I covered us as Leon pulled me closer. The smell of my soap still on his skin revitalized me more than the faint mint from my mouth wash. His weight on me felt like I’d missed it for days, even though it’d been a few hours. Hands brushed my waist and thighs, and he kissed me like he sought nothing in return. 

And if we weren’t so busy trying to be insignificant to each other, I may have never wanted him to leave. Maybe he wouldn’t have wanted to either. Damn, I was hopeless.

Leon slipped his hand under my back and rolled me on top of him. I kissed his torso, going all out since no one else would see the imprints on him. I couldn’t say the same for myself, but it was all the same at this point.

I settled between Leon’s legs when there was a knock on my door. I hardly expected anyone this early, and the only person who would have come at this time would have been—

“Why are all these lights off in here? Darzsa, you better not still be asleep.”

Lou sounded too close to be outside of my door. My couch scraped against the floor, followed by a lower register of faint cursing. Somehow Lou was in my living room, and soon, he’d be at my door. 

I froze under the covers, feet dangling off the bed and arms still on either side of Leon’s hips. Lou’s voice wandered, and after a few cabinets slamming, he continued calling out for me. Best case scenario, he’d leave after ransacking my snacks, but Lou wouldn’t back down that easily since I promised I’d go to the diner, and he probably saw my car.

Leon peeked under the covers and whispered, “You have a guest.”

“My friend who works at Catille’s. I sort of forgot I promised to have breakfast with him.”

“I didn’t know you had such a full social calendar.” He shifted under me and lifted my chin. “As much as I’d like you to stay down there, I don’t think you want your friend to find you like this.”

The moment passed anyway, so I crept up the bed and slouched beside him—a less compromising position for when Lou inevitably burst in. And like clockwork, the handle jiggled before one of Lou’s loud Hawaiian shirts blinded me.

“You gave me permission to kidnap you, so get dressed and—oh.” Lou lingered in the doorway and gawked at us. He was rarely speechless, but he still didn’t say anything after the shock wore off. Lou finally stepped into the room and extended his hand to Leon. “Good morning. My name’s LouRenaldo, or Lou since courtesies aren’t a priority right now. And you are?”

“The name’s Leon. You’re one of Darzsa’s friends, I’ve heard.” Leon shook Lou’s hand and indulged him while I gave up trying to cover myself.

“Yes, very close friends, though not as close as you two have been since”—Lou glared at me—“last night, I presume.”  

Leon glanced at me, and all I could do was shake my head. Lou’s niceties were a trap, and the longer they talked, the longer it’d take to live this all down.

“I assume you all have some type of plans, so I’ll take my leave,” Leon said and inched to the edge of the bed.

“Don’t leave on my account.” Lou roved his eyes around the dishevelment on the floor. “I’m the one intruding on you all’s morning tryst.” 

“No, you two had a prior engagement, and I’ve overstayed. So I’ll get dressed, well, if you don’t…”

I gave up on assessing why I was in bed with someone I’d known less than twelve hours, and my best friend had a front-row seat. Once Leon left, I’d face the Escarra wrath and prepared to get chewed out in two languages. “Lou,” I hissed. “Get out.”

Lou pouted and slammed the door, yelling that he was coming back in two minutes, whether Leon was still there or not. After Leon tucked in his shirt, he found one of his shoes under the bed and sat next to me.

“This eliminates you kicking me out,” he said.

“I also had plans with him last night, but…this happened. So he’s a little upset.”

“I’d love to see him on a good day, then.” Leon slipped into both of his shoes and stood. “If we ever run into each other again, I owe you a real drink.” He leaned down and kissed me on the cheek. “Bye, Darzsa.”

I waved him goodbye, and as soon as I heard my front door, Lou came back into my bedroom. He paced and grimaced at my sheets, then me, his face switching between fuming and confusion.

“Get it over with,” I sighed.

“Get what over with?” Lou crossed his arms and stood at the corner of the bed. “You want me to say something about how you ditched me—is it safe to sit?—and missed the performance of my life to go sleep with some random guy? Or how you were going to skip out on our breakfast date when you promised to come?” Lou stomped his foot and lifted the fitted sheet to sit down. 

“The sheets are clean.” I kicked his side, and he nearly fell to the floor. “And I didn’t forget.”

I did, but that’s one less thing I had to hear his mouth about.

Lou regained his balance and opened my closet door. “You really missed out, you know. I got so many compliments on my dress, and those housewives died at my makeup—more than that Jasmine. You can really cash in getting these old birds together. Like Tupperware parties.” Lou was on his third perusal through my clothes before he gave up. “Ay, Darzsa, no wonder you’re so uptight. Why do you have so many sweater vests?”

I hopped out of bed and shoved Lou out of my closet. I didn’t need him finding more things to criticize me for or asking why I had a stash of cut-up women’s sweaters. “I’m sorry, okay? I…decided to take your advice last night and ended up at that bar. One thing led to another, and we ended up here.”

Lou was still hot, but a little flattery did the trick. He sat back down on the bed while I tossed my dirty clothes in the hamper and changed into new ones. “So,” Lou poked the mattress and finally asked the question I knew was coming, “how was it?”

“Lou,” I groaned, “do we have to talk about this now?”

“You’re right.” Lou sprang to his feet and headed to the door. “You can clue me in the car. Five minutes, okay?”

I finished getting dressed and didn’t attempt to do half of my hair routine. I lumbered down the stairs and got in his car, nowhere near ready for this breakfast.