“Judah Klein is a magnetic kisser.”
“Judah Klein is anextremelymagnetic kisser, unfortunately.”
Liana smiled ruefully and squeezed Ari’s ankle, which would have been a very sweet gesture if it didn’t remind her of Judah doing that exact same thing on her couch the morning after the party. Such an innocuous move, with such dangerous results…
“You don’tknowthat it’s serious with Mira, do you? I mean, she’s not here with him,” Liana pointed out.
“It’s a Lag Ba’Omer party at which he’s hired to sing. I don’t think that requires girlfriend attendance.”
“Still, you can’t convince me Judah’s the kind of guy who just goes around kissing girls at weddings. There’ssomethingthere.”
“I thought so,” Ari muttered. “We also may have done more than kissing.”
Liana was an expert at arching an eyebrow so high it could dust a ceiling fan, but she was in rare form even for her. “When?” she demanded. “Before Mira, I assume. Please tell me it was before Mira.”
“Of course it was before Mira.” Ari was a lot of things, but she wasn’t a cheater. “It was at Akiva’s party.”
“I didn’t even see you.”
“Do you think we fooled around on a table in the middle of the bar?” Ari snorted. “Please. I lured him into one of the upstairs bathrooms like the classy lady I am.”
“Are we talking, like, under-the-shirt action? Or are we talking like I should never, ever use one of those bathrooms ever again?”
Ari said nothing, taking a noisy sip instead.
“Arielle Becker.”
“You promised no judgment!”
“I’m still not judging you! I’m impressed! And admittedly, extremely curious as to what you managed up there, but I will not ask.” She fixed her gaze on Ari. “Wow, okay, so you hooked up that night, and a week later he goes away for Pesach and meets Mira, and that’s the end of that? Did you even speak in between?”
So much for keeping that part to herself. “Um, yeah, we did speak that week. Like, a lot. And ‘speak’ is definitely a euphemism.”
“Oh my God.” Liana’s jaw dropped open. “You little liar. The night of the storm you told me you got stuck at a guy’s apartment—”
“I did get stuck at a guy’s apartment! That was not a lie!”
“Yeah, but the guy wasJudah. That is, at the very least, a massive lie of omission.” Her expression changed quickly from ire to wonder. “Judah Klein hastefillin dates.”
“Well, technically it was not a tefillin date because I went to his place; his tefillin was already there.”
“Technically, you slept in Judah Klein’sbed.”
“I also sat on Judah Klein’s face. The sleeping part is really the least of it.”
“You—” Liana huffed out a breath. “I really should never doubt that there’s a man alive you cannot bring to his knees. Literally.”
“Didyou doubt it? Wow. That’s actually pretty offensive, Lee.”
Liana shook her head. “You are amazing. How was it? I must know. I know I should apologize for asking or pretend I care that it’s none of my business, but I actually just have to know.”
“Does Gideon know you’re this big a perv?”
“Gideon’s already had sex; he doesn’t get an opinion on my perviness. And don’t change the subject. I’ve earned this.”
Ari sighed deeply. “Honestly? I don’t even know what to say about it. It was just fooling around. Or at least it was supposed to be. But”—she took a deep breath—“he’s so… God, I mean, the way he looks at you, you know?”
“No, I definitely don’t,” Liana said with a smirk. “But I can tell you I will not look athimthe same way ever again.”
