Of course, right as I confess, Cal is taking a sip of his beer, and his reaction is to spit out his drink, but he quickly recovers, reaching for the pile of napkins on the table to clean the mess he made.
Hadley’s eyes meet mine as if she’s still trying to process what I just said. Her brows furrow, and she opens and closes her mouth multiple times before she finally finds the words.
“How do you kinda sleep with your boss?”
Unfazed by what I just said, Brynn continues to eat the food on her plate but retorts, “Was it just the tip? That’s pretty hot.” The rest of us turn to face her, and she just shrugs.
“Okay, on that note, I think I’m going to slip out to get to my date and leave the girl talk to you guys.”
“Wait, you have a date, yet you ate dinner here with us,” Hadley questions.
Cal rises from his seat, taking his plate and empty bottle with him to the kitchen. “It’s only drinks with the chick from the coffee shop. Plus, when do I ever turn down food?”
He comes back and leans down, kissing Brynn on the cheek. “I’ll see you at home. Text me when you’re about to leave.” She nods. I can’t decide if that’s sweet or weird that he wants her to text him while on a date.
“Hadley, thanks for the beer.” He then turns to me. “Lexi, umm, congrats on banging your boss.”
I hide in my hands, completely mortified while the girls bust out laughing.
I don’t pull my hands from my face until I hear the click of the front door.
“Okay, we will talk about you two later…” Hadley teases Brynn about her relationship or, well, lack of with Cal. “But right now, we are going to get back to little miss slut over here.”
Brynn and Hadley both turn to face me again.
I refill my glass and take a large swig before pulling my feet under me on the couch.
“Okay, remember the guy from the other night at Eiffel Park?”
“You mean the one which I quote, ‘fucked me into next week with an orgasm to end all orgasms’?” Hadley chuckles.
I nod and pull a pillow into my lap as if it’ll hide me. I seriously feel like I want to crawl in a hole and die of embarrassment while I watch the dots connect and the light bulbs go off in my besties’ heads. As if they both realize at once—sometimes I feel like we all share a brain, not to mention the same menstrual cycles—they speak simultaneously.
“Holy fuck!”
“Lexi!”
“Wait. Wait. Hold up,” Hadley chimes in. “Didn’t you recognize the name?”
I shake my head before I run my hand through my hair nervously. “No, when Mr. Jennings spoke with us about the sale, all he said was Mr. Harrington was our new boss and that he was excited to start.”
“I mean, Harrington isn’t exactly a common name,” Brynn says, reaching for the wine bottle to refill her glass.
I bite my lip. “Yeah, well, I’m sure I may have questioned it had he introduced himself as Bentley Harrington or said that he was the new owner of Maritime Media. But he just introduced himself as ‘Ben.’”
“She was too busy focusing on his cock to catch his last name,” Hadley says jokingly, and I reach behind me for the pillow and throw it at her head, but she shifts at the last minute.
“What happened? I mean, like how did you find out? How did you react?” Brynn asks as she leans her elbows onto her knee.
I let out a nervous laugh as I replay this morning in my head. “I’m sure it wouldn’t have been so bad had I not figured it out in the morning staff meeting in front of the entire staff.”
A burst of laughter erupts and fills the room. I’m so glad my friends find my life so amusing. “It’s not funny, bitches!” Yeah, sure, I would be laughing had any of them encountered this same situation, but because it’s me, it’s different.
“You’re right; it’s fucking hilarious,” Hadley says through the tears running down her face. Seriously? Of all the people, I thought she would have been the most sympathetic. She had witnessed the aftermath of our night together and how much it had messed with my head.
I throw my head in my hands, covering my face. “It was mortifying. I couldn’t focus on anything he said. Every time I tried to listen to what he was saying, I remember the sound of his voice as he took my body and made me come harder than anyone ever has. Oh my God! This is finally my chance to start fresh without the memory of Dominic being held over my head, and I fucked it all up.” I know it sounds crazy, but I do feel that I can’t think of this place without thinking of Dominic since I met him on my first day on the job.
Brynn clears her throat and holds up her pointer finger in the air. “Actually, it was your boss you fucked, not the job.” I wish I had another pillow to throw, so instead, I roll my eyes. I reach the table and snag an egg roll out of the container and take a bite. Eating my feelings sounds like a much better idea.
“And then to top it off, after the meeting, he called me to his office.” I want to sink further into the couch.
Brynn straightens up. “Please tell me he bent you over his desk and took you right there.”
I sigh. “No.” But damnit if the thought hadn’t crossed my mind. I wanted him to take me on his desk, on the couch on the far wall—hell, I even thought about him having me pressed up against the window. Maybe if that were the case, I would have come home in a better mood.
“The complete opposite, unfortunately.” I hide behind my glass as I take a sip.
“Oh my God! He fired you?” Hadley stands in an outrage, spilling a little of her wine.
I nearly choke on my wine at her enthusiasm.
“Slow your roll, girlfriend. No, he didn’t fire me, although I think I’d rather he had done that, then I wouldn’t have to be there every day.” I exhale. “No, he said that we needed to forget what had happened between us. That it was a mistake.”
“Whoa, what,” the girls shout in unison. “He said that?”
I recall our conversation and nibble on my bottom lip. “Well, no, he never used that word, but he did mumble something after I said it. Maybe he was just confirming it.” It was me who called it that. Of course, that is the furthest thing from the truth. Here it was, the best sex of my life, and it turned into a total clusterfuck. I bite back the emotion, but when both of my best friends come barreling toward me, pulling into their arms, I let loose. The tears begin to fall. “It was just supposed to be a one-night stand; I don’t know why I’m this messed up over his words.”
Hadley brushes the hair out of my face and cups my cheeks in her hands. “Because you’re human. You feel with your heart.”
My friends let me cry it out. I don’t know if it’s the alcohol or the emotions following the best sex of my life that has me a complete mess. Hadley eventually pulls away from our group hug and stands, taking the bottle of wine from the coffee table with her. I hold Brynn’s hand while resting my head on her shoulder. Oh, this should be good.
“This is the new and improved Lexi Baker. You are a badass bitch. And fuck him.” She spits out the last part a little harsher than I think she planned.
“She already did,” Brynn adds with a fake cough in her hand.