“Friends. But I have to go now. Lots to do tonight, need to drop by home and then go to the bank—”
Shouldn’t have said that last part, cause
he raised his eyebrows questioningly. “Why are you going to the bank this late?”
“I forgot my…” I saw my phone prodding out of my bag. “Phone…charger! I forgot my phone charger there!”
Phew. That was a close one. I needed to be more careful about disclosing my whereabouts, especially when it concerned my super-secret rendezvous with the owner and CEO of a giant bank chain.
“But I’ll see you later?” Rick was still talking as I started storming off before I could say too much more.
“Sure,” I said, without even looking back, and dashed out of there as fast as I could.
I heard him say, 'I’ll hold you to that.”
Great, now I had unintentionally agreed to hang out with him. Oh well, it couldn’t be that bad. I was far too invested in Zayden to be won over by Dick-Rick’s attempts to get me back. And it really sounded like he needed a friend, so whatever, I could handle an afternoon coffee or something. I’d deal with him when I dealt with him. Right now, I had to rush home, change into sexier clothes, and go see Zayden. I couldn’t wait.
---
Stacey was waiting for me in the living room when I got home. We hadn’t really talked since our last fight, regarding her helping Zayden. We said hello here and there when we ran into each other in the kitchen, but mostly communicated via Nick, who was getting increasingly frustrated with what he called our girlish ways.
“Hi,” she said awkwardly as soon as I walked in through the front door.
“Hi,” I said back, not looking at her. Stacey and I hadn’t fought in a long time, so I wasn’t quite sure how to approach the situation now. There was also the tiny inconvenience of timing; I was supposed to meet Zayden almost 10 minutes ago. Which I couldn’t tell her, because I had yet to tell her about my sexcapades, for the fear of the inevitable I-told-you-so.
“I’m sorry,” we both said in unison. And then I just wanted to hug her and have my best friend back and tell her about the amazing things that had happened to me. I didn’t even care about the I-told-you-so anymore, I had missed her too much. I jumped on the couch next to her and hugged her against her will. Stacey wasn’t a touchy-feely person, but over the years, she started secretly enjoying being forced into a hug by me. She’d never admit it, though.
“You were right,” were the first words that came out of my mouth. “You were absolutely, 100 percent right. Zayden makes me happy. Thank you for seeing it before I did, Stace.”
“No, no, no,” she said, shaking her head. “I mean, I am glad you think so and are happy now, but I shouldn’t have gone behind your back like that, solely based on what I thought was best for you.”
“Come on, Stace, let’s be honest, when have you been wrong about what’s best for me?”
“Never,” she said, and grinned. “But that’s not the point.”
“It is though. You were right about Ricky-Dick and you were right about Zayden.”
After a few moments of gathering courage, I said, “There is something I have to tell you about Zayden.”
She immediately jumped upright upon hearing that, and her eyes widened to the size of walnuts. “Aria Roberts, you didn’t!”
“I haven’t even told you what it is that I am talking about!” I exclaimed, even though by now we both knew that nothing needed to be said.
“What? When? How? Where? Tell me everything,” she shrieked.
“Can I give you a quick summary? I kind of have plans to go see him.” I checked my watch. “Like 15 minutes ago.”
She gasped. “So you’ve been doing it this whole time?”
“No, no no, only once. In his office. Last week. Maybe tonight.” I started thinking back to that night and hugged my own knees. “It was amazing! He was…incredible. If that is what real sex feels like, I am surprised people ever get out of their houses.” I surveyed her from top to bottom. “Like, I am surprised you’re out here with me and not jumping Nick’s bones right now.”
She laughed. “Oh you poor, child. I hate to be the one to ruin Christmas, but it’s not always perfect and amazing and wonderful. Especially not the first time, not for most girls, anyway. You got lucky. Zayden must’ve known what he was doing.”
I was still hiding the fact that I lost virginity to a random guy after Rick broke up with me. She’d never let me live it down if she knew.
“Are you saying Nick doesn’t?” I teased.
“Of course he does. I mean, we are great and everything and I love him. It’s not perfect every single time though. And after dating for as long as we have, it kind of gets old a little bit.”