Salinger strokes my face. If he were anyone else, I would call the gesture tender. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
Rubbing my arm, I nod.
I’m back in bed, pretending to be asleep, when he and Pepper return.
Salinger switches the TV off and sets Pepper next to me. Then he crawls onto the bed, curling his body around mine. His fingers drift softly through my hair while I desperately try to pretend that I’m just a normal assistant having an affair with her boss, that I don’t need him to protect me.
35
SALINGER
Mandy is wearing the oversized sweatshirt I left for her when I slipped out of her bed, taking a grumpy Pepper with me to go work out the next morning. She’s sitting on the couch eating leftover Italian food, her hair tied up in a messy bun, scrolling on her phone.
“You forgot to lock the door.” The words are slightly muddled around the mouthful of pasta.
“I figured you’d be too hungover to do anything stupid.” I toss my keys and Pepper’s leash on the coffee table then sit next to her on the couch, pulling her close to me.
“You’re sweaty.”
“And you still smell like sex, but you don’t hear me complaining.”
She elbows me.
I shouldn’t have crawled into bed with her. I didn’t ever allow myself to fall asleep next to the women I fucked.Didn’t want them turned into emotional weapons to be used against me. I was just going to hold Mandy for a few moments, but the warmth of her, the sound of her breathing, had lulled me to sleep.
Her phone is beeping.
“Is that him?” I snarl, grabbing for it.
“Lunatic!”
“It is, isn’t it?”
“No.” She tries to fight me off, holding the phone close to her chest.
Pinning her to the couch, I grab her wrist, prying her fingers off the phone.
“It’s mine,” she shrieks.
On the phone are a number of messages in the Instagram app.
Lauren:You’re being bitchy because you didn’t get laid last night.
Lauren:You shouldn’t have left the club.
Lauren:Don’t judge other people for having sex.
Lauren:It is not a good look.
“Why do you care who your sister is sleeping with?”
“I care if she’s doing it in my bed.” Mandy snatches the phone from me and starts typing furiously, then she gives up and calls her sister. “You better freaking pick up,” she snaps, waiting for the call to connect.“Lauren.”
Her younger sister’s voice is whiny over speakerphone. “I just don’t know why you can’t be happy for me. I finally hooked up with the guy I’ve been seeing. I thought you’d be proud of me. I didn’t even sleep with him on the first date.”
“You had sex in my bed. Of course I’m upset. You better wash my sheets,” Mandy says. “I thought you were going to his place.”
“He said it was too far and really wanted to go to mine.”
