Carly
It’s Tuesday night, and I’m sitting in my usual seat in Margie and Cornelia's apartment for ladies’ wine night. Bray came over again last night after Ava fell asleep. We made love until he had to leave for his night shift.
He keeps coming by in the mornings after work. The man never seems to sleep. I teased him that he can’t live on sex and work alone. He told me, as the physician in the relationship, that he absolutely could. But I saw the bags under his eyes. Something has to give. Maybe in another week, when school starts, we can find a better rhythm.
“Why do you have little heart eyes?” Piper asks.
I look over at her from where she’s sitting by Margie.
“Huh?” I answer, pretending I’m oblivious.
She rolls her eyes. “You have that dreamy, far-off look on your face. I’d recognize it anywhere because I watched Jocelyn doing that for months.”
Jocelyn chuckles. “Damn, was I that obvious?”
Cornelia reaches over and pats her leg. “Sweetheart, you practically had dick prints on your face.”
“Aunt Cornelia!” Piper yelps as her cheeks turn red.
“Uh, I don’t think that’s…a thing,” Roxy says and then purses her lips as if contemplating it. “Maybe.”
Cam rolls her eyes. She just got home yesterday from her honeymoon. “Out with it, Carly. Every woman here is onto you two.” She knows we kissed, but we never got into all the details of what happened in Italy.
Sighing, I look around at my friends. I can’t continue keeping this from them all. I might as well use this moment to confide in them. “Fine, we…sort of hooked up in Italy. And we’ve been continuing to hook up, like every night.”
Cam raises an eyebrow and smirks. Clearly, based on our brief conversation, she had her suspicions. I roll my eyes.
Roxy giggles. “I knew it! About damn time. You two have had the longest foreplay in the history of foreplay.”
I glare at her. “I highly doubt that. And it wasn’t foreplay. We just…we were friends, truly. It’s just…something changed.”
“Yeah, a dick in the hole will do that to you,” Margie quips.
Piper groans. “Seriously?”
Margie gives her a pointed look. “You ought to know. Kasen’s dick is enough dick for two ladies.”
Piper buries her face in her hands and shakes her head.
Cam and Roxy bust out laughing, and Jocelyn grins.
Margie looks at Jocelyn. “You have no room to talk.”
Jocelyn blushes and shrugs.
Everyone’s attention turns back to me. “Uh, no way. I’m not talking about Bray’s dick,” I state emphatically.
Margie waves me off. “You’re a killjoy. Now, at least tell us how you ended up finally sealing the deal.”
I nearly choke on my wine. I pat my chest and set the glass down. “We’re testing the waters,” I start and then pause before continuing. “But…it honestly feels more like a dam was broken, and everything that’s been holding us back is rushing downstream.”
“Is that a good thing?” Roxy asks.
I look over at her and nod. “After Chad, I…didn’t think I’d ever be with another man. I certainly never imagined acting on my crush with Bray. I thought we were friend-zoned forever. But…it feels natural now. It feels right. I don’t know. I can’t explain it.”
“And he feels the same?” Margie asks.
I nod and shrug at the same time. God, does he not? Everything he’s said and done says he feels the same, but I haven’t told him exactly how I feel. I haven’t said I’m in love with him.
