Ella’s fingers drum over her thigh. “So, you went home with him, had sex, got kicked out, and planned to never see him again, but now you’re going to be stuck seeing him because of this volunteer thing? How long does it last?”
I let out a heavy sigh. “It’s a carnival fundraiser for the animal shelter downtown called Resolutions. It isn’t until October Twenty-Fifth, so at least another eight weeks. Plus, if he’s coming over here, I guess I might see him again.”
She waves a hand in the air. “Oh, don’t worry about here. I’m sure he’ll never come to our house again after tonight.”
I grimace and apologize. Again.
“Save the ‘I’m sorry’ for Owen. You’re going to be on his shitlist. I’m already over it,” Ella says with a slight frown.
“I’ll buy you some sexy lingerie. He’ll forgive me once he sees you in nothing other than red lace.” I waggle my brows and shimmy my chest.
Ella laughs and slaps lightly at my arm. “Right. Well, that might work, but no promises.” Then, she nods at the house. “What are you going to do about Bentley?”
I shrug. “That’s what I came over here for. Piper said I should forget about him, and I agreed with her, but now, that seems a little impossible.”
“Yeah, I can see that. I didn’t get to chat with him, so I have no clue what he’s like in a private setting, but Owen said he’s always professional and patient and willing to listen to the other employees. Maybe you should just kill him with kindness. If you don’t give him any more reasons to want to murder you with his eyes, then maybe you can survive this volunteer thing.”
My shoulders sag. “I was kinda hoping you’d tell me to go find a new man to screw and to keep pretending none of this happened.”
Ella smiles. “Not likely.”
My hands scrub over my face for a few seconds while I think. “I can probably find a way to be nice to him if he’s not being a dick to me first.”
“That’s the spirit.” She pats my arm.
Voices sound from the front of the house, and even some laughter. Ella and I both look toward the door to find Owen walking Bentley to his Range Rover, which I now see is parked just past the house. In my defense, it’s already dark outside and easy to miss a black vehicle.
Their eyes cast our way for the briefest second, and Owen slaps his hand on Bentley’s shoulder.
“What do you think they’re talking about?” I ask Ella.
She chuckles. “You.”
I roll my eyes. “Probably. I should go, too. Tell Owen I’m sorry and he’ll be getting a package from me soon to strengthen my apology. And remind him that if his boss holds fucking me against Owen, then that has nothing to do with me and all to do with Bentley.”
Ella reaches for the door. “That actually makes a lot of sense.”
“Of course it does. I said it,” I tease.
She gets out of the car and leans back down. “I love you, and I’m sorry I wasn’t there this week when you needed me. In the future, maybe just text me the information, so I realize you’re not just needing to talk about how you organized your dildo collection by color instead of size.”
“That was one time,” I yell with a groan when she shuts the door and waves at me through the window.
I blow her a kiss and see that Owen is waiting for her by the front door with a wistful look on his face. He really is perfect for my best friend. Hopefully, he won’t stay pissed at me for long.
The taillights to Bentley’s SUV light up, and he revs the engine before turning around in the street. I stare at his tinted windows until he passes, wondering if he was looking at me, too.
Pathetic? Maybe.
Do I care? Absolutely not.