“Told you,” Darren whispers, easing his dick out of me.

We get ourselves together, kind of. I wish I’d brought a pair of underwear for the aftermath. It’s a very strange feeling to worry if my husband’s come will seep out of me and run down my legs as soon as I stand up.

“Well, that was fun,” Jourdan says. “This movie is bad, so I’m gonna dip. Call you two tomorrow?”

I nod slowly.

“Text us when you get home,” Darren says. Thank the Lord for his ability to be ever responsible.

Jourdan leans over and kisses him briefly on the lips. “Of course.” And then she kisses me. “Was it good?”

I laugh. “Amazing.”

She kisses me again.

And then she’s bouncing up from her seat, the bag of popcorn and drink I’d honestly forgotten she had in one hand and her purse in the other, throwing it over her shoulder.

We watch her with heaving chests.

“She stole your Red Vines,” Darren says once she’s gone.

“She earned them,” I say. We both laugh.

“Shhh,” someone calls across the theater.

We laugh harder.

Book Three: Jourdan

appointment

“Okay, I’m off,” I tell Lissa.

“See you in thirty,” she says.

I sigh and have to stop, turn around, and put on my best, fakest smile. “Nope, I’m out for the day.”

Her head shoots up, and she frowns in my direction. “What?”

Thankfully, I was expecting this. I’d prepared for this because no matter how many times I tell her, no matter how early, and no matter how big I mark my short days and days off on her desk calendar, she always makes a fucking fuss on my way out the door. Always.

“I’ve got a doctor’s appointment,” I tell her. “Remember?”

She does, but I know she’s going to lie.

“Oh my God, what? How is this the first I’m hearing about this?”

“It’s not,” I tell her. “I told you I could only work a half-day today.”

“Did you?”

Lissa does that thing white women love, which is to ask a question in a higher pitch as if that will change the answer.

“Sure did.” I point down toward the desk. “Look at your calendar.”

She tries to hide the grimace on her face, but I see it. I’m waiting for it. Because I know — we both know — that not only did I tell her about this day off last week, but I made sure to put Annalise on the schedule to cover me.