Page 52 of Going All In

“Please stop.”

“So how was dinner? Did your mom embarrass you? Did Lydia drink too much? Did your dad grill Jake about hockey?”

Darcy laughed. “Yes. Yes. And Yes. But Lydia didn’t end up face-first in dessert, so that was a plus.”

“Oh man. How did Jake do?”

“He was perfect. They all loved him. He was over the top with PDA, which explains what you walked in on. He riles me up, and I couldn’t stop myself.” She paused, dropping her head on Ally’s shoulder. “This is going to turn into a disaster, isn’t it?”

“Not necessarily. Maybe you guys are perfect for each other.”

“Jake is a total player. I knew that going into this. It was part of why I agreed to it. No future attachments.”

“So have some fun. Enjoy the relationship perks. You do know that orgasms are a major stress reliever. You’re super stressed with school, so think of it as a form of therapeutic release.”

Darcy lifted her head to stare at her friend.

Ally grinned and took a sip of Darcy’s porter. Then she made a face. “How do you drink this swill?”

“It’s delicious,” Darcy said, snatching the bottle out of Ally’s hand and polishing off the rest of it.

“Are you going to rush over to his place and apologize for being an idiot?” Ally asked.

“Not tonight. Maybe I’ll text him.”

“Lame.”

“I don’t want to face him tonight. What if he really wasn’t that upset?”

“Trust me. He was.”

She was still afraid she was reading too much into it.

But she pulled up the messaging app on her phone and tapped on his name, smiling at the flirty exchange they’d had running for the last few weeks.

What the hell was she supposed to say?

Darcy:Sorry about tonight.

Three dots popped up.

Then disappeared.

Then popped up again.

Then disappeared.

Jake:Don’t worry about it. Let me know when our next show is.

Shit. How was she supposed to respond to that?

“Stop staring atyour phone and focus,” Ralph said the following morning.

But Jake was rattled. He’d played it off with that text last night, but he was pissed. And he was pissed that he was pissed.

Frankly, he was a fucking disaster. He shouldn’t be hung up on Darcy’s reaction to Ally walking in on them. They got carried away, and making out behind closed doors hadn’t been part of the deal. Darcy had been clear about that from the beginning.

But he’d thought she’d be up for renegotiating. At least that’s what her tongue in his mouth had told him.

---