“You want me to talk to him?” Lauren asked.
“No. Especially not with your boss voice. It’s fine. It was a little awkward is all.”
“No boss voice,” said Evan. “We’re at a bar. Paige is your friend and not your employee when we’re sipping cocktails.”
If only it worked that way. Lauren had known Paige for years, too. Paige had been an event planner for a massive international bank. Her main task had been planning quarterly meetings for the executives at luxury hotels around the world. She’d made enough money to live well but had found corporate life soul-sucking. After her boss had made one too many comments about how her ass looked in a skirt suit, she’d quit and come to work for Lauren.
“What I meant,” said Evan, “is that Lauren has a look on her face like she has news. I’m guessing it’s related to a dude.”
“How do you do that?” asked Lauren.
Evan shrugged. “It’s a gift.”
“So, uh, well. I slept with Caleb.”
Evan gasped.
Paige said, “And Caleb is… Oh, wait. Caleb Fitch. Dr. Fitch. The veterinarian. I thought you hated that guy.”
“Me, too,” said Lauren.
“You’re gonna have to explain,” said Lindsay.
“I got this,” said Evan, holding his arm out in front of Lauren as if he didn’t want her to step forward. “Dr. Caleb Fitch is the new veterinarian at the clinic next to the Cat Café. He’s quite foxy, although unfortunately heterosexual.”
“I’ll say,” said Paige. She fanned herself with her hand.
“He’s also a bit prickly, and he and Lauren got off on the wrong foot. They’ve had a couple of big arguments. But they only hate each other in the sense that they want to jump each other’s bones.” Evan turned back to Lauren. “Glad you finally got that taken care of. When is the wedding?”
Lauren looked around and flagged down a waitress. After she ordered, she said, “Look, he’s… Yes, he’s foxy as hell. But he’s also kind of a dick. He thinks he knows everything, he’s stubborn, he doesn’t seem to have normal human emotions, and he’s a dog person. A dog person, guys. I can’t date a dog person.”
“Heaven forfend,” said Evan.
“No, she’s right,” said Paige. “That’s like a Yankees fan dating a Red Sox fan.”
“A Montague dating a Capulet,” said Lindsay.
“A pork roll person dating a Taylor ham person,” said Paige.
“That’s the most New Jersey thing you’ve ever said,” said Lindsay. “The Empire dating the Rebel Alliance.”
“A Coke person dating a Pepsi person,” said Paige. “Definitely doomed from the start.”
“And besides,” said Lauren, “he just got divorced and doesn’t want to be in a relationship. So it’s not going to be a thing. Just… We had sex. That happened.”
“Girl, this calls for more cocktails,” said Evan. “We should get Claire to send over a whole pitcher of that blue martini thing you like.”
“Ugh,” said Lauren. She didn’t want her friends making a big deal of this. She’d just needed to tell someone.
“He was good, though, right?” asked Evan.
“Yes, very.” And he really had been. They’d gotten each other off in the shower afterward, and that had been amazing, too. Lauren had gone to work feeling sleepy and sated, which had probably helped keep her mellow during the morning rush chaos. Monique had told her afterward that she admired Lauren’s calm.
“The problematic ones always are,” said Paige, shaking her head.
The waitress placed a martini in front of Lauren, so she took a sip.
“This calls for a toast,” said Evan.
“To what? My non-relationship?” asked Lauren.
“Hey, you banged a hot guy,” said Lindsay. “That’s enough sometimes.”
Lauren laughed and lifted her glass. “All right. To banging hot guys.”
“You’re gonna marry him so hard,” Evan said, clinking his glass against Lauren’s.
“You could not be more wrong, Ev,” said Lauren. “Recently divorced, dog person, doesn’t like me much. What part of that spells future wedded bliss?”
“When he proposes, you owe me ten dollars,” said Evan.
“Or not! Who says she has to marry the first guy to come along since Derek? Not all men are relationship material,” said Paige a little defensively. Then she grinned and held up her glass. “To hot guys!”
“I’ll drink to that!” said Lindsay.
They all clinked glasses. Inside, Lauren sighed. It would be nice to have someone in her life, sure, but she was focusing on herself, and that meant repeat performances with guys who, no matter how sexy and charming, were not potential future mates was probably not a solid strategy. Or maybe it was, because she’d gotten hers in the end. Maybe some kind of with benefits arrangement could be made.
Or she could stop trying to overthink it and just enjoy a night out with her friends. The subject changed anyway when Paige said, “So I went into the bookstore the other day and saw Pablo is working there now.”
“I know,” said Evan with a groan. “My coffee habit was bad enough, but now I feel obligated to buy a book anytime I casually drop in. There’s only so much space in my apartment.”
“You could just ask him out,” Lindsay said. “Otherwise, you’re going to be that man who dies because his great piles of books fell on him.”
“This has occurred to me, but I don’t think it’s our time yet.”
“This means Evan hasn’t worked out if Pablo is gay or not,” said Paige.
“His biceps are pretty beefy. I bet he’s got a good right hook. I’d like to not be on the other end of it if I hit on him and it’s unwelcome. Or I could just forget about him, because Robert called the other night.”
All three women groaned. Robert was Evan’s ex-boyfriend, a sweet guy who was…fine. Lauren thought he was okay. Which meant he wasn’t good enough for Evan. Apparently this was a point they all agreed on.
“What?” said Evan. “Look, I’m not getting back together with him. He
