Page 106 of The Replay

"He's not high, boys," Rafa says. "Let's do this."

"What exactly is going on with Mariana?" Damián asks.

"Sshhh," I utter in a low volume. "She's right there."

I can only see the top of her head from here, popping above her seat several rows closer to the front.

"She wouldn't be surprised we're talking about this." Saint grins. "She was there last night."

"We're surrounded by people," I insist.

"You know everyone's wearing their headphones or talking to each other," Bear says. "They won't pay attention to us."

Rafa gives me one of his wise looks. "It's okay. We can keep this intervention short and sweet."

"I wasn't supposed to get an intervention at all," I complain. "We do these when one of us is fucking up with the woman they love."

"Or could fuck up with the woman they love," Damián says.

"What are you talking about?" I frown his way. "You didn't get one."

"I was too smart for you guys."

"Damián was just the first." Rafa leans against the row in front of mine. "And did it where we couldn't see him, within only a few days."

I gaze at the big guy. He's letting his hair grow on top, and now a few curls take shape when he runs his fingers through it. While staring at me with a knowing look.

I narrow my eyes at him.

"Like I said," Damián insists. "I was smart."

"Let's not get distracted." Logan frowns. "This is about the fact our friend, Dom, has been hiding the state of his affairs with Mariana."

"There's no reason why you all needed to know," I argue.

Rafa cleans an invisible piece of lint from his sleeve. "It's clear you didn't want us to know, for reasons you explained well enough last night, despite your addled brain."

I've gone over my memories of the night before several times. A lot of it was fine. I'm particularly thankful that I talked about letting go and being great about it this time. That is something we all need to be aware of. And since Mariana heard it, too, she can count it as evidence that we're on the same page this time.

It's everything else that I struggle with. How I talked about love and not being able to keep it— not wanting to— not trying to keep it with Mariana. What I think my friends will think of me because of it.

"You're wrong, by the way," Logan says. "Regardless of how this thing with Mariana turns out, our conclusion wouldn't be that you can't make love last."

"Give me a break," I complain. "I was drugged."

The chemicals in my system brought up fears I'm not sure I have. Or if they matter. At the end of the day, the real problem is that I'm the only one who's not chosen.

"If things don't go your way," Saint says, "we'd decide you made a mistake somewhere. You either believed something wrong, or you did something wrong."

Yeah, I should have found a way to stop this conversation.

"I guess you don't have a big opinion of me in romance," I say after a while. "I get why, but it doesn't feel good to hear it."

"You're getting it wrong right now," Logan says. "Good news is, we're here to help."

I shake my head, but they continue like I'm the one asking for more.

"It's part of human nature to make mistakes." Rafa crosses his arms, the picture of serenity. "What matters is if you're going to try to do something different this time."