So he went into Mike’s room and yes, the laptop was open. This would be easy. He clicked on the browser and up popped the same online dating website where he met Laura. That’s funny, he thought, maybe that’s how Mike found his date last night. You would think he would have told me.
Blink, blink. Dylan wasn’t sure what he was looking at, but a dull, creeping dread began to fill his veins. As he stared at the computer screen and read the chat windows, the account information, the all-too-familiar picture, and scanned over every detail on the screen, it slowly dawned on him that Mike was logged into his account and having a lovely conversation about his most recent date.
With Laura.
Her Two Billionaires
Bang bang bang. Fireworks exploded above her, the dazzling pastels blooming before her eyes in a furious cascade of sparks. As the hot coals showered down like burning rain, Laura jumped when one touched her.
Bang bang bang! they exploded, the little pieces hitting her face, her legs, suddenly soft and caressing her like—
“Laura!” Bang bang bang. “If I hadn’t lost your key I would come in!”
Josie. Wha? Laura opened her eyes and fumbled for her phone. 7:22 a.m. She sat upright in horror.
“Hang on!” she shouted, stumbling to the door, unchaining and unlocking it. Josie stood there, petite and jaunty, peering around Laura.
“So is he still here?” she asked breathlessly. “Is that why you didn’t answer?” Josie looked like a chihuahua in skinny jeans.
“Is who still here?” Laura yawned and stood on tiptoe, her muscles desperate for oxygen, blood rushing into her extremities and nearly giving her a calf cramp as she slowly went down to flat feet, rolling her shoulders and stretching her neck.
“Whatever hot, eligible bachelor contacted you last night, because you are on a roll, Baby! One a day, right?” She punched Laura lightly in the shoulder and stormed past her, banging and shuffling things as Laura stared at the back of her front door.
For the briefest of seconds she ran a frantic mental check— had she gone out last night?— and then cursed herself. This was getting out of hand. No, last night she had stayed home and finished up some quarterly reports, watched a few episodes of Mad Men, and gone to bed early. Apparently, she’d needed the sleep. And, apparently, she had forgotten to set her alarm. Now she would be late for work, though she knew her boss wouldn’t mind. Last night she had clocked an extra three hours; flex time and a salaried position made it easier to go in a bit late this morning.#p#分页标题#e#
Josie didn’t have that luxury. As a geriatric nurse, she needed to be on shift on time, every time. At least she only worked three shifts a week, though. Soon her rotation would take her to midnight shifts, which Josie hated. So did Laura; it was hard to get together when her best friend kept a schedule better suited for vampires.
“I took a break from my busy fuckbuddy schedule,” Laura yawned, stretching again. Her belly felt cold as her shirt hiked up, and when she looked down her braless breasts hung lower, off to the sides, like small, smooth animals with the metabolism of a sloth. Josie had a chest like a boy’s, if a boy had tight little breasts you could fit in a headphone cover. Mostly, they envied each others’ figures, though Laura could never understand why Josie would want these boobs. At this rate, she’d need a wheelbarrow by the age of fifty. Or to marry a good plastic surgeon. Or a billionaire.
A quick thought of Mike, then a more surprising flash of Dylan, hit her. She couldn’t get over Dylan— didn’t want to, really. Mike had called her last night. Asked her out again. This time to his cabin up on the mountain. Maybe they could make love without a million uninvited, biting guests. That would be a step up, Laura thought, as she absent-mindedly scratched her ass over her flannel pajamas. She needed some arnica for the bites and kept forgetting to buy some.
“Quit scratching yourself and come have some coffee!” Josie called.
How did Josie know she was scratching? It’s like the woman was part psychic. Or heard the scrit scrit scrit of fabric as she scratched. Or watched her reflection in the hallway mirror. Ah— that was it. She looked and saw Josie’s cheesy, overstretched grin as she held up a mug and took a sip.
“Ahhhhh. Coffee tastes so much better at your house, Laura.”
“That’s because it’s free.”
Josie sputtered and laughed. “OK, you got me there.”
Laura poured a cup of coffee and sat at her little kitchen table, taking deep breaths. “What am I going to do, Josie? Mike asked me out on a date tonight.”