Page 77 of Fun Together
“And we?—”
“Had sex?!”
“Shhh. No, we talked.” I take a pause before mumbling, “There was also cuddling.”
“What kind of cuddling?”
“What do you mean, what kind of cuddling?”
She gives me an exasperated look. “Arm over the waist, spooning you cuddling? Or your head over his heart cuddling?”
I watch Eli continue down the buffet line. He’s already eaten half of what he’d put on his plate. “Arm over the waist cuddling.”
“Caressing?”
I woke up and his face was buried in my hair, so close I could feel his beard stubble against the back of my neck. He was absently moving his thumb back and forth across my waist. I don’t even think he realized he was doing it. “Some light caressing.”
“And did you push your ass back against him?”
I give her a guilty look and hold up my thumb and index finger. “A little?”
She claps delightedly, and I can’t help but laugh. “I’m calling it. You’re going to fuck each other before the month is out.”
“I don’t know. It was nice, but I can’t rebound with my ex’s best friend.”
“You keep saying that, but I don’t think it’s a big deal.” She tilts her head and looks over to Eli again. He’s now talking to Tina and gesturing about something so grandly that a grape rolls off his plate. “I like him, and he clearly likes you.”
When Eli spots us, he walks over and he pulls me in for a hug, somehow managing to avoid spilling any more of his food. He always smells nice—like he’s been out in the sun, with a hint of whatever simple bar soap and deodorant he wears that probably has a name likeAlpine Spring MorningorRocky Beach Cliff.
“Loretta, good to see you,” he says to Rett. “Don’t worry, I won’t hug you.”
“You save any shrimp for the rest of us?” she teases him.
Rett likes maybe three people in the entire world, so it means something for her to like Eli.
I take a sip of my wine and can’t help but pull a face. Guess I was wrong about my wine of choice.
“Don’t like your drink?” Eli asks.
“I always forget if I like Riesling or Chardonnay, and I chose the wrong one. It’s fine, though.”
“I’m going to get a drink,” he says. “Do y’all want to sit together?”
“Yeah, we’ll get some food and meet you at a table.”
Rett and I load our plates and make our way to the seating area. The party is in full force now, getting more raucous by the minute. Last year, the party ended when our VP of Sales tried to do body shots with one of the hotel staff. Sadly, she’s no longer with us.
She’s not dead, she just got a job at Google.
We find Eli and when I sit down next to him, he slides a glass of wine over to me. “What is this?” I ask.
“Riesling.”
“How did you know which one to get?” I didn’t even mention I got Chardonnay before.
“Lucky guess,” he says and takes a sip of his beer.
Rett practically obliterates my foot under the table. I yelp and give her a questioning look.
