“The more you deny it, the more I am going to pry, so you might as well just save yourself the pain and spill the–”
“I slept with him,” I blurt out quietly. The gasp that comes from Darlene is enough to make everyone in the entire room stop and stare.
“You–” she nearly shouts, but I make a motion with my hand for her to lower her voice. Thankfully she does, to a whisper-yell. “You slept with Asher?!”
I nod, biting my lip.
“Oh my God,” she says, leaning back into her chair. “Oh…my God. When? Where? Were you drunk? How was it? How was he?”
“A couple of days ago. After Daniel’s wedding. At my house. I had a little to drink. It was good. He was amazing.”
“Oh, wow!” she gushes, sinking even further in her chair. Then she sits up again. “Wait, so you went to Daniel’s wedding as Asher’s date?”
“As his wife,” I correct her, and she snorts.
“Right.” She says, shaking her head. “His wife. That, by the way, is epic. When you texted me that you were doing that, I was literally cheering. The other girls at the office were so confused…so, of course, I told them. By the way, the patients loved it too. One woman was in the middle of getting a root canal and wanted them to stop drilling so she could hear. Anyway, you went to Daniel’s wedding wearing a version of your wedding dress, and then you went home and–”
“And…yeah,” I smile, taking another sip.
“Well, look at you,” she says all sassy.
“Yeah…and that’s not all,” I add, and she nearly jumps out of her chair. I’m honestly surprised she didn’t kick the woman in the face.
“There’s more? More than fucking your brother’s best friend? Girl, start talking.”
“He asked me to be his girlfriend,” I say, and her mouth drops open. I laugh at how dramatic my best friend is, but I love it at the same time.
“You’re dating him?” She asks, and I nod. “You’re dating your brother’s best friend,” she says, and I cover my face with my hands, even though I am still smiling. “Does he know?”
I shake my head, face still covered.
“Girl!”
“I know,” I say through my fingers.
“How are you going to tell him?” she asks. “I mean, youaregoing to tell him, right?”
I peel my hands away and reach for my drink. “Yes. Of course, we are going to tell him. I just don’t know when.”
“Damn,” she shakes her head. “You work with him. You can’t wait that long. How are you going to hide it?”
“Very carefully,” I say as a pang of guilt surges through me. I take another sip, hoping maybe cheap champagne will help with that. Obviously, it doesn’t.
“Okay, don’t be mad at me,” she says, and I know where this is going. Those are famous last words every time Darlene is about to give me an unsolicited opinion about my life. Although, in her defense, it is kind of solicited because we are having girl time to catch up.
“Oh boy,” I say.
“No, hear me out. I am only trying to look out for you. I think it’s great that you found someone. And I know it’s someone who actually cares about you, so that’s a plus. I just feel like, maybe–”
“I know it looks shady that I’m dating my brother’s best friend,” I say, but she jumps back in.
“That’s not what I was going to say,” she says.
“Okay, then what were you going to say?” I ask.
“I am just wondering if maybe you and Ash are…moving too quickly.”
Of all the things to come out of Darlene’s mouth, I’m kind of surprised.
