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If last night was more than just one night.
Fuck, I hope so.
It's a busy night at the White Oak tonight, and I find myself sitting in a booth with most of the people I know well here—Diego, Quinn, Madison, Gavin, and Kylie, even though she can't drink right now. Even our friend Delia Caine has decided to join us in town for a walkthrough of our progress on a performance space Wright Construction is working on for her.
"I thought you hated the city," I tell her with a sly smile. "But you seem to be hanging around here an awful lot."
"What can I say?" she shrugs. "Good friends make the whole experience a little more palatable...and I'm still not done rubbing it in Quinn and Madison's face that I called their relationship before they were even willing to admit it to themselves."
"Ha, ha," Quinn rolls his eyes. "You act like you're the sole reason anything happened."
"Maybe I am."
"Or maybe it's my fault for setting this all into motion," Gavin chuckles. "Or you're just looking for your own White Oak love story..."
Delia puts her hand to her chest in a dramatic gesture. "Me? Never. I'm good flying solo, thank you very much."
"That's right," Diego adds. "Some of us live a free-wheeling lifestyle that's...well, it's ill-suited to settling down."
"And you, Ryan?" Madison asks.
I almost choke on my drink, caught in the middle of watching Sophia move across the room. She gives me a knowing look, glancing over at Kylie, who shakes her head with a laugh. Shit...they definitely know something, and I don't want to put Sophia's job in danger.
"What about me?" I ask.
"He's still getting over a two-year-old breakup," Diego says. "Leave the man alone."
"I'm not," I say, suddenly defensive as I look over at him. "I'm uh...seeing someone, actually."
The table goes silent for a moment, all eyes on me. I feel my cheeks flush as I try to gauge their reactions. Diego raises his eyebrows in surprise while Quinn and Madison exchange a knowing smile. Gavin grins widely, nudging me in the ribs with his elbow.
"Well, well, well," he says. "Care to tell us more about this mystery woman?"
I hesitate, not sure how much I want to reveal. On the one hand, I'm bursting with excitement and want to share everything.
On the other hand, I don't want to jinx it or ruin what could be a good thing.
"She's...she's just someone I met recently," I say vaguely. "We're still getting to know each other."
"Someone?" Madison asks, her eyebrows raising. "Who?"
I shrug, trying to play it cool. "Just someone I met recently."
"Ooh, details," Kylie says, her eyes lighting up. "When do we get to meet her?"
I shake my head. "It's not like that, guys. It's...complicated."
"You're telling us," Gavin says, smirking. "You don't even seem to know what's happening."
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with ambiguity," Quinn says.
"At least at first," Madison chimes in. "But she's going to want something firm soon. I bet she's really into you."
Yeah, she definitely knows something...and so does Kylie. And maybe that should make me feel like I'm lacking privacy, but it actually reassures me—because their reaction means Sophia has been talking about me, that she's telling her friends...
We really need to talk more.
Not just about hooking up...about something more.
