Page 74 of After Tonight

And of course Derek was thinking of dating Lucy. That’s how this had all started. He didn’t know that Riley had been messing around when she’d been “teaching” him to be a nice-girl boyfriend.

“Hey, Lucy, has Derek mentioned you guys having lunch again or anything?”

Lucy shook her head. “No. Why?”

So, he was being sweet, even romantic, but he hadn’t actually asked her out. Yet.

At least, he was a nice enough guy to wait for things with Riley to end.

Because they would. Of course. Because she would leave, eventually. Supposedly. It had never been a secret that she had no plans to stay in Sapphire Falls.

Would he be shocked that Scott had offered her a job? A job that she could admit she would really like. And be good at.

But maybe that wouldn’t really matter. Even if she stayed, it wasn’t like Derek would be counting on things between them lasting. Neither of them were really known for long-term relationships. They were basically friends who were having sex. Really good sex, but still. They’d always been in each other’s lives. That wouldn’t change. Their families were friends, they had history, her brother was his best friend. The sex part couldn’t keep up though.

People who were good friends and then had sex…forever…were, well…married.

And she and Derek were not going to get married.

Her stomach knotted suddenly and she felt sick. “Um, I, um…I think I need to go,” she said. She looked around. Where was she going to go?

“So you’re not feeling well,” Lucy said. “I could tell.”

“Yeah, I’m definitely not feeling well.”

And for the first time in a very long time, years in fact, she felt like going home, curling up on the couch, and letting her mom fuss over her.

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