Chapter Four
Harper
“Hey, you look familiar. I think I remember you. Hmmm, let me think ... Hildie? Haley? Groucho?”
I rolled my eyes as I slid into the booth across from Samantha. I knew she was only teasing, but the truth was that I hadn’t had much time for her lately, and I felt guilty about that. The restaurant had been so busy that time off had been virtually non-existent. The fact that we’d both had a few free hours today and could meet for lunch was a small miracle.
“Ha, ha, ha, very funny. It is to laugh.” I sipped the ice water she’d ordered for me. “I know my schedule is crazy, but you haven’t exactly been sitting around twiddling your thumbs, either. How’s everything at the National Park Service?”
Samantha worked in interactive history at the Petersburg Battlefield. While her job wasn’t as intense and demanding as mine could be, I knew she threw herself into everything she did.
“Oh, it’s great. We just wrapped up a big homeschool program last week, where the students each chose a soldier who was here in Petersburg during the siege and battle. They researched their subject and did some hands-on activities that he would’ve done here, too. It was pretty incredible ... by the end, some of the students were so invested in the men they’d been studying that they cried when they found out their fates.”
“Wow.” I was impressed. History had never meant that much to me, not even when it was my own ancestors involved in the battles or occasions. “I bet they never forget what they learned here. You make it come alive to them. If I’d had a teacher like you, maybe I’d remember more about what I was taught.”
“You can still learn, you know. We do programs for adults, too. It’s called lifetime learning.” Samantha winked at me. “Something to keep in mind for all your idle hours.”
“Yeah, because there are so many of those.” I snorted and picked up the menu. “Do you know what you’re getting?”
“Hawaiian chicken salad. It’s excellent here.” She tilted her head, frowning at me. “You look tired. Everything all right?”
“When am Inottired?” I scanned the list of options in front of me, not really seeing any of them. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just been a long week.”
“Didn’t you have off last Friday night? I thought you were going out with Corey and looking for looooooove.” She stretched out the word. “Or, you know. Whatever it is you have that passes for that. Wild sexy times and hooking up.”
I laughed. “Oh, Sam, you’re starting to sound like an old married lady, and you haven’t even had the wedding yet. Cast your mind back to when we were both single, living together, and having those wild sexy times together.” I paused. “Well, you know what I mean. Nottogether, together. Alongside each other.”
“Harper, honey, how often did we really do that? Maybe once or twice? When I think about when we lived together, I mostly remember late-night pizza, beer and movie sessions and lots of long talks. We didn’t hit the bars that often.”
She wasn’t wrong, I realized. My trips to find limited-engagement, one-night-only fun hadn’t really started until after Samantha had moved out. I had a sudden flash of memory from last Friday night—or more accurately, early Saturday morning—when Jake had tried to tell me that opening up to him was okay. I’d told him that I had plenty of friends to talk to, but the truth was that I didn’t spend much time talking to anyone about anything real. I liked Corey, but we were work buddies, and when we weren’t working, we were each other’s bar hook-up support team. But that wasn’t friendship. The deepest conversations we’d had involved which guys had the best ass.
And while I adored Samantha and had in fact trusted her and shared with her during our years of living together, we were in different places now. Her world revolved around Max and their love and approaching marriage. She was learning how to be an Army wife, and she’d made friends among Max’s buddies and their wives and girlfriends. I couldn’t fault her for that—not at all—but I had to admit that I missed her ... and that part of me felt left behind.
I answered her now. “I guess we didn’t. But still. You remember what being single was like, right? When you haven’t had any of the sexy time for a while, and you just need someone else to get you off? Someone who isn’t your own hand or your favorite vibrator?”
She shrugged. “I guess so. I just haven’t had to think about that for a while.”
“Okay. Well, lucky you. I don’t have the luxury of a fiancé in my bed every night, so I have to go hunt up a decent candidate.”
Sam leaned her chin on her hand. “And did you find one last weekend?”
I sighed. “Actually, I did. We had an amazing time. He was ... incredible. Like, bang the pictures right off the fucking wall incredible.”
“Umm ... nice. I think?” She quirked an eyebrow.
“Very nice. And then not so nice, when I needed him to be just a little naughtier. He was a dream hook-up. He was rough, but I trusted him. He was in charge without making me feel threatened. And when it was my turn to call the shots, he didn’t have any trouble with that, either. It was one of the most amazing nights of sex I’ve ever had.” I paused. “Times seven.”
“Seven?” Samantha gave a silent whistle. “Good for you, girlfriend. That’s got to be a record of some kind.”
“It was for me.” I sighed. “Let’s just say I was very relaxed on Saturday.” That wasn’t precisely true, but Sam didn’t need to know that. I had no plans to share how my night with Jake Robinson had ended.
“So are you going to see him again? Is this a thing? Oh, you could bring him to the engagement party if you wanted.” She folded her hands under her chin, her eyes sparkling.
“Whoa there, Sadie, Sadie, almost-married lady. You’re running away without the wagon. Because thereisno wagon.”
She frowned. “In this scenario, who’s the wagon?”
I waved my hand. “Not a who, a what. The wagon is my supposed relationship with the guy from Friday night. It wasn’t that at all. It was just a hook-up.”
