Chapter Twenty-One
Ihooked my thumb in the direction of the exit, speaking loud enough to make sure my voice could be heard over the music. “I think I’m going to head out.”
Juliana pouted. “Already? It’s only eleven thirty.”
“Yeah.” Harper frowned, leaning her elbows on the table. “You can’t leave yet. You can’t miss the countdown, and you love kissing a sexy stranger at the stroke of midnight.”
Maybe I had in the past, but there was only one person I wanted to be kissing tonight. And he wasn’t here.
“I’m good.”
Juliana and Harper shared a look, before Harper turned to me. “So…” She leaned in conspiratorially. “Still with lover boy? This one’s lasted a while. Who is he?”
“He’s…” I puffed out a breath.
Ordinarily, I would have said he was no one, but I knew I’d only be lying to myself and my friends. I was tired of lying; it went against everything in me.
“It’s Hunter,” I blurted.
Juliana’s lips spread into a grin, and Harper’s mouth gaped open. “Hunter, as in Preston’s best friend, Hunter?”
I nodded. “The one and only.”
“The same Hunter who hired me to plan his father’s campaign fundraiser?” she asked.
I nodded again. I hadn’t expected to be invited, nor had I expected him to hire one of my best friends to plan it. Not to say I wasn’t pleased, because I was. But I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would he introduce me to his parents as his interior designer? Something more? And why did that idea send a little thrill through me?
“Wait.” Harper frowned. “Were you together at the wedding? Man, do I feel like an idiot.”
“No.” I placed my hand over hers. “We kept running into each other, and then he hired me to be his designer. We didn’t realize the connection until the wedding, and we didn’t sleep together until that night.”
She nodded, and I watched her reaction carefully. She didn’t seem angry or hurt. I didn’t realize until that moment that I’d been scared of how she’d react.
“And you’ve been together since then?” Juliana’s expression betrayed her surprise.
I took a sip of my drink. “I wouldn’t exactly say we’re ‘together.’ It’s just sex. Or at least, it was,” I muttered.
“And now?” she asked.
“Honestly?” I stared at the contents of my glass, wishing it held the answers. “I don’t know.”
“But… Well, do you want it to be more than just sex?” Harper asked.
I took a deep breath and thought about all the time we spent together. It was about so much more than sex. I spent more nights at his place than mine, and we had a dog together, for crying out loud.
“I think it already is,” I said.
“Are you okay with that?”
It struck me how odd it seemed to be having such a heavy conversation when we were in a club, surrounded by partygoers. Still, I knew that no matter where we were, these two women—and Alexis—would always have my back.
I straightened. “You know what? I think I am.”
“Have you told him that?” Juliana asked.
“In not so many words,” I admitted.
They both frowned at me, but it was Juliana who spoke. “Lauren.” She waited until she had my full attention. “Life is short. If you’ve found someone who makes you happy—tell him.”
