“Okay…?” she prods. “And what’s so R-rated about that?”
“It was…” I stop, lowering my voice again as one of the old ladies pass by to check out the same lavender sheet set I waseyeing a moment ago. I move on to some green ones, pretending to be more interested in them than I am. Honestly, I don’t really care what color the sheets are as long as they’re on sale. I still haven’t gone grocery shopping since I got home; I can’t be spending seventy dollars on a set of sheets. “At the office.”
“Oh? And why does that make it–OH!” Darlene finally gets what I’m saying. “Now that is exciting. Fucking around with your boss at the office while your brother, who is your boss’s best friend and co-worker, is in the building. Girl!”
“He didn’t see anything,” I say quickly as I realize just how bad all of this sounds.
“Fair enough. Do you think he knows anything?” she presses.
“No. I mean, I don’t think so? I mean, I hope not.” I toss the green sheets in the cart, and we go around the corner to the blanket section. My eye is drawn to a queen-sized fluffy blanket that is sort of a wine color, and I grab it, tossing it in the cart too. What I really want to do is unfold it and hide inside. Just thinking about the possibility of Jaylen seeing anything,knowinganything has me wanting to bury myself alive.
“I really don’t think he knows anything,” I say, just as much to myself as to Darlene. “I mean, we’ve been acting very buddy-buddy about everything. We went to dinner with him last night, and it was really good. Very chill. I don’t think he suspected anything.”
“Hold up,” she says, playing with the tassels on a throw pillow, “You had dinner with Jaylen? You and Ash and Jaylen?”
“Yes,” I sort of laugh. “Why is that so weird?”
“Do you normally have dinner together? The three of you?” she asks.
“No. But he’s my brother, and Ash is our boss. It’s not that weird.”
And it isn’t. Right?
I shake away the doubt. Darlene is great, but she also has an affinity for drama and making something out of nothing for the sake of interesting conversation.
“It was Jaylen’s idea,” I say, as if that matters. But the way Darlene is looking at me makes me realize that it does matter.
“It was Jaylen’s idea.” It comes out as a statement instead of a question. “And what made Jaylen want to randomly have dinner with his best friend and his little sister?”
“Well, for one, he had no idea I was eloping with Daniel, so he wanted to hear about that. And then we just talked about the villa and the storm and that was about it.”
Darlene is nodding as her lips twist into a smirk. It’s something she does when she has something to say but doesn’t want to say it.
“What?” I ask.
“Nothing,” she says.
“What?” I ask again.
“It’s just…you don’t think he suspected at all?” she presses. “I mean your brother might be a little dense, but he’s not dumb.”
“I like to think he didn’t see anything because there is nothing to see. There’s nothing going on between us, Dar,” I insist, shifting my attention to a colorful quilt that has a clearance tag on it.
“Except all that chemistry and pent-up attraction,” she mumbles.
“He is my brother’s friend,” I say.
“Your brother’s friend who happens to be hot as fuck,” she adds.
“I hadn’t noticed,” I lie, tossing the quilt in the cart.
“Oh, bullshit,” she laughs at full volume, and the old ladies who have been trailing behind us on every aisle look over and walk away. “Are you trying to tell me you’re not attracted to him at all? After everything that happened in Costa Rica.”
“What happened in Costa Rica ended in Costa Rica because it’s off limits here.” I grab the cart and head for the front of the store. This conversation is over. I met up with Darlene so I could stop thinking about Ash, not so I could re-evaluate how I feel about him.
“You keep telling yourself that,” she says. “If you thought keeping your eyes and hands off him at the villa was hard, just wait until you see him every day at work.”
I don’t say anything because last week was anything but easy. In a real-life setting, it’s been a struggle not to think of him without his shirt on, tousled hair, and a drink in hand. I’m not complaining, though. He looks good in his fitted Ralph Lauren suits, silver-flecked hair gelled, and brooding brow that darkens his eyes as he deals with all things work-related.
