Page 28 of Revive

“Can we just get an extra side of fries,” I add. “I’m going to need some carbs to soak up that second bottle of wine I plan on drinking.”

“Right on top of it, ladies.” He slips his stylus in the front of his shirt pocket before giving us a slight nod and walking back to the kitchen. My eyes move from his retreating form to find Em raising her eyebrows at me expectantly.

“What?”

“I'm just waiting for you to tell me what happened with Hendrix after you left.”

“What made you think something happened?”

“You looked like the drooling emoji all weekend.”

“Well,” I sigh, dramatically playing up the story for entertainment purposes “As true as your observation is, things got a little too complicated a little too quickly, and it just confused the fuck out of me.”

“How?”

“Try the red neon sign flashing the letters S-A-S-H-A.”

“I had my suspicions something went down when she hightailed out of our place, even after agreeing to spend the day with us.”

Ben comes back with our wine glasses, pouring us each more than the normal, one standard drink of Sauvignon Blanc, he's required to. I bat my eyelashes at him and raise my glass as if I'm about to make a toast. “Ben, my love, you know me so well. It's only fair that I marry you one of these days.”

He chuckles while filling up Emerson’s glass. “As soon as the dick doesn't do it for me anymore, you'll be the first to know.”

“I can't wait.” I wink at him as he leaves, and catch Em rolling her eyes at me. “You're just jealous you don't have a Ben.”

“That's definitely it.” She takes a sip of her wine and my actions quickly follow. “So, are you going to start the story or not?”

“I always wondered why you never worried about Sasha and Jagger being together. I mean, they had a kid together, and that's a bond you won't share with anyone else, you know?” My fingers slide up and down the stem of the glass, as I use Emerson as my own personal sounding board. “But then when I saw the way she looked at Drix, it all started to make sense.” She nods, and it’s obvious that none of this is a surprise to her. “And when she asked me if something was going on between me and him, I realised just how complicated drooling over him might actually be.”

“Wait, what?” She grabs my arm in surprise. “She confronted you?”

“Yep. It wasn’t a full-on accusation, but it also isn’t something you ask someone you barely even know.”

“Did you tell Hendrix?”

“He walked up just as the conversation finished, but the tension was inescapable. Between her and I and her and him.”

“Honestly, it’s better if you don’t get caught up in that.” Ben arrives, the conversation pausing in his presence, as we make room for him to put each meal down on the table. “He’s not really into anything serious.”

“Thanks, Ben,” we say, veering off the Hendrix topic for a split second.

“Who said anything about thing serious?” Grabbing my cutlery, I start cutting up my panko crumbed chicken schnitzel. “Sex doesn’t mean I’m tying myself to him.”

“I’m just think anything can happen. He’s a great guy, and you could actually like him,” she says in between bites. “But there’s so much shit between him and Sasha, I just don’t see how sex is worth the risk of a head fuck.”

“What is it between them anyway? Are they exes?” Remembering how little he spoke about what happened, but how wrecked he was from seeing her, I anticipate a huge breakup.

“I only know Jagger’s version, but even that has a twelve-year hole in it. Obviously.”

“You still didn’t answer my question.”

“They’ve never been together as far as I know.”

“That makes no sense.” My brows furrow in confusion. “The way they were looking at one another…. Fuck, I don’t even know how they can stand being in the same room together when they’re feeling that way.” Wanting to get as much information about their history as possible, I press on. “So they fell in love when Jagger was on the inside?”

“No. They’ve been in love since they were kids.”

“But Dakota?”

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