“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 ofwith benefitsarrangement 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 was nice but dull. I get that. So, he called, just to be nice. He’s dating a young man named Elvis now, if you can believe that.”
“Elvis? Really?” asked Paige.
“Yes. And apparently he’s a hunka hunka burning love. But my point is Robert invited me to this housewarming, which, if what I recall of Robert’s social circle remains the same, promises to be a smorgasbord of single gay men.”
