Page 47 of How to Date a Younger Man
She narrows her eyes at me. “Why do you need space?”
She’s so pushy. Sometimes I feel like Wren brings the drama onto herself by being so difficult.
“I want to feel comfortable around you,” I say with a sigh. “But when you’re hanging all over me, it feels . . . I don’t know, weird.”
“Why is it weird? We’ve always been close.”
“Okay, but what happens when one of us starts dating someone? Cora hated how entitled you were around me.”
“I’ve known you forever. I’m allowed to be entitled. Cora was a bitch, anyway. She didn’t deserve you.”
“She was not a bitch. She was a really good person. I wasn’t.”
“Why, did you cheat on her?”
“No,” I say, exasperated with Wren’s prying.
“Then why did she dump you? Did she cheat on you?”
“No, Wren.”
“You never tell me anything anymore.”
If I wanted to tell you, I would have. “I’m allowed to have a life outside of our friendship, aren’t I?”
“Of course you are. But I feel like I should still know—”
“Everything?” I say, interrupting her. Okay, not wise.
“No, if you hadn’t interrupted me, I would have said the important things.”
I purse my lips and clasp my hands in front of me, trying to calm myself down.
“Like right now,” she says. “You’re obviously keeping something from me.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, hearing myself apologizing and unsure of what I mean by that.
“Are you seeing someone new?”
I don’t speak for a moment. What’s the harm in telling Wren? She wouldn’t tell Kristen or any of our friends . . . I know that much.
I sigh. “Yeah, I’m seeing someone. I don’t know where it’s going, though.”
“Is it Layne?”
I swallow. “Yeah,” I say, meeting Wren’s eyes. “It’s Layne.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“Well . . .” I laugh wryly. “It’s very new.”
“I’m sure you’re happy,” Wren says, crossing her arms, but she certainly doesn’t seem to be.
“I am happy. And nervous, and excited,” I say. “I’ve been waiting for this—”
“For the past few years. I know.”
Wren and I sit in silence for a while. I watch her pick at her nails and wonder what’s running through her head right now. I’ve never been able to read her.
“Well, I’d better get going,” she says suddenly, vaulting off of the stairs. “I had a backup date in case you didn’t come home or were busy.”
“Good,” I say with an encouraging smile, but she doesn’t return it.
Giving me a serious look, she says, “Don’t ignore me for another month, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
And with that, Wren leaves me on the front steps of my apartment building. I sit there for a while, my mind racing from the precious, fragile thing I have with Layne, to the volatile, stressful thing I have with Wren.
With a shake of my head, I rise to my feet and turn toward my door. I’m going to need more than pasta and a movie to decompress after that conversation.
It’s never easy with her.
16
* * *
LAYNE
By this point, you’d think I’d be sick of engagement parties. Lord knows I’ve attended enough of them.
But today’s engagement party? It’s different. I won’t have to sit through countless celebrations of a love I’m not sure is going to last, and do my best not to roll my eyes or burst anyone’s bubble. No, this time I’ll be celebrating a love I believe in, the love of my best friend who has truly found the love of her life. I couldn’t be happier for her or more excited to spend today with the happy couple.
Plus, Griffin will be there, and honestly, things between us just keep getting hotter. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t ready to spice things up a little.
After giving my dark curls one last spritz of hair spray, I check my makeup in the mirror, noting the way the classic navy shift dress fits over my curves. I’m not normally one to wander into boutiques and try on dresses at random, but I’ve been feeling more spontaneous than usual these days.
On the drive over to Kristen’s parents’ house, I’m surprised by the nervous fluttery feeling in my stomach. It’s only been a few days since I’ve seen Griffin, but this will be the first time seeing him with all our friends since we started doing whatever it is we’re doing, and I’m not sure how it’s going to go.
We haven’t told anyone about it, and I have no plans to. What would we even say? “Hey guys, I know we’ve been friends for years and he’s my best friend’s younger brother, but we’re fucking now. Yes, it’s complicated, and no, we have no idea what we’re doing.”
My palms sweat at the mere thought of that conversation, so I tuck it away in a far corner of my brain and turn up the music on the radio. That line of questioning is for another day. Right now? All I’m worried about is having fun and making sure Kristen has the best engagement party ever.
