By now, I was sure that I was beet red. “It’s okay. David was candid about what he expected from the article. My boss was more than pleased to feature him anyway.”
David gave me an apologetic look as his parents excused themselves to check on the grill. I watched Judy loop her arm around Gerard’s lower back, and he gave her an adoring smile. It had been some time since I’d seen any of my friends’ parents looking so smitten; even at Lucy’s wedding, her normally affectionate parents had seemed frazzled.
“So was it intentional that the issue came out on David’s birthday?” Jessa teased.
“Come on,” he said, rolling his eyes.
“No.” I broke into a smile. “I had no idea.”
Jessa nodded emphatically. “June twenty-second. What’s your sign, Olivia?”
“Jessa,” David warned.
“I’m a Taurus. May twentieth.”
“Oh.” She was quiet for a moment. “That’s interesting.”
“How come?”
“Don’t ask,” David said. “She’s into this astrology bullshit.”
“David is a Cancer.”
“Like my friend Gretchen,” I said.
Brian laughed to himself. “That explains a lot,” he muttered with his chin in his hand.
I narrowed my eyes at him. He and Gretchen had been sniping at each other ever since I’d introduced them. “Brian, did something happen between you and Gretchen?” I asked.
“Oh.” He looked up. “No, nothing at all.”
“Are you sure?”
“Are you asking me to kiss and tell, missy?”
“So there was a kiss?” I exclaimed.
He looked embarrassed. “It was very brief. I stopped it.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Why? Don’t you find her attractive?”
“Exceptionally. We aren’t well-suited, though. She seems to have something to prove. And that’s not me.”
I shrugged at his cryptic answer and turned my attention back to Jessa. “So why is it interesting that I’m a Taurus?”
“It’s not that,” she mused, touching a finger to her lips. “Both you and David are on the cusp of your signs. In fact, you’re both on the cusp of Gemini.”
“Is being on the cusp bad?” I asked.
“No, no. But two Gemini together can be, well, explosive. Volatile. Not usually a good combination. On the other hand, Cancer and Taurus is a great match.”
“Oh.” I smiled at her before glancing over at David, hoping he’d help me out. Didn’t he care if his family thought we were dating? “Well, David and I aren’t . . . I mean, we’re not . . .”
She raised her eyebrows at me. “You’renot?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head in confusion. I looked to David for backup, but he just stared at his sister. “I’m married,” I said, holding up my hand. All eyes dropped to my ring, and her face fell instantly.
“Oh,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry, I just assumed . . . crap, I’m really sorry.”
