AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Skylar eventually pulls my arm. “I’m literally farting snowflakes out here. Can we go inside and get warm?” All three of us start laughing. Talk about a tension breaker.
I wipe my tears. “Yes, let’s go inside.” We go in and sit down on the sofa. They’re on either side of me.
Reagan opens her bag and pulls out three bottles of wine. She opens them all, handing them out so we each have our own. It looks like we’re going straight from the bottle for this conversation.
Reagan looks at me. “I’m going to tell you what I know. After that, you’re going to tell useverything. Every. Fucking. Detail. Am I understood?” I nod.
“You’ve been in a depression for three years. Five weeks ago, you shocked us and told us thatthe onegot away. That you pushed him away. We had never remotely heard of him. Tonight, we watched you kiss a man like no kiss I’ve ever seen. Certainly not one I’ve ever seen from you. We couldn’t hear everything he said to you before he left, but we did hear him say that you two were happening, even if you didn’t accept it. As he’s leaving, I notice that said man looks awfully familiar to me. He looks a lot like the friend of my ex’s brother who we met at a club one night. The same night you and he disappeared at exactly the same time. Care to fill in the Grand Canyon-sized holes in this story?”
Skylar looks at me. “That was the same guy from the club?” I nod.
I take a long breath. “Remember right after Dad died, when I had sex with a random stranger on the roof of Club Liberty?”
Skylar nods and Reagan rolls her eyes. “Obviously we remember that.”
“Well, it was Brody.”
Skylar looks confused. “Wait, who’s Brody?”
Reagan smacks her leg. “The guy that just left here you moron.”
I nod in agreement. “Even though we didn’t exchange any information that night, he showed up two days later as one of my medical school professors.” Skylar gasps. Reagan’s hold on my hand tightens.
“We had a year of extreme sexual tension, but I wouldn’t let anything happen. It came about as close as it can that night at the club, but it didn’t happen.”
“I knew it was weird that you both disappeared. Skylar, you told me there was no way she went home with a random guy.”
“I didn’t know she knew him.”
“Anyway, I told him we could never be together, and he took it really hard. He quit his job and accepted a fellowship abroad. I texted him a few times over the years, just to check-in, but I never heard back from him. He told me tonight it was too hard.”
“He showed up today and told me that he’s moved back here to fight for me, and that he won’t take no for an answer. And to make matters worse, he’s going to be one of my bosses at work.”
Reagan looks at me. “Let me get this straight. You’ve been pining after this guy for years. You told us a few weeks ago that he’s the one that got away. He’s now back for you and desperately wants you. What’s the problem?”
“I can’t be with him. He was my professor and now he’s my boss.”
“Who the fuck cares? You’re obviously in love with him. People meet at work, Harley.”
“I’ll be a joke.”
“I’d rather be a happy joke than a fucking miserable surgeon.” Man did she just hit the nail on the head.
“Maybe after my residency.”
“That’s in three years!”
I put my head down. “I know.”
Skylar is watching us like it’s a ping pong match, seemingly deep in thought. “Harley, let me ask you something.” She looks at Reagan, and then back to me. “When was the last time you slept with someone?” I look at her with tears sliding down my cheeks, but I say nothing.
Reagan gasps. “No!” She moves her eyes between Skylar and me. “That cannot be true.” I think she chugs half of her bottle of wine in one go.
I put my head in my hands. “It’s not like I made a decision not to sleep with anyone else. It’s not like I didn’t try. I am not attracted to any other man. My body physically doesn’t react to other men. I can’t help it.”
Reagan’s mouth is wide open. “Holy fuck. I’m speechless. For the first time in my life, I’m speechless. Does anyone else know?”
“Aunt Cass knows. She doesn’t know that he’s back, since I only found out tonight, but she knows the rest.”
