“Do you want to go in alone first?”
“No. She’s just acting like the big sister I never had. It’s fine.”
“I was actually asking because I’m scared of her.”
A laugh rips out of me, and his smile sends goosebumps up my arms.
“C’mon,” he says, opening the front door.
I love Gwen, and I know she loves me no matter what choices I make. She’s been there for the bad haircuts, the bad boyfriends, and the bad hires at The Mirage that didn’t work out. But the last Gwen heard, Max and I were a one-night stand with no intention of more. Now we’re…
Well, I don’t have an answer for that. And I might never, and that’s fine, because we both agreed: a good time together, for as long as we can. But I feel like I’ve let my best friend down by not being able to resist Max.
Behind the cash register, she’s perched on a chair while she scribbles notes down. Her left hand rests on her belly. She’s not showing yet, but she should any day soon.
“My favorite person!” She wriggles her butt off the stool and wraps me up in her arms.
“You don’t have to get up for me.” I breathe a sigh of relief at her warm reception.
“You sound like Bob. He’s infuriating.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Oh, yeah. He just won’t let me do anything around the house. Like, if he could bring the toilet to me, he would. I have to remind him I’m pregnant, not incapacitated. He doesn’t have to doeverythingfor me.”
“Sounds awful.”
“I know.” She squeezes my hand, and her eyes skate to Max. She straightens and looks him up and down. “Sooo.”
“So?”
“You and Daze, huh?”
“Me and Daze.”
“I had a feeling about you two.”
“A good one?” Max’s head cocks to the side.
“A complicated one.” The corner of her mouth twists into a smile. “You can leave a stack of flyers at that register. And feel free to pin one on the bulletin board.”
While Max finds a spot on the cork board, Gwen turns to me and mouths,OH MY GOD.
I KNOW, I mouth back.YOU MAD?
A look of shock crosses her face.NO.She points to herself, outlines a heart in the air, and then stabs a finger in my direction, causing us both to smile at each other. She then gives me a thumbs up, and she juts her pointer finger into the O shape of her other hand in a lewd gesture.GOOD SEX?
I bite my lower lip. Amazing sex. Transcendental sex. Still-sore-in-a-good-way sex. I don’t know how to communicate that, so I just nod, and Gwen appears to understand.
YOU, she mouths with her finger directed at me,GOOD?Again with the thumbs up.
I nod once more.
“You two done talking about me?”
Gwen spins to Max with a syrupy sweet smile on her face. “For now. Daze, call me sometime soon so we can discuss…” She waves her hand in Max’s general direction. “I want all the details. And you,” she says, turning her attention to him. “It should go without saying, but if you hurt my friend, I will hurt you.”
“Ohmygod, Gwen.”
