Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Mara
“How many bones are in the average human body?” Dex can’t even keep a straight face as he repeats the trivia question the host just asked. “I mean ... I’ve had many bones in mine, but I like to think my body is above average.”
I give him a quick air high five from the other side of the table.
“Lainey, you’re up,” Suki says, her pen poised above our answer sheet.
“Two hundred and six,” Lainey says.
My heart races as I glance at the faces of my closest friends. I’m a sharer, and I can’t hold it in any longer.
“Speaking of, um, bones ... Leo and I are a thing now.”
Suki gasps and covers her mouth with her hands. Harry just gapes at me. Lainey smiles. And Dex laughs.
“I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!” Suki is stomping her feet and practically dancing in her chair.
“Okay, focus, people,” Dex says. “What’s the bone in the forearm that is on the thumb side?”
Lainey draws her brows together, looking thoughtful as she studies her own arm. “Radius. Tell us more, Mara.”
I try to think of the words, which is usually my thing, but it’s hard. I can feel everything that’s happened between me and Leo, but it feels impossible to describe it.
“I didn’t even realize it was happening,” I say. “I knew things were changing between us, but ...”
“I genuinely thought you two couldn’t stand each other,” Harry says.
“That was real.”
“I don’t think so,” Suki says.
I roll my eyes and laugh. “Well, you’d know better than me.”
“I always saw fire between the two of you. Not just a spark, but like a full-on bonfire. Leo doesn’t get upset over anyone or anything but you.”
That’s true. He’s always been very vocal about not wanting to be around me. And I’ve been the same way. Looking back, part of me meant it and part of me didn’t. It was mostly my embarrassment over him seeing me naked that made me so defensive.
“Is that a good thing, though?” I ask.
Dex scoffs. “I don’t even have to ask if the sex was good. I’m super jealous. You two could probably fuck a headboard all the way through the wall.”
A few seconds of silence pass, all of them giving me an expectant look.
“What?”
Dex widens his eyes, looking impatient. “Are you new here? We’re waiting to hear about the sex.”
My cheeks get warm. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“That’s okay,” Lainey says.
The other three, who have known me a lot longer, are all giving me looks of either shock or confusion.
“You made us listen to a full recounting of the guy who got diarrhea in the middle of sex with you and tried to finish,” Harry says. “I can’t unknow that.”
Lainey cringes. “Really?”
“I made him leave and take my ruined bedsheets with him.”
Dex snaps his fingers at us. “The funny bone isn’t a bone. What is it?”
“Isn’t it a nerve?” Suki says.
Lainey, our science expert, nods. Suki records the answer on our score sheet. Then she gives me a concerned look.
“You don’t have to give details, but it was good, right? The sex?”
I can’t help breaking into a huge smile. “It was great.”
She reaches for my hand and squeezes it, her eyes shining with happiness. “I’m so happy for both of you. Let me know when you’re ready to get pregnant.”
“What?” Dex laughs. “What do you have to do with her getting pregnant?”
Suki’s beaming with excitement. “We’re going to try to get pregnant at the same time so we can have kids who are the same age. Lainey, we’d love for you to be part of it, too.”
Lainey freezes, looking like the proverbial deer in headlights.
“That’s insane ,” Harry says. “Can I suggest you both only get pregnant if and when you and your partner are ready?”
Suki glares at him. “Well, of course we’ll do that. I just want to time it together if we can.”
“Does Leo know Suki is planning your future children?” Dex asks me.
I shake my head. “We aren’t even in a relationship. We just decided to stop hating each other like five minutes ago.”
“I don’t mean right now or anything,” Suki says, looking aggravated.
“Next question, ready guys?” the trivia host says into his microphone. “What is the smallest bone in the human body?”
“Probably one of the bones in your pinkie,” Harry says. “Or your little toe. Do those bones all have different names?”
“It’s the stapes,” Lainey says softly, making sure no one at nearby tables can hear her. “A little bone in the ear.”
“I had a little bone in my ear once when I dated a guy who couldn’t see anything without his glasses,” Dex says. “One minute I was asleep and then, bam—dick in my ear.”
Harry looks horrified. “How fucking small was it if it fit in your ear? I might need to start a GoFundMe for this guy to get a procedure done.”
“It didn’t fit. It just made things weird.”
The food we ordered arrives, and my stomach rumbles so loudly I’m surprised no one comments on it. I got fried mushrooms and potato skins, and it’ll be the first food I’ve eaten all day.
“Are you guys down for some bridespeople outfit shopping next month?” Lainey asks.
She asked all four of us to be attendants at her wedding, which is so Lainey. It seems like she’s been part of our group forever.
“Absolutely,” I say. “Also, wedding bonus: I already know which groomsman I’m hooking up with.”
Dex sighs dramatically. “Guess I’m the only single one now.”
“You could get a date if you wanted to,” Suki says.
“What, on a dating app? Where I could meet a guy who’s either broke, a felon, or cheating on someone?”
Harry howls with laughter from the other side of the table. “Wasn’t that guy Elian all three?”
“Oh, yes. He wanted me to be his boyfriend and his free lawyer so I could help with all of those situations, too. I really don’t mind my single life. I do whatever I want whenever I want.” He gives me a pointed look. “Hope you’re ready to give all that up.”
“Leo and I are a brand new thing. I don’t think either of us knows what we want yet.”
Lainey frowns. “What if you don’t want the same things?”
I’ve been thinking about that question myself.
My relationships haven’t lasted long in the past. Sometimes it’s been my fault and sometimes not.
What if Leo doesn’t want us to be exclusive?
I can’t do that. It’s hard for me to open up and trust someone, and when I do, I’m giving them the power to hurt me.
I’ll be hurt if Leo still wants to see other people.
“I don’t know,” I say. “I guess we’ll have to see.”
“Just enjoy it for now,” Harry says. “No one has all the answers from the time they start seeing each other.”
“Have you and Aden talked about the future?” Suki asks.
“A little bit. We like where we are right now. Both of us work a lot of hours and that won’t change.”
“Well, I like him a lot,” I say. “I think you two are good together.”
“Thanks. I like him a lot myself.”
The trivia host is on a break, so we’re able to eat and talk without listening for the next question. Suki wordlessly puts some of her cheese fries on my plate and I put one of my potato skins on hers.
“Can we revisit my idea for a Pretty in Pink –themed bridal party at the wedding?” Dex asks. “I don’t care if Bash wants to do it with the groomsmen; it could just be us. As long as Lainey’s maid of honor doesn’t mind.”
“I actually told her about it when I talked to her a few days ago,” Lainey says. “She thinks it’s a great idea.”
I cringe and fake sob. “Has she seen Andie’s dress, though? It’s tragic.”
“That’s the point,” Dex says.
“The point is looking stupid? Are you planning to dress like Duckie?”
“I’m more of a Blane.”
“I just watched the movie with the girls a few nights ago,” Suki says. “There are other dresses in the movie. I don’t think any of us have to wear Andie’s dress.”
“I’d be open to that,” I say.
Pink isn’t my best color, but I’ll wear it if that’s what everyone else wants. Bash and Lainey are getting married on a beach in Hawaii, and I can’t wait for the trip.
I’m almost finished eating when I get a text from Leo.
Leo: Hey, beautiful. I know you’re probably at trivia, but I wanted to make sure everything’s okay.
I smile at the screen as I write back.
Mara: Hey, everything is good. I slept great in Dex’s bougie guest room bed with thousand thread count sheets. How are you?
Leo: I’d be better if you were here. Watching the game and not playing in it is my idea of hell.
Mara: What’s the score?
Leo: We’re down 2-1.
Mara: Try to think less about the game and more about the blow job I’ll be giving you when you get home from the road trip.
Leo: You have my attention...
Mara: It’s going to be a long, slow one. I want to taste every inch of you.
Leo: I’ve been thinking the same thing about you. I want you to sit on my face and get yourself off. And I want to tie you to my headboard and tease you until you’re begging me to let you come.
Mara: Five more nights?
Leo: Feels more like fifty.
“All right, let’s get back to it,” the trivia host says. “Our next category is Westerns. Western movies, that is.”
“Fuck,” Dex mutters.
Mara: I have to put my phone away, I’m not allowed to have it out during the game. Text later?
Leo: Sure. Let me know when you’re back at Dex’s.
Mara: I will.
“In the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid , what does Harvey Logan challenge Butch Cassidy to?”
From the looks on their faces, I know none of my friends know the answer to this. I don’t either.
“A duel?” Suki whispers. “That’s all I can think of.”
“Makes sense,” Lainey says.
She writes it down.
“Hey, was that Leo you were texting?” Lainey asks.
“Yes.”
“Did he say who’s winning the game?”
“They’re down, it’s 1–0.”
“Fucking Winnipeg,” she says.
“I can’t believe he’s allowed to text you during a game,” Dex says.
“He’s not playing tonight. He’s injured.”
Suki gives me a concerned look. “What happened?”
“He doesn’t know for sure yet. He has to get tests done when they get back. Something to do with his knee.”
“That’s terrible. For him and the team.”
I don’t tell her what Leo said—that he’s almost certainly going to be out for a while. It would get back to Carter.
I feel protective of Leo already. Even though there are lots of questions I don’t know the answers to, I know I’ll never share his secrets with anyone. Whether we stay lovers or just end up as friends, I never want to be his enemy again.