“Who else is going to post bail? Your mom?”
“Wait. Is that a mom joke?”
Kate moves across the bench and sits beside me. Poking her finger in my arm, just to annoy me, she says, “C’mon, this is kinda fun, right?”
The alcohol is still swirling around that crazy brain of hers. She’s supposed to be sad, suffering from a broken heart. Kate, from what I’ve experienced, is nothing like I thought she’d be. That, or she’s good at disguising her emotions with strange British humor.
“I’m all for a good time, but this isn’t what I had in mind. Fuck! Do you realize how much trouble we’re in? I came to LA to get a fresh start,” I remind her. “Not get busted for nudity and sent to damn jail.”
She remains quiet, keeping to herself. Maybe I was a little harsh. Kate has bigger worries and still must be processing that whole not-being-pregnant thing. Maybe she’s not void of emotions after all. I definitely have enough emotions whirling inside of me for the both of us—anger, disappointment, and frustration—to name a few.
But even with my emotions running high, I can’t ignore the silence coming from the person next to me.
“You okay?” I ask, tilting my head to the side to check up on her.
Playing with the hemline of her skirt, she answers distractedly, “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”
I grab her hand, not to be romantic, but with genuine concern. “The whole pregnancy thing, Kate.”
“Oh, that,” she plays it off. “Totally forgot about it.”
Placing my arm over her shoulder, I pull her closer. I don’t know why I feel the urge to protect her. Maybe because she’s Charlie’s best friend. I’ve never had friendships with women. There’s always an agenda behind it. What makes this even more confusing is that I’ve only known her for less than twenty-four hours. Yet, something about her makes me feel like I’ve known her my whole life.
“You don’t have to be okay,” I tell her. “I don’t know your story, but if you need an ear, I’m right here. They won’t let us out for hours.”
She buries the side of her head into my shoulder, absently staring at the brick wall. “I haven’t told Charlie the whole story. So please, don’t say anything,” she begs softly.
“I promise I won’t.”
“Only Lex knows.”
“Lex?”
“He was the one who warned me about the whole situation.”
It makes sense. Charlie’s the type of person to get all up in your business. She’s passionate and fights for her friends and family. She’s always been that way. So, I’m not surprised at all that Kate had only told her half the story.
“The guy. He’s one of my best friend’s brother. We kind of met accidentally, and I was instantly attracted to him. Not sure why.”
“Wait, does your best friend know?”
She shakes her head. “Eric is too self-absorbed to really notice a change. That, and he recently broke up with his boyfriend. He’s been doing his own thing of late and keeping busy with work.” She continues on, “So this guy, Dominic, he warned me from day one that he didn’t do relationships, not even sexual ones. So, immediately, I jumped to the conclusion he was gay. It turned out, he owns a sex club and, well… I’ll just leave it at that.”
“You can’t just leave it at that,” I berate her. “What kind of sex club?”
“The kind that makes me uncomfortable. I understand couples exploring their sexuality and desires, but I thought… never mind.”
It makes sense, I guess. Again, this is unfamiliar territory for me. I’ve been with plenty of women, multiple at one time. I understand how people can love each other or want to commit themselves to one person, but I know that isn’t a life I want. It’s challenging to put myself in her shoes when I’ve never wanted nor would want a woman to look at only me because then I’d have to reciprocate the feeling.
“Can I tell you something, Noah?”
“Yes,” I say, kissing the top of her head to ease her pain.
“I’m embarrassed and ashamed of the things I allowed myself to do just to please him. For him to notice me…” She pauses briefly. “I told you he didn’t do sexual relationships, but he enjoyed watching me fuck other men. That’s how he got off. Having me in his sex club, sprawled out on some bed, fucking some guy I’d never met, let alone spoken a word to. Two guys, at one point.”
My brain stutters for a moment, the alcohol still invading my system and blurring my normally rational thoughts. I’m all for a good time. I’ve done plenty of dirty things, but never gotten off on watching a girl I somewhat liked fuck someone else. I want to rip this guy’s head off. This unwanted anger begins to swirl within me. Suddenly, the whole pregnancy comes to mind.
“Kate, who do you think you were pregnant by?”