Page 18 of Restless Ink
No, it was Roxie who spoke first.
“Like…fell asleep after a long night, or banging hard against something? Because Dimitri seems like the hard-banging type.”
Thea couldn’t help the laugh that burbled from her throat, and she slapped her hand over her mouth to stop herself.
But it was too late.
The others laughed as well before Adrienne tapped her wine glass with her knife, bringing everyone to attention.
“Thea didn’t answer, so I’m going with banging.” Her sister turned to her. “Am I right?”
Thea swallowed the rest of her water, and Abby quietly reached over to pour some more. Bless her.
“We had sex. On my living room floor.”
There was a round of cheers as Abby asked, “When?”
Thea bit her lip. “After game night.”
Roxie laughed. “I knew you two were competitive, but that’s taking it to a whole new level.”
Adrienne frowned. “Huh? How is banging on the floor competitive? Unless there’s like a banging Olympics.”
“Can we please refrain from using the wordbanging?” Thea asked, rubbing her temple. “It wasn’t…banging.”
“Sex is good for the soul,” Kaylee said sagely, her lips still fighting that smile. “Or so I hear.”
“You’re a gorgeous artist with a fantastic rack,” Adrienne put in, “I’m sure you get all the sex you want.”
In answer, Kaylee toasted with her tea before downing the whole thing.
Interesting.
“We’ll get back to that soon,” Roxie said before turning to Thea. “You slept with Dimitri. As in your best friend’s ex-husband, Dimitri. Am I getting that right?”
Guilt swarmed Thea, and she nodded slowly, wishing she hadn’t had so much to eat since she was afraid it was all going to come up again. She was a horrible friend, a horrible person in general. And she hated herself the more she thought about exactly what she’d done.
“Yes, that’s right. I slept with Dimitri. My friend. The same friend who used to be married to my other friend. I’m going to hell.”
“No, you aren’t,” Abby said. “There are codes or whatever gibberish the media tells us, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t murky.”
“How exactly did it happen?” Roxie asked, then put up her hands as the others glared at her. “I don’t need the details, though you know us, we always want the details since we’re fiends like that. But, really, you two were a little buzzed but totally not drunk when the rest of us left. You guys were warm and laughing and acting like the friends we all know you are. Hell, Dimitri looked lighter than I’ve ever seen him, actually. Like he washappy. So, what happened?”
“He dared me to a rematch of Twister, and when one foot went one way, and the other foot the other, we ended up tangled up in one another and then…and then, well…”
“Over Twister?” Roxie gasped.
“What game was it supposed to be?” Adrienne asked dryly. “Dungeons and Dragons?”
Roxie affected her most serious face. “Is that not how you defeat the troll?”
This sent everyone at the table into peals of laughter, but Thea could only look down at her clasped hands.
Abby reached out and put her hand on top of hers and gave a squeeze. “Don’t beat yourself up. You had sex with a single man. That’s it.”
“It’s more than that, and we all know it. I slept with a man who used to be married to my best friend.”
Adrienne scowled and sipped her drink.