“For what?”
“Wait—you don’t know?”
“No,” I say, slowly.
Her lip trembles. “I thought you’ve been ignoring me today because you were mad. I’ve been freaking out all day!”
“About what?”
She twists her hands. “I broke girl code.”
I blink. “Which one?”
“The big one. Never hook up with your best friend’s ex.”
“You hooked up with Ben?”
Her head tilts. “Ben? Oh, your college boyfriend?”
“Yeah, my college boyfriend,” I say, frowning. “So, not Ben. Then who?”
Mona hesitates. “Tyler.”
I stare, my chin jutted out as I process this.
“Who’s Tyler?” Decker calls from the living room.
Suppressing a laugh, I lean sideways so he can see me. “Our boss.”
“Oh, one of the contenders,” Decker says like this is just some fantasy football draft.
“I ended things with him because I didn’t want work to get awkward.”
“Which I immediately turned around and did,” Mona says with a guilty wince.
I turn and cross my arms. “Tyler is who you left to meet that night I met BDSM guy?”
Her lip quivers as she nods. “Yes. I don’t really know how it happened. Well, I kind of do.”
“Explain.”
“I had to go back into work to get my wallet after your Fated Mates date, and Tyler was still at work. We started talking, and no one else was there. I mentioned that I knew about you two, and that he’s a sexual guy. I hadn’t gotten laid in weeks, and then it just… happened.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “In his office?”
“Yeah. And it was amazing. Honestly, I thought I could just hit it and quit it. You know how I am. It’s what I do. But I actually like him. And he likes me, too.”
“I did notice he started calling you Mona instead of Zimmerman,” I say.
“But if it’ll ruin our friendship, I’ll stop. Tell him to fuck off. You mean more to me than anything, and I can’t believe I did anything to risk that. Holly, I’m so sorry.”
Even though she scheduled those stupid dates for me, she’s in too vulnerable of a place for me to pretend I’m angry. “If you hadn’t been avoiding me, I could have told you that I called things off with Tyler the night of that Fated Mates date. Because I didn’t see a future with him.”
“You did?”
“Yeah. He can date whoever he wants. Even you.”
“Really?”
