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The sound of the door opening wasn’t enough to force my head up, but Sara’s delighted voice was. “You slut. I can’t believe you!”
I groaned and slumped back in my chair. “Stop! Don’t make me regret messaging you.”
“Let me tell you how loud I screamed when I got that text this morning.Cyrus? Swoon!” She sat on my desk in front of me and shoved my shoulder. “He’s my favorite. There’s just something about a grumpy man. I’m so jealous of you that I could cry.”
“There’s something wrong with me, Sara. If I destroy my friendships, you’re going to have to do a lot more with me on the weekends.” My chest ached at the idea. I loved Sara, but it wasn’t the same.
She rolled her eyes. “Those idiots aren’t going anywhere. They’re like your overgrown guard dogs.”
I didn’t agree, but I didn’t feel like arguing. With barely any sleep and rising anxiety, I wasn’t in my finest form. “Andrew just called to check on me.”
“I see that you’re changing the subject and I’ll allow it for now.” She tapped me on the nose and grinned. “Did you tell Andrew to shove his concern for you up his ass?”
Shrugging, I sighed. “I don’t even remember. I think I was too busy freaking out over my night with Cy.”
“Night and morning, from what I heard. I saw you walking across the cafeteria earlier, by the way. You’ve got a waddle going on.” She looked up as my door slowly opened again and her teasing ceased when another of our coworkers stuck her head into the room. “Morgan. What’s up?”
Morgan Waller, a beautiful blonde with the most perfect curls I’d ever seen, moved closer to us. She looked nervous as she twisted her hands together in front of her pink dress. “Hey. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
Sara snorted under her breath and slapped me on the shoulder. “Not at all. Not even a little bit.”
“Well, I just wanted to talk to Poppy for a moment. I had a question.” She looked at Sara, as if expecting Sara to take a hint and leave, but Sara wasn’t budging. Realizing that, Morgan’s smile stiffened. “You’re best friends with Sam Clark, right?”
A funny feeling rolled over me. “I am.”
“The best of friends.” Sara pinched me under the desk where the other woman couldn’t see. “Honestly, they’re all so close.”
Morgan came a few steps closer. “I hope this isn’t crossing any boundaries, but I was wondering…”
I held my breath and waited for the inevitable. All through high school I’d been asked to set girls up with my guy friends. That was another reason the rules were in place. So I didn’t have to play matchmaker.
“Do you think you could give Sam my number?” She rushed the rest of her speech, clearly embarrassed. “I hope that’s not awkward. I’m sorry if it is. It’s just that I’ve seen him around but he’s never alone. Not that I’d ever have the nerve to ask him out myself, but still. If you don’t think it’s a good idea, that’s okay.”
For some reason, I couldn’t make myself give the same canned response I’d given the thousand other times someone asked something similar. Something about the way the strange feeling settling in my stomach felt too similar to jealousy stopped me. “I think I can do that.”
Sara’s head snapped around to face me and her expression made it clear that she didn’t trust whatever I was doing. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked back at Morgan. “It’s a little awkward.”
I put my hand on Sara’s knee before she could go all protective best friend on Morgan. “It’s actually fine. Just write your number down and I’ll give it to him when I see him. Is that okay?”
She tore her gaze from Sara’s and nodded at me. Her shoes tapped gently on the waxed floor as she hurried to my desk and handed me a post-it with her number already written out on it. “Thanks, Poppy. I really appreciate it.”
As soon as she was out of the room, Sara turned back to me with a disgusted look on her face. “What the hell was that? You have a whole thing about not being the guys’ madam. I remember because two years ago, I barely even mentioned that they were hot and you went off on this whole tangent about how you weren’t their madam, or pimp, and you weren’t setting me up with them.”
I looked at the time on my phone before slipping Morgan’s number in my pocket. “Maybe it’s time I got out of the way. Maybe she’d be perfect for Sam.”
“You were never in the way. This is because you slept with Cyrus. I don’t get it, but it’s obvious. You need to carry your ass down to the counselor and let Irene study you for a while.” She stood up and moved to the door. “So, you’re just going to give Sam her number? Is he the only friend you’re not interested in sleeping with?”
I couldn’t answer that, so I deflected. “You know Irene is not licensed to actually help people. I don’t even know how she’s still working here.”
“I’m leaving because I need to get to my classroom to set up for my next class, but don’t think I’m letting this go.”
I waved her off and stared down at my phone. “Goodbye, Sara.”
“Goodbye, coward!”
I scowled at the door after she closed it behind her and shook my head. I wasn’t a coward. She didn’t know what she was talking about. It was the rules. They were changing, maybe. And the fake dating. The fake dating was changing things. It had nothing to do with me. Why? Because everything was fine.
“It’s fine that you did that thing. It doesn’t change anything. Everything is fine.” I didn’t acknowledge that my voice was even less sure than before.
