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  “I’ve got my fingers in a few pies, but tonight’s not about discussing business.” He looked at Free’s glass. “Is that beer?”

  Free nodded, sure he’d managed to screw up by indulging in the wrong kind of drink.

  Mr. Wheeler put his champagne glass on the table. “Point me in the direction to get a beer.”

  “I’ll walk you over. It’s an open bar.” Cary nodded at Free to encourage him. Maybe tonight wouldn’t be as bad as Free had thought.

  Chapter 10

  As Sam stepped out of her father’s car, she smoothed a hand down her little black dress. She’d dressed to impress her dad and to take the evening seriously. She’d speak to the stuffy suits that her dad thought were better for her than Free, but she knew in her heart, none of them had a chance.

  She joined her parents and they walked through the doors of the banquet hall as a family. Sam wondered how many other businessmen brought their families. Her dad said that the banking firm was family-run and family-oriented and they welcomed everyone at the annual party. She couldn’t remember ever attending before, so she might’ve refused the invitation.

  Inside, they checked their coats and within moments waiters passed by with trays of champagne and hors d’oeuvres. Sam grabbed a glass and a crab cake. She surveyed the room. A sea of dark suits filled the space. She sighed, thinking of Free and his many costumes.

  Trailing behind her parents, Sam munched on the crab cake and waited to see what exactly her dad had planned. Did he hope to simply introduce her to a bunch of random single guys in suits and pray for a love connection?

  Her dad stopped to talk to someone and she took the moment to snag another crab cake. As she popped it in her mouth, her dad turned and said, “This is my daughter, Samantha. Samantha, this is Anthony Mitchell. Samantha is studying to be a social worker. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t sell her on the idea of following in my footsteps.”

  Sam chewed as quickly as possible and brushed her fingers on her napkin before extending her hand. “Nice to meet you,” she said as soon as her mouth was empty.

  “I’m always happy to meet the next generation of investors,” Anthony said.

  “Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t think I’ll make all that much money as a social worker to have to worry about investments.”

  He shook a finger at her. “Everyone needs to plan for the future. My son is about your age. He could convince you.” He stretched to look over her head and called, “Humphrey, come here.”

  Sam’s heart stuttered. No way could there be another guy her age with that name. She turned and saw Free walking toward her. He looked nothing like her boyfriend. He blended perfectly into the crowd of suits.

  His eyes widened and he stumbled over his own feet, but then smiled at her. He reached for her hand. “Hey, what are you doing here?”

  She waved a hand at her dad. “I came with my parents.” Her mouth dried as she scanned his appearance again, searching for some sign of Free. Not even red Converse sneakers.

  “You two know each other?” her dad asked.

  She released Free’s hand and turned to her dad. “This is Free, my boyfriend.”

  Anthony chuckled. “Then I guess your investments are already in excellent hands.”

  Free’s brow wrinkled at his dad’s comment. He looked at her parents and said, “Mr. and Mrs. Wolf, it’s nice to meet you.” He shoved a hand forward in greeting. Her parents shook briefly while Sam stared in awe.

  “Let’s leave the kids alone,” Anthony said, drawing their attention. Her parents followed him to the bar.

  Sam’s chest became tight with confusion. “What are you doing here?”

  “My dad wanted me to be here to network.”

  “Network for what?” Seeing him now, in this suit, talking about networking and investments, made her stomach sink. She wasn’t going to like his answer.

  “He wants the clients to be familiar with me before I start work this summer.”

  “You’re going to work for your dad? What about acting?”

  He shrugged. “Acting is a hobby. I’ll continue to do a few shows a year because I enjoy it.”

  “Why would you walk away from your dream to do this?”

  Free’s entire face filled with confusion, as if she spoke some alien language. “This was always my plan. I never considered an acting career.”

  “But I thought ... you’re always in costume and running to rehearsal. You never said . . .”

  “I’m sorry, Sam. It didn’t occur to me that you thought I planned to act for the rest of my life. I guess we never really talked about it.”

  “No, Free, we talked about plenty. You chose to leave that out. Why?”

  “It wasn’t intentional.”

  “You don’t have to do a job just because your dad expects you to. You have a right to your own life and your own dreams.”

  He pressed his lips together and took her hand again. “Although my dad genuinely wants me to work for him, he never pressured me to do so. I like investing. From the time I was old enough to sit on my dad’s lap and look at the Wall Street Journal with him, I knew I wanted a career in numbers.”

  She yanked her hand away. Betrayal washed over her. She had no idea who this man was, but he wasn’t her boyfriend, Free. This was some slicked-up version of Humphrey. And she didn’t think she liked him very much.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “What’s wrong?” Her voice rose and people turned to look at them. “My boyfriend turned out to be someone I don’t even know.”

  Free grabbed her elbow. “Let’s go to the hall and talk.”

  Before she could utter another word, he propelled her out to the lobby of the banquet hall. She yanked her arm back. “What is there to talk about?”

  “Why are you so upset that you’re causing a scene at my dad’s party?”

  “You’re just like them, but you had me convinced you were different. No wonder you were so worried about appearances and what your dad would think about my Reddit post.”

  Free raked a hand through his carefully styled hair. “I’m still the same guy I was yesterday.”

  “No, you’re not. My Free would’ve been standing here dressed as Doctor Who with red gym shoes. My Free laughs and tells silly jokes and quotes movies, not stock market analyses.”

  He stepped closer, but she backed away. “I feel like everything was a lie.”

  “I never lied to you.”

  Her throat burned and tears pricked the backs of her eyes. “I need to leave.”

  “Let me drive you home.”

  “No. I’ll call a cab.” She held up a hand to keep him away. “Please just go back to your party.”

  He didn’t move, so she did. She backed away to the coat check and bundled up quickly. She felt him staring at her, but he didn’t attempt to stop her.

  So she left.

  Free stood in shock as Sam walked out of the building. He had no idea what had just happened. How did she not know he planned on being an investment banker? They’d talked about so much over the past few weeks, surely it had come up. He knew he told her about his classes. He remembered her wrinkling her nose at the thought of sitting through his Business Finance or Principles of Finance courses. What did she think he’d do with those classes?

  He didn’t know how long he stood staring after her, but he realized that his family would notice his absence. He walked back into the room and straight to the bar. A beer would no longer suit him. He ordered a Scotch and slammed it back. Then ordered another.

  Cary came up next to him and slapped him on the back. “Might want to slow down. We still have hours to go.”

  “I won’t make it for hours.”

  “Dad said your girlfriend is here. Where is she? I want to meet her.”

  “She left.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m trying to figure that out. She was pissed off that I want to work for Dad and not be an actor.” It sounded just as stupid out loud
as it did in his head. He picked up his glass and drank.

  Cary put his hand on Free’s glass and forced it back down to the bar. “What?”

  Free lifted a shoulder. “She thought Dad was forcing me to work for him. She said I should be able to follow my own dreams. When I told her this was my dream, she boiled.”

  “You’ve been dating this girl for weeks. You’ve spent the night with her and you never told her your career plans?”

  “Apparently not.” He tugged at the glass, but Cary wouldn’t let it up.

  “Dude, what the hell is wrong with you?”

  “Me? I didn’t do anything wrong. I showed up to this damn party even though I didn’t want to. I talked to people and did my level best not to embarrass myself. When my girlfriend appeared, I was relieved because I thought I’d have an ally in this mess. Besides you, that is. And instead, she yelled at me. Like really yelled. To the point that people started to stare.” As soon as Cary’s hand slipped from the lip of the glass, Free snatched it up and drained it.

  “Getting drunk isn’t going to solve this problem.”

  “I’m not getting drunk. I’m getting relaxed.” He pushed the glass back toward the bartender. Cary was right. Getting drunk would only make things worse. However, the burn of alcohol in his system was a welcome feeling after the iciness he’d felt from Sam.

  Cary ordered two glasses of water and then led Free away from the bar. “Let’s get your mind off women for now. Focus on getting to know some clients. She’ll need time to cool off and then you can call her and straighten things out.”

  As they wove through the throngs of guests, Free found it much easier to speak with people. He wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol he’d consumed or if it was their consumption of alcohol, but conversation flowed freely. He carefully avoided the Wolfs so he wouldn’t have to explain where Sam had gone or why.

  Attempting to explain the situation to them would be even more awkward than telling Cary.

  After an hour, he took a break and sent Sam a text to make sure she got home all right. He made the rounds to various groups of people and sat at a few tables to introduce himself. By the end of the night, he was once again feeling sober and thoughts of Sam crowded his head. She never answered his text.

  The evening came to a close and the three Mitchell men waved good-bye to the last of the guests. They sat at a small round table and enjoyed a final glass of whiskey.

  His dad raised his glass. “To a job well done. You made me proud tonight.”

  They toasted the successful party, but Free’s mood was becoming foul.

  “Pretty girl, your girlfriend,” his dad commented.

  “Yeah, she is.”

  “I didn’t get a chance to see her again after we first met. Where’d she disappear to?”

  “She left. We had a fight. Sort of.” He looked at Cary. “You ready to go?”

  “Yep.”

  They said good-bye to their parents and drove back to their apartment in silence. Before crawling into bed, Free called Sam, but she didn’t answer. Since he didn’t really know what to say, he didn’t bother leaving a message.

  Chapter 11

  After fifteen phone calls, Free had given up. Sam wouldn’t talk to him. He texted her the address to Hunter and Adam’s place in case she still wanted to come to the party, but he wasn’t counting on it. Although Hunter never agreed to a costume party, Free dressed as Doctor Who anyway. Usually, the clothes made him feel better, but not today.

  He got to the apartment and helped Hunter and Adam clean up and move things around. Cary arrived with the keg and ice. Hunter focused on filling bowls with chips and dip. Cary said nothing, but patted his shoulder. Free never felt so depressed before and he’d been dumped plenty of times in his life.

  People started to arrive for the party and Free tried to have fun, but all he could think about was Sam and why she wasn’t coming.

  Hunter came by with another bag of chips. “Where’s your date?”

  Free shrugged. “I don’t know if she’s coming. She wouldn’t return any of my calls for the last few days.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I have no fucking clue. I ran into her at my dad’s holiday party. She came with her parents. She seemed really upset to find out I planned to work at the investment firm after graduation. She was under the impression that my goal was to be an actor.”

  “Didn’t you ever talk about your major? Careers? Anything? That’s like basic level stuff.”

  “I don’t know. She never asked, so I didn’t offer. It’s not like investment banking is an exciting topic for most people. If they don’t ask, I don’t mention it. Plus, our time together was always limited. Who wanted to talk about work?”

  Hunter popped a tortilla chip in his mouth. “Let me guess. She saw the costumes and made the leap that acting is your passion.”

  “Not such a leap, but yeah. Looking back now, I can see where she made those assumptions and I didn’t make the connection to correct her.”

  Hunter slapped a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help. I hope she shows.”

  “Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.”

  “I know it’s sad when you pull out The Shawshank Redemption.”

  Free did feel hopeless. Hard to imagine when just a few days ago he’d thought he met the perfect girl for him. He went to the kitchen to pour himself a beer.

  A little more than an hour later and the party was in full swing. Free had a few beers in him, but the alcohol didn’t erase the depression he felt. He wanted to be a jolly drunk, but that didn’t seem to be in the cards for him tonight.

  He watched Adam draw on guests, mostly girls, giving them temporary tattoos, until he took off to hang out with his friend Reese. Free still questioned why she wasn’t a real date for him.

  “No sign of your girl yet?” Hunter asked.

  “Nope.”

  “I have a favor to ask.”

  Free straightened. Anything to get his mind off Sam and his misery.

  “Amy, Lisa, and Kelly are all here.”

  Free squinted in thought. “Ex-girlfriends?”

  “Yeah and they won’t leave. My new girlfriend, Sydney, will be here soon. I don’t want them to cause trouble.”

  Free was taken aback by the troubled look in Hunter’s eyes. Hunter normally liked the attention of as many females as he could find. “You really like this girl.”

  Free expected a joke, or for Hunter to at least scoff at him.

  Instead, Hunter simply said, “Yeah.” Then he pointed out the three girls.

  Lisa was nearest to him, so Free grabbed his empty cup and strolled over. “Lisa?”

  She turned and looked up at him with narrow eyes and a hint of a smirk. “Hi.”

  “Hi. I’m Free, a friend of Hunter’s.”

  She looked him up and down. “What are you wearing?”

  “I’m the Doctor.”

  She giggled. “Are you offering to play doctor with me?”

  How could this girl already be buzzed? It was nowhere near midnight. “Maybe a little later. Can I get you a fresh drink? Maybe something to eat?”

  She nodded and he held out his arm for her to walk to the kitchen. On the way, Free scanned the room to see whom he could foist Lisa off on. Near the keg, he saw Mike, one of the few marching band friends of Hunter’s that he knew.

  “Hey, Mike. Good to see you.”

  “Great party, as usual, man.”

  “Could you do me a favor? Lisa here needs a fresh drink.”

  Lisa looked up at him. “Mike will take care of you. I’ll be back in a few minutes. I need to go check on something.”

  Mike gave him a thumbs-up and led Lisa to the keg.

  Free ducked out of the kitchen and searched for either of the two other girls. Having a mission helped keep thoughts of Sam at bay. Unfortunately, Lisa hitting on him did nothing for him. He wasn’t looking for a new date for the
night. He simply had to keep a few girls away from his friend.

  The living room had filled with people quickly as Hunter and his band started to play. Over the heads of the guests, Free saw a new addition to Hunter’s band: a cute drummer. That must’ve been his girlfriend, the one he thought couldn’t handle seeing the losing competition. She looked like she could hold her own as she beat away on her drums.

  As the cab drove through the neighborhood toward the address Free had given her for the party, Sam tried to figure out exactly why she’d decided to go. He’d called and texted so many times over the last couple of days, but she didn’t answer because she had no words. Jess had come over to keep her company and feed her an endless supply of ice cream.

  Then she told Sam to get over it. As far as lies and betrayals go, Free’s were pretty minor. They didn’t feel minor to Sam, though. He was a corporate baboon in training. He planned to chase the dollar like so many other people.

  The cab pulled up in front of a two-flat in a quiet family neighborhood. She could picture Free living in a place like this, but he’d said it was his friends’ place.

  She paid the cab driver and stared at the building.

  “Are you getting out?”

  Sam took a deep breath. “Yeah.”

  She climbed out and rushed up the stairs. Music and noise filtered through the door. She knocked and no one answered, so she tried the knob. It opened easily and she stepped in. She followed the noise into the first-floor apartment.

  Warm air rushed over her. A band played in the living room. What should be the dining room held a couch and TV as well as a table filled with snacks. Sam stared at the crowd. When Free had invited her, she’d imagined a small gathering of his nerdy friends. She hadn’t expected a raucous party.

  She looked over the sea of people and caught a glimpse of Free. He was dressed as Doctor Who and her heart melted. She loved his dorkiness. Once again she was struck with questioning why she’d come. Had she planned to break up with him in person? She didn’t have that kind of willpower when seeing him as the Doctor.