Page 141 of Hat Trick

“Not serious? Lexi Armstrongnevergoes back for seconds. He must be pretty special.”

“Okay, look. I’ve gone back for seconds once or twice. I just don’t like to. Why drive the same car when you can keep test driving better models until you find the one you like best?”

“Doesn’t seem like you’re test driving this one.” She smiles. “How’d you meet him?”

“You know.” I wave my hand and scan the restaurant, hoping the server is on his way back with our drinks. I could use some alcohol right about now. “Around.”

I can’t pinpoint why I’m hesitant to give Piper details. I know everything about my friends’ dating histories and who they’ve been with, and no part of me thinks they would judge me for sharing it’sRileyI’m sleeping with.

Deep down, I think I’m afraid. Nervous that if people find out about us, they’ll put a label on something I don’t want to define. They’ll start asking questions, and it’ll ruin the fun we’re having. It’ll put pressure on me, onhimto make it something it’s not, and the last thing I want is for someone to try to explain why there’s an ache in my chest when he leaves my apartment in the morning and why I check my phone to see if I have a new message from him waiting for me.

That’s all too deep, too personal, and I’ve never been that girl.

“Around,” she repeats, then gasps again. “Oh mygod. You like this guy.”

“I like his dick,” I clarify, blushing when the server returns and clears his throat.

“Sorry to interrupt,” he says, setting the drinks on the table. “Are you ready to order?”

“I think we need some more time,” I say, and he nods.

“Sure. I’ll be back in a few.”

When we’re alone, Piper studies me. Her attention makes me itchy, and I hold my menu in front of my face so she can’t scrutinize me.

“Lex,” she says softly, and I peer at her over the top of the pasta offerings. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing. I’m sleeping with someone I’ve slept with before. We enjoy spending time together, but it’s never going to be something other than a physical relationship, and I’m okay with that.”

“So, you do like him.”

How could Inotlike him?

My mind races to Riley and the handful of times he’s slept over at my place lately, an arm behind his head and a book open on his lap. In the early mornings before the sun rises and his hands slipping under my sleep shirt. Late at night when I’m curled around him and telling him about my day, his eyes half closed and on the edge of sleep but still fully engaged in my stories.

He’s perfect. The antithesis of everything I ever thought a man could be, and for as much as Idolike him, for as much as I want to spend my free time with him, I also hate him a little bit for making me so reliant on him.

“He’s fine,” I say.

“It’s okay to have feelings for someone, Lex.”

“Is it? Because usually when you’re attracted to someone, bad things start to happen.”

“Hey.” Piper plucks the menu out of my grasp and sets it aside. She takes my hand in hers and squeezes my palm. “You’re talking to the woman who got divorced before she reached thirty. I know firsthand what happens when you start to fall for someone, and it’s absolutely terrifying. It’s even more terrifying when you do it a second time after a disastrous first attempt.”

“Fall for someone?” I laugh. “It’s not like that. I’ll admit I like him and I like spending time with him. I’ll admit he’s great and wonderful and everything a man should be. But I’m notfallingfor him. I’m not that girl. I never will be.”

“What if the right guy makes you that girl?”

“I’m not changing for a man. Besides, he wouldn’t want me to change. He likes me exactly how I am.”

“Are you happy?” she asks.

I’m so happy I could fucking die, and it’s the worst feeling in the world.

“Yeah,” I answer. “I am.”

“Poor Riley.” Piper sighs. “He’s going to be so disappointed to hear his crush is crushing on someone else.”

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