Page 44 of The Best Ex of My Life

‘No. It was you. All you. You’ve always been the one out of the three of us to look for ways to make our lives better, whether it was doing our homework for us, or spending hours trying to find the best but cheapest holiday three eighteen-year-olds could go on or booking us tickets to watch films Karina and I have never heard of but you know we’ll love. Only this time, you’ve surpassed yourself.’

She’s about to hug me when I’m rescued from any more unwarranted flattery by a cough from behind her. ‘What are you both drinking?’ Elliot asks, avoiding my eye and focusing on Jordan, who has been listening to everything Teddy’s said and is grinning at me with pride.

‘Nothing for me, mate,’ Jordan says. ‘I’m training tomorrow morning.’

The serious way he says it, the way he shakes his head a little at the thought of alcohol contaminating his blood supply when last night he sat on the sofa and polished off a bottle of red, makes me want to laugh. I want to point out that his upcoming charity boxing match is against another physiotherapist from the hospital he works in, and his training tomorrow will probably be a half hour gym session followed by Starbucks. But I don’t. I offer him a wide smile instead. He’s invited us all to watch, and I’m dreading it. Dreading another triple date, and dreading watching the man I’ve come to care for a lot wearing satin shorts and throwing punches around a make-shift boxing ring.

‘Lizzie?’ Elliot asks.

‘Wine, please.’

‘Any kind?’

Just as I say it, the waiter puts a glass of a pale, cold, delicious looking white wine in front of Teddy.

‘That looks good, Ted. Can I have a try?’

‘It’s Elliot’s,’ she says, but she’s already reaching for the glass to hand it to me. Sipping Teddy’s wine is something I’d do without thinking, but it feels wrong to be taking Elliot’s glass. Teddy’s thrusting it in front of me like it doesn’t matter whose glass it is, so I reluctantly take it from her.

‘Do you mind?’ I ask.

He shakes his head, and I take a sip. As expected, it’s exactly what I want. I’ve no idea what he’s ordered, but I ask for the same.

Once we have our drinks, Jordan tells Teddy and Elliot about his training tomorrow morning. Jordan has a knack for telling stories, and we’re all laughing as he recounts his losing battle in the training ring with the ex-professional boxing coach he visited once who knocked him over repeatedly as though he weighed no more than a bag of sugar when Karina and Matthew break away from her family and make a beeline towards us. Teddy and I rush forward to hug Karina.

‘If those are the engagement party speeches, I can’t wait for the wedding ones,’ I tell them.

‘Well, given the speed of your engagement, I reckon you best get working on them now,’ Elliot says, and we all laugh.

‘No, we’re not going to go quite so fast with the wedding,’ Karina says, her eyes flickering up to Matthew’s. ‘We’re going to take our time, aren’t we?’

‘If we must,’ Matthew says in a way which makes it clear if he had his own way he’d be marrying Karina tomorrow.

‘Now can you all please, please start dancing? We insisted on keeping the middle of the room free for a dance floor, but no one is on it. You lot are going to have to kick things off for us.’

‘Not while I’m the designated driver. Sorry,’ Jordan says.

‘Agreed,’ Teddy adds. ‘I’m nowhere near drunk enough for that.’

‘I would,’ I offer, ‘but not unless a great song comes on.’

‘I can sort that in no time at all.’ Karina saunters off, and thirty seconds later ‘Proud Mary’ blasts out of the speakers. ‘There you go,’ she says proudly when she returns.

Shit. Much as I love it, this isn’t the song to start off dancing to. This is a song for wild abandon and you can’t very well start dancing with wild abandon on an empty dance floor.

‘Well, I’m not going up there alone,’ I protest.

‘You don’t have to. Elliot can join you,’ Teddy says.

We all turn to look at Elliot, who is already shaking his head at us.

‘No, thanks. I never dance.’ His voice could not be more matter of fact.

‘You never dance?’ Karina repeats in surprise.

‘Nope. Never.’

‘How can you say such a thing?’ I can’t resist joining in the questioning, despite the recent coolness between us. ‘What about when you’re in the flat on your own and a banger of a jazz song comes on, or when you’re in school and the year elevens ask if you can twerk?’