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“They are. How did you know?”
She shrugged. “You don’t stray from a man who treats you well unless something’s off. Do you want to tell me about them?”
“Calder is all-American. He’s clean cut, works in finance, dependable, and has a plan for where he wants to be in five years.”
“And the other guy?”
“He’s…different. In every way. Rafe has long, wild hair, he’s a freelance performance artist, and I’m not sure he knows where he wants to be in five months, let alone five years.”
“Rafe?” she said. “That’s not a common name. He wouldn’t happen to be an artist who smashes glass, would he?”
My eyes widened. “How did you know?”
“Your boyfriend’s best friend, who you’re sleeping with, is Rafe Rivers?”
“You know him?”
Lacey let out a laugh that wasn’t exactly amused. “This is kind of weird, but…Rafe and I…we had a thing a few years back.”
My mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope. We run in some of the same circles. The art and publishing worlds in New York—they overlap more than you’d think.”
I felt my face heat, and I wasn’t sure if it was jealousy, anger, or the sick realization that I might’ve just made a huge mistake. Why had I opened my big mouth? I didn’t even know Lacey well, and I’d just told her my most private, darkest secret. What if she told people at work? Or worse, what if it somehow got back to Calder? A wave of nausea roiled through me. I shook my head. “I’m not sure what to say.”
Lacey looked at me differently now. The easy, nonjudgmental expression she’d had a few minutes ago was gone, replaced with something more assessing. “Wow,” she said, folding her arms across her chest. “What a small world.”
“Please don’t tell anyone,” I blurted.
Her brows jumped. “I wouldn’t do that.”
“I’m just…I shouldn’t have said anything.”
Lacey held up her hands. “Relax. I’m not going to broadcast your life.”
I nodded, but didn’t really feel reassured.
She reached for her yoga mat. “I should get going. Are you going to be okay?”
“Yeah,” I murmured. Though it seemed sudden that she needed to leave. The yoga class we were supposed to go to hadn’t even ended yet. But I was anxious for this conversation to be over, so I summoned a smile. “Thanks for listening.”
Lacey took a few steps, but then walked back to the table. “It sounds like you have a good guy, Talia. So I should tell you that Rafe blew me off after a few weeks. Just stopped calling me back after we’d slept together a few times. You might think twice about blowing up your life for a man with commitment issues.”
***
By the time I got back to the brownstone, I felt worse than ever. Rafe’s aunt was by the door, struggling with groceries.
“Can I help you with that?” I asked.
“Oh, that would be wonderful. Thank you.”
I lifted the bags and carried them into her kitchen.
“I’m sorry to be such a needy Nelly,” she said. “I had my groceries delivered and thought I would ask the driver to bring them in, but he left them at the door before I realized he’d arrived.”
“You’re not a needy Nelly.” I started unpacking the groceries. “I’m happy to help.”
“I appreciate it.” She wheeled in behind me. “I’m trying to be less of a burden on my nephew.”
