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Her brow arced. “Who would I be having sex with?”
“You know who.”
She shook back her hair and rolled her eyes, looking annoyed. “I wouldn’t sleep with Yale if you paid me. He’s dead to me.”
There was a cold current through her voice that made me pause.
“Did he do something?”
She huffed, wrapping her arms around her chest. Candice was tough, she was outspoken, she rarely let herself be vulnerable. I’d picked up that last trait from her. But now, her eyes were hurt.
“He said I’d never be taken seriously as a lawyer because my tits were too big,” she said quietly.
My jaw went slack. Candice was a slender woman with a skinnier waist than mine, but she was easily four cup sizes bigger. Three years before I ever went through puberty, she was crying and trying to cover up with giant sweatshirts.
Now, she’d just given up. Her parents refused to let her get cosmetic surgery so she’d just learned to live with it.
But I knew it was her biggest insecurity.
“You’re going to law school?” I asked. “I had no idea.”
She shrugged, picking her cuff. “I was thinking about it. I’m pretty argumentative, might as well get paid for it. I had lunch with Merrick’s lawyer and he’s pretty interesting so I thought maybe I’d try to get into the University of Georgia.”
“So…you should do it,” I said.
“Now I feel kind of stupid,” she mumbled.
I shook my head. “Because of something Yale said? He’s stupid, don’t think about him.”
“No,” she said firmly. “It wasn’t just about my boobs, although he’s right. I’ve had guys make gross remarks about them for years. But he wasn’t saying that…he was basically saying that no one in the organization would take me seriously as a female lawyer.”
“That’s not true,” I said. “Merrick would never let anyone treat you badly because you’re a woman.”
“Merrick can’t follow me around everywhere. He can’t make these men respect me.”
I climbed onto the bed and settled cross-legged. “Have you sat down with Merrick and talked about what the real prospects for law school are? If I didn’t know about it, surely he doesn’t.”
“Neither of you know,” she said, running a hand over her nose. “Both of you have been really busy for the last month.”
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “I suck as a friend. I’ve been busy with the engagement stuff, but it’s not an excuse.”
She sniffed loudly, pushing her shoulders back. “It’s fine, it’s not important. Maybe I’ll ask dad or Merrick to start arranging someone for me instead of going back to school. Honestly, that’s probably more realistic.”
“Are you happy?” I asked quietly.
She paused, her lips parting. “I mean…I guess. Are you?”
My mind filled with the memory of waking up beside Merrick, of feeling his hot weight draped over me. Of watching him cook, of showering with him, of stargazing on the porch while he had a cigarette.
“I am sometimes,” I whispered.
Her gaze went flat. “Do you still think your original life plan will make you happy? Being a rich, organization wife and having kids.”
I nodded, but deep inside, I wasn’t sure.
“Maybe I’ll try that too,” she sniffed.
“So…is that it? You’re not even going to talk to anyone else about this?”
