Page 15 of Things We Fake
He grunted a response that could’ve beenyou’re welcome, orgo to hell—either seemed possible.
I went inside and threw the dead bolt. Mercifully, no sounds came from the neighboring apartment. The party must be over. What a night!
I turned off the lights and dragged myself back to bed, afraid that I knew exactly what was going to populate my dreams tonight. Werewolf and horse porn.
Chapter Six
Sue
The following morning, the weather was still three shades of Arctic tundra—cold, white, and depressing. Especially since, against my will, the girls were dragging me hat shopping for the Easter parade.
Around ten-thirty, Jesse and I made our way to the coffee shop. I’d worn the lumberjack outfit again, knowing she would probably be dressed the same way. It was too frigging cold to worry about fashion. As we walked along, I regaled her with last night’s adventures with the boys next door, my nose slightly out of joint at her lack of indignation on my behalf.
“You could at least commiserate with me,” I complained.
“Why? It’s hilarious.”
“I was so embarrassed. I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to look either one of them in the face again.”
“Don’t worry about Sebastian.” Her mouth became a thin, straight line. “Believe me. He’s seen it all—probably done it all, too. Who’s the other guy you’re all bent out of shape about?”
One of these days, I would insist on knowing what had set her off about Sebastian. But now I was dying to talk about Cam.
“His name is Cameron Jones. He’s staying with Sebastian until he finds his own place.”
“So how did you meet him?”
“Making an idiot of myself, of course.” I explained about Mrs. H and the chocolate chips, not bothering to elaborate on the date. There was just so much stupid I would admit to on the same weekend. “He wanted Sebastian’s extra key and there I stood, my face encased in a pink cement face mask.”
We’d stopped walking because she was bent over with laughter.
“Oh my God! You and your home facials. You can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl. And the porn… There isn’t a woman in all of NYC who would just walk in on her neighbor like that. I bet you got an eyeful!” She laughed once more. “So tell me more about this guy. Is he cute?”
“Cute? No.” I sighed. “He’s so much better than cute. He takes thetall, dark, and handsomecliché to new heights. I think he’s close to my age, maybe early thirties. He’s everything I want in a man, kind, gorgeous, employed—although I’m not sure what he does. He’s some sort of entrepreneur.” I waved the thought away. “Doesn’t matter. He sees me as the klutzy-girl-next-door type. That first night, he got out of my apartment fast enough to give himself whiplash, and yesterday after he helped with my bags, he disappeared into his apartment before I could even offer him a drink. Unfortunately, I’m going to see even more of him sincehe’s also on that damn parent committee filling in for his sister-in-law.”
“There’s a bonus. You’ll get to spend more time with him and redeem yourself.”
I pushed open the door to the coffee shop. Lily and Ange sat at a table.
“Hi, where’s Nikki?” I removed my jacket and placed it on the back of a chair.
“Stuck at the lab,” Lily answered. “She’ll catch up with us later.” She gave me a closer look. “You didn’t get enough sleep, did you?”
Jesse snorted. “She’s got some adventures to share, don’t you, hon?”
I rolled my eyes, knowing she wouldn’t let me be until I told them everything about Cam, Sam, and the porn. Three pairs of wide eyes were glued on me as I sipped my coffee and told them about my adventures.
By the time I finished, the girls were almost on the floor, holding their stomachs. If they hadn’t been my best friends I would have been really pissed off at them for laughing so hard at my expense.
“And here I thought you needed fixing up,” Ange said. “No wonder you didn’t like Sam, it sounds like you’re in lust with Cam.”
I pressed my lips together. I couldn’t deny that. Instead, I drained my coffee and stood.
“How about we get this over with?”
I dropped my empty cup and bitter sarcasm into the recycling bin. While I didn’t loathe shopping, this was one trip I would prefer to skip.
As it turned out, I had been right to dread this particular venture.
