I hear muffled noises in the background, most likely the sounds of my father getting shushed. “Oh, nothing much. So how exactly did you meet Reese? I’m dying to know all about him and Google only tells you so much.”

“You Googled him?” I didn’t even think my mother knew how to use the internet. Now she’s googling the men I’m sleeping with? Hmmm, maybe I should do that.

“Yes. Good grief he’s handsome. Now tell me, how did you two meet?” Oh you know, he nailed me up against a bathroom sink at my ex’s wedding. Crap. I need a distraction and the sight of my bouncing best friends gives me inspiration.

“Mom, Juls is engaged. Isn’t that great? And she’s getting married this September.” Nothing like wedding news to get my mother sidetracked. She was a sucker for hard gossip, especially when it involved my friends.

She gasps dramatically. “That’s wonderful. Oh my, that’s so soon.” I hear her hands clapping together through the phone. “How lovely. Juls will make such a beautiful bride. You know who else would make a beautiful bride?”

What? Shit! I scramble around the counter and grab Joey by the hair, a loud scream emanating from him followed by a string of curse words directed at me. “Oh shit. Gotta go, Mom. Joey’s having a g*y emergency. You know him. Love you.” I end the call quickly before she can throw out any questions. Whew. Crisis Averted.

“What the f**k, Dylan? That hurt. And why does it have to be a g*y emergency?” Joey rubs his scalp, his face scrunched up in pain as he glares at me.

“Ha! Like there’s any another type of emergency involving you.” Juls laughs.

“Sorry. Really really sorry about that. My mom knows about Reese and I’m trying to avoid her at all costs.” I exhale forcefully. “You know how she is.” I decide to keep the Reese telling my parents that he’s my boyfriend news to myself. I would never hear the end of it.

“Oh, yikes,” he states. “Actually, that reminds me.” He quickly combs through his hair. “You remember how Billy thought it was hilarious that you thought Reese was married?” I nod as Juls moves next to me and faces Joey, her arms crossing over her chest. “Well, I thought that was weird. I mean, why is that so f**king funny? He’s gorgeous. He could have been married.”

“Joey, is there a point to this?” I ask

He huffs in annoyance. “Yes. I asked Billy about it and he said that Reese is completely against getting serious with a girl. He won’t do it.” My stomach rolls. “When they start getting clingy, he moves on to the next one.”

“Joey, that’s enough,” Juls spats.

I blow my breath out. “It’s fine. I figured as much.” But I wasn’t expecting it to hurt this bad to hear it out loud. Shit. I feel like my heart has been shoved into a vice.

He moves closer to me and grabs my hand, stroking the back of it with his thumb. “Dylan, I’m sorry. I just, I don’t want to see you to get hurt.” He squeezes me gently. “I like Reese, I really do and I like him for you, but I don’t know if he’ll ever want you for more than just sex.”

Juls steps in between us and grabs my shoulders. “Don’t listen to him, Dylan. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. I don’t care how many girls are lining up for him. He only sees you.” She speaks softly, her hands applying light pressure to my tense shoulders. He is currently only seeing me, I wanted to correct her. But I don’t. I manage to paint on my most convincing I’m not affected by this face and smile.

“It’s fine. I’m fine. I wasn’t expecting this to become a f**king relationship or anything more than what it is so, whatever, I’m fine.” Juls studies me closely as Joey manages half a smile. “Anyway, where are we headed tonight to celebrate?” My change of topic catches on and they both start rattling off names of bars. “You two discuss. I have some work to do.”

My stomach churns as I walk past my friends and into the kitchen. Images of hundreds of women walking into Reese’s office, closing the door behind them, and then reemerging moments later looking rightly f**ked pour through my head. How many girls have blown him in that office? How many has he f**ked against that door? The thought of Reese screwing anybody besides me makes me instantly queasy. “God, what the f**k am I doing with this guy?” I say to myself as I check on the cake.

Juls pops her head through the doorway. “6:00p.m. at The Tavern, sweets. Love you.” She waves with her blinged out hand and I giggle.

“Love you,” I reply with genuine enthusiasm just as my phone begins to ring. Reese’s name flashes across my screen and I hit decline. I can’t talk to him right now. I have work to do and staying busy is my best defense at keeping my mind off him. Walking over to the shelf, I grab the ingredients I need for the chocolate peppermint frosting and place them on the worktop. I reach for my mixer next as my phone rings through the kitchen. Leaning across the worktop, I see his name again and huff loudly as I press decline. “No,” I state firmly. Perching myself up on a stool, I begin rifling through my recipes. I really needed to organize these better. And rewrite some of them. My grandmother’s chicken scratch handwriting is beginning to rub off and most are borderline eligible. Hearing the text message alert on my phone, I wipe my hands on the front of my apron and reach for it.

Reese: Are you ignoring me?

No mister persistent, I’m just putting some distance between you and my heart. The sound of the song that Joey has apparently put on repeat seeps into the kitchen and I soften. A song reminds him of me. A song that I need to remember to look up the lyrics to. My thumbs get to work.