Chapter 2
Chapter Two
CARA
“Where am I? Why the hell am I naked?”
I sat up, eyes blurry. Looking around the room for any clues, I noticed my dress on the floor. It all came rushing back to me so fast, if I wasn’t sitting down, I would’ve fallen over. Last night. The speed dating event. Dancing. Drinking. Vera. Oh.
“Oh my God. I slept with her!” I looked under my covers to confirm I was actually naked. In a stranger’s hotel room. Where the hell was she? I looked around the room, but she wasn’t anywhere in sight. I got out of bed and made my way to the bathroom, which was open but empty.
I shrugged, walking back to the bed to pick up my dress and shoes.
Maybe she had already checked out. When I looked outside, the sun had barely popped up, so I knew it wasn’t too late in the day.
Maybe this was a good thing. We didn’t have to have any awkwardness before we both went our separate ways. “Perfect.”
So why wasn’t I as ecstatic as I should’ve been about it? I had said so myself last night, she wasn’t someone I could see myself with long term, so it was a good thing that she had dined and dashed. She didn’t owe me anything.
With that thought, I fixed my dress and strapped my shoes, ready to head back home and wash this weekend away before getting back to work.
“What in the fuck? How long have you two been sitting here?” When I was driving and thinking about coming home, I was looking forward to a quiet house, maybe answering a few missed messages or emails from Eloise. Maybe even a few from my friends.
I was looking forward to taking a hot shower, unpacking, and curling up on the couch with a book. If I would’ve known that when I got home, my two best friends would be sitting on my doorstep like lost dogs with grins on their faces, I would’ve stayed an extra night out of town.
“Only about twenty minutes,” Blair answered with a nonchalant shrug.
“What if I didn’t come home until late tonight? Were you guys planning on camping out here? And Blair, you have a key.”
“We have your location, sweetie, remember? We knew when you left the hotel and drove here when you got closer. And we didn’t want to scare you by chilling on your couch when you got home.
Let us in, I’ve got to tinkle.” Drea moved to prove herself by crossing her legs and dancing, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
I couldn’t hide my laugh and I rolled my eyes before opening my door to let them in. Drea ran straight for the bathroom and Blair hugged me without letting me sit my things down.
“”Blair, I just saw you a few days ago. Will you let me go? I can’t breathe.”
“I was worried, okay? It’s one thing to have crazy sex where you live, but it’s another entirely to go out of the city. I want to hear everything!”
I groaned and went to place my things in my room. I guess my shower and unpacking was going to have to wait.
I tried, and failed to contain my blush. Thinking about last night was getting me worked up all over again, and that was the last thing I needed.
It wasn’t like I’d never had sex before. I’d even had great sex a few times. But the kind I had last night with Vera was…
“Fuck,” I moaned quietly before I could think better of it.
“What’s wrong?” I whipped around to see Blair standing in the doorway to my room.
“Jesus! You scared me. Nothing’s wrong. I’m… just tired. That’s all.”
Her smirk was annoying. “Oh, I bet you are. Come sit and tell us all about it.”
“I’d love to, but I’ve got work to catch up on,” I half-lied.
I wouldn’t have loved to at all, and I did have work to do, but it could’ve waited until Monday.
I didn’t know how to go about telling them how I’d had the best sex of my entire life with a woman I would’ve never given a second glance to, and how I lost my underwear in the aftermath.
I was still upset about that. They were my favorite pair.
“Nice try. Come on.” She took my hand and led me to the living room, leaving no room for argument.
Ugh! I wanted to vomit. Probably partly from the alcohol last night. Lemon drops? Really, Cara?! You’re not twenty-one anymore.
That wasn’t one of my best choices. But what they led to was. I wondered what she was doing today? Where she lived. What she ate for— No! None of that was my business, and I didn’t care.
I sat down when Drea came back and sat on the couch opposite of me with Blair next to her. Drea’s hand never left Blair, and I smiled at the two. It was wild to think about where we all were only a few years ago.
We all had a big falling out when I found out they were sleeping together, and had been behind my back. Everyone knew except me, and let’s just say I didn’t take it well, losing two of my best friends and a client in the process.
Then, Drea decided to be dramatic by trying to die from a car crash, and it put a lot of things into perspective for all of us. I realized how irrationally I reacted and we all worked it out.
“Okay, love, tell us. How did it go?”
“It was fine. I had fun.” I shrugged, playing the night off as anything less than spectacular.
Blair narrowed her eyes at me. “Fun. I can see that, considering you’re wearing your dress backwards and your hair is a hot mess. I’m also pretty sure you’re not wearing underwear. Are you?”
I touched the offending hair and groaned. It still had hairspray in it, and my dress was backwards. Great.
“I may have lost them, but it was…” I trailed off. There really weren’t any words to describe how last night was. Magical? Surreal? Hot as hell?
“Fun?” Drea added with a smirk. “Tell us. Start from the beginning.”
I groaned. “There’s really nothing to tell. I went. I danced. I hooked up. I left. The end.”
“Cara,” Blair demanded.
She could be very annoying sometimes. I blamed Drea. She was never this nosy before they got together. “Jesus Christ, Blair. What do you want me to say? That I had the most amazing sex of my life but I don’t know anything about her and it doesn’t even matter because I’ll never see her again?”
“Yes! That’s exactly what I want you to say! How did you meet? What’s her name? Did you exchange numbers or anything? Is she coming to the wedding? When can I meet her?”
“Oh my God, Blair. Take a breath once in a while, yeah? We met at the masquerade event, obviously.” I continued when she rolled her eyes and glared at me. I wasn’t getting out of this that easily.
“She was probably the fourth or fifth person I danced with and talked to. The whole event was actually really cool. Speed-dating is a terrible idea, I’ll admit, but the masquerade aspect made it more enjoyable.
We talked about basic things and danced.
We didn’t really talk a lot after that. We went to her room, and she was gone when I woke up.
” I shrugged, still confused as to why that bothered me so much.
“Well, I’m glad you got out there and had a good time. I know how skeptical you were to do it, but it seems like it paid off. Does this mean you’re back on the dating scene, because I still know some people—”
“Dre. Don’t even start. I only did this because you two wouldn’t stop badgering me about trying something new. I tried something new, got some great sex out of it, and now it’s done. I’m still focusing on my career. If someone gets dropped into my lap, that’s great, but I’m done chasing.”
Drea shrugged. “Okay, okay, love. Sorry. I’ll drop it. But if you change your mind, you know where to find me. Come on, babe, let’s leave Cara to wash her sins off in peace. Lunch at Mytho’s?”
They stood up and Blair’s smile was soft. “Sounds perfect. Cara, I’ll call you later okay? Relax today. No work! I love you, babe.”
She came over and gave me a hug. “I love you too, doll. Both of you. Enjoy your date.”
I knew they would. Mytho’s Cafe was the place they had their first date, and they made it a point to go back once a week. They really were the cutest couple, next to Kaia and Daisy.
Kaia was now co-owner of the bookstore with Drea, and Daisy was her girlfriend.
They used to be best friends—Kaia being secretly in love with Daisy for years—before they became roommates and so much more.
They were both little balls of sunshine.
Those two were like fairytale princesses who got together.
I said goodbye to my friends and walked them out, promising not to give up hope but having no intentions of trying. I was so tired of trying to find my happy ending.
When their car drove around the corner, I breathed a sigh of relief and closed the door, immediately stripping my dress off and going to jump in the shower before starting a load of laundry.
I didn’t need anyone. I had my friends and my work. I didn’t need someone in my space, moving things around in my house or getting upset that I couldn’t talk because I had work. I was in a committed relationship with my job, and I was perfectly happy with that.