I take another bite of my noodles and reach for the remote, resorting back to one of the few things we have in common. “Have you seen the new Jessica Beil show?” I ask.
“The one about the sisters? Oh, my God I have been dying to watch it. Jessica is a queen!” Kate squeals.
“She is, isn’t she?”
I reset the show so we can start it over from the beginning. We make it through one episode and for all of an hour, I forget about work and Callum. But as we take our dishes to the sink, Kate pours more wine and studies me again.
Round two.
“So, I was thinking…”
Fuck. Here we go.
“Kate,” I cut her off, holding up my hand. “It’s been a long day. After a crazy weekend. I don’t want–”
“I just want to say that I am proud of you.”
“Oh.”
Maybe I over-assumed.
“You surprised me in Vegas.”
“I surprised me too,” I admit.
“You were actually fun.”
There it is. There is literally never any such thing as just a compliment with Kate. It’s always laced with something else.
“And the timing is perfect.”
“Really?” I ask, scrubbing our plates in the sink with way more aggression than necessary. “And why is that?”
“I mean let’s be honest…you’re getting old.”
I drop the plate, and it crashes into the sink.
Kate doesn’t even blink.
“I’m 29.”
“That’s what I’m saying! And even though I always knew I’d get married before you, I guess I at least expected you to be in a relationship by now.”
I fold my arms over my chest and press my hips against the counter in front of the sink. “Did it ever occur to you that not everyone just runs into their soulmate at a boba shop?”
“It was a sushi restaurant, and I get that,” she says, her tone edged to match mine. “But the point is I was putting myself out there.”
My eyebrows scale my forehead and my mouth pops open. “Kate. I just went on a date in Las Vegas with a complete stranger who I PAID FOR at some stupid, very unethical man auction!”
“It was perfectly ethical, thank you. The proceeds went to charity. Or homeless strippers. I don’t know.”
“Not only that but I slept with him. There you go. I SLEPT WITH HIM. And! The sex was fucking phenomenal. Best I’ve ever had. How’s that for putting myself out there?”
She bites her lips and sucks her cheek before striking again. Because even when she’s wrong, and she obviously is, Kate will always have the last words. “That’s great and all, Mandy, but it would be better if you’d exchanged numbers. You didn’t exchange numbers, did you?”
Do I have his number? Yes. Did we exchange numbers when we met? No. Is this way more complicated than I am going to admit to her? Yep. But I also know that she’s not going to give up if I don’t say…something.
Kate steps forward, her face softening persuasively and she touches my arm. “Amanda. Let me help you.”
