I take my whiskey and down it, pour another, and down itbefore speaking again. I haven’t said this out loud yet, and saying it now is harder than I thought.
“Brady and I hooked up at Richmond.” I wait for Chase’s reaction, but he gives me none. “I asked her to the gala, she said yes, then she misunderstood a text I sent, and now doesn’t want to go with me or see me at all. I don’t know what to do now.”
He thinks for a moment, taking in the information I’ve just word-vomited at him. “What exactly did the text say?”
I hand him my phone so that he can read it himself.
“Oof. So, she thinks all you want is a hookup, and she wants more. Am I on the right track?”
I nod.
“What do you want?”
Isn’t that the million dollar question. I’d love to keep sleeping together, but I just want to be with her in general. Being around her makes me feel so open and free. I’ve never felt so seen by someone before.
“I don’t know what I want. When she told me she didn’t want to go to the gala anymore, I kind of snapped at her. I’ll be surprised if she ever talks to me ever again, even just to taunt me like before.”
Chase scrubs the small amount of red stubble on his chin. “Can I be honest with you, Dean?” he asks.
I pour myself another shot and take it before I nod.
“Sounds like you need to figure your shit out first.” He takes another shot. “You need to show her you’re different. That you want more. If that’s what you decide you want.”
I let his words linger. Is that what I want? To show her that I can be more than the playboy persona that I’ve put out for so long?
“How should I show her, then?”
“First, get a haircut before the gala.” I punch him in the shoulder.
“I’m serious,” I say.
“Ow!” he exclaims, rubbing his arm. “Be there for her. Be a gentleman at that gala. Prove to her that you are here for her.”
“Sounds like you have some experience with this,” I regard. He gives me a look, and I raise my brow. He sighs and leans back into the worn cushions of the couch.
“I take it you know?”
“Only that it seems like you and Leslie have been hooking up and keeping it a secret. What’s happening with that?”
He huffs. “I thought you were here for me to help you, not the other way around.”
“That’s not how this friendship works, man. Spill.”
He pours and takes a shot, and I do the same.
“We hooked up earlier this year, drunk at a party,” he begins. “We just kept hooking up, it was supposed to be a friends with benefits thing. Now,” he releases a sigh, “I don’t know what we are. It’s all so fucking complicated.”
“Here, here,” I agree, clinking and downing our shots together.
THIRTY-ONE
REGAN
It’sa week before the charity gala, and I’m out shopping with Leslie and Cindy. Since I told Dean that we shouldn’t go together, I asked Cindy to be my plus one for the evening.
We’re at a local dress shop, Life with Frills, all trying to find the perfect outfits to wear. I’ve tried on so many dresses already that I’m starting to feel like the right dress doesn’t exist.
In the dressing room, I’m trying on a red, corset, floor length gown with a high slit on the right side. The sides of the corset are sheer so you can see my skin under it, but without being too much. I step out of the dressing room and into the hall where all the other dressing room doors are closed still, the rustling of fabric the only sound. I look at myself in the mirror and I smooth the fabric over myself, unsure of how I feel about this dress. A gasp behind me catches my attention.
