Page 82 of Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail

They very nearly did when she was engaged to Spencer.

Suddenly, she felt overwhelmed and exhausted, so she let herself be this Astrid she so often ignored lately—this person who cuddled and laughed while she and her friends plotted an asshole’s fiery end.

“Okay, enough of this,” Iris said, tossing another used tissue onto the floor. “I’m done talking about it. What I do want to talk about, however”—she sat up and very dramatically aimed her gaze at Astrid—“is why our beloved Astrid Parker looks like she just made out with a lumberjack.”

Astrid’s eyes widened and she bolted upright. “What?”

Delilah clapped a hand over her mouth. Claire just lifted her brows in Astrid’s direction.

“You have looked in the mirror lately, right?” Iris asked, circling her hand around her own mouth. “You’ve got some major beard rash going on.”

“It’s not beard rash,” Astrid said. “My lipstick smeared.”

Iris pursed her mouth. “And how, pray tell, did that happen? In the twenty years that I’ve known you, I’ve never once seen you with smeared lipstick.”

Astrid opened her mouth to answer but had no clue what to say. If she confessed the truth to Iris, that was it. There was no going back. She glanced around the room. Delilah already knew. Claire was an eyewitness. But even more than all that, she didn’t want to go back.

She liked Jordan Everwood. What that meant in terms of a label or how to define her sexuality, she didn’t know. And honestly, she didn’t care.

Still, kissing and telling had never been something she engaged in all that often—hypothetical sex dream sharing notwithstanding—and she didn’t want to break Jordan’s trust.

She snapped her mouth shut. “I think we need ice cream.”

“Oh, hell no,” Iris said, pointing at her face. “I know that look. That’s the Astrid Parker doesn’t want to talk about her feelings look. Which, I would think after last year’s engagement debacle, you would’ve learned your lesson.”

“Iris,” Claire said.

“What?” Iris said. “You know I’m right.”

“There’s a difference between a secret and not being ready to talk about something,” Claire said.

“Oh, you mean like when you were banging Delilah and lied to everyone about it?” Iris said.

Silence. Astrid’s stomach twisted, and she glanced at Claire, whose cheeks were now very red. Delilah reached over and grabbed Claire’s hand, lacing their fingers together.

“Shit,” Iris said, rubbing her eyes. “Shit, I’m sorry. I’m being a real asshole.”

“Yeah, you kind of are,” Delilah said.

“I’m sorry,” Iris said. “No excuse for that, I know, but Jillian has my mind all fucked up. Maybe weshouldeat some ice cream.”

“I’ll grab it,” Astrid said, swinging her legs off the bed. She desperately needed a minute to get herself together. Her brain was a mess. A happy, still-slightly-horny mess, but a mess nonetheless.

In the kitchen, she found a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, gathered four spoons from a drawer, and was about to head back to Iris’s room when her phone buzzed in her back pocket. She fished out her device to find a notification fromDelightful Human Who Ruined Your Ugly Dressglowing on the screen.

Astrid smiled and opened up her messages, as the name Jordanhad put in her phone weeks ago was too damn long to reveal any part of the text in notifications.

Did you mean it?

Astrid quickly texted back,Did I mean what?

The little dots bounced, as did Astrid’s leg as she waited.

That you want to kiss me again.

Astrid bit her lip.Yes. One hundred percent. You?

This time the dots bounced a little longer, and Astrid felt a sudden rush of doubt. But after a few seconds, the one hundred percent emoji popped up, three in succession.