“I slept with Jordan.” She blurted it out, kept her eyes trained on the wall she was painting, and waited for her friends to burst out with comments and questions.
When five long seconds ran by in silence, she turned her head and caught the look passing between Malory andZoe .
“You knew? You already knew? You mean to tell me that arrogant, self-satisfied son of a bitch ran right to Flynn to brag that hed banged me?”
“No.” Malory barely swallowed a laugh. “At least not that I know of. And Im sure if Jordan had said anything about it to Flynn, Flynn wouldve told me. Anyway, we didnt know. We just…” She trailed off, then studied the ceiling.
“We were wondering how long it would take before the two of you jumped each other,”Zoe put in. “Actually, we thought about starting a pool on it, but decided that would be a little crass.Idve won,” she added. “I had today as spontaneous combustion day. Malory figured youd hold out another week.”
“Well.” Dana fisted her hands on her hips. “Thats a hell of a note.”
“We didnt actually bet.” Malory chimed back in. “And see what good friends we are, not even pointing out that youre telling us, though Jordan telling Flynn would make him an arrogant, self-satisfied son of a bitch.”
“Im rendered speechless.”
“Oh, no, you dont.”Zoe shook her head. “At least not until you tell us how it was. You want to use the scale of one to ten, or do a descriptive retrospective?”
The laugh escaped before Dana could stop it. “I dont know why I like the two of you.”
“Sure you do. Come on,”Zoe urged. “Tell. Youre dying to.“
“It was great, and not just because I was ready to spontaneously combust. I missed being with him. You think you forget what its like to feel so… connected to somebody. But you dont. You really dont. We were always good in bed. Were even better now.”
Zoelet out a long sigh. “Was it romantic or insane?”
“Which time?”
“Now youre bragging.”
With a laugh Dana started painting again. “Been a while since I had anything to brag about.”
“How ar
e you planning to handle it?” Malory asked her.
“Handle what?”
“Are you going to tell him youre in love with him?”
The question brought a little shadow creeping in on the edge of her bright mood. “Whats the point of it? Hed either back off or feel guilty about not backing off.”
“If youre honest with him—”
“That was your way,” Dana interrupted. “Its the way you needed to deal with what you felt for Flynn. It was right for you, Mal, and for him. But for me… well, I dont have any expectations of Jordan this time around, and Im willing to take responsibility for my own emotions and the consequences. What Im not willing to do is put my big,gooshy heart in his hands and force him into making a choice. What weve got right now is good enough for me. For now. Well worry about tomorrow when it gets here.”
“Um… Im not going to disagree with you,”Zoe began. “Maybe you need to take some time, let things settle or evolve. But more, maybe youre meant to. Maybe its part of the quest.”
The roller jumped in Danas hand. “My sleeping with Jordan is part of the quest? Where the hell does that come in?”
“I dont mean the sex, specifically. Though sex is, lets face it, powerful magic.”
“Yeah, well, maybe the gods sang and the faeries wept.” Dana ran her roller over the wall again. “But Im not buying that doing the wild thing with Jordans going to lead me to the key.”
“Im talking about the relationship, the connection, however you want to say it. What was between you, what is between you, whats going to be.”
Zoepaused as Dana lowered the roller, turned with a speculative look on her face. “Isnt that following along with what Rowena said to you about the key?” she continued. “Couldnt it be part of the whole thing?”
Dana said nothing for a moment, then dredged her roller in paint. “Well, thats another hell of a note. Its got some logic to it,Zoe , but I dont see how it helps. Somehow I