It Ends with Us

Chapter Seven
“Stop fidgeting,” Devin says.
“I’m not fidgeting.”
He loops his arm through mine as he walks me toward the elevator.
“Yes, you are. And if you pull that top up over your cleavage one more
time, it’ll defeat the whole purpose of your little black dress.” He grabs my
top and yanks it back down, and then proceeds to reach inside to adjust
my bra.
“Devin!” I slap his hand away and he laughs.
“Relax, Lily. I’ve touched way better boobs than yours and I’m still gay.”
“Yeah, but I bet those boobs were attached to people you probably hang
out with more than once every six months.”
Devin laughs. “True, but that’s half your fault. You’re the one who left
us high and dry to play with flowers.”
Devin was one of my favorite people at the marketing firm I worked at,
but we weren’t close enough to where we actively became friends outside
of work. He stopped by the floral shop this afternoon and Allysa took to
him almost immediately. She begged him to come to the party with me
and since I didn’t really want to show up alone, I ended up begging him to
come, too.
I smooth my hands over my hair and try to catch a glimpse of my
reflection in the elevator walls.
“Why are you so nervous?” he asks.
“I’m not nervous. I just hate showing up to places where I don’t know
anyone.”
Devin smirks knowingly and then says, “What’s his name?”
I release a pent-up breath. 
Am I that transparent?
“Ryle. He’s a
neurosurgeon. And he wants to have sex with me really, really bad.”
“How do you know he wants to have sex with you?”
“Because he literally got down on his knees and said, ‘
Please, Lily. Please
have sex with me
.’
”

---

Devin raises an eyebrow. “He begged?”
I nod. “It wasn’t as pathetic as it sounds. He’s usually more composed.”
The elevator dings and the doors begin to open. I can hear music
pouring from down the hallway. Devin takes both of my hands in his and
says, “So what’s the plan? Do I need to make this guy jealous?”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “That wouldn’t be right.” But . . . Ryle
does make it a point every time he sees me to tell me he hopes he never
sees me again. “Maybe just a little?” I say, scrunching up my nose. “A
smidge?”
Devin pops his jaw and says, “Consider it done.” He puts his hand on
my lower back as he walks me out of the elevator. There’s only one visible
door in the hallway, so we make our way over and ring the doorbell.
“Why is there only one door?” he says.
“She owns the whole top floor.”
He chuckles. “And she works for 
you
? Damn, your life just keeps getting
more and more interesting.”
The door begins to open, and I’m extremely relieved to see Allysa
standing in front of me. There’s music and laughter pouring out of the
apartment behind her. She’s holding a champagne glass in one hand and
a riding crop in the other. She sees me staring at the riding crop with a
confused look on my face, so she tosses it over her shoulder and grabs my
hand. “It’s a long story,” she says, laughing. “Come in, come in!”
She pulls me in and I squeeze Devin’s hand and drag him behind me.
She continues pulling us through a crowd of people until we reach the
other side of the living room. “Hey!” she says, tugging on Marshall’s arm.
He turns around and smiles at me, then pulls me in for a hug. I glance
behind him, and around us, but there’s no sign of Ryle. 
Maybe I got lucky
and he got called in to work tonight.
Marshall reaches out for Devin’s hand and shakes it. “Hey, man! Good
to meet you!”
Devin wraps an arm around my waist. “I’m Devin!” he yells over the
music. “I’m Lily’s sexual partner!”
I laugh and elbow him, then lean in to his ear. “That’s Marshall. Wrong
guy, but nice effort.”
Allysa grabs my arm and starts to pull me away from Devin. Marshall
begins speaking to him, and my hand is reaching out behind me as I’m
being pulled in the opposite direction.

---

“You’ll be fine!” Devin yells.
I follow Allysa into the kitchen, where she shoves a glass of champagne
in my hand. “Drink,” she says. “You deserve it!”
I take a sip of the champagne, but I can’t even appreciate it now that
I’m getting a look at her industrial-sized kitchen with two full stovetops
and a fridge bigger than my apartment. “Holy shit,” I whisper. “You
actually 
live
here?”
She giggles. “I know,” she says. “And to think, I didn’t even have to
marry him for money. Marshall had seven bucks and drove a Ford Pinto
when I fell in love with him.”
“Doesn’t he still drive a Ford Pinto?”
She sighs. “Yeah, but we have a lot of good memories in that car.”
“Gross.”
She wiggles her eyebrows. “So . . . Devin is cute.”
“And probably more into Marshall than me.”
“Ah, man,” she says. “That’s a bummer. I thought I was playing
matchmaker when I invited him to the party tonight.”
The kitchen door opens and Devin walks in. “Your husband is looking
for you,” he says to Allysa. She twirls her way out of the kitchen, giggling
the whole time. “I really like her,” Devin says.
“She’s great, huh?”
He leans against the island and says, “So. I think I just met The Beggar.”
My heart flutters down my chest. I think