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“You mean nothing apart from Alex Rockwell living with you?” Blaire asks before popping a grape into her mouth. “How’s that going, by the way?”
I told the girls the day after Alex moved in about how things had escalated. While they all agreed it was for the best, they immediately jumped into teasing me about him.
“It’s been a long week.” I offer up a halfhearted smile. “But we’re all adjusting fine. Chloe tries to corner him any chance she gets to talk about his job, but honestly, we barely see him any more than we did before.”
While it has been a long week of adjusting to someone living in my home, it hasn’t been as awkward as I thought it would be. In fact, I barely see him. He’s out of the house before I’m up and doesn’t come back inside until late. Really not much has changed: He still stays camped in his car, walks the block, and is generally a ghost. The only real struggle for me is knowing he’s sleeping just down the hall after telling me he would fuck me better than any man ever has.
“And how’s the case going?” Harper asks.
“Good. They came to us with a bullshit offer, which we obviously turned down. We countered with one that they laughed off, and now we’re still trying to work through negotiations. I’ve recently come into contact with a witness who is finally ready to come forward. We’ve been trying to get them to do that from the jump, but they’ve been hesitant considering who their employer is. Anyway, they have some pretty rock-solid proof: recorded conversations and meetings between the victims and HR that apparently the company denied ever happened. It’s the kind of information that could completely sink their defense.”
“Oh, damn. Wow. I’m guessing this will change the direction of the case?”
I nod at Blaire. “Yes, 100 percent, as long as we can get their sworn testimony recorded. My biggest fear is if Delmore finds out they’re going to testify and gets to them first.” I can feel the tension in my neck and jaw growing again. “Sorry, I don’t want to talk work tonight. I want to hear what’s going on with you guys.”
“Just lots of toddler stuff.” Harper smiles. “It’s so fun, but my God, it’s exhausting.”
“Oh yes, I remember those days.” I laugh.
“Any thoughts about doing it again?” Blaire crooks an eyebrow at me.
“Me? What about you? You haven’t even had one yet.” I take a sip of my wine. “I have thought about it. I don’t want Chloe to be an only child, but I also don’t want to do it just for the sake of having another child. I learned a hard lesson with Caleb about choosing wisely.”
“True,” Blaire says. “And Jimmy and I are still too infatuated with each other to think about babies.” She looks over at Harper. “Close your ears if you don’t want to be scared, but also, that man wears me out. I don’t think I’d have the energy to care for a child. Like last night, he had me up till almost 1 a.m., and then this morning he was ready for more.”
Harper’s face is scrunched tight as she guzzles her wine. “I’m about to drop out of this friend group entirely if I have to hear one more comment about my brother’s sex life.” She gives a dramatic shudder. “But I can tell you from personal experience with a veryenergetichusband and a toddler, it’s beyond exhausting. I’m on the pill, but I swear this man is trying to get me pregnant again already.”
While I’m beyond happy my friends not only have loving husbands, but also extremely fulfilling sex lives, I’m also wildly jealous. It’s been more than two years now since I’ve felt a man’s body on mine, and I’m about a month away from full-on losing it. I’ve told myself a thousand times to give in to Alex—to let it just be a fun experience that ends when this is all over—but I’ve never been intimate with someone I wasn’t in a relationship with. I’ve always been that committed-relationship kind of girl, and the thought of just hooking up for fun scares me. Am I too old for that now?
“Hey, before Aspen gets here,” I say, changing the subject, “have you guys talked to her lately? We had lunch a while back, and she seems quieter than normal. I know she’s the more reserved one in our friend group, but she seems off.”
“I agree.” Blair nods. “I talked to her just a few days ago and it felt like she was somewhere else the entire time. I know she’s super busy with her new job, and that’s what she chalked it up to, but it still has me a little worried.”
“She always was the one with the potential to become more of a hermit out of all of us, but it does concern me that she seems to be less inclined to hang out or even go to a Pilates class or grab coffee,” Harper says. “I’ve invited her out probably three or four times over the last month, and she’s always too tired or too busy.”
“Maybe she has a secret boyfriend who’s taking up all of her time and energy?” I wriggle my eyebrows and Harper and Blaire’s faces light up just as we hear Aspen come through the front door.
We spend the next few hours eating dinner and catching up. Chloe eats with us and fills us all in on her first week of school. After dinner, she heads upstairs to read and we end up putting on some music and sipping on wine as we enjoy the assorted chocolates that Blaire brought over.
“Oh, oh, I have one!” Harper says, waving her hand for us to quiet down. “Never have I ever had a one-night stand.” She glances around the room as everyone drinks except me. “Seriously? Even Aspen has.” She laughs and Aspen shrugs.
“That is kind of crazy and out of character for me, I know.” Aspen smiles. “But I was once a little wild in college.” She giggles.
“Pardon the interruption, ladies.” Alex’s deep voice startles us and we all turn to see him standing in the doorway of the living room. “Can I borrow you for a moment?” he says, looking over at me.
“Yeah, sure,” I say, placing my glass down and getting off the couch to walk over to him. He ushers me into the kitchen, away from the ladies.
“Sorry, I’ll be upstairs for the rest of the night. Just wanted to let you know in case you needed anything. One other thing: When they leave for the night, can you let me know so I can do one more check of the property?”
“Yeah, you sure you don’t want to join us for a game ofNever Have I Ever?”For some weird reason, it felt right to invite him to join us. I can feel myself smiling broadly . . . must be the wine.
“As tempting as that is,” he says in that low, deep voice, “I’ll let you ladies carry on.” He turns to walk toward the stairs. “You never having a one-night stand does explain a lot.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just that maybe if you relaxed—lived a little—you might be a little less uptight.” He winks at me then bounds up the stairs before I can form a comeback.
“Anyway, ladies, where were we?” I ask as I refill my glass.
