Page 65 of Playing the Backbeat

“Who live together,” Carissa tacks on.

“And meet each other’s families.” Ellie is fucking giddy.

“Who told you that?” I ask.

“Dylan told Dom. Dom told me.” She shrugs. Dom is just like Emi. Can’t keep a secret to save his life. Unfortunate for him. Next time Dylan hosts the guys, I’m killing his character every chance I get. Well, probably not since I suck at that game, but I’m sure as fuck going to try.

“He met your family?” Carissa asks.

“He came to Nana’s birthday party.”

I can feel their collective stare, and I sit up, grabbing my water bottle as the instructor begins to lead us through a series of cooldown stretches. “What?”

“He went to your grandmother’s birthday party, and you don’t think he’s into you?” Bec asks, voice turning serious.

“Nana’s a damn good time and you know it.”

Bec laughs, shaking her head. “She’s you…in sixty years. Of course she’s a damn good time. But that doesn’t mean Dylan should be interested in going with you. Not unless he’s interested inyou.”

“Love has made you loopy,” I say adoringly as I pat the top of her head. “I’m glad that Aiden is taking care of your heart, but I am a viper. A lone wolf. A…goat. Anyone gets too close, and I’ll bite. Or headbutt. Or kick their knees out from under them.”

“Yeah. Sounds like Dylan really felt yourwrathlast night,” Abby says.

“Sarcasm detected,” I reply.

“Sarcasm confirmed. Don’t be dense. You’re into him. Admit it.” The smile on Abby’s face says it all. She wants me to admit she was right.

I shrug. “I can’t help that there’s sexual tension between two sexual people when forced to share nine hundred square feet. But really? This changes nothing. We were just fucking around. The whole thing was an unserious joke.”

I think.

Did I lose hours of sleep tossing and turning, overthinking every second of last night? Maybe. Am I admitting that to my friends? Absolutely fucking not.

I’ve arrived at the very reasonable conclusion that we are both so delirious from our sex drought that we were overcome with the overwhelming need for both sex and company, and we just happen to combine the two.

Like two people bowling strikes next to each other, but in different lanes.

See? Totally platonic when you think of it that way.

“Did you see his dick?” Abby asks.

“It tried to wave at me, but Dylan got all shy and put it in time-out before I could get a good look.”

“But you looked…” Abby says, letting the implication linger in the air.

“That doesn’t mean anything,” I defend. “He was still in his denim prison.”

“Whatever you say, Dee. Should we redo the over-under bet?” Abby asks.

“For what?”

“When you’ll both cave and turn your apartment into your sex lair.”

“I’ve always wanted one of those,” I say longingly.

“I’ve got the under,” Carissa says, shocking me.

“Yee of little faith, friend.”