Don't Tell (Don't 1)

“Hey, Greer. I need to get in the shower,” I called from the doorway. “Give me ten minutes.”

There was no way I was going out with the day still clinging to me.

I quickly rinsed off and slid into the blue sundress. It felt good to have something clean on that didn’t smell like coffee. I shook my hair out and let it fall around my shoulders in golden waves. Good thing the beach hair look was still in.

Somewhere in this room was a cute bag that matched this dress, but I didn’t feel like excavating again.

I walked in the living room. “Do you have a purse I can borrow? I don’t have the energy to unpack.”

Greer sat on the couch, flipping through a magazine. “Sure. I have a straw one that would be cute.”

She returned from her room holding a waffle cut hemp bag. “Thanks.”

And for a second it felt as if we were twenty-two again. We weren’t in Washington D.C., focused on careers and making a difference in the world. We were two girls getting ready to go out for the night to have some drinks. Maybe hit a mixer at the Sigma Nu house.

She put an arm around me. “Preston’s going to meet us in about an hour.”

“Oh? I didn’t know he was coming.” I tried to hide the disappointment in my voice.

“He said he wanted to buy you a drink and congratulate you on your first day in person.”

She locked the door behind us as I surveyed the staircase. If only I could shimmy down the banister.

“That’s sweet.” I mustered the words.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like Preston. I did. He was nice, but that was the only word I could think of to describe him. I didn’t get what it was about him that made Greer so giddy. I didn’t see the spark. I didn’t see any fire between them.

He was okay to hang out with, but he had a knack for making me feel like the third wheel. He reminded me I was the single one in the group. He knew things about my best friend I didn’t. While I had been working my ass off in a law firm, Preston had been here with Greer. He knew the details about her I used to know.

We made it to the first landing. “Yeah, he wants to get to know you better too. I told him I thought it was a good idea. You’re okay with it, right?” Greer babbled on.

“Oh, of course,” I lied. I hoped I would get one girls’ night. I had seen Preston every one of my three days here.

By the time we reached the bottom of the building I was wincing in pain. I swore I would never wear those damn heels again.

“Let me get the car,” Greer offered. She darted ahead of me and ran toward the street.

Luckily, we were in a busy part of the neighborhood and there was an Uber around the block. We waited less than two minutes. I hobbled to the sidewalk and slid into the backseat.

She tapped my knee. “Don’t worry, a few drinks in and you won’t even care about your feet.”

I grinned. “I don’t know if D.C. has that much liquor, but we can certainly try.”

2

Greer always knew the best places to go. It was some kind of innate ability she had. I called it party radar in college, but now it had matured into something else. We walked inside the bar and I looked at her.

“This place is amazing.”

She grinned. “It’s the most popular spot in Georgetown. It’s only been open for six months, but it’s my favorite place to go for drinks. When I get out,” she added.

I don’t know if I was expecting her to take me to one of those stuffy political bars where her work friends went and the only thing you saw people drink was dark bourbon and whiskey, but this felt soothing, calming even.

We were escorted to a table and slid onto white leather seats.

“Don’t freak out when you see how much the drinks are,” she warned. “This isn’t New Bern. You can’t get a Cosmo for less than twenty dollars.”

I had already experienced an entire day of feeling like an outsider. I didn’t need to cap the night off the same way. At least I had her now to give me the insider tips.