"Do you think they're still waiting for us?" Isadora Smackle asked as they walked briskly to the restaurant they should have been at ten minutes ago.
"We're only a few minutes behind." Maya tried to keep the guilt out of her voice, and hoped she didn't sound exasperated instead. "They're not going to leave just because we didn't turn up on the dot. We're not standing them up. And that's if they're even there already in the first place."
"We would've been here on time if you hadn't been late," Smackle pointed out in her usual blunt manner, her heels clicking in time with Maya's.
"I'm sorry! You know I didn't do it on purpose, Smacks. I took a nap and overslept."
Which wasn't exactly the truth. Oversleeping on an afternoon nap implied she'd been awake the whole morning before taking the nap, when in reality, she'd gone to bed sometime around 7.00 am and, completely worn out, had slept like the dead until the evening. And remembering the reason she'd been up the whole night before, well past dawn, had colour rising to her cheeks. Fortunately Smackle didn't notice, preoccupied as she was with their upcoming double date.
A double date Maya honestly had no interest in anymore.
When Isadora had first asked her to come along with her, Zay, and whichever friend he brought, Maya hadn't needed much persuasion.
For one, she was aware that her friend didn't have much experience with dating, having had only one boyfriend throughout her high school years. Smackle had explained how Farkle Minkus was as much a nerd as her, and that they had dated mainly because they were intellectual equals (arch nemeses before becoming arch lovesis-es), ambitious, and had found each other "aesthetically pleasing".
Maya wasn't exactly an expert in the dating department herself — her only serious relationship had ended up bombing spectacularly at the end of her first year of college, and her ex-boyfriend had turned out to be a complete douche, despite being related to her best friend and actual angel Riley Matthews. Josh was the reason she had sworn off relationships and stuck to one night stands.
But Smackle had also told Maya how her Asperger Syndrome made it difficult for her to understand emotions, which was why she wanted Maya to be there on her first date with the guy she'd been texting for a while now and had decided she really liked. Maya was definitely better at reading people than Smackle.
For another, Maya was sort of acquainted with Zay, a psychology major who was heavily involved with the college dance scene. She knew he was a funny, brash, outgoing chatterbox who seemed to be the exact opposite of the studious, overachieving, and somewhat socially clueless Smackle. And since she liked both of them, she'd been curious to see how they would work out.
She hadn't given much thought to her counterpart on this double date. If he was attractive or appealing in any way, it would be a bonus. If he wasn't, well she knew Zay enough to know that he wouldn't ignore her and let her be bored, especially as she was his date's closest friend. She was doing this pretty much exclusively for Smackle.
Now, however, the last thing she wanted to do was make awkward small talk with a stranger while Smackle and Zay flirted right next to her, when all she could think about was the guy she'd spent the previous night with, and what she was pretty sure had been the best sex of her life.
When she'd left his place that morning, Hot Guy (she'd asked that they not exchange names, and after a brief moment of hesitation and reluctance, he'd agreed) had still been fast asleep, sprawled stomach down and stark naked on the bed, his hair completely mussed from her hands, and his muscled back sporting the marks of her nails. And for the first time in the history of her sex life, Maya had questioned her strict no-repeat policy on one-night stands.
