In fact, he said as much last night on the phone with some friend or something of his. He didn’t even try to hide it considering he was sitting at his kitchen island doing work and I was on his sofa not even ten feet away.
So yeah. Fling.
Because while love doesn’t come all that easy for me, Brecken Davenport is a guy I could fall for. He is everything I’ve pretended I didn’t want. I already can’t get enough of being with him and that terrifies me. Plus, in the two weeks or so we’ve been doing ‘this’, I can’t look my best friend in the eye. It’s made me tense and edgy and sick. So goddamn sick with the guilt of it.
And then he goes and says shit like this? Nuh uh.
“I think I should be the one to tell her,” he continues, and I shake my head insistently.
“No.” I scrub my hands up and down my face, shoving my sandwich away, which is a shame since it’s delicious and Cubans are one of my favorites.
“No, as in no I shouldn’t be the one or no as in we shouldn’t tell her?”
“It’s been two weeks.”
“Seventeen days actually,” he corrects, and now I’m the one rolling my eyes though he can’t see it since my hands are still over my face. “We’ve been together seventeen days, Angel. I bring you breakfast when you get off your shift before I go into work. When you’re not working a night shift, we have dinner before we sleep together. And I’m not just speaking carnally, because we do that every chance we get and any place we can. I’m saying you’re either in my bed or I’m in yours. We go out to eat. We hang out and watch TV or read your romance books. We’re a couple. In a relationship. I get I don’t have a ton of experience with this, and you don’t really either, but yeah, that’s what we are.”
I shake my head into my hands, blowing out a heavy breath.
I want to ask him what happens when he moves back to New York, but as he said, it’s only been seventeen days. And we’re talking months from now that that would actually happen.
But still.
I can’t help thinking about it because in however many months, I won’t want him to go. And I’m not moving back to New York. My family is here. My work is here. My life is here.
I’m permanent and he’s not.
“I don’t know why we started this.”
He growls, reaching across and dragging my hands from my face until I’m forced to look at him with wary, troubled eyes. “Yes, you do. It was an inevitability.”
“Who are you? Thanos?”
“I am inevitable.” He snaps his fingers.
I try to stifle my laugh. “Maybe so. But that doesn’t make me feel any better. I need to be the one,” I tell him because I do. “She’s my friend. I’m the one breaking her trust. I’ll feel her out a little tonight at the bar and then talk to her more about it one on one at brunch on Sunday.”
His smile is unstoppable. Mine is nowhere to be found.
“Stop making that face. It won’t be as bad as you think it will be.”
***
“Finally, the lovebirds are here,” I say with a smile, as Margot and Drew arrive, the last of the crew. That’s another thing I don’t miss about the ED, the hours. For some reason, their shifts don’t end the way ours do in the ICU.
Margot pauses to talk with Brecken, Wes, and Jonah, who are at the bar while the rest of us, Halle, Josh, Aria, and I are all at a table because Josh needed girl talk on his new guy. It really wasn’t as dramatic as he was making it sound, but I guess he didn’t want a straight male audience for it either.
Margot plops down into the seat next to me, instantly stealing my cocktail and taking a sip. Ha. No way, girl. I need all the liquid courage I can get tonight. I snatch it back. “Get your own.” She throws me a look and I sag into her, resting my head on her shoulder. “Sorry. Long day. Drink away.” I slide it back to her and she pushes me off.
“Or I’ll just order us both a fresh one.”
“This is why I love you. You’re my people.”
“God,” Josh says, studying Margot intently. “That boy must really be hung like a stallion and fuck like a god. I swear, I’ve never seen you so happy.”
Her jaw drops as a blush unfurls across her cheeks. “Jerk. That was rude. Or at the very least a lot awkward.” She juts her chin in Aria’s direction, but Aria just rolls her blue eyes like she couldn’t care less about Drew fucking Margot like a god. Because in the seventeen days since Brecken and I became whatever we are, Margot and Drew are definitely a couple and then some.
“Whatever.” He waves her away. “Dish your meal so I can eat a piece of him down.”
“What?” Margot practically chokes.
“That doesn’t even make sense,” Halle says.
Josh shrugs. “I don’t know. That just came to me. I might be a drink too deep at this point.”
“Seriously,” Margot snorts.
I lift my glass, taking a hearty swig. “I’ll drink to that.”
Josh taps his fingers along the table, an expectant eyebrow aimed at Margot.
“Yeah, Drew’s the bag of chips and large jar of yummy dip if you get what I’m saying. That enough meal for you?” Everyone, especially a slightly buzzed Josh, cracks up. “But I’m not here to talk about my sex life. I was informed yours is having trouble.”
“Girl, that conversation ended like five minutes ago with the conclusion that boys are drama and bitches be slaying the world.” Aria high fives him like they’re back in high school. “Stop deflecting. I like seeing you this happy. It’s a good look on you. Are you sure you’re not pregnant?”
I spit out my drink rather than choking on it the way I did my sandwich earlier. It burns the back of my throat and I swear, this night. Margot pats my back as I wipe my face and the table with a napkin. I don’t even know why I choked. It’s not like I’m pregnant.
“Nicely done,” I grouse. “Really, thanks so much. That felt awesome coming back up.”
I narrow my eyes at Josh who throws his hands up in surrender, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Next time don’t spit, swallow.”
I flip him off because that seems to be my go-to defensive move today.
“I’m not pregnant,” Margot laughs the words. “Just what you said… happy. Drew is taking me to the Bahamas next week, and even though I’m so scared of what’s happening between us, I feel like I could pee my pants with excitement. I’m trying this new side of the coin, better outlook on myself thing, and going with it.”
“Wow. The Bahamas is a big step,” Aria exclaims, her eyes glowing with delight. “I don’t think Drew ever took me on vacation. Or took time off for that matter.” A smile explodes across her face. “He’s so stinking in love with you, and I’m so freaking happy you’re finally embracing the two of you as a real thing.”
Margot holds up her hand, attempting to stop our friend. “Slow your roll there, rainbow sunshine. I said I’m trying. Don’t put the cart before the horse or however that saying goes. We’re still taking this slowly.”
I stare dubiously at her, and I know I’m not the only one. Especially when Drew pretty much admitted to me at work the other night that he’s as batshit crazy for Margot as a man can get. It’s exactly what the two of them need. Each other. And it makes me so sublimely happy. They’re perfect together. They’re it.