Chapter Twenty-Five
Felicia and Sloane’s older sister, Shana, both stared at Sloane like she’d lost her ever-loving mind.
“Let me see if I got this straight,” Felicia finally said from her perch in Sloane’s living room armchair. “You’re helping the guy you’ve been in love with for a decade date other women. How and in what world does that make sense? Cuz in this world, the one we live in, I’m not getting it.”
Lying to her best friend and sister should be illegal, but she’d been lying to herself for so long she didn’t know how to stop. “I don’t know. I mean, it does make sense. I mean, I need to get over him. I mean, I was over him. I am over him. And hey, I haven’t been in love with him for over a decade.” That would make her pathetic. Ridiculous. Her, fixated on a man? No way, no how. Her happiness depended on herself, not a man. “It was a teenage crush. I’m no longer a teenager, so I should be over him, right? Right?”
Felicia’s face scrunched up in polite disagreement. “Maybe.”
Ugh. “We kissed. He said it was a mistake. I agreed, because it was.”
Shana, who was sitting next to her, twisted to give her a big-sister look. “Are you sure? After all, I was the one who was there to dry your tears when he broke your heart.” Very true. Once August and Donovan left, she’d run straight into her sister’s room and confessed all. She’d be forever grateful her sister had been home for spring break that week, too.
And yet… “That was a long time ago, so yes, I’m sure.”
“We can beat him up if you want.”
Sloane glared at her sister. “Why are you here again?”
“Officially, to have a girls’ night without my darling husband and children. Unofficially, to live vicariously through my sister and her love life.”
“I don’t have a love life,” Sloane said through gritted teeth.
“Well, you should.”
Felicia held up her hands. “Sorry, Sloane, but I agree with Shana. Maybe you do need to go on a date. If August can date, so can you.”
Sloane rolled her eyes. “It’s not a competition.”
“No, but you’ve wasted too much time thinking about this dude. If you’re not going to pursue him, find someone else. Time to get back on the horse and ride him over and over again, honey.”
Felicia and Shana shared a high five across the living room table.
“You’re terrible. Both of you.” Sloane tapped her nails on the arm of her sofa. “But it was his idea. He set up the date himself, so obviously he wants to do it. If he wants to step out of his comfort zone, it’s my duty to help him.”
Shana wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Even if it kills you?”
Yes . She shook her head to rid it of that unwanted reaction. “It’s not. He’s a client. Getting involved with a client is ethically murky, at best.”
Felicia side-eyed her. “It’s a temporary assignment.”
I know . “And I’m not going to embarrass myself over him again. Once was more than enough. That was enough embarrassment for two lifetimes.”
Felicia opened her mouth like she was going to argue and offer up more salient points. Sloane couldn’t let her. No more wishing and daydreaming. She wasn’t seventeen anymore.
“And also, it’s one date. One. I’ll barely be there. I’ll be all the way across the room.”
“Reading body language. Trying to interpret their facial expressions. Seeing if they’re leaning into each other. Laughing at jokes. Touching.”
Hell on earth, in other words. Sloane fell back on the couch and grabbed a cushion. She yelled into its microfiber material, then smacked her face with it a few times for good measure.
“Feel better?” Felicia asked.
That would be a negative. Whack! One more time just to see.
“No.” She groaned. What the hell had she gotten herself into? “He’s going to be with another woman. Just like last time.”
Shana’s brows creased with worry. “All kidding aside, you’ve got to stop blaming yourself for what happened.”
“Do I? I went full Meredith Grey: ‘Pick me, choose me, love me.’ Do you know the levels of embarrassment I still feel all these years later?”
“First of all, Shonda Rhimes will answer for her crimes one day. More importantly, you were a kid, not a grown-ass adult like Meredith, so your foolishness was way more understandable.”
Was it?