“Whatever. Don’t act like we didn’t see who you were dancing with last night, Chloe.” Mads flings a sugar packet at Chloe, who just smiles back at our sexually frustrated friend.
“Hello...?” I yell at the three of them. “And who were you dancing with, Chloe?” I look across the table at Carys, who bursts out laughing. “Oh my God. Who was she dancing with?”
Chloe picks up her cup of black coffee and sips. Slowly.
“Well,” Carys ignores her roommate. “Let’s just say that Dean DiPietro looked like a very happy man when he was doing the walk of shame out of the townhouse today.”
I slap my hand against the table. “Wait...” I try to place the name with a face but come up empty even though I should know who he is. “DiPietro?”
“Yup.” Carys pops the “p” at the end of the word and dips her finger into the whipped cream on the top of her hot chocolate. “As in Bash and Sam’s very hot, very connected, cousin. Dean.”
My eyes triple in size. “Ho-ly shit, Chloe. He’s gorgeous.”
“Yeah, he is,” Mads laughs. “I’ll bet you got a good rubbing.”
Chloe steals the cherry from Carys’s whipped cream and bites down with a big, mischievous grin on her face. “He’s also got a really talented tongue, and a great big...”
We’re interrupted by the waitress, who passes out our food before asking if we need anything else, blushing the entire time. She scurries away once we tell her we’re fine, and the four of us break into peals of laughter. Carys takes the cherry from the top of her pancakes and adds it to Chloe’s waffles. “I think we might have scared the waitress. She looks like she can’t be more than fifteen.”
Chloe picks that cherry up too, then ties the stem in a knot with her tongue and throws it at Carys. “Like we weren’t hearing and doing worse than that at fifteen.” Then she looks at Maddie. “Well, everyone but you, Mads. That brother of yours looked like he was going to kill Watkins every time he touched you last night.”
She nods her head in agreement. “He looked like he wanted to kill Max Kingston too.” My fork full of eggs stops mid-way to my mouth. “I’m sorry. What?”
Chloe and Carys look equally confused.
“How am I the only one that saw them get into it at the bar?” She points her fork at the two of them sitting next to each other on the other side of the booth. “How did you miss it? I swear, I thought somebody was going to throw a punch.”
I drop my fork down on my plate and face Maddie. “What the hell happened? And why am I just hearing about this now, Madison?”
She shrugs like it’s no big deal. “I don’t know. We were all dancing, and the two of them caught my attention. They were at the bar, and things looked tense. Like, really tense. I know my brother, and I swear to God, I thought he was going to hit Max. But it was over as quickly as it started, and they both walked away.”
“You know that shit was over you, D,” Carys mumbles around a forkful of blueberry pancakes. She swallows, then adds, “I think Dixon has a thing for you.”
“What?” It’s Maddie’s turn to look confused. “No way.” She looks from Carys to me. “No way. You’re like a little sister to him.”
Chloe grins. “A little sister he wants to bang, maybe.”
Maddie picks up a piece of turkey bacon and points it between Chloe and Carys. “Holy smokes. That would explain so much.”
“Oh my God, Maddie.” Chloe takes the bacon out of her hand and pops it in her mouth. “Seriously, you give blondes a bad name. Your brother has wanted D for years.” Leave it to her to be totally blunt.
Maddie sucks in a breath and glances my way. “Did you know this?”
“I had no idea until recently. Even then, he didn’t do anything or come out and say anything directly. It’s just an impression I’ve gotten. And we both know he doesn’t love the idea of me and Max. I don’t think Max’s middle-of-the-night drop-in Friday helped matters much.” I hate the weird tension between the two of us lately.
“Well...” Chloe leaves the word hanging for a moment. “What is going on with you and the oldest, possibly hottest, Kingston?”
“No way. Hudson is way hotter than Max.” Maddie’s brows shoot up, like she can’t believe she said that out loud. “Whatever. Don’t look at me like that. I like his muscles.”
“Yeah well, you can have Hudson. I’m not sure what’s going on with Max and me right now. He wants more. I don’t know if I’m ready to give it to him yet.” Even if I want to.
“Men suck.” Carys shoves a big piece of pancake in her mouth.
“Here’s the thing though. I don’t think Max sucks. I just think he needs to figure out what he wants.” My roomie has hearts in her eyes as she says it, ever the romantic.
I look down at my plate. “He told me he wanted me to be his last night.”
No one says a word while they wait for me to continue until Maddie urges me on. “And then...?”
“And then nothing. I’m scared I’m about to get my heart crushed. And no offense, but I don’t have Carys’s metabolism, so eating my feelings wouldn’t go over well for me.”
Carys points her fork in my face and swallows. “Heartbreak sucks, D. But I wouldn’t change anything about these past two years, except how they ended. Not one single second. I’d do it all over again because it was amazing.” Her voice trembles. “Scared is healthy. Guarding your heart is smart. But seriously... loving someone. Being loved by them.” She takes a quick breath and straightens her spine. “It’s better. It’s worth the risk. It’s worth the pain. It’s worth binge eating pancakes. Why do you think I run around Boathouse Row every morning? Because my ass would be the size of the Kings Stadium if I didn’t. But I still wouldn’t change it. You just have to decide if he’s worth it. And not for nothing, but you already know the answer to that.”
“If you need big-girl panties to put on right now to deal with your shit, I’ve got some really pretty new designs back at the townhouse.” Chloe sips her coffee, totally serious, while she lightens the mood.
I laugh at her. “How big are we talking?”
Carys stabs a chunk of waffle from Chloe’s plate and drags it through the maple syrup.
“I mean, we might need to make hers bigger at this rate.” Chloe elbows Carys. “So, I’m sure we can work some magic.” Chloe eyes me as she grins. I’m grateful for the break in our serious conversation. I think we’ve had enough this morning.