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The door opens again at our backs, swinging fast enough to clip Archer’s body and shuffle us forward a step. Then Fletch appears.
“Sorry, man. I didn’t mean to—”
He stops on my right and discovers what I’m still trying to process. His eyes bulge, and his hand drops to the gun strapped to his chest. Then he looks to me, like this is one giant trick and we’re screwing with him.
“What the fuck did I miss?”
* * *
“It’s not what it looks like.”
We all go our own ways; Tim vanishes like he was never inside the bar. Aubree dresses. Archer and Fletch go to work, and now here I am, walking toward the George Stanley building with a Tim’s Bar coffee mug warming my hands, and my best friend blushing on my right.
“I swear, Minka, we didn’t sleep together.”
“You don’t owe me an explanation.” I bring my coffee up to hide my smirk. “I didn’t even ask.”
“You’re making assumptions!” She almost has to run to keep up with my brisk pace. “Minka! You’re pretending to not pry by not asking, but in your mind, you’ve already decided what I did. Whatwedid.”
“I’m not deciding anything.”I totally have. Aubree and Tim crossed the line together.“I’m giving you space to work through whatever is happening in your world. Because that’s what friends do. If you’d like to share those happenings with me, then I’ll be available to do that with you too.”
“I’m trying to share what happened!” She grabs the sleeve of my coat and almost makes me lose my coffee. “I’m trying to tell you I didn’t sleep with him.”
“That’s not telling me what happened. That’s telling me what didn’t happen.” I gently tug my sleeve free of her grasp and continue walking toward our building. “I know I called him last night to get you, that’s on me. But whatever happened after that was between two consenting adults.”
“Nothinghappened!” Her hair isn’t as stylish today as she usually keeps it. Her outfit, misbuttoned—I’m waiting for her to notice herself. “I was expecting Fletcher to collect me from work, Minka. You said it would be Fletch. So when Tim arrived, I was in shock.”
“So… he took advantage of your shocked state and tricked you into bed?”
“No! He didn’t take me to bed. Well…” Her tone changes as we approach the revolving glass doors at the front of the building. “He took me to bed, I suppose. If we’re being super technical about it all. But wedidn’thave sex. We didn’t even kiss.”
“Your business is yours.” I step through to the lobby and wait for Aubree to catch up. “Zero judgment from me. I mean, who the hell am I to judge?” I lower my voice and make a beeline for the elevator. “I slept with Archer the same night I met him. The same freakin’ hour. I spent the night in his apartment, and now I’m married to him.” Hitting the call button, I take a single step back and wait for the doors to open. “I won’t judge you if you and Tim slept together.”
“But we didn’t,” she whines.
The elevator stops on our level and opens up to reveal two techs stepping off. When they’re gone, Aubree and I enter.
“We didn’t sleep together,” she says again.
“You were wearing his pants when we walked in today.” Selecting the ninth floor, I smile and think of the times we’ve spent in this steel cube, when everyone else has tormented me. “We’re in the special cube of spilling our guts and living fantasies, no?”
“It’s the Neutral Cube of Truth-Telling and Fantasy-Living,” she grumbles. “And I am telling the truth.”
“But your supposedtruthdoesn’t align with your fantasy.” I glance across and note the small red patch on her neck I’d bet my left leg once had Timothy Malone attached. “Besides, you have a hickey.”
“I do not have a hickey!” Her hand swings up and slaps her skin so hard, I feel secondhand pain. “I have eczema.”
“Uh huh.” When the elevator doors ding open, I step off again and snigger. “Is this an affliction you’ve only just developed, or…?”
“It’s winter!” she snarls, following me toward my office. “One in every ten people develop eczema during their lifetime, Minka!”
“Yup. It’s cute how yours is on the exact same spot Tim’s lips were last night.”
The downside of having all glass walls surrounding my office is the fact I see the mountain of storage boxes crowding my space.
“When the hell did this mess get put in here?” I shove through my door and pass the pile without stopping. It’s too large, too smelly, and far too early in the day for me to process. “Who did this?”
“Seraphina did, just like you told her to.” Aubree pauses on the threshold and folds her arms. “They’d already started stacking them before you left the building last night. You clearly weren’t paying attention.”
