“You could just wait for her to bring it up again.”
She lifted her gaze to the ceiling, pondering that while she finished chewing. One eye squinted more than the other, as if animating her thought process, and she scrunched her nose like she just smelled something funky. But then she swallowed and returned her attention to me with a shrug. “What if she doesn’t bring it back up? She was really weird about it when she said something earlier.”
“Weird how?”
“I don’t know, just…taunting almost. Like she knew something private about me and was rubbing it in my face. Then she assured me that my secret was safe with her. Tiff swears blindly that no one knows anything, and that Serenity was bluffing, but I don’t buy it. She knows something. I’m just not sure what exactly that something is.”
“You have ten more weeks of this, though. Do you really think this chick will keep it quiet for that long? She barely gave you a week before throwing this at you. I don’t even know who she is, and I can’t imagine she’s going to let this go. If she does, I don’t see her letting it go for long.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I just hate leaving it up to someone else, you know? I’d feel much better if I knew what was coming and when. Waiting around for someone to comment—and praying it’s not another bombshell I’m not prepared for—is too much. I’m not a control freak by any means, but in situations like this, I really don’t want to be caught off guard again.”
While she spoke, I finally got to see why she had picked off all the pepperoni and left the crusts behind. I watched in wonderment, consciously focusing on what she was saying, while she opened the crusts like hotdog buns and then stuffed them with the meat she’d removed from the pizza, making three pepperoni sandwiches.
As much as I wanted to comment on that, I couldn’t veer away from the subject at hand. “What’s on your schedule? Is there anything planned that would put you and this woman’s husband in the same room?”
Her eyes lit up as though a lightbulb had just come on in her head.
Holding up a finger, she grabbed her phone and began to go through it. It was a rather comical sight—while her fingers frantically moved across the screen, her cheeks were puffed out like a chipmunk’s, stuffed with the crust she’d quickly shoved into her mouth at my mention of her schedule.
I knew exactly when she found what she was looking for, because she excitedly hummed around the mouthful of food. After quickly chewing and swallowing, she tapped her phone screen with wide eyes and said, “Jeannine is hosting a dinner party at her house next weekend.”
“Well…there you go. There’s your opening.”
As if I’d just slapped her across the face, she froze and stared at me with fear in her eyes. “That’s not a plan, though. What am I supposed to do?”
“Nothing. Let that other chick do it all. You have to know that she will say something. If she’s anything like your sister, and if this show is at all what you say it is—a drama hungry production—then you have nothing to worry about. Let them do all the work. Just sit back and let it happen.”
“Okay. But you better have your phone on you that night. And expect live updates.”
I couldn’t have stopped the smile from crossing my face if I tried. She wanted me to be available for her that night, not Dave. I had no intention of ever taking Dave’s place in her life; I just wanted to know that if things progressed beyond this that she would be willing to give me a piece of that place that her best friend had occupied for so long.
13
Tasha
“You’ve been there for over a month now. Please tell me that you’ve done the horizontal tango with Mr. Pool Boy.” Dave’s desperate voice filled my ear while I waited for the hired driver to pick me up.
Seriously, I was capable of operating a car regardless of how expensive it was. It wasn’t like I suddenly forgot how to turn the wheel if the price tag had a few more zeros than I was used to. Yet Ty—probably following my sister’s orders—refused to give me the keys to any of the three vehicles in Tiffany’s garage. And forget about being allowed to use my own car. They laughed at that suggestion like I’d mentioned it to be funny. Apparently, Tiffany wouldn’t be caught dead in something that cost less than a house.
“His name is Jacoby, and no, I haven’t. Not for lack of want, though.”
“So what’s the problem? He doesn’t want to?”
“I don’t know…I mean, I think he does, but it’s not like I’ve asked him. To be fair, it seems like every time the opportunity arises, Ty interrupts us somehow. Whether he stops by or calls with unsettling news, it’s like he has a radar to know when I’m about to get laid and then he kills the mood.” I genuinely wondered if he’d had cameras installed in the house, but when I mentioned that to Jacoby, he searched every room and came up empty handed.
“Well, it’s like I always say—better to almost have sex with a guy than to dry hump four women.” His antics never got old. “Just promise me that you’ll at least stick your hand down his pants before you leave. The suspense is killing me.”
I laughed, unsure if I should be proud or offended that my best friend thinks the guy I’m after is hot enough to fantasize about. “No worries,
