At home, the first thing I did was jump in the shower. I still wasn’t feeling a hundred percent, though thankfully, I hadn't been too drunk last night that my hangover was killing me. I had to remember to thank Zach for distracting me from the alcohol, or I’d have been going back to bed until the early afternoon.

After the shower, I got dressed in fresh clothes, then texted one of my friends. The newly married couple would be going on their honeymoon for two weeks. There was a part of me that felt bad for not being there to wish them a happy honeymoon. It was a small part. Meanwhile, the rest of us were going on with our lives.

Luckily, it was the weekend, so I at least had a day before I had to get back to work.

Olivia, my friend, replied almost immediately. Ten minutes later, she was at my doorstep.

“Where did you go last night?” was the first thing she asked me when I opened the door for her.

I rolled my eyes, opening the door wider so she could walk in. She did, giving me a narrow-eyed look like she thought I’d run away from the question. Not that I had the intention to; I needed to talk about it to someone, and it was why I’d called her over.

“Would you like to at least sit down and get a drink or something first?” I asked.

She shook her head and sat down on my couch, looking pointedly at me until I sighed and joined her.

“Seriously, what happened to you?”

I shrugged, trying to play it cool. “Can't a girl leave a wedding early?”

“Oh, you could. A lot of other people did. But you were one of the bridesmaids, and we had a little thing at the end before Sasha and Donny left for their honeymoon. We looked for you but couldn’t find you.”

I didn’t remember anything about that, so it must have been impromptu. Not that I would have added much had I stayed. But I knew my friend better than that.

“You want to know who I left with, don’t you?” I said bluntly.

She grinned, losing the almost stern expression from before.

“I knew there was someone! I told the others you were getting some last night, but they didn’t believe me.”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s because most of them are under the impression I’m depressed.”

I couldn’t exactly blame them for thinking that way. For a while, I had been. Sasha, the lovely bride, had been kind enough to invite me to be her bridesmaid and didn’t change her mind later on, thinking it would help me out. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that being there would do the opposite.

And thanks to the wedding I had a night with Zach. The thought made me smile.

“Oh, forget about that,” she said dismissively. “You got over that guy ages ago. Your problem is more that you’re out of another relationship than that guy broke up with you, right?”

“You could say that,” I muttered.

She gave me a scolding look. “Well, that’s good, because I could have told you he wasn’t good enough for you, Scarlett.”

I scoffed and fixed her with an amused look. “What do you mean, ‘could have’? You said it so often, a few times when you knew he wasn’t out of hearing range and you weren't all that quiet. You’re not exactly the shy type, Olivia.”

She shrugged, looking pleased with herself. “Someone has to be there to protect you. You leave yourself open way too often, you know?”

I sighed and said, “I don’t need you to tell me that.”

Still, she told it to me often, and most of the time I couldn’t decide whether to be annoyed or grateful for her interference.

When I was reasoning, I was grateful. In our group, Olivia was the one person I would call my best friend. Not that I cared for the others any less, but out of all of them, she didn’t coddle me. When I went to her after a breakup, she comforted me. But most of the time, she told me I needed to move on and make better, smarter choices if I wanted to be happy in my relationships. The first time it happened, I wasn’t exactly happy with her.

When I finally pulled my head out of my ass, I realized it was just her way of being a supportive friend. And most of the time, she had pretty good advice, even though her dating history was nothing compared to mine. The last guy… she’d told me he was a mistake long before I realized it myself, and if it hadn't been for her, he and I wouldn’t have had the confrontation that led to him breaking up with me.

He was attractive, so I’d been drawn to him. I didn’t realize until way after that we didn’t have all that much in common. Everything went downhill from there.

Olivia must have caught my sour look and guessed what I was thinking about. The look she gave me was one full of sympathy. Thankfully, she didn’t broach the subject.

“But that’s not what I came here to talk about,” she said, crossing her arms and legs. “You texted me first, so you better spill. What happened last night?”

I bit my lip. It had been an impulsive move to text her. I could have done without the commentary I knew she was going to make. But I wanted to talk to someone about it, so why not someone I trusted who understood me?

“I left with Zach,” I said quietly, but loud enough so I knew she heard me.

Silence met my blunt declaration.

“Wait,” she said slowly. “Zach, as in…”

“Oh, come on,” I muttered with a roll of my eyes. “We only know the one Zach, Olivia, unless you know another you’d like to introduce me to.”

Her mouth opened, but no words came out. Then she closed her mouth and opened and closed again, and my lip twitched. She looked so dumbfounded; it was amusing, though I couldn’t help the edge of anxiety in the back of my mind.

“You actually spent the night with Zach?”

I nodded my head slowly and braced myself for her reaction.

“Fuck, Scarlett, I kind of envy you!”

It wasn’t the response I had expected. I gaped back at her.

She laughed. “No, seriously! I’ve only heard stories, mind you, but he’s supposed to be really good in bed. Part of me wishes I could have taken your place.”

A small smile curved my lips because two could play at that game.

“I think someone might have objections to that,” I teased.

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, it’s not like I’m cheating or anything. And it’s not like I picture myself having sex with Zach, I just heard some… interesting stories.”

“And who exactly is telling you these stories?”

I was genuinely curious about this since I didn’t know all that much about Zach myself. He wasn’t exactly secretive, but he wasn’t always open about his life either. Then again, we all liked to meet in a big group, and all we did was have fun, not heart to hearts. Still, I didn’t know his view on relationships until he told me yesterday. I thought he just had worse luck than I did in that department.

“So, how was it?” Olivia asked, smirking.

My face flushed as my mind immediately jumped back to last night, and she laughed at me again.

“I guess that answers my question, doesn’t it? You had a fun night, didn’t you?”

“Very,” I said immediately, seeing no need to deny it. “It was mind-blowing, Olivia. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that way with any of my previous boyfriends.”

Thinking back on it, it was a pleasant surprise. Zach was sexy and passionate, not to say that none of my previous boyfriends had been, but they paled in comparison. I couldn’t compare him to anyone; he was that good. And, if I were honest with myself, I wanted more.

“So,” Olivia prompted.

I frowned. “So, what?”

“Oh, come on. I can see that look on your face, Scarlett, the one that tells me this story isn’t over yet. Will you be seeing each other again?”

“Of course, we’ll see each other,” I said innocently. “We know the same people, Olivia, and the people in our group like to get together often.”

She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t mean group meets, and you know it.”

Yeah, I knew. Still, I held my tongue, watching her grow more frustrated the longer I stayed quiet until I couldn’t anymore, and my small smile blew into a full grin.

“We might, possibly, meet up for a little fun again.”

Olivia squealed, and the look on her face made me think she would jump me. Just in case, I slid back a little.

“And,” she went on, “what? What are the two of you now?”

Funny she would ask the one question I didn’t have an answer to.

Were we still friends? Or would this make us friends with benefits? I hadn't thought to ask Zach; I’d tried hard not to think too much about it. Because he’d brought up some interesting points, ones I agreed with. We had fun, we both wanted and liked it. So why not go back for more?

It would change things between us. And if the others found out, it would change things in our group. We’d probably keep it secret because Zach wasn’t overly open about his sex life. If the others found out, then fine, but if they didn’t know then whatever. It was so different to me. When I got a boyfriend, I introduced him to my friends when I thought it was a good time. I couldn’t exactly do that with Zach.

But then I remembered something that would make the perfect answer to her question.

“We didn’t talk about that,” I said honestly. “But we… Made a pact of sorts. In a year, if neither of us is in a relationship, and we’re still meeting each other for sex, well… Then we’ll get married.”

“You and Zach, married? That would be a nightmare for you. Could it even happen? I mean, I know you’d love to settle down, even if you’re settling for second best, but he’s a lady’s man. Would he be faithful to you?”

I pursed my lips. Yeah, I had my reservations about it. It wasn’t like I didn’t know Zach; after all, we’d been friends for a while. Though when I thought about it, could I say I knew him all that well? There was plenty I guessed, plenty I was told. We never spent time alone. Dancing together at the reception was probably the closest we’d come to a conversation, and I couldn’t even call it that.

If I gave him exactly what he wanted… I didn’t see why he couldn’t stay faithful. And would I even mind if he didn’t? If I had to be honest with myself, I was more in love with the idea of marriage, more afraid of being the only one left in my circle of friends not in a relationship and waiting to walk down the aisle.

Even Olivia was married. So why couldn’t I have it, even if it was just a marriage of convenience, only it was for sex rather than money?

“Then how about this,” Olivia went on, noticing she wasn’t getting through to me. “You two are friends. Hooking up after the wedding I can sort of understand. But I don’t understand you wanting to take it further. You just know it’s going to be awkward for everyone if the two of you break up.”

I sighed and arched an eyebrow her way. “It’s not like I haven’t thought about this, you know.”

She gave me a wry look. “Well, excuse me for worrying a little when you come to me with something like this after spending the night with Zach.”

I shrugged. “Trust me. I’m as surprised as you are. He just came up to me while I was drinking and asked me to dance. While we were dancing, we talked. Then he offered, and I didn’t say no.”

“Did the alcohol have something to do with it, then?” she guessed.

I shook my head. “Nope. It was all my decision. I wanted to, so I did.”

It wouldn’t be fair to Zach to say the only sway had been alcohol. When he’d been swinging me around while we danced, I’d sobered up, enough to be in my right mind.

Zach was attractive. It wasn’t something I thought of consciously, but it was the truth. Dancing with him, having him proposition me just made me more aware of it. Before last night, I’d looked at him as nothing but a friend. Now that things had changed between us… I didn’t think I could see him again without feeling attracted to him.

“Why Zach of all people?” she asked, looking confused. “I get why, he’s attractive but just… why? There’s him, and there’s you. I mean, are you guys even—”

“Olivia,” I cut in, rolling my eyes again. “I’m not exactly looking for a relationship with him if that’s what you’re asking me. We had fun one night, we might have a good time a few more nights. I’m pretty sure the wedding thing was just a joke, but for sex that good, I might just go with it.”

She looked unsure. “Would it be the best thing for you? I mean, you’re always talking about relationships, after all. And you’re always sad when they don’t work out.”

“But this time if it doesn’t work then it’s fine because I’m not emotionally involved—”

“You and I both know that’s not true, Scarlett. You can't help yourself. Maybe right now there’s nothing. But somewhere down the line, there will be, and what would Zach do then?”

She waited, but all I could do was purse my lips since I had nothing to say. Zach already said he didn’t like complicated, and feelings on my part would count as complicated. But the idea I could feel anything more than friendship and now lust for him was almost laughable. I knew better.

“It can't possibly work between the two of you,” Olivia went on. “It never will.”

“But what if it did?” I cut in. “I mean…” What was the best way to admit it? “We spent the whole night together, Olivia. And it’s not like… We had sex once, a second time, then went to sleep. There was some talk before it started, during and after. We fell asleep while talking, and I was a little surprised because I…”

“What?”

“I feel like we connected,” I admitted, reluctantly. “I do, Olivia. I was freaked out when I woke up in the morning, but he… he calmed me down, had me smiling and laughing minutes after I’d been ready to sneak out on him and run off, maybe drown my shame in more alcohol. And the night before that, too—don’t give me that look, I mean before the sex—we clicked. I was miserable, then he was there, and I was having fun at the wedding.”

It had honestly surprised me. Besides drinking, that was probably the reason why I’d let my guard down with him. It was just so fucking easy with him.

“That’s just it, though,” she pointed out. “Of course, you would connect to him, it makes so much sense. Scarlett, I don’t know if you realize this, but for almost every single one of your breakups since the two of you have known each other, Zach was there for you.”

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “What?”

“Well, you two were never alone, but he was always there with you when you came to us after a failed relationship. He sat close to you, paid attention to you. Even if he brought someone with him, he was more attentive to you than them.”

I felt something warm in my chest as I thought about it, a small smile curving my lips.

Dammit, why did she have to tell me that? Now I can't wait to see him again.

That scared me just a little. I had a feeling that if I let myself, I would forget we were just in it for fun.