Font Size:

IRON & WINE

“Dani, what are you doing here?”

“Okay,” she barges into the apartment with a tray of coffees in one hand and a box of donuts in the other. “So I was coming here to play matchmaker and hook you up with this guy. Not Jamie, actually,” she looks at him and winces, “one of your buddies that I dated.”

“Coop?” I yell from the bedroom.

“Stevie,” she shrugs. “I never dated Coop!”

“No!” I say sternly as I come out with the coffees Lexi got us earlier and head to the kitchen to find bigger cups.

“Oh, come on, he’s not that bad!” I poke my head back around the corner and glare at her. “Anyhow, based on the sounds that were coming from this apartment, it doesn’t matter.” Dani tosses the donuts on the table while I hand Lexi a cup.

“I’m off the dating market,” Lexi answers with a grin as I kiss her.

“Clearly. You both look utterly fucked in the best way possible. And that man over there is smiling. Legitimate smiles!” She watches me combining my coffees and recognizes the logo. “You got him Eggslut?! Wait, is this like a cute inside joke thing between you? Does he call you a slut while he sticks it in? Jamie, you dirty dog!”

“I donotcall her that.” I lean against the couch, shaking my head.

“You should. She and I read the same books. Seriously.” She flops onto the couch next to Lexi, offering her a bite of her donut. “You two are so fucking cute together. I set Jamie up before and it never really worked out.”

“Dani, it’s not?—”

“I mean, he got laid and stuff. A few even got a second date before he ghosted them.”

“What?! I didn’t ghost anyone. You’re making me sound like a dick.”

“You are, I mean, not Stevie level dick. You’re more of a grump. He’s a man whore.”

“You wanted to hook me up with a man whore next? Wow, thanks,” Lexi jokes, taking a bite of a donut.

I’m relieved to hear Lexi laughing. Both because of the way Dani is talking about my dating life and how awkward the last half hour has been. She goes into the room and grabs some clothes before heading toward the kitchen, but I stop her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her toward me for a quick kiss.

“Doing my laundry again? You don’t have to do that, Angel.”

“Wait, again??” Dani yells and kicks her feet like a kid. “So this isn’t the first night? Have you been home since Friday, Jamie? Wait! Angel? Oh my god, what have I been missing?”

I ignore her rambling and press my head to Lexi’s, “You’re beautiful.” It means more than that, but I can’t say what I really want. Not this soon, and especially not with Dani around. She’d be planning a wedding before she left. I wouldn’t stop her, either.

Lexi winks at me, and to my surprise, like she understood the meaning behind the words. She replies, “You’re beautiful, too.” She slips out of my arms and into the kitchen and I wish Dani wasn’t here, so I could take Lexi apart a few more times this morning.

“Dani, why are you really here?” I ask as I take a sip, frowning at the amount of sugary syrup in the coffee Dani brought.

“There’s a party Tuesday?—”

“No!” Lexi rolls her eyes as she slides back under my arm. “Absolutely not. That’s a work night.”

“Uhh, since when? I roll in whenever I feel like it, and you two aren’t even working from the office,” she says around a donut. “It’s not a wild party, it’s a fancy party! Rich people, champagne that costs more than my car, free bougie food. Besides, when has Sam ever cared if we show up hungover?”

“This sounds terrible. Why would we want to go to that?” I growl and slam back half the cup of coffee as fast as possible.

“It’s an art gallery party, and we all got invited, sort of.” Lexi and I both cock our heads to the side, eyeing her. She’s hiding something; I don’t think it’s something bad, but it’s something. “Okay, so it’s a guy I met the other night, and he wants me to go to this stupid art show. I don’t want to go alone and you guys are my artsy fartsy friends!” She pouts. “Okay, well, Jamie was my artsy fartsy friend?—”

“Wingman,” I interrupt to correct her, pulling my laptop out and sitting it on the coffee table so we can go over the pictures we’ve got so far.

“Same thing…which is why I texted this morning, but then I figured out there’s this whole thing with you guys and so I came here to beg you to go to the party…and of course, give you a hard time.”

I narrow my eyes and stare at her. “There’s more, come on.”