Erin sighed—she didn’t even mean to, but she let out this dreamy sigh at even thinking about Cassie. She shook her head like that would make the feeling go away.
“She’s ridiculous,” she said. “She makes me do ridiculous things.”
“Like what?”
“Like sext.”
Rachel pressed her lips together hard enough they went white. She was holding back her laughter, which Erin appreciated.
“Honey. Sexting is not ridiculous. You were just in a passionless marriage for too long.”
Erin didn’t disagree, but still—“She called, at the end of it.” Erin glanced around, but the tables nearest to them were empty. “To hear me.”
“Oh shit, you mean sexting like legitimately masturbating while texting?”
“What else would sexting be?”
“I sext while I’m grocery shopping.”
“What?”
Rachel shrugged. “Sometimes someone wants to sext but I’m busy. It’s not like I’m going to rush home and take off my clothes.”
That sounded absurd, but Rachel knew a lot more about dating than Erin did, so she’d have to trust her.
“Well,” Erin said. “I was not grocery shopping.”
“I’m proud of you.”
Erin rolled her eyes, even though she knew Rachel was being serious.
“So, phone sex—does that mean she lives out of town? Where have you even been lately? How did you meet her?”
“Okay, no. We’re not doing the whole interrogation thing. I just—”
“It’s not an interrogation to want to know about the person your best friend is seeing.”
“I’m not seeing her. We’re just…” Erin trailed off.
“Just fucking?”
Erin wasn’t sure what, exactly, they were doing. It wasn’t like they were actively sleeping together—the over seven hundred miles between New Hampshire and Virginia kind of put a damper on that. But she couldn’t explain that to Rachel.
“Friends with benefits,” she said instead.
“Those benefits being orgasms.”
“I’m ready to be done talking about this,” Erin said.
“Good, then I can tell you about my latest hookup.”
Rachel launched into a play-by-play of her date last weekend, but for once, Erin didn’t particularly mind getting too many details. She’d told two people, now. And the world still hadn’t ended.
Then again, Parker still hadn’t called.
Seventeen
CASSIE
That week, Cassie talked with Erin more than her other friends. They flirted, but never got into full-on sexting again. Cassie was a little disappointed, honestly. She saved the old messages on her computer in a hidden folder named biophysics. She would’ve named it spank bank if she didn’t want to be 100 percent sure no one found it.
That she talked to Erin more often than her friends said more about her friends’ schedules than how much she and Erin were texting. Parker skipped Monday morning breakfast, which she, Acacia, and Cassie had been eating together since the middle of last semester. Cassie didn’t even see her until Wednesday, when Parker arrived at the cafeteria for lunch right as Cassie was leaving.
“Babe!” Cassie beamed. She threw her arms around Parker’s neck. “It’s been forever.”
“Yeah,” Parker said. She hugged back gently. “I’ve been busy.”
“Me too,” Cassie said. “Projects starting to pile up and midterms soon, you know? When are you doing dinner tonight? I miss you.”
“I’m not doing dinner, actually,” Parker said. “That’s why I’m eating lunch so late. I’ve got stuff tonight.”
“Boo,” Cassie said. “Well, when are you free? I want to hang out and bother you about your new lady.”
Parker rolled her eyes. “As lovely as that sounds, Cassie, I don’t know. I’ll text you.”
She started to head into the cafeteria.
“I miss my best friend!” Cassie called after her.
“Acacia’s your best friend,” Parker said over her shoulder.
But Acacia was pretty busy, too, only having time for the occasional meal and never a hangout. It took till Friday night, when she and Cassie went to a party together, for them to get actual quality time. Even then, Acacia snuck away with Donovan eventually, and Cassie was not about to track them down.
In the beginning, Seth had always been Cassie’s closest friend at school. They’d hit it off during orientation week and grew their friend group together. Cassie had never been more embarrassed than in the dining hall the day after she’d broken up with him. She’d approached her usual table only to have none of their friends acknowledge her, much less move to make room. The ease with which her friends chose a cheating Seth over her had taken her aback. He’d always been the more charming one, but Cassie hadn’t realized she was so forgettable.