Surrounded by Sara and her favorite coworkers, we toasted to my “ninety-nine-percent-sure-gonna-happen” deal and the good vibes went on strong for the next hour or so – right up till the moment I heard a familiar voice shriek in my ear.
“Whoa, am I wasted or is Lia Pope out on a Friday night?”
Oh… no.
I turned to find my first-floor neighbor, Rachel, holding her mouth wide open as she came in for the hug. I was tipsy so I let her bring it in, flashing a warning look over her shoulder at Sara, who was already rolling her eyes and retching. She’d worked with Rachel at June Magazine for years before I moved to New York and it was only through Rachel that I found my apartment. But once I did start my lease, she apparently griped for weeks that her landlord chose some “boring goody two shoes” to rent the second-floor unit, instead of one of her “fun, cute friends.”
Obviously, Sara didn’t take kindly to it and called her out in front of their coworkers multiple times, which led to a few awkward run-ins with Rachel for me at home. Lucky for me, she had her own entrance to the townhouse so we didn’t run into each other often. Of course when we did, she tried to pressure me out of my lease, saying I didn’t need such a “centrally located apartment” since I never went out.
In summary, Rachel kind of sucked and I was already anticipating some sort of passive aggressive remark as she held my shoulders and cooed at me.
“Aww, you even got dressed up. Is that a one-inch heel I see on those flats? Damn, girl. Livin’ wild!” she giggled, giving my arm a little smack. “So what finally brings you out tonight? You’re like, literally the least social person I’ve ever met in my life.”
I flashed a strained smile and ignored her not-so-veiled insult. “Well, you know. Just had a good workday and now I’m rewarding myself with a little – ”
“Sunlight? Some actual vitamin D?” Rachel cracked. “That’s good, ‘cause you definitely need it. And while you’re at it, you should get yourself some actual D. As in dick?”
“Yes, thank you, Rachel. It was an extremely sophisticated joke, but we got that,” Sara said as she handed me a much-needed shot of vodka. Rachel smacked her arm.
“Am I not right though? We should hook her up with one of the interns. They’re cute and they’re like, nineteen,” she said, turning back to me and winking as she sucked on her straw. “They won’t even be able to tell if you don’t know what you’re doing.”
“Wow. Very kind offer, Rachel, but I think I’ll decline,” I said dryly.
“Why? It’s been ages for you and beggars can’t be choosers.”
Sara cleared her throat. “Actually,” she started in a tone I both recognized and feared. She ignored the death look I flashed her to flash a dazzlingly fake smile at Rachel. “Lia might just have the most interesting sex life out of all of us right now. And by ‘might’ I mean ‘definitely,’” she said, turning back to me with a look that wordlessly begged for permission to spill. I shook my head adamantly, mouthing a clear no as Rachel let out a snort.
“Mm… doubtful.”
It irked me but I was much more inclined to let her be smug than brag about something completely uncertain. I’d slept with Lukas once. For all I knew, he would forget about me in a week. He might even move on to sleeping with Rachel. I made a face as the thought twisted something in my stomach.
“See? Look how uncomfortable she still gets about sex,” Rachel giggled as Sara groaned and nudged me hard for permission. When I ignored her, she huffed and turned away to furiously text on her phone. “Seriously though, Li,” Rachel leaned on her elbow, studying me curiously. “How are you surviving living next to Tess’s brother? He’s like, a sex maniac.”
Sara ripped the loudest snort. “Yeah, Lia, how on Earth do you survive that?” she asked as I ground my teeth.
“Wine and meditation, Sara. How about that?” I asked, but when I turned to her, she’d already disappeared into the crowd. What the hell, woman? I cursed her for leaving me, which she never did. Rachel gave a sudden gasp.
“Omigod, Lia. You know,” she sipped her drink with big, scandalous eyes. “Last weekend… I can’t even say it. You’re totally gonna die.”
“What?”
“I heard Lukas having the loudest. Sex. Ever.”
I choked on my champagne. “You… really?”
“Yes. I’m pretty sure he was like, fucking her in the hallway.”
My heart pounded. “You could actually hear that?”
“Ca-lear-ly,” she said, breaking up the word to convey just how darned clearly she heard it. “You were probably dead asleep but I was straight up wondering if I should march up there and ask if they wanted company!” she cackled, slapping my knee. “I was just back from a date myself so I still looked super cute. Pretty sure he would’ve been happy to have me.”
“Possibly,” I said, recalling the threesome I almost witnessed Lukas having the first night that we met.
“‘Possibly’? More like definitely,” Rachel scoffed. “You don’t know because you weren’t there but Lukas invited me and my friends over for drinks awhile back and he was literally in heaven surrounded by so many hot chicks. He loved it. I seriously wish you got to see him that night, Lia.”
I smiled. Oh, I saw him that night. He rubbed his rock-hard dick against me while kissing me in the hall, and I spent the next few days dreaming about the sex we wound up having later that week.
I sucked a breath between my teeth.