All in on You

Chapter Seventeen

Jules, Elise, and Rebecca are here. Because of course they are.

The most ideal situation would have been being alone, with the next best being only Jules, because she lives here too. Having all three of them, though, that's the last thing I wanted. Naturally, that's exactly how things are.

"Please don't say anything."

"We've literally said nothing this entire time," Jules counters.

She's sitting cross legged in front of her spot on the couch, and I make eye contact with her through the mirror in our entrance. Jules holds my gaze, board game forgotten momentarily.

She's right, technically. The three of them haven't directly asked me where I'm going tonight, or what's so important that I'm missing out on our board game night. That's probably because Elise and Rebecca are seriously into this Catan game, even though Jules and I are less than thrilled about it. At least Jules puts in more effort than I do most nights they come here to play.

Still, I've seen each of my friends steal glances at me as I've primped in the hall mirror for the past five minutes. Hence, my request.

I sigh and turn to my friends. "I know, sorry."

Elise makes a triumphant sound while Rebecca groans, both looking over the board game. Then Elise looks at me conspiratorially.

"But, Harlow, don't let our silence fool you. We see you looking all hot and wondering where you're going," she says.

"Why, because you're going to miss me?" I quip.

"Hey, don't dodge the question," Rebecca says.

A beat passes before I answer. I'm inspecting myself in the mirror again. Elise's comments soothe my worries. I've been doubting if my black leather pants and white blouse are enough for a date with Angelo, but if Elise thinks I look hot, well, I won't argue with her.

"I don't think the question is where she's going. It's who she's going to see," Jules says.

She went to the kitchen to add more sparkling water to her wine glass and bumps her hip into mine on the way back. Ugh, why does she have to know me so well?

Elise and Rebecca exchange glances.

"You have a date!" Elise's comes out as a statement.

"You have a date?" Rebecca's comes out as a question.

Okay, my friends are getting way too excited about this.

"Seriously, Jules, what gave it away?"

Jules raises her hands as if to say, so many things. "You're going out in the evening, looking smokin' hot like Elise said, and you didn't explicitly tell us where you're going. So yeah, I didn't have to be Sherlock Holmes to crack this one."

Again, she's right. This is far more secretive than my usual behaviour when I'm going to visit my family or get some groceries.

"Fine, I'll be the one to ask," Rebecca says, hugging a pillow to her chest. Her eyes are shining, and her cheeks are flushed. She's such a romantic. "Who is he?"

Honestly, I'm not even flustered by the question. There's no chance in hell my friends wouldn't have asked. But I do credit Elise for not being the one to ask so bluntly. She's probably been working out Catan strategy in her head this entire time. I give them the response I carefully prepared.

"I think I'll keep that on the down low for now," I say, hating the disappointment on all their faces. "It's new and I guess I don't want to give details until things get serious."