note to start locking my doors, I nod. “Well, you aren’t
invited to just stop at my house.”
    “Come on, Dana,” she says, laughing. “I lived there for five
years. I think I can still stop over when I want.”
    “Guess I’ll have to invest in a moat.”
    Voldemort laughs again. Her girlfriend, Mandy, grabs her hand and
glares at me. “Come on. We don’t have anything to say to her.”
    My ex gives me a wink before they turn back to the bar. I have to
admit that she still has some kind of sex appeal. She isn’t as gorgeous as she
was when we got together. The years of drinking and smoking have