Page 7 of Terms of Exposure
"Candace, I'm sorry I haven't—"
"Stop." Her voice cut through. "You've had enough on your plate, Em. I'm a big girl. I can unpack boxes without supervision."
Her attempt at humor didn't hide the exhaustion in her tone.
"That's not the point."
"It's exactly the point. You're allowed to focus on Damien right now. I'm not going anywhere."
My voice thinned. "I feel like a shitty friend."
"Well, you're not. You're the furthest thing from it, actually. So knock it off."
A tired smile tugged at my mouth.
"I think Damien's going to try to bribe the nurse to spend the night again. Do you want to meet for drinks?"
"I'd love that."
An hour later, we slid onto stools at the best bar in town. Warm light pooled across polished wood, and low music thrummed beneath the clink of glasses. My way of apologizing—expensive drinks on me.
"What can I get you ladies?" A handsome bartender asked, his attention catching on Candace.
"An espresso martini, please," she said, leaning forward more than necessary, voice smoky.
He flashed a grin, eyes lingering one second longer before they slid to me. "And you?"
"Lemon drop, please."
"No problem." He hurried off, grabbing vodka from the shelf on his way.
I turned to face her. "Someone's feeling feisty, huh?"
She shrugged. "What can I say? It's been a while."
I laughed. "It's been like a week."
She shot me a look. "Yeah. Three days longer than my limit."
"You're ridiculous," I teased as the bartender slid our drinks in front of us. He tossed Candace a wink along with a folded piece of paper—his number, no doubt.
I licked the sugary rim before taking a sip. Liquor and citrus.
God, I needed this.
"So how have things been with you?" I asked.
Her face lit up—far too brightly. "They've been great. I bagged another sponsorship. Ten thousand dollars every month. All they asked was that I tag their product in every video I put out."
I whistled. "That's great! What's the product?"
"Something about dentures. I'm not really sure."
"Dentures?" I choked on my sip.
She giggled. "Yeah, they said I had great teeth."
"That's amazing," I said, clinking my glass against hers.
