A flush of red stained her cheeks, confirming my suspicions. This was great news for two reasons. The first being that at twenty-six, my college bestie had finally handed in her V card. The fact that tonight was her birthday of all nights made it even better. The second reason was that it couldn’t have been with anyone other than Gabriel, our college best friend, her childhood sweetheart, and her current roommate. She’d been in love with him practically forever. I knew he loved her too, but for whatever reason, Gabriel hadn’t been able to seal the deal.
Until now.
I gave an enthusiastic pat at the seat beside me. “Sit down. Tell me everything.”
God, I hoped she told me everything, every dirty little detail. I wanted to know about every thrust, every moan. She was a half-decent artist, so I wouldn’t complain about a napkin sketch detailing the position, his size… Okay, so I was going through a dry spell. I didn’t have time for boyfriends, so I had to vicariously live through other people.
She collapsed into the seat next to me, her jaw falling open. “How did you know? Are you a witch now? Can you read minds? If you’re a witch, you have to tell me like, now. Because I don’t think I can handle any more secrets.”
A witch? Fuck, I wish. That sounded more exciting than changing bed pans and giving sponge baths in the intensive care unit at work. I mean, I loved my job, but it was exhausting. I knew little about professional witches, but I’d heard of them. Tarot card readings, creating hexes for jilted wives, hosting crystal dildo parties. Nowthatwould be a job.
“Girl, I don’t need to read minds when you’re sporting just-got-fucked hair like yours. And with those grass stains on your back, you look like you and Seattle’s entire football team just took the freshly mowed Safeco Field out for a spin.”
When she turned her head to the mirror mounted on the wall behind us to take in her appearance, I spotted the marks on her neck where someone had suckled. Jeez, way to go, Gabe.
A stab of jealousy struck me in the ribs, causing me to take a sharp inhale as I foisted my gaze away from the marks. It’s not like I was envious of Mel because I was interested in Gabriel. I mean, the guy was hot as all get out, but he didn’t do it for me. And that was the problem.Nobodydid it for me. As cliché as it sounded, there was no spark, no chemistry. Zip, nada, nothing.
I was destined to be a spinster for the rest of my life. I guess that was okay, but fuck did I hate the hollowness in my heart. A hole that Sane Jess couldn’t fill with meaningful work at the hospital, or paying bills on time, or taking care of dad, or rounding up the total of a Taco Bell order to save homeless puppies. And it was a hole Reckless Jess couldn’t fill with her crazy weekends of one-night stands, cosmopolitans, or drunken late-night runs to Dick’s Burgers to eat copious amounts of dollar burgers until I vomited. Something was missing from my life. Maybe that was why my reckless side was so gung ho about doing new things. I was on a mission to find that missing thing. Whatever it was.
But I was still happy for Mel. Whatever she and Gabriel had, it was electric. It was high time they shagged.
I gave her a wide smile and tried my best to untangle her hair, plucking pieces of grass from her trusses as I went. “He really gave it to you, didn’t he?”
Her lower lip trembled, and tears welled in her eyes. I wasn’t sure what happened between her and Gabe, but I was instantly pissed at him. Mel was sweet and a little naive. But she was good, the kind of person you wanted to protect from the asshole world because it hadn’t screwed her up yet.
Scooting closer to her, I took her hand in mine and gave it a consoling squeeze. “Hey, hey. Tell me what happened, babe.”
“Gabriel says he can’t be with me.”
“But… Wait, so you guys had sex but then right after he said he wasn’t interested in making it a thing?”
She gave a tearful nod.
“And you didn’t talk about that before you guys…?”
“No. He said he loved me but that we couldn’t be together.”
I had known Gabriel for as long as I’d known Mel. Mel was my college roommate at Western Washington University, and Gabe had always been attached to her hip. Wherever she was, he was there too. I saw the way he looked at her like she was his whole world. These days he was a rich software developer, owning his own business. He showered her with expensive things, and she lived in his luxury condo in Capitol Hill. He was always so protective of her because while I only tended to ignore the better of my survival instincts, Melanie completely lacked them. He was in love with her, we all knew it. Which made the fact that he still kept her at arm’s length a real puzzle.
“When we were at Club Glow earlier tonight for drinks, I was really nervous because tonight was going to be the night I told him about my feelings. Mixed with nerves and the alcohol, I started to feel dizzy, so I excused myself and went to the bathroom, but there was a huge line, so I stumbled outside through a backdoor exit and found myself locked outside in an alley where a bunch of gangbangers were hanging out…”
My chest tightened. “Holy shit, Mel. Please tell my Gabe found you in time.”
“He did. He was outnumbered. There were three of them, but Jess… He kicked their asses. I mean, you know he’s strong. Remember in college when he shattered that one guy’s jaw?”
How could I forget that? We went to some rager on campus during our sophomore year, and some guy made a move on Melanie. Maybe it was Mel’s big, soft eyes, her pouty lips, and her inviting demeanor that made guys swarm her like bees to honey. Mel said she wasn’t interested, but the drunk frat boy wouldn’t leave her alone. Gabe seemingly dropped out of the crowd from nowhere and punched the guy so hard the poor asshole had to have surgery. No guy dared to speak to her at a party ever again, and Gabriel had been smug as fuck about it.
“Yeah, he packs a punch, alright.”
“Well, tonight he went completely Chuck Norris on those guys, Jess. That strength, it wasn’t normal. Then when we chased them away, we…” Her gaze dropped to the table, and her blush deepened.
I raised a brow. “He didnotfuck you in an alley.”
“It didn’t feel wrong. It just started out as a kiss. I told him how I felt about him, and he…” Fresh tears leaked down her cheeks. “He said he felt the same way.”
Finally! We’d both been waiting for Gabe to say that for years. “Well, that’s great, Mel.”
“Yeah, itwasgreat. But then everything just kind of melted away. I know it was my first time, and I’m going to sound really naive here when I say what we have… It isn’t normal. It’s like the universe has been pushing together, and tonight all walls were broken down. The void in my heart was filled. Everything felt complete.”
