Page 75 of Lovestrung

I blinked at my friend. “Uuh, who are you, and what have you done to my innocent, proper English friend?”

She grinned. “I’m half Danish, and not all of us are prim.” She laughed when I widened my eyes. “Come on, Pen, I’ve been with Hugo for five years. We’ve dabbled a bit, lived out some of our fantasies – one time, we even saw a porn together.” She raised her right hand and started to fan it in front of her face. “Hottest thing ever. Just thinking about it now makes me want to do it again.”

I covered my ears. “Tralalalala!” I sang. “I can’t hear you.”

Ella started to laugh like a hyena, and it didn’t take long before the three of us were in fits of giggles, drawing attention back to our table

“Oh, man, I needed that laugh,” Ella chuckled, wiping another round of tears from her eyes. She smiled at Eliza next to me. “And thanks, but no thanks. I can handle it.”

“If I could write, I’d love to be a journalist,” Eliza sighed, a wistful look in her eyes. “But I’ll leave that to you and my mum and…” She smiled as she made us wait for a couple of seconds. “I’ll stick with restoring paintings once Hugo and I go home to Oxford.”

I gasped when she beamed at me. “You mean, you got the job you wanted?”

“Yup,” she grinned. “Got the email today. I was reading my acceptance letter when I got your SOS text.”

Ella let out a whoop. “We need to celebrate!” She turned in her seat and caught the eye of a waitress. “Champagne, please!”

Warmth filled me as I gave Eliza a hug. “I’m thrilled for you! But I’ll miss you when you leave.”

“We still have a couple of weeks left. And we’ll keep in touch. You won’t disappear from my life, will you?”

I huffed, almost offended she’d say something like that. “Of course not.”

Laughter danced in her eyes as she blew a stray curl away from her cheek. “Good. Besides, you need to keep me updated on what happens between you and that gorgeous man of yours. I can’t wait. And you,” she pointed at Ella who froze in her seat, “you need to send me a copy of your article, including links, once you’ve finished it. Deal?”

Ella shook her head but then relented when Eliza kept staring at her “All right, you’ve got it.”

As the waitress came over to our table with a bottle of pink champagne, I relaxed back in my chair. I was happy to see two of my best friends getting along so well, feeling lucky that I had them in my life. At this very moment, I decided to make a big effort into getting my own future figured out once and for all. I knew I needed to decide on a career, but even if it took me months, I wouldn’t settle for less than doing something I loved.

It was time to pull up my big girl panties and get on with my life.

Hopefully, one that would include Ethan.

19

Secrets Are Revealed

“Can I tell you a secret?” I smiled at Ethan from my spot on the kitchen counter next to the stove; it seemed like it had become his favorite place for me to hang out whenever he got ready to cook, because he always made sure I was right there next to him, not far out of his reach.

I loved to be close to him, but I didn’t tell him that.

Instead, I accepted it in silence, not questioning it once.

But right now, I wasn’t in the mood for food.

“Only if you’re free to share it,” he grinned at me.

I rolled my eyes. “Sure, that goes without saying.”

“Go ahead.”

I took a sip of my wine, smiling against the rim as I watched the puppies slumbering at Ethan’s feet. After I’d said goodbye to my girls, I’d gone back to the animal shelter where I’d helped him and Charlie feeding the other animals; and once Ethan’s new pets were awake, we’d taken them home. While they were still groggy after their procedures, they’d been alert enough to explore their new home and hadn’t settled down to rest until we’d moved to the kitchen.

“Pen?” Ethan called, pulling my thoughts back. “The secret?”

I put my glass down next to me. “Remember that summer when Dad grounded me? I was sixteen and he’d walked in on me and my first boyfriend, Adam while we were, uh, having some fun?” I blushed at the memory.

He frowned as he shook the wok, stirring the vegetables. “Vaguely.” He glanced at me. “I hated that you had a boyfriend, but I wasn’t surprised. You were always gorgeous, and I knew it was only a matter of time before the boys would come sniffing around you. I just didn’t like it.”