“And yet we both ended up in the same place.”
“Right. On different sides of the table.” She offered him the last of the cookie.
“But your bra is from La Perla.” There was a glint of mischief in his eyes.
“Well, you know what they say about lipstick on a pig...”
He frowned. “You can’t possibly think that about yourself.”
She rolled her eyes. “Relax, a little self-deprecating humor is all. But what you have to understand is, I can’t stomp through the office swinging my big metaphorical dick around demanding promotions. It’s more complicated than that for me.”
“They wouldn’t fire you.”
The concern on his face amused her. He really had no idea.
She sighed. “Maybe nothing so obvious, but they’d ostracize me. Conveniently forget to include me on emails. Ice me out of their good old boys’ jokes. Keep me off the hot cases. There are only two other women in my practice group, and they look like beauty pageant queens. It’s a whole different ball game for us.”
“A friend of mine from Harvard works at your firm. Ferris Joy? We used to party together back in the day. You should talk to him. Or, hell, I can talk to him for you.”
She tilted her head, surrendering to a yawn. Ferris Joy was the son of the named partner of Joy and Schulz, and there wasn’t a chance in hell she’d talk to him. “You trying to help a girl out? You’re kinda sweet, you know that? For a lawyer.” She stretched her arms over her head and fell back onto her pillow. He followed after, both of them, on their backs, respectably distanced. “But don’t worry that pretty face over me.”
He rustled in the sheets next to her. “Maybe I want to.”
She laughed softly. “Trust me, it’s not worth the wrinkles. Besides, you’ll forget all about me when you fly back to California. I’m sure you have a glamorous life like a TV star. You look like one at least.”
“Yeah, you keep saying that.”
“And what about you? You like it over there at that fancy West Coast firm representing those rich cartoon villains?”
The bed vibrated a bit with his chuckle. “You know, I never really considered working anywhere else. Just followed the yellow brick road. University to law school to big law. Not much room for questions in between.”
“Sounds like you need to change things up. Ask yourself the big stuff. What if you got it all wrong? Wrong firm? Wrong state? Wrong life? Ever wonder if you’d done it differently where you’d be now? Sometimes I do. You ever have dreams too big to chase?”
“I’ve always wanted to climb Denali. That’s a big dream.”
“I could never climb a mountain.” Perdie’s eyes were heavy, but she opened them to see he was looking at her. She couldn’t figure out his expression, but whatever it was, it pinged something deep inside somewhere. A little too intense for her liking. “I’m afraid of heights.”
He looked back to the ceiling. “Are you afraid of heights, or are you afraid of falling? Because when faced with a cliff, everyone’s afraid to fall. But there’s a difference.”
Chapter Five
“Carter Leplan has ruined my pussy, and I’ll never forgive him for it.” Perdie shoved a tortilla chip with guac into her mouth, salted flecks sprinkling down her soft cotton V-neck. The happy crowd and upbeat music at her favorite taco joint weren’t doing her mood any favors, but at least there was guac. She always had guac.
“I know, baby girl, but it’s only been two weeks. Less time than the kale’s been in the fridge.” Lucille sucked down a frozen pineapple margarita and signaled a server for two more. “Some people go years without having orgasms. Some people go entire lifetimes.” The some people Lucille was referring to was herself.
“I’m sorry. That was insensitive of me.” Perdie pinched the bridge of her nose. “So why did you spend the last two weeks with Hampton?”
“Because he’s the love of my life, Perdie. He wants four kids, and you know how much I’ve always wanted four kids, I already have their gender-neutral names picked out: Winter, Avery, Quinn, and Devon. Hampton’s over six feet tall. He uses designer beard oil, which is self-care. And he told me we could be monogamous once he gets the funding for his microbrew-at-home start-up.” Lucille stroked a shiny strand of black hair, then flicked it over her shoulder. “That could be any day now.”
“Luce. I’m trying to understand, I really am. But he’s never even given you an orgasm.”
Lucille rolled her eyes, her margarita sloshing onto her hand. “He’s come closer than anyone else.” She gazed solemnly into the wide-rimmed glass. “I believe he’s the chosen one. I mean, someone’s gotta be.”
Perdie shook her head then leaned forward to look her best friend in the eye. “Lemme let you in on a little secret. There are no chosen ones. There are only the ones that you have chosen. Make better choices.”
“Psh, you don’t get it. You never grow attached to men even when they fall all over you.” Lucille tipped back her glass to finish the dregs, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and then twisted on her stool to face the curly-haired man who had just approached their table. “Except for you, Noah. I’m sure she will grow very attached to you. You seem very attachable and whatnot.”
Noah’s eyes grew wide at the acknowledgment of his presence as he rejoined them after taking a work call. “Oh, well, thank you, I think?”
Noah was Perdie’s date for the night, and she had an embarrassed notion he might’ve heard everything she and Lucille were talking about. She hadn’t planned on making the date a threesome with Lucille, but since Perdie’s return to Charleston two weeks ago, Lucille had holed away with good-for-nothing Hampton the entire time. So when Lucille arrived home earlier that evening, dark circles under her eyes, her crop top and skirt wrinkled, they needed a major best-friend catchup and she’d brought Lucille along on her date with Noah.
Perdie crossed her arms, eyes on Lucille. “Noah, you’re an ER doctor, right?”
“No, I have a fellowship for developmental neurogenetics at the medical university.”
Perdie did a double take. “Damn. Okay. Well, fuck. The point is, you’re a smart guy. Tell my friend Lucille that she needs to choose better.”
Before Noah could speak, Lucille cut in.
“No, you tell Perdie that sometimes things are meant to be and you have to stick with them to find out. Like...like...” She circled her wrist, snapping her fingers. “Like you and Perdie could be destined for marriage. You gotta have faith. You can’t cut and run because things aren’t perfect.”
“Things can’t be perfect if you keep picking douchebags named Hampton.”
“He’s not a douchebag, he avoids auxiliary social interactions to preserve his dopamine.”
“That’s not how dopamine works.”
Noah’s head vacillated between the two. They stared at him for a response. He stabbed a thumb to his chest. “Oh, my turn now?” For a moment it seemed like he might not say anything, but then he shrugged. “Have you ever considered talking to the guy?”
