Delia bit her lip, glancing away. “Okay…fine.Butyou cannot tell a soul.”
“Who am I going to tell?” I laughed. “I don’t know anyone.”
“You might.”
I peered at her. “So he’s someone I might know…” I said. “Or she—not judging?—”
Delia looked down at her glass, her finger gliding around the room. “He’s a dad at the school,” she said. “But I didn’t know that when I took him home and he fucked my brains out last Christmas.”
I actually spit my wine out into my glass, finding myself grateful for the red shirt—then I had this horrible thought.
“It’s not Nash, right?” I blurted out.
“Oh my god,noMaggie, I’m not a monster,” she said. “It’s—you know Dylan Boone? Second grade, he’s kind of?—”
“A troublemaker,” I finished for her. “Yeah, Mrs. Petersen won’t ever stop talking about him in staff meetings.”
“Well, I fucked his dad last winter, I was drunk, and now every time I see him in the office I feel like a clown—becausehe hasn’t said a single word about it.” She picked up her wine and finished it, then groaned. “I guess it was so bad he wants to forget.”
“I’m sure it wasn’tthatbad,” I said.
She cackled. “Gee, what a vote of confidence.”
“Or he’s just…being responsible and doesn’t want to complicate things for his kid,” I said. I took a sip of my own wine. “God forbid a parent try to keep things professional.”
Delia reached across the table and prodded me. “And here I thought you didn’t want to talk about yourself tonight.”
“I’m not!” I protested. “I’m talking aboutresponsible parenting.”
“Uh huh.” Delia refilled both our glasses. We were on our second bottle now…I was going to feel horrible tomorrow morning. “So responsible parenting is also why there were eleven dollars in your swear jar?”
I opened my mouth to reply, but she was absolutely onto me.
“After the fall festival,” she added pleasantly. “Which you attended. And so did Nash.”
“You’re drawing an awful lot of conclusions.”
“Mmhm, and I figured they mostly sounded likeoh fuck, Nash, please, fuck yeah, fuck me in the?—”
“Stop!” I said, both mortified and laughing hysterically. “I don’t…I wasn’t the one who was cursing, okay?”
Her jaw dropped. “Maggie—I wasjoking. You had sex in your classroom?!”
“Keep your voice down!”
“The only people here are tourists,” she said, gesturing to the restaurant. She was right—I didn’t see a single face I recognized. “Plus…I get to be loud about this, okay?You are a legend.”
“I’m really not.”
“Keep telling yourself that.” She snorted, shaking her head. “Okay. Andthen…you’re saying he was the irresponsible parents?”
“Well, yeah,” I shrugged. “He asked me out to dinner.”
“Oh, how awful,” she deadpanned. “I’m guessing you said…”
“I said no, of course,” I said. “I mean—I’m his daughter’s teacher and I just got out of a five-year relationship. It wouldn’t be fair to NellorBryce?—”
“Aw,fuck Bryce,” she said. “Everything you’ve told me about the man suggests he’s trash.”
