“Thesex?” he chuckles.
“No, jerk. The blacking out part. It’s never happened to me before.”
“Well, you did say that you’ve never had that much to drink …”
“True, but still. It’s strange. I mean, how could I ever have forgottenthat?”
He narrows his eyes at me. “You say that like you remember it now.”
“Ohhhh,Ido,” I reply. “It all came back to me that night at the bar after … after she confronted me. Or … I confronted her. I don’t know, whatever. She told me off and then stormed away and then … Iremembered.”
“So?”
“So …?”
Aidan rolls his eyes at me again.
“So was it good?”
I scoff at him. “I don’t kiss and tell.”
He just stares at me pointedly until eventually, I give in. “Yeah,” I say with a resigned sigh. “It wasincredible.”
“No shit,” he mutters to himself.
“Hey baby!” a voice calls, and I glance over my shoulder to see Piper approaching.
“Hi Sweet P,” Aidan responds, standing to quickly kiss her on the cheek before moving to pull out her chair. She grins, taking the offered seat, and settling her purse on the table beside her.
“Hi Noah,” she says, “nice of you to join us tonight.”
I nod. “Thanks for having me–I hope I’m not intruding.”
She waves a hand in my general direction. “Don’t be silly. So,” she looks between the two of us, “what are we talking about?”
“Uh …” Aidan and I look at each other with wide stares.
“Oh myGod,” Piper expels a harsh breath and then covers her mouth with her hands.
“What’s wrong?” Aidan reaches for her in alarm, but she just drops her hands from her face, waving him off.
“Oh, thank goodness, youtoldhim,” she says to me. “I was dying trying to keep this secret to myself!” Then she turns back to Aidan. “I hope you understand, baby, but it wasn’t mine to tell.”
He shakes his head at her, amusement written all over his features. “No worries, Sweet P. I knew something was up.” He chuckles again. “You can quit mumbling to yourself in the bathroom now.”
She blushes, shooting him an embarrassed look. “You heard that?”
Aidan shrugs. “I think it’s cute,” he says simply.
Piper covers her face and giggles. I watch, a little envious, when his eyes light up at her laughter. They share something truly special, a bond that’s frankly awe-inspiring. I’ll probably never have what they do, but maybe Lucy and I can build our own little version of it. A family. A modern one where we co-parent as friends, but a family nonetheless. It’s a hopeful thought and one that makes me smile along with the two of them.
“She’s been very … conflicted,” Piper says to me, and I nod. “But I heard the news this afternoon that she’s decided to keep it. She seemed relieved and maybe even a little bit excited when she called me. Congratulations, Noah.”
I can’t help but smile. “Thanks.”
“So … now that the cat’s out of the bag–oh, I just love that expression, don’t you?” Piper asks, going off on one of her well-known tangents. “Did you know,” she continues, turning to Aidan, “that the origin of that idiom is actually unknown? But the first recorded use was in London in the mid-1700s.”
Aidan shakes his head, still grinning goofily at his wife. “How do you even know that?”
