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I felt embarrassed heat flush my face. “Yeah, she is. But I’m not.”
“So, you’ve officially become an insensitive dick,” she teased.
I smiled at the good-natured jab. “I told you; I’ve always been one.”
“So, you can just have casual flings, but I can’t, hmm?”
“Yes.” I grinned. “Exactly.”
Remi laughed. “I know you better than that, Dylan.”
There had been a time when all I wanted was Remi, and only Remi, but after she shot me down about our Junior Prom, self-preservation kicked in and I dated several girls. “Really? Don’t you remember high school?”
Remi nodded. “Yes, but the Dylan that played the field wasn’t the same one who was my best friend.”
“Ha! That was all an act!”
“If that’s true, I have to admit that I’ve had a hard time reconciling your two personalities.”
“It’s because I had to convince you that I wasn’t heartbroken after you went to the Junior Prom with that loser.” The admission slipped out.
Remi paused and her smile faded. “Chad? He asked me first and I’d already said yes. You were too slow to pull the trigger.”
Regret filled me. That one small change and my entire life might be different.
“Come on, Dylan, really?” Remi asked, concerned by my silence. “It wasn’t like I chose him over you. He just asked me first.”
“Well, that was eons ago, anyway. Let’s dance!” I pulled her up and dragged her onto the dance floor. A fast song was playing, and I wanted a distraction. No use confessing six years too late.
“Dylan!” Remi yelled over the music.
I started jumping up and down and making an obvious fool of myself to get her to laugh. I grabbed her hands, then her waist until she was jumping with me. “Dance, Remi!”
We spent the next two hours dancing, drinking, and having a blast together, while I carefully avoided the elephant in the room.
Remi
I blinked. The morning light streaming in from the hotel window hurt my eyes when a movement to my right jolting me awake.
“Shit!” Dylan grumbled, scrambling to look at his phone. “It’s after ten, Remi. I gotta go!”
I sat up on the bed and scratched my head, still trying to wake up. We were both dressed in the same clothes we’d been wearing the day before, after shutting down the bar, taking an Uber back to the hotel and then falling asleep together while watching a movie. I had vague memory of Dylan removing my keys from my right hand, then taking charge of the situation after I’d had way too much to drink.
As usual, he was perfect; always taking care of me and I just wanted to fall into his arms. Everything was familiar; his scent, having him near me, the warmth coming from his body, the small laugh when I moaned my reluctance, rolled over and buried my face in one of the pillows.
I stretched and inhaled. “So? It’s Saturday.”
Dylan slid off the bed and was rummaging around for his shoes. Once he found them, he shoved his feet inside and rushed into the bathroom. The water turned on, but the door was left open.
“Yeah, but I told Christy I’d meet her for coffee,” he called.
Christy.I lamented her name silently.
“Oh, that’s right. You’re double booked, Dylan. You told the twins you’d meet them for breakfast.”
Dylan poked his head out of the bathroom as he squeezed some of my toothpaste onto his finger and proceeded to stick it in his mouth as a lame attempt to brush his teeth. “Ooh go,” he tried to speak around his finger as he tried to clean his teeth. He disappeared again and after more water running and rinsing his mouth out, came back into the room. “Come on, Remi. Please?”
I ran both hands through my hair, enjoying watching him; our easy camaraderie natural as we fell right back into our best friend dynamic. I frowned, pursed my lips, and cocked an eyebrow in wry protest. By now Dylan was using my hairbrush to try and bring some order to his messy bedhead.
