Page 73 of Going All In

Chapter 14

“Well, hello there,”Ally said when Darcy walked into their apartment.

Shit. She’d hoped Ally was out so she could get in a shower before the inquisition started. She needed a clearer head and a little more time to think about Jake’s offer. Not that she didn’t want to immediately agree since she’d clearly been on board last night and this morning.

“Good morning.”

“You look exhausted. Want to talk about it?” Ally said, patting the spot next to her on the couch.

Darcy shook her head and laughed. “You’re horrible, you know that? Can I at least shower first?”

“Yeah, go wash Jake off of you, and then I want all the details. All. Of. Them,” she drew out.

“Maybe we passed out at his place and nothing happened.”

“Oh please. That’s a lie, and you know it. Go shower,” Ally said, waving her hand to dismiss her.

Darcy took the longest shower possible, finally getting out when the water started to go cold. She slowly towel-dried her hair and got dressed. Then she realized how stupid that was since she was taking away from her studying time before she had to go into work.

“You okay in there? Jake didn’t satisfy you so you needed some time with B.O.B?” Ally called out.

“Oh my god, the worst,” Darcy said, walking into the living room.

“He was? I’m sorry, that’s disappointing.”

“No, you’re the worst,” she said.

“Please. Now spill, lady,” Ally said.

“We slept together. It was great. Maybe happened more than once. And we are going to keep having sex. You know, since we’re sort of dating,” she said, trying not to laugh as her friend sputtered.

“Wait. You’re going to keep having sex with him? Also, your details are spotty. Give up the goods, girl,” Ally said.

“Yes. I mean, you both keep saying that orgasms are stress relievers, and I have a lot of stress right now, so why not? It’s just for fun,” she said nonchalantly, like it was no big deal. It could be no big deal. She could keep her feelings out of it.

Such a crock of shit. It was why she second-guessed herself the entire Uber ride home.

“Just for fun, huh? I mean, you’ve had casual hookups before, but this doesn’t seem like that. You guys are basically dating.”

“Fake dating,” she emphasized.

“Yeah, it doesn’t look all that fake, and you’re crossing lines. As much as I want you to have fun with it, I also don’t want you to get hurt. He never dates long term. I mean, you already know that from looking him up online.”

“We said it’s just for fun until it’s not. It can be casual.”

“Can you do casual with him? I’ve seen the way you look at him. And the way he looks at you.”

“That’s for show. Wait. How does he look at me?” She regretted the words as soon as they left her lips.

“This is what I mean.”

Darcy pressed her head against the top of the sofa and looked up at the ceiling. “I know. I shouldn’t really want him, but I can’t help it. He’s not what I expected, and it’s probably going to blow up in my face, but for right now, I’m going to have some well-deserved fun. Screw the consequences.”

“Is that what we’re calling Jake now?”

Darcy turned to glare at her friend.

Ally held her hands up. “Sorry. Sorry. I couldn’t resist. You know what, you don’t need me to tell you what to do and what not to do. You have your fun, and if it gets messy, I’ve got this awesome shoulder for you to cry on.”

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