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Elodie
The second the soles of my sneakers hit the top step on Juliet’s floor, my friend swings open the door to her apartment. With eager eyes, she declares, “Everything. I need to know everything.”
“You know everything,” I tease, but my stomach flips with butterflies, making a liar of me.
Undeterred, Juliet shuts the door behind her.
Stares me up and down.
It takes her three seconds to diagnose. “I knew it! You got banged in Vegas.”
“Shh,” I say since Amanda’s just beyond the door in her apartment. Juliet—my friend, my savior—picked her up from Ally’s house this morning, and they hung out together for the day.
I love my friends so much. They’re like Amanda’s aunts.
Juliet scoffs, flapping a hand behind her. “Sawyer’s here. They’re playing Mind the Gap and Amanda’s got music blasting at a ridiculous decibel. Tell me everything.”
Sawyer is Juliet’s big brother and he’s as obsessed with board games and video games as Amanda is. Two decades older, he’s like the fun uncle she never had. He’s a ruthless competitor, too, so I’m sure they're neck and neck in pop music trivia from the new game Amanda picked up a few weeks ago.
Juliet makes a rolling gesture with her hands. “So you got married, and then…”
A tingle runs down my spine as I picture this morning in the hotel room. A smile takes me hostage. “And then my temporary husband gave me the best sex of my life.”
She squeals.
“Well…we had an extra hour. What else were we to do?” I ask, ever so innocently.
“I’m finally getting a pancake-breakfast-worthy update,” she says, gathering my hands in hers. “Details.”
I tell her about the wedding, then how we upgraded our clothes, then the music, then the room.
Juliet holds up a stop-sign hand. “I do want to hear about all the in-room services, but first…you rented a dress? And he got a suit?”
It’s like she’s caught me in the act of…something. “We did. Why are you asking like that?”
She hums as if it’s obvious. “Because it meant something to you.”
“Well, I did marry him. It didn’t mean nothing.”
“I know. But it sounds like it meant more than you expected. More than a marriage of convenience.”
I want to deny it, but instead I give a one-shouldered shrug. “Look, you know I like him. I always have. It just doesn’t mean everything.”
She hums again, doubtful this time. “Doesn’t sound like it means nothing either.”
I remember the way Gage looked at me as I walked down the aisle—like I was a mystery he wanted to uncover—then relent. “You’re right. It meant something. But it can’t mean what your big, squishy heart wants it to mean.”
She rolls her eyes. “Fine, fine. Tell me about the magic D then.”
I give her a few more details, finishing with, “He’s just…he’s great, Juliet. He’s truly great. I’ve never met anyone like Gage. But it’s just an arrangement, and I can’t get caught up in it.”
Words to live by. Words I’d better not ever forget.
“It’s a wonderful arrangement though.”
“I suppose it is. But it’s also surreal. And a little terrifying. Because now I have to deal with what’s next.”
“And what’s that?”
