by Claire Adams
“All right,” I finally agreed, albeit still somewhat reluctant. But it had been a while since I'd been out with Mandy, and I hadn't seen Jasmine in ages.
“Great!” Mandy chirped, sounding excited. “Can you call Josh, too? I want this to be a fun night; I don't want a bunch of creepers trying to hook up with us.”
I made a face. Josh was my other best friend from college, but given the circumstances of my breakup with Andrew, I wasn't sure that inviting him out with us on this night, meant to help me get over my ex, was really the best idea. “Can't we just have a girls' night?” I asked weakly.
I could tell Mandy was frowning when she responded. “Are you and Josh fighting?”
“Of course not,” I said. “Actually, I haven't heard from him lately.”
“He's probably caught up in business affairs; I'm sure it's nothing personal,” Mandy assured me breezily, assuming that that was the root of my issue. “He can make the time to come out with us on the town. Plus, with our billionaire buddy along, we won't have to pay for shots all night.”
I laughed. “You're devious,” I said appreciatively.
Mandy laughed as well. “Come on; it'll be fun,” she pressed. “Just like old times. It's been forever since all of us hung out together.”
“We've been busy,” I reminded her.
“I know,” Mandy said. “But let's have one fun night out, and then we can spend all of tomorrow bitching to one another about how we're too old to do this anymore.”
I laughed. “All right,” I said. “Let me know where I should meet you and when.”
We hung up, and I stared down at my phone, taking a deep breath and trying to figure out exactly what I wanted to say to Josh. Mandy wanted him to come out with us. Mandy was behind the whole idea. Not that I didn't want him to come.
I swallowed hard, thinking again about that argument that Andrew and I’d had, the one that finally led to our breakup. I hadn't told Josh about the breakup yet. I tried to tell myself that it was just because Josh and I hadn't really talked in weeks, outside of a few text messages. I wasn't going to tell him about a breakup over a text message.
But there was more to it than that.
I sighed. Josh was one of my best friends. I wasn't going to quit being friends with him because of something that my ex had said. Anyway, I had already agreed with Mandy that I would call him and invite him out with us. There was no getting out of it.
I steeled my nerves and called him.
Chapter Three
Josh
I finished up work for the day and pushed back from my desk, stretching to get the kinks out of my back. I needed to make an appointment with my chiropractor again soon. I had a state-of-the-art desk chair, an ergonomic keyboard, and all the other comforts that money could buy, but I still finished every day of work feeling tense and uncomfortable.
I would cut back on work over the holidays, I promised myself, not for the first time. It wasn't as though I'd actually have an option. Other businesses would be taking time off between Christmas and New Year's, so I wasn't going to be able to continue chatting about investments, even if I wanted to. I deserved a vacation anyway.
My non-work phone had charged sometime during the day, and I made a mental note to take it in to the shop sometime that week. The battery shouldn't be that short-lived already. It would need to be fixed.
I hummed as I moved into the kitchen, wondering what to make for dinner that night. I had enough money that I could afford to have a cook there for three meals a day, seven days a week, but some days, I preferred to cook for myself. It was relaxing, and I liked to experiment. That night, I decided to make an interesting pasta recipe that Kylie had sent me a while back but I hadn't had a chance to try yet.
Again, I felt a stab of guilt at the fact that I hadn't called Kylie. I had meant to do it over the weekend, but here it was, already Tuesday, and I still hadn't called her.
She didn't call me either, I reminded myself, even though I knew that wasn't fair. She had probably initiated our chats four of the last five times that we'd talked. It was definitely my turn.
I just haven't had time. It was another excuse, but one that I could rationalize. “She's an artist, and I'm a businessman,” I murmured to myself. “We live in two drastically different worlds. Our schedules just haven't lined up.”
As if on cue, my phone started ringing where it was plugged into the wall, and I moved to answer it without a second thought, leaving the half-finished pasta preparations behind. I blinked down at it, surprised to see that Kylie herself was calling me.
“Hey,” I said, straining to hear her voice on the other end, beyond the thumping bass music that was playing.
“Where are you?” Kylie asked impatiently. “I've been calling you all day.”
“My phone's been off,” I said slowly. “What's up?”
“Mandy doesn't believe that I called you,” Kylie said, already sounding slightly inebriated. “And all the guys want to dance with me, and I need you.”
“You need me?” I asked, already going for my keys, before I even knew what I was getting myself into. I couldn't help but smile. This wasn't the first time that Kylie had called me up in the middle of a night out and demanded that I join them. I was just surprised to hear that she'd tried calling earlier in the day. Usually, her nights out were as spontaneous as she was.
“I need you,” she affirmed. “You gotta fend off all the guys, 'cause I don't want 'em.”
“Shouldn't you be calling Andrew for that?” I asked, unable to help myself.
As flattered as I was to hear that I was still her best friend in shining armor, it stung a little to realize that she had undoubtedly called him first and only called me because he was busy.
“Andrew and I broke up,” Kylie said quietly, sounding somewhat sobered when she said it. She paused. “Please, Josh? We haven't hung out in ages.”
I blinked, twirling my keys absently around my finger. “You and Andrew broke up?” I asked. “When?”
“I don't know, a little while ago,” Kylie said, even though I was sure, from the guilty note in her voice, that she could tell me exactly how many days it had been without even having to count.
“And you didn't call me?” I asked, feeling hurt. What kind of best friends were we if she couldn't be bothered to tell me something like that? Breakups were big.
Kylie sighed. “Josh, I don't want to talk about this right now. I'm tipsy, and I want to have a fun night, and a fun night doesn't include crying over a stupid breakup in a stupid bar.”
Point taken. “Where are you, anyway?” I asked. “And who's there?”
“It's Mandy and Jasmine and me,” Kylie said. “I forget the name of the place we're at. Jasmine picked it. Hold on.” For a moment, all I could hear was the thumping bass beat, and that was a sure enough sign of the kind of night that I was getting myself into. I had a conference call the following morning over some investments that I'd made. The call wasn't until 11, but I knew that after a night like the one I was about to have if I joined them, I was still going to feel pretty shitty come 11 o'clock.
But I needed one of those nights. It had been too long.
I put my phone on speaker and went into the kitchen, putting away the vegetables and other pasta preparations. I'd grab something quick on the way to the bar, or else I'd eat there.
Kylie came back to the phone. “It's called Gusto,” she told me. “I'm not sure if that's supposed to be Spanish, like 'me gusto,' 'I like it,' or if that's English, like, 'with relish.' Although given the similarity of the meanings, I guess they probably come from the same root. Etymology or whatever.” She trailed off, probably realizing that she was babbling.
I couldn't help grinning. Kylie was amusing when she was tipsy. It had been a while since I'd seen her that way.
“Either way, you should be able to Google directions,” she finished lamely.
“Is there parking near there?” I asked. I frowned. “You probably wouldn't know,
would you? I assume you took public transportation.”
“Not to get here,” Kylie said. I could tell she was rolling her eyes. “Jasmine picked the place, and of course because she has a car, she didn't think of what the rest of us would do. I looked up directions, and it had me changing buses three times to get here. I demanded that she come pick me up.”
I frowned. “Isn't that really far out of her way?” I asked. “You two don't exactly live close to one another. Unless you also moved and forgot to mention that to me.”
“Hey,” Kylie said softly, moving someplace quieter. The background noise dropped considerably. “I'm sorry. I know I haven't been the best friend lately. I should have told you about the breakup.” She laughed self-consciously. “But no, I haven't moved. I'd have had to enlist your help if I had. You know that. There's no way I'd be able to get Bertha back down the stairs by myself!”
I laughed, remembering the trouble we'd gone through to get Bertha, her big, cow-spotted couch, up the stairs to begin with. “I can't believe you still have that thing.”
“I imagine I'll have Bertha until the day I die,” she said breezily. She paused. “It'll be good to see you.”
“Parking,” I reminded her. “I assume there must be parking if Jasmine drove?”
“We had to circle for a while before we found anything,” Kylie admitted. “But it's a Tuesday night, not exactly the busiest for the bar scene. Things should clear out by the time you get here. All the workers will have gone home.”
“Okay, I'll give you a call when I get there,” I told her.
“What were you doing today, anyway?” Kylie asked. “I tried to call.”
“So you said,” I reminded her, wondering just how much she'd had to drink already. Maybe I'd better take an Uber and pre-game on the way. But it was no problem for me to drive myself there and then take an Uber home. I shook my head. “Seriously, my phone just died, and I didn't think to plug it in. I've got a separate work phone, and it didn't occur to me that anyone would call with anything pressing on any phone except that one.”
“You have a separate work phone?” Kylie asked. “And I don't have that number?”
“It's for work things,” I told her dryly. “Hence the name.”
“But what if I really needed to contact you?” Kylie asked, sounding hurt.
“I'll give you the number when I get to the bar,” I promised, rolling my eyes. There was no use trying to explain to her that I wanted to keep my work and personal lives separate. She was an artist. Her personal life was her work life, and vice versa.
I wondered if that was how she had been getting through the breakup, by creating art. I'd have to remember to ask her about that tonight. She always loved talking about her latest pieces.
“If you don't let me off the phone, I'm never going to get there,” I reminded her gently.
Kylie was silent for a minute. “Maybe I should just come over there,” she said, sounding morose.
I blinked, wondering at the change in tone. I didn't know what to say in response to that. I'd love to have her over. It would be just like old times. And I'd just been thinking about how much I missed the simplicity of the old days. Back in college, there had been enough drunken nights where one of us ended up sleeping on the other person's couch.
On the other hand, I knew exactly the reason why those drunken overnights had stopped happening. I'd told her that it was just that we were getting old enough to not be passing out at each other's places, but that wasn't really what worried me.
No, it was the secret feelings that I'd harbored for Kylie that had really brought an end to those shenanigans.
If I had her over that night, I had a feeling we would drink, and I would suddenly decide to tell her all about those feelings. It was time to get it all out in the open. But this wasn't the time to tell her about that. She had just gotten out of a serious relationship. I didn't want to be the rebound, and I definitely didn't want her to feel like I was taking advantage of her in her wounded state.
That was just it, though: Kylie always seemed to be either in a long-term relationship or just getting out of a long-term relationship. Each time she broke up with someone, I would vow to give her a little time to move on before I got involved with her. Or attempted to get involved with her, anyway. I knew that I'd been in the friend zone forever and that it was highly unlikely I was ever getting out of it.
But every time I thought it had been long enough, she introduced me to her new guy, and we started the whole process over again.
Still, I couldn't bring myself to have her over that evening. Things were too strained between us already.
“You don't want to leave Mandy and Jasmine there all alone, do you?” I asked her. “Why don't I come meet you all there? We'll have some drinks and get really blitzed, and then if you're still feeling down, maybe you can come over and we'll have a long talk?”
“Okay,” Kylie sighed.
“I'll see you soon,” I promised.
“See you soon.”
I hung up the phone, trying to ignore the dejected note in her voice. She probably just needed another couple shots, and then she'd be the laughing, tipsy Kylie who had called me in the first place.
I climbed into my Lamborghini and turned on the ignition. The car still had that brand new leather smell to it, and it made me smile every time I drove. I'd gotten all the perks: extra power in the engine, suped up radio and speakers, top-of-the-line seats, tinted windows, the whole kit. I'd even gotten the heated seats despite the fact that I lived in LA and couldn't imagine a time when I might need those. This car was my baby, and I wanted every luxury added.
I grinned and turned out of my garage. A nice empty street and a quiet drive to clear my head before I arrived at the bar; that sounded like just what I needed.
Chapter Four
Kylie
I'd been in a cheery mood when we'd first arrived at the bar, but something about the combination of Jasmine's dejected spirits and the phone call with Josh had my mood rapidly slipping. I frowned down at the latest shot that Mandy had put in front of me.
“I don't think I want to do blue shots tonight,” I said, sliding mine over toward her. “Thanks anyway.”
“Come on,” Mandy groaned. “You said this was going to be just like the old days. Back in the old days, you used to do blue shots with me.”
“We're too old for this shit,” I said, shaking my head. I tried to pass the shot over to Jasmine. “Would you join her, please?”
“I'm not drinking alcohol tonight, remember?” Jasmine said, holding up her glass of water.
“Surely you can do one shot before driving home,” I said, rolling my eyes. “With the way Mandy's trying to get us pumped, we're going to be here all night.”
“We're at least going to be here long enough for Josh to arrive and have some drinks with us,” Mandy agreed. “Go on.”
Jasmine shook her head, looking morose. “I don't feel like it,” she said. “We're too old for this peer pressure.”
Mandy giggled. “Those guys over there aren't eyeing us like we're too old,” she said, nodding in the direction of three collegiate-type boys sitting in the far corner of the bar. “Me gusto that.”
She knocked back her shot, and after a second, I rolled my eyes and joined her, knowing she wasn't going to stop until one of us drank it. And Jasmine clearly wasn't going to be the one to do so.
I was starting to regret having come out. I couldn't seem to get my mind off Andrew. Or rather, I couldn't seem to get my mind off that last fight with Andrew. There wasn't any truth in anything that he'd said. He'd just been trying to push my buttons. But I couldn't get it out of my head.
“Josh is here!” Mandy cried, clapping her hands like a little kid, and I had to smile at that as I turned towards the entrance, relieved to see his tall form coming toward us.
He looked good, too. He had always been fit, but he was looking better than ever, and his tight-fitting black shirt only accentuated the s
trength of his chest. He had a leather jacket tossed on over that and his jeans, giving him a dangerous edge. He had clearly gotten his hair cut recently, and it was gelled into a spiky, devil-may-care bedhead.
Not that his handsomeness had any effect on me. We'd been friends for too long. I was no longer dazzled by his looks. I was just appreciative, that's all.
I felt a blush creep over my face for some unknown reason, and I ducked my head, wishing that I had another shot in front of me.
“Kylie, you really need to get another female friend so that it can be four of us women out together, and we don't have to deal with the testosterone,” Jasmine said, a grin on her face for the first time that night.
Mandy laughed. “As though Josh has any testosterone in him,” she ribbed. “The clothes are all just for show.”
“Bullshit,” Jasmine said. “He's all bro-y, and we all know it.”
“Behave,” I told her sharply, shooting her a warning look just before Josh came within earshot.
Jasmine was another friend from college, but she had only started hanging out with Mandy and Josh in recent years. Before that, she hadn't been willing to talk to anyone who wasn't interested in art, claiming that she had nothing to talk about with them, despite the fact that she and I talked about non-art things all the time. Although she'd taken to Mandy, I was never entirely sure what she thought about Josh.
“Hey, ladies,” Josh said easily as he reached us. “What's the occasion?”
“It's independence day,” I told him.
Josh raised an eyebrow at me. “About five months late there, sweetheart,” he drawled.
I giggled, my mood improving rapidly as soon as Josh was around. He had always had that effect on me. “Not 'Independence Day' like the founding of this country,” I said. “Our independence day. Jasmine and I both broke up with our boyfriends, and we're celebrating that we're back on the market.”
“'Celebrating,'” Jasmine scoffed, the air quotes obvious.
“Sounds like we need some more shots over here,” Josh suggested. He peered at Jasmine's drink. “Water, really? It's good to stay hydrated, but come on, we're all going to have a fun night.”
