I opened my notes app and wrote a rough draft of what to say. That helped me collect my thoughts, seeing it written out like that.
Jace had a bottle of wine in his hand when the Uber dropped him off. “Already had a few with my buddy. Didn’t want to drive. Hope you like red.”
“I like all wine, especially when shared with someone,” I said with a grin.
We snuggled together on the couch and put a movie on in the background. For a while, Jace chatted about his buddy Carter and his pregnant wife. Apparently she had been painting their nursery, and had changed her mind on colors four times already.
“My college roommate just had a baby, and she painted the nursery the worst shade of green I’ve ever seen.”
“Ihaveto see this,” Jace grinned.
I opened Facebook and scrolled to her profile. “Look at this.”
“Oh my God, it’s worse than I pictured,” he replied. “It’s like they expect to get baby poop all over the walls, so they preemptively painted it that color to mask it!”
We laughed together, and Jace pulled out his phone. “Let me send a photo of this to my buddy. As an example of whatnotto do.”
And then I received a text from Brock, the message popping up at the top of my phone screen while Jace was staring right at it.
Brock: I had a lot of fun tonight. And I want to reiterate that I won’t tell anyone. I don’t want you to lose your job. But I do want it to happen again, if you’re down for that.
Jace blinked and turned to me. “Did you sleep with Brock?”
27
Lila
I froze, unsure of what to say. Jace stared at me, eyes wide and unreadable.
“I can explain…” I began.
“Then explain,” he said, moving a few inches away from me on the couch. “This isn’t a shitty rom-com. I’m not going to run out of here without giving you a chance to tell me what’s going on.”
“I was going to tell you.” I quickly pulled up my notes app. “I had no intention of hiding this from you. See? This is the draft of what I was going to say.”
He read the note silently.
“Brock and I had sex tonight at the bar,” I explained. “I didn’t really intend for it to happen, but there’s been some momentum in that direction for a few weeks. I was going to tell you tomorrow, when we were both clear-headed. I know you two are friends, and that this might feel like a massive breach of trust…”
“You should have told me immediately,” Jace said.
My heart ached. “I know. I’m sorry. If you want to leave, I’ll understand…”
He stared deeply into my eyes, and I searched for any hint of what he might be thinking. It was a silly time to think of it, but it occurred to me that he would make a really good detective with a poker face like that.
“We’re not exclusive,” he finally said. “Our relationship isn’t even allowed to exist until May. I’ve known that this whole time. And honestly, I’ve kind of wondered if you’ve still been dating people on Tinder.”
“I haven’t,” I said. “And you’re right, but I still feel…”
He quieted me with a touch to my thigh. “I’m glad you told me. Or at least, were going to tell me. I’m not jealous. Or rather, I don’tthinkI am. That might change tomorrow when I’m more clear-headed. I just have one question. And I need you to be totally honest.”
“I promise.”
“Was the sex good,” he asked with the utmost seriousness, “and is he bigger than me?”
I blinked. “Seriously?”
“Seriously,” he said, lip twitching in a hint of a smile. “And let me remind you that you’re under oath.”
