“I was already downtown.” She waves her hand at me impatiently. “You said this has something to do with Tag? Was he a dickhead at your family thing? Do I need to send Lyle and Austin after him?”
“No. He was…kind of great? And it wasn’t just Tag who was great at the party.” I laugh at Ariel’s comical gasp of shock. “There was someone else.”
“Someone else.” She shakes her head in disbelief.
The server comes over. I order a plate of fries and a protein smoothie. Ariel asks for a strawberry lemonade. “I already ate—just had lunch with my dad, actually.”
“Oh.” An uncomfortable, swirly gut feeling takes over my insides. “We could’ve done coffee or something instead?—”
“No, this is great. Tell me everything about Tag. And who’s this other guy?”
“Nobody you know.” I hate, hate lying to my best friend. In fact, I’ve only ever lied when it comes to my true feelings about her father.
“And this all happened the day after we talked about my men?” She shakes her head again, but she’s grinning with pride. “I’m a terrible, corruptive influence.”
“Yeah, messing around with two guys must be contagious.”
When we’re done laughing, she gives me a serious look. “So it was good, obviously, or you wouldn’t be all flushed and happy looking. They were safe with you? Respectful?”
I nod. I still can’t believe they did all that with me, and seemed to expect nothing in return. It was like getting me off was their goal. Tag was always a generous lover, but together with Mr. Capulet, it was like I was the only person in the room who mattered to them.
“Do you think I did all that too fast?” I ask. “Like, the three of us didn’t have any agreements in place beforehand. I’m not dating them, like you’re dating your guys.”
“Hey.” Her green eyes take on a sharp edge. “I’m not judging you. Don’t judge yourself.”
“You’re right, you’re right.” I sigh. “I’m not used to any of this. I feel so out of my element.”
Our drinks and my plate of fries arrive. Ariel steals a fry and pops it in her mouth, wincing immediately. “Too hot, too hot, too hot.”
“Here.” I nudge her lemonade over.
She takes a grateful sip. “So, tell me if I’m correct about your quandary: you have to decide if you’re really giving Tag another chance, or what. While also figuring out how cool you are with the fact you messed around with two men at once.”
“Yeah.” I carefully blow on a french fry before taking an experimental bite.
My phone buzzes in my purse. I pull it out and peek at the screen.
“Tag wants to take me out tonight,” I whisper, showing Ariel his text preview.
She tucks a strand of blond hair behind her ear. “Are you going to do it?”
“I’m not sure. I want to. But I don’t think I should.”
“Why don’t you think you should?”
“He broke up with me. No explanation, just the it’s not you, it’s me bullshit. How do I know he won’t do pull something like that again? I can’t be secure in a relationship where he’ll drop me for no reason.”
“You have to talk to him if you want reassurances.” Ariel’s voice is soft. “I mean, I’m all for the kind of closure that can be reached through planting ridiculous rumors about him on his favorite online spaces. But there are other, healthier kinds of closure. I suppose.”
I laugh. “You’re right. I can always tell him that if he doesn’t give me a good, real explanation for our break-up, then this is the last time I come around him. If my family keeps inviting him to events, I won’t go.”
“There’s that shiny backbone.” Ariel grins.
“Let’s do this right now.” I start typing back to Tag, giving him the ultimatum I should’ve given months ago, while Ariel looks on.
While I’m in the middle of typing, a new text comes in—this one from Mr. Capulet. I swipe past it with a flick of my finger and carefully keep my focus on the screen. Did Ariel see it? When I work up the nerve to check her expression, she doesn’t seem like she noticed at all.
Phew, that was close. If Mr. Capulet and I ever take things further, I’m going to need to talk to Ariel. I can’t stand keeping secrets from her—not secrets like this one.
