Page 35 of Just This Once

“I wouldn’t saypushing,” she says, poking around the candy in front of her.

Marianne gestures around us. “It feels like you’re auditioning for a new Netflix show about matchmaking, and yet there are no cameras.”

“Oh my god! I wouldlovethat.”

“I know. You’d be good at it.” Marianne smiles at her wife indulgently, and I roll my eyes. Clara and Dante both have that same annoyingly endearing thing of being terribly likable.

Which I hate. As an unlikable woman.

Clara absently places her hand on Marianne’s thigh, while the other flits through the air. “All I’m saying is you two had chemistry?—”

“Chemistry?” Andi looks between us for an explanation. “With this Dante guy? Who is that?”

“No one,” I say, but Marianne jumps in to explain in simple terms.

“He’s the contractor of The Nest renovation.”

“And one of my best friends from high school,” Clara says then lowers her voice, adding, “Tar and Dante hooked up a couple weeks ago.”

“I had no idea.” Andi gasps, playfully scandalized, and I chuck a Tootsie Roll at Clara. Marianne picks it up to eat.

“Because we don’t talk about it,” I say, shooting pointed glares at my so-called friends.

Andi leans in to whisper, “Talk about it to other people or right here, because… What’s the deal? Are you into him?”

“I am definitelynotinto him.”

Marianne eyes me like she doesn’t believe me, while Clara shakes her head. “Oh, come on. How could you not be?”

“Easy. It was a one-time thing, and he now works for me. Itold him that it has to be professional between us. No flirting or anything.”

Clara snorts. “Good luck with that. That boy can’t help himself.”

“He’s been good so far,” I say defensively. “Mostly,” I amend, thinking of a few moments that would not be categorized accurately as completely professional.

“And he wants to rent your apartment?” Andi asks, still trying to piece it all together.

“Yeah.”

“Well…” Andi pops a Twix into her mouth. “Speaking from experience. Kinda hard to ignore the other person when you’re living under the same roof.”

Clara clucks her tongue as if that’s been her evil plan all along, and for some reason, I find myself justifying it. “Technically, we wouldn’t be under the same roof. The apartment is a separate unit. He would have his roof, and I’d have mine.”

Marianne props her chin on her hand. “So then, you’ll rent to him?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be on my side?” I ask, offended. “Thirty years of friendship lost over a man who wears a red bandanna like a headband.”

Marianne laughs. “It’s more than thirty, and that’s actually kinda cute.”

That’s the whole problem. Itiscute!

Goddamn it.

“What’s he like?” Andi asks to no one in particular, and I assume Clara will jump in, but she doesn’t. Merely stares at me instead.

I focus my attention on carefully balling up the empty candy wrappers. “He’s competent and surprisingly thoughtful.” I recollect the conversation he had with Maddie the other day. “He’s patient and…”

“Kinda hot,” Marianne cuts in when I trail off, my mind on his smile, glistening wet after he went down on me during our night together. When he sucked and licked and fucked me with his tongue like it was his job.

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