Page 12 of One Night

"Fine," I say, knowing she won't let this go until I tell her. "It was a month ago. Right after finals ended. I met him at a party."

"Who was he?" she asks eagerly. "Anyone I know?"

"You don't know him. He doesn't work here."

"That doesn't mean I wouldn't know him." She leans back in her chair, lifting her foot up on it and resting her arms on her bent knee. "I know a lot of guys. What's his name?"

"Dylan," I say, then wish I'd said a different name. I should've made up a fake name in the off chance that she actually does know him.

"Dylan," she repeats, tapping her finger on her chin as she thinks. "You're right. I don't know any Dylans. So what happened? You just made out at the party and that was it?"

"Um...yeah. That was it." I focus back on my phone. His name is still in the search box. I've been looking up every Dylan in Chicago since I left that night. I'm not even sure why. It's not like I'm ever going to find him. I don't even know his last name. And even if I did find him, I wouldn't date him. It was one night. That's it. And yet I keep searching for Dylans.

She grabs my arm, her foot landing back on the floor as she leans over to me. "You totally did it with him, didn't you?"

"What?" I feign surprise. "No! I'd just met him that night."

"Yeah, but you slept with him. I can tell. I have a knack for these things."

"What things?"

"Sensing when someone had sex. Like The Asshole." She motions to the bar, where Ian is now drying glasses, back from his break. "The night after we hooked up, I looked at him and knew he'd had sex with someone else earlier that day."

"Just a few hours after being with you?" I ask, shocked that Ian would do that. I know he sleeps around but I didn't know he'd be with two girls in less than twenty-four hours.

"Yep," she says, popping the 'p' for emphasis as she glares at Ian. "He denied it of course, but the girl came in to see him that night and I asked her and sure enough, they'd been together that morning. Asshole," she mumbles, giving him the death stare.

He notices her staring and smiles. "Hey, Hol," he calls out. "Want to go for another round? I could pencil you in for tonight."

"In your dreams," she yells back, then rolls her eyes as she turns back to me. "How could you let me sleep with him? You're supposed to be my friend."

"I didn't know you liked him. I had no idea you'd end up sleeping with him."

"I DON'T like him." She shoots him another death stare. "But he's hot and I'm weak, and that particular night, I was hormonal. And needy. And obviously not thinking straight. Anyway." She looks back at me, smiling. "Tell me about your night with Dylan."

Do I tell her? It would feel awesome to tell someone. Keeping this a secret has been nearly impossible. I've almost told Kira about a million times but then decided against it. I don't want her being disappointed in me for having a one-night stand. I always swore to her I'd never do that. Not that she'd judge me for it, but still. It's not something I'm particularly proud of.

"Amber?" Holly waves her hand in front of my face. "You awake over there?"

"Yeah. Sorry, I'm tired from the lunch rush."

She checks her watch. "We have five minutes. Tell me what happened."

I sigh. "Okay, but if I tell you this, it goes in the vault. You can't tell anyone. Not just people here but anyone."

"Got it." She nods, emphatically. "My lips are sealed. Go ahead."

"I was at this party, and right after we got there, my friend took off with some guy. I was left standing around, bored. Then I looked over and saw him coming in the door. And then...I don't know what happened. It doesn't make sense, but our eyes met and he came over to me and then he kissed me."

She scrunches her face up. "Without saying anything?"

"He asked my name. That was it. I know it sounds weird or creepy or whatever, but it wasn't like that at all. There was something familiar about him, almost like I knew him."

"But you didn't? You'd never met him before?"

"No. Never."

"Huh." She rests her arms on the table. "So you kissed and then you did introductions or what?"

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