Page 116 of Faking it For Summer

“Mia, focus. Calm down.”

“I know, I’m going crazy.”

“It’s okay. Have you spoken to him?”

“He went to fucking work, Juniper. He got up while I was still sleeping, and he left, and he left me a stupid fucking note card. What are we, roommates or something? Who does that?”

“Oh, shit. I’m sorry, Mia, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that he didn’t also enjoy it. It just means maybe he had to work.”

“We had sex for the first time in our friendship. We’re best friends. We literally are in a fake relationship, and we had sex. We had sex, Juniper. You, more than anyone, know how much something like that means to me. I don’t just sleep around, and he knows that. He knows that it had to have meant something tome, and he couldn’t even be here in the hotel when I woke up.” I’m rambling like a lunatic,

“I hate to say this, Mia, but he’s a guy, and sometimes, guys don’t really think things through. I bet you were sleeping, and he was like,Ah, she’s sleeping. I need to do some work. I’ll speak to her later.”

I take a couple of deep breaths. “I know you’re right, but it still really stings. He knows me better than that.”

“I know, girl. I know. You want me to close up the store and come over, or?—”

“No, it’s okay. Thanks for offering. I think I’m going to go shower, and I’m going to cry. Then I’m going to order myself room service, and I’m just going to move on with my life. You know what? Lots of people have sex with their best friends. Lots of people have one-night stands. I will be one of those people, and I’ll just forget it. It will mean nothing. I’m not even going to bring it up to him, and I hope he doesn’t bring it up to me.”

I pause as I hear the door opening.

“Oh, shit, he’s back. I’ll speak to you later.”

Juniper says goodbye before I hang up. I look over as he walks in. He holds a bouquet of flowers; pink, yellow, and orange petals greet me.

“Morning, sunshine,” he says, heading toward me. His eyes narrow when he sees my face. “Why do you look so forlorn? What’s going on? Wait, you’re not upset, are you?” He bites down on his lower lip and looks guilty. “Please tell me I didn’t take advantage of you in your emotional state or anything like that. I would absolutely?—”

“You didn’t take advantage of me, Luke. Obviously, I wanted it. We both wanted it, and it was hot.”

“So, you enjoyed yourself, right? By the way,” he says, “I know we technically should have had this conversation before I came inside of you, but?—”

“I’m on the pill, Luke.” I just shake my head. “But, yeah, that is a conversation we likely should have had before you decided to orgasm inside of me. I can’t believe I just said that:You orgasmed inside of me.”

“My sperm filled you up?”

“Luke?” I say, hitting him on the shoulder.

“What?” He starts laughing. It’s true.”

“Yeah, but that sounds so?—”

“So, what?” His eyes light up as he takes a seat next to me. “It sounds so sexy. It sounds like you want me to do it again right now.”

“Luke, I’m mad at you.”

“Why?”

“Because you went to work this morning. You didn’t wait for me to wake up, and I just feel you should have known that I would want to wake up with you in bed. We’d just had sex for the first time, and that’s an enormous deal. It would be a big deal for any two people, let alone two people who are as close as we are.”

He sits there, not saying anything. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mia. Did you not see my note? I left you a note on the table.”

“Yeah, you left me a note on the table. That’s so cold. That’s what one-night stands do. That’s what men whose names you don’t even know do after they sleep with you—not someone that should care about you and want to make sure you feel okay after you had sex with them.”

He hangs his head. “I fucked up again, huh?” He lets out a deep sigh, and he runs his fingers through his hair. “I literally had to do some work, and I didn’t want to wake you up, so I left the bedroom because I was on a number of phone calls, and this is a huge deal for me. You know this, Mia. I cannot have this project fall through. And I thought I was being respectful of your feelings by leaving, and so I came back with flowers.”

“Flowers don’t make up for the fact that you weren’t here when I woke up this morning. And, yeah, I get that you have a job, and it’s a big deal, but I just want to be chosen.” My voice cracks slightly.

I don’t know if I’m being unreasonable. A part of me feels like I am, but another part of me feels like I deserve that. Another part of me feels like he should have known that I would need that.