Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
IF ANYONE HAS A LEAD ON THE SUDDENLY ABSENT NEPO BABY, WE’RE ALL EARS
GREER
“I’m going to tell Wren,” Maddie said the second she sat down at brunch.
“Well, hello to you, too.” I nudged the mimosa I’d ordered for her closer.
“Hey. Hi. Hello. I’m going to tell Wren,” she repeated before drinking half of it so quickly, I thought she might drink the other waiting one, too.
I didn’t need to ask what she was referring to.
The three of us were, and had always been, as tight as any friends could be.
We’d never had a falling out. Never any rough patches.
No jealousy, judgment, or even the growing apart that could naturally happen without fault.
We protected our friendship by making time for each other and never, ever living together.
But that didn’t mean we told each other everything. Some things were private—even between besties—and personal life choices were among those.
Especially when those personal life choices included a membership to a secret sex club.
Something I pointed out. “Are you able to tell her? That NDA seemed pretty solid, and it would make things awkward if your boyfriend had to sue you.”
“Awkwardly hot.” At my quizzical expression, she gave a wistful sigh. “I’m at his office a lot, watching him throw around legalese in his slutty little glasses.” She gave an unapologetic shrug. “It does something for me.”
“Okay, that aside, are you able to tell her?”
She lowered her voice. “I won’t mention you-know-where. Not that I think she would purposefully say anything, but if she’s surprised and accidentally spills, that wouldn’t be good. But I am going to tell her about Easton and me.”
“She’s aware you’ve got a boyfriend.”
“Yeah, well, she swung by his office after class on Friday and nearly caught me kneeling near his chair. I think she thought we were having some afternoon delight.”
I remembered walking into something similar on the day of my interview and being confused since the logistics didn’t make sense. “I thought the same thing.”
“Oops.”
“Maybe you should leave that for outside of his workplace.”
“With the number of hours he works? No, thank you. Besides, what’s the worst that’ll happen? His boss will fire him? He’s the boss.” Her cheeks flushed, and a content smile curved her mouth. “In so many delicious ways.”
“I think the worst that’ll happen is you have to tell your friend about your sex life so she doesn’t think she witnessed said sex life.”
“It’s not just our sex life. It’s all the time. And that’s why I want to tell her. Not that we’re exhibitionists who plan on loving each other up in public. I think Easton would have the world’s first murder aneurysm at just the thought of people seeing me.”
My thoughts jumped to Tripp and his sneaky move with the curtain in the window room.
Maddie regained my attention when she lifted her chin.
“I just don’t want to feel like I’m doing something to be embarrassed about.
Not with my best friends, at least.” Her gaze darted to me, and she was quick with a sheepish smile.
“Not that there’s anything wrong with keeping private things private.
I won’t tell her about you. Or Tripp. Or the fact I saw you two leaving Gilded twice this week. ”
I grimaced. “You were there?”
“It’s the only way to get Easton to go to all the work events he has over the holidays.
He attends those, and in exchange, he gets to torture me at Gilded.
And since the food at the events is usually pretty good, it’s a win-win for me.
” She grabbed her drink. “But like I said, I’m not mentioning you.
” She took a sip. “Or Tripp.” Another sip.
“Or your two visits to Gilded.” She snuck another headlong glance my way. “Together.”
“Who said it was just two?” I asked even though it was.
“It was more than that? Did you go last night?”
“I was simply making an observation.”
“It was definitely more than that.”
“Stop fishing for gossip.”
Maddie threw herself into full dramatics. “I can’t help it. It’s who I am. You knew this when you became friends with me.”
“You mean when we were literal infants?”
“Fine. You knew this when you stayed friends with me.”
“Maybe I’m regretting that,” I muttered, but like her dramatics, it was all for show.
“Too late. That blood pact we made in fourth grade to be friends forever is binding for life.”
“It wasn’t a blood pact. We used ketchup.”
“Tomato, blood-ah-to.”
I laughed at my friend.
“Are you two together?” she asked.
I shook my head. “Not like you and Easton.”
I didn’t think I would ever be with someone in that way. So hopelessly devoted and mutually obsessed. Not with my shitty luck.
And, fine, my shitty choices.
“So you’re sex buddies,” she surmised incorrectly.
“Minus the sex.”
“You haven’t…?”
It was my turn for dramatics, and none of them were for show. “Nooooo, and I’m dying.”
“That is surprising.” She drummed her fingers on her chin. “You can be a little, uh, hard to read sometimes. Are you sure he knows you want to?”
“I’ve begged. Literally begged.”
Her blue eyes widened. “And that didn’t work?”
“Nope.”
“Do you know why?”
“Because I told him that we couldn’t have sex.”
Tossing her napkin at my face, she flopped back with a deflated groan. “Here I was, blaming him, but that’s on you.”
“But I also said it was a one-time thing, and I went back on that.”
“That’s different than sex. You’re going to have to flat-out tell him.” I opened my mouth, but she read my mind and talked over me. “And begging in the heat of the moment does not count.”
I hung my head back and let out a grumble. “Ugghhh, I was worried you were going to say that.”
“Well, if you want to escalate to sex buddies from… whatever you are.”
“Friends-with-benefits,” I filled in.
“Really puts a different spin on your work benefits. But if you want those benefits to include a little PTO, you need to talk to him.”
“PTO?” I asked haltingly, not sure I wanted to know.
She confirmed my hesitancy was correctly placed when she said, “Penis Time Orgasms.”
“Oh my God.”
“Yes, I’m sure you’ll say that.” Her laughter at her own bad joke faded, and sincerity softened her face as she smiled. “You shouldn’t be nervous about telling him. He likes you.”
“I guessed that when he went down on me until I nearly passed out.”
“He did?” She shook her head. “Wait, no, that doesn’t matter. I mean, yes, it does, but—”
“Sorry, sorry, sorry. I know I’m late, but I’m here.” Wren, that beautifully curvy goddess, chose that moment to sit. She looked between us. “What did I miss?”
Maddie looked two seconds away from a freakout, so I did the nice thing.
I took the focus off her and eased us into a conversation that likely wasn’t appropriate for mid-day in a public place, but whatever. “That my boss goes down on me until I’m on the verge of passing out.”
Her immediate glee was quickly smothered as worry clouded her dark eyes.
“Consensually,” I tacked on. “As friends-with-benefits.”
That allowed her to fully rejoice in the turn of events. “Amazing how your boss is providing services that your long-term boyfriend didn’t.”
I grimaced and stuck out my tongue. “Oof, don’t bring him up.”
“Still radio silence?” Maddie asked.
“Blessedly.”
“And now that you’re getting those benefits you were missing out on, there is no reason for you to let him worm his way back into your life.” Wren picked up the waiting mimosa and clinked it against mine. “A reason to celebrate. Even if it is shocking.”
“If you think that’s shocking, wait until Maddie—ouch!” I lifted my leg to rub where she’d kicked me in the shin. “It was a good opening.”
“What Tripp says to you at night,” Wren joked.
“I was easing you in,” I continued.
“What you say to Tripp at night,” Wren joked again. That time just as the server came to take our order.
The guy flushed bright red and hustled away, which was a shame since I was really hungry.
“Oh my God,” I snapped at her.
“Also what you say—”
“I already made that joke,” Maddie cut in. At Wren’s pout, she gave an unapologetic shrug. “That’s what happens when you’re late.”
It was said with joking love, but there was a hint of concern on Maddie’s face. I recognized it easily since it was mirrored in my own chest.
Wren twisted a napkin, and I glanced down as her pale pink nails tore through it. But she was smiling when she said, “I, uh, got distracted and lost track of time.”
“Right,” Maddie drawled before leaning in. “Is that why you winced when you sat?”
My gaze moved from Maddie to Wren because I’d missed that.
“Don’t try to change the subject,” Wren said.
“I’m not,” Maddie said even though she totally was. “I’m continuing the conversation so there are no lulls.”
“And avoiding talking about whatever Greer was alluding to.”
Maddie speared me with a glare. “I should kick you again.” She gave a long-suffering sigh to mask her nerves. It was pointless, we saw right past it. “This is not a big deal. And it’s TMI. And you probably won’t even care—”
“Spit it out,” I gently encouraged.
“What Tripp does not say to you,” Wren said.
Maddie gave a huff, but it worked to lighten the mood. “When you walked in on Easton and me on Friday, I wasn’t going down on him.”
“Hey, what you two do in the privacy of his very public office in the middle of the day is your own business.”
“I’m serious. I was just kneeling near him because I like to.”
That would’ve been easy to make into a dirty joke, but at the anxiety in Maddie’s tone, Wren pressed her lips together.
“Ugh, this is awkward. Okay, you know how I was just supposed to be Easton’s event date at first?”
Wren nodded, and I leaned closer because I wanted the details, too. All I knew was what little Tripp had shared.
“That is the truth. But we started that arrangement because there was an auction, and he bought me.”
I sat right back.