At the sensation of her hand on my arm, I opened my mouth to tell her I was fine. What choice did I have? But I wasn’t fine, and if I couldn’t be straight with my best friend of almost twenty years, what was the point of her driving all the way here?

“There’s something there, Kate. I know it. So much so that I let go of my cynicism and fantasized about our future!”

I took another, more aggressive bite of my sandwich before making a conscious effort to slow down and actually taste it. I’d be damned if I let Finn’s lack of feelings for me ruin my bagel-eating experience.

“Why doesn’t he want a girlfriend?” she asked.

“How would I know?”

“You didn’t ask?”

“I didn’t want to be that girl who’s fine with a hookup right until the morning after, when she’s suddenly all up in his business,” I said in a quiet voice.

“Weren’t you?”

I glared at her. “It took a little longer than that! The first couple of times, it was just casual sex with a really cool guy.” I tapped my feet. “It was at least a day before I started questioning my feelings.”

“A whole day!”

“I hate you.” I laughed despite myself. “Around the time you showed me his OkCupid profile.”

“Right.” She ducked her head.

I nudged her shoulder. “It’s not your fault!” I could tell she felt guilty, but it wasn’t like she’d written Finn’s dating profile. She just happened to be the one who’d brought it to my attention.

“I know.” She sneezed.

“I own my initial decision to sleep with Finn, and I’m not kicking myself over it now. But I also stand by my right to cut off future encounters if it no longer feels healthy to me. Either way, Finn doesn’t owe me an explanation.”

“True. But what if he wants to give you one?”

“I’m guessing he doesn’t, since he didn’t.”

She sighed. “All I’m saying is there’s no harm in asking. You’re a journalist!”

“I guess.”

Kate was right, but the appropriate time to delve further into Finn’s motives had been during our initial conversation, before I ran back to my own room. This morning, after we woke up in bed tangled in an embrace, would have been fine too, but Finn had rushed to get in the shower. And, honestly, did it really matter why he chose to remain a bachelor?

“Let’s change the subject,” I said. “Did you tell your parents about the bar yet?” Kate would probably claim that dropping everything to be here for me despite her current personal strife was a form of procrastination, and I’m sure it was, but it was also because she was the best friend on the planet.