Page 36 of Just Past Two

“That’s easy for you to say. I don’t want to hurt Sam.”

“I seriously think you’re underestimating him.”

What if she was wrong, though? Angela could speak confidently from out there; this was all a hypothetical exercise for her. It wasn’t her life.

Abby looked down at her hands in her lap. “I worked so hard to change the train wreck I was becoming back in college, and I got a great guy like Sam out of it. I don’t want to undo that.”

Another long silence, then Angela’s voice from right outside the door. “Are you still getting dressed in there, or are you sitting there feeling sorry for yourself?”

Abby wrinkled her nose and got up. “I’m coming, I’m coming.”

After Abby bought the dress, they grabbed a soft pretzel at one of the mall kiosks and sat on a bench near Target, sharing it and people watching. They talked about Angela’s bathroom remodel and several stories about her dog Thumper before circling back to the previous topic, which Angela brought up out of nowhere. “So do you want to go back to the way things were with you and Sam?”

Abby reeled from the subject change for a minute before recovering. “I don’t think we could. And I kind of don’t want to. I just don’t want it to escalate. I don’t want it to get out of control. And I definitely don’t want him to know that I’m lusting after every good-looking guy in the vicinity.”

Angela laughed, picking up a piece of pretzel. “I think it’s okay. I actually think you should bring it up. See if that threesome was a one-and-done thing, or if he’d be game for it all over again.”

Abby winced. “I don’t know. Zach was kind of a special case. I don’t think he’d be into making a habit out of it.”

Angela shrugged. “You suit yourself. It’s your marriage. You probably don’t want my marriage advice, anyway. I’m never getting married again.”

“Straight pimpin’ with Angela?” Abby grinned.

“That sounds like a new HGTV show.” Angela nicked the last of the pretzel and popped it in her mouth before Abby could object.

Maybe she should call it off. They might be having fun now, but they couldn’t keep this up forever. There was a reason Abby Wood If She Could stayed behind at college: giving in to all her baser impulses was an unsustainable way to live. Relationships required people to grow up. This dalliance between them was destined to set them both up for bad expectations.

Even if the thought of calling it off made her feel just a little bit sick.

…

It figured that Abby could somehow find a dress even more sinfully gorgeous than her reunion dress to wear to this company party. That green dress from New Year’s had been smokin’ hot, but this was sex in fabric form, clinging to all her curves with a neckline plunging dangerously low.

Sam came up behind her as she finished curling her hair and set down the curling iron on the sink. She yielded to his touch, and he wrapped his arms around her and breathed in the floral scent of her red curls. “Maybe we should just skip the party so I can get you back out of that dress again.”

“It’s the company party and we have to go.” She gently pulled away from his embrace. Her expression had been a little frowny, a little unhappy, all afternoon.

“You don’t look like you want to go, I’ve gotta say.” He tried to laugh a little so she wouldn’t get her feelings hurt.

“Oh. Sorry.” She shook her head. “I just… I had a chat with Angela a couple of days ago, and it’s been on my mind.”

He sat down on the bed. A chat with Angela could be anything. “You want to talk about it?”

Abby hesitated, a few emotions playing across her face. The longer she waited, the faster Sam’s heart beat, as if they were in some sort of race of escalating emotions. Finally, she sighed, defusing all the tension, and walked out of the bathroom. “This thing we’re doing just doesn’t seem sustainable.”

“What thing?” He had a sense, obviously, but hopefully he was wrong.

“This…” She waved her hand in a rolling motion. “This fantasy thing. Where we share fantasies and make them come true. We can’t keep going like this.”

“Why not?” They’d been having a good time, right? Last weekend with Zach was incredible, and all week, they had been chill together, no sense of distress. “It’s been working out so far.”

“But where’s it gonna go?” She spread her arms wide, then leaned back against the doorframe of the bathroom. “We’re just going to keep trying new things, week after week, forever?”

“I assumed we’d run out of fantasies, eventually.” His attempt at a joke didn’t make her smile. She seemed really upset about this, or maybe…disappointed? Her expression was nearly neutral, hard to read, with a slight downturn of her lips. “But really.” Sam got to his feet and approached, slowly, cautiously. “I thought we were having a good time. We haven’t done anything the other person hasn’t wanted to do.”

“That’s just it.” She brushed through his arms and past him. “We’re both into all this, but it’s been only a month and we’ve been to a sex club, tried BDSM, and I fucked another guy!” She pressed a palm to her head, looking suddenly a lot more upset.

“Is that what this is about? Are you feeling guilty?” He really wanted to hold her right now, but she’d pushed away. Instead, he thrust his hands in the pockets of his suit pants. “Don’t feel guilty, sweetie. I wanted it. I thought you wanted it. We had fun.”