Page 18 of Give Me a Chance
I never have a problem sharing about my sexual history, but this somehow feels intimate. Maybe because of the shame I feel about it.
“Matt and I have some history.”
“From when? You hated each other since you’ve met,” Rina says.
“Not exactly...” I start stress-twirling a lock of my hair. “We hit it off pretty good at the end of the school year party last year.”
“What do you mean?” Anne asks.
“Well, last year after the party at the office, we continued it here in this very bar. Most of you guys left . . . Matt and I . . . stayed . . .”
“Oh, no.” Rina takes a big sip of her drink, realizing where this is going.
“We were tipsy, and I guess attracted to each other, and one thing led to another...” I shrug.
Anne gasps loudly. “You went home with him?”
“Uhm, not exactly.” She looks confused, so I continue. “We kind of connected here, in the restroom.” I point my gaze towards it.
Rina snorts while Anne spits out her drink.
“You didn’t? I’ve used that restroom at least ten times since.”
“This makes so much sense,” Rina adds.
“What?” I’m not sure what she means.
“The weird energy between you two. You don’t do complicated, and Matt doesn’t do uncomplicated.”
“Yeah, well, I made it clear it was the last time it happened, and we should keep it a secret.”
“I get that, but it was one night over a year ago. What am I missing? Why do you still act like enemies?” Anne asks.
“Because he’s an asshole . . .”
“Matt? Matt Anderson, that we work with?” Rina laughs at Anne’s words. I groan.
“Yes, his whole nice guy act is just that—an act.”
“Tell us the whole story.” Rina knows me too well.
“We made a truce for the wedding, not wanting to ruin the atmosphere with our bickering.” Rina puts her hand on mine.
“I noticed it was calmer. I thought it was vacation magic.” Anne concludes, but Rina shoots me a pointed look, waiting for the rest.
“Uhm...” I don’t know why I’m nervous talking about it, but my stomach is in my throat. “We may have had sex again. After the bachelorette party.”
Rina now looks surprised. It’s extremely rare for me to put hormones before reason.
“Ok, so you’re obviously attracted to each other. What’s wrong with that? Why are you back to being enemies?” Anne asks.
“Everything’s wrong with that. Like Rina said, I don’t do complicated and sex with her husband’s best man, now coworker, a guy that’s going to be in my life forever...that’s as complicated as it gets. Adding to it the fact that Matt is the complete opposite of me when it comes to dating, it’s a recipe for disaster.”
“Sure, I get it. But you were both consensual adults. I never seen you in a twist about a casual sexual relationship,” Rina adds, trying to read too much into it.
“He wanted to try dating for real, which is a crazy idea. And took it bad when I rejected the idea,” I scoff. “He also didn’t have the common decency to tell me he was going to start working at the BYC, and now he ruins my days with his annoying presence and derogatory comments.”
They both look at me as if I’ve sprouted a new head, and I hate him even more. He’s so good at his ‘good guy’ thing, my best friends don’t believe me.
