Page 53 of Breathless With Her

I mock-shuddered, and she just laughed at me. “You’re ridiculous. I have baby girls. They did come from somewhere other than the stork. So, you know, I’ve had sex.”

“I really don’t want to think about it.”

“So you don’t want to think about the sex I’ve had with everybody? And not just my husband.”

I froze.

Her eyes widened. “I meant before I met him. Not during. I’m not cheating on him. I swear. Oh my God. That just came out wrong. I was going to try to make fun of you and Devin being together. And then it got weird.”

I just looked at her, blinking. “You wanted to try and make me think of you sleeping with the guy I’m currently sleeping with, and that wouldn’t be weird?”

“Okay, I suck at these things. I’m not cheating on my husband. Nicholas is an asshole. I’m not.” She paused. “Okay, so I am an asshole. But I’m your lovable asshole.”

I just looked at her and threw back my head and laughed. “My lovable asshole?”

“What? It’s a thing.”

“It’s really not. And I really don’t want to know if you and Devin ever slept together.”

“We didn’t. If that’s helpful. Although he is good with his hands.”

She winked, and I gagged. “Hey. None of that now. I mean, if you keep going, I’m going to save that dress for when your oldest gets big enough to fit into it. And then she’s going to show up wearing it to prom.”

“Hey, you’re supposed to be the cool aunt. Not the bad influence.”

“I can be both.”

“Like you have a bad bone in your body. You were the sweet and good one. I was the one with the rebellious side.”

“Yeah, maybe. But look how good that turned out. I was the one in the nice and sweet and happy relationship since I was like ten or something. Now, look.”

“You’re a successful businesswoman with a group of friends and a steady life? I’m not quite sure what you’re complaining about.” She pulled out another dress, this one with sparkles, and then shook her head, tossing it in the donate pile. Every once in a while, we went through each other’s closets to see what we could donate, sell, or trade. We’d never had much money growing up, so actually having extra clothes was a big deal to us. But we also remembered going through donation boxes and racks at thrift stores to find items that we could actually wear for school. So, we made sure we donated as much as possible. We weren’t the same people we had been when we were younger. I had a steady job, one that I literally put my blood, sweat, and tears into. Jennifer was a stay-at-home mom for now, but anyone who’s ever known or been a mom knows that there’s nothingstay-at-homewhen it comes to being a mother. Jennifer was constantly on the go with her daughters. But when they got older, she wanted to go back into the workforce. But that was up to her and her husband. I would support her no matter what she did.

“You didn’t sleep with him?” I blurted, not realizing that the question had been in the back of my mind this whole time.

“No. But you have. I saw the way you’re walking all bow-legged.”

I threw a throw pillow at her. “You’re a bitch.”

“Well, yeah. But he’s clearly making you happy. And that makes me happy. Because you need it. And I’m not just talking about dick. Although, you needed a dick, and now you’ve got a dick. And you’re getting all the happy.”

“You’re very lucky your baby girls are out with your husband right now. You don’t want them walking in on their momma talking about dick.”

“But good dick. And let me tell you, my husband gives good dick. And from that cat-in-cream smile on your face, Devin gives you good dick, too.”

“You’re so weird. I’m not talking about that.”

“Fine. Give me no details. I see how it is. But, seriously, I’m glad that he makes you smile.”

“We’re just friends.”

“Friends who bone. And don’t give me that shit. You talk about him. He’s part of your life. You’re notjustfriends.”

I looked down at my hands, fisting them in front of me. “We are. We’ve already laid out the rules. We’re in our nice, firm, little box, and we’re not going to step out of it. I’m not ready for a serious relationship.”

“Well, what about Devin? Is he ready?”

I shook my head and then froze. No. He couldn’t be. He just wanted this to be fun for now, too. When he was ready to move on, we would both move on. And no one would get hurt.

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