KeyParty by Jayne Kingston Read Free Book Online Page A

forgot Bree didn’t know as much of her
history as Petra. She hadn’t been friends with Bree during the time of The
Asshole Incident, as Petra liked to call it. Rachel had taken a few months off
to clear her head between quitting college and starting massage school. She’d
worked in a restaurant as a waitress to make a little money but ended up making
a fool out of herself instead.
    “I don’t date coworkers,” Rachel said. “Ever.”
    “Well…” Petra let her thought trail off unfinished.
    “I did once, and it ended very badly.” Rachel pushed back
from the table and went for the bag of bagels on the counter. “So I don’t do it
anymore.”
    “How badly did it end?” Bree asked.
    Rachel put the bagels on the table. “He spread rumors about
me all over the restaurant where we worked,” she said, finding a cinnamon one
for herself.
    Bree held up her hand when she offered her the bag. “What
was the rumor?”
    She tore off a bite. “It doesn’t matter.”
    “Sure it does.” Bree shifted in her seat and repositioned
the water bottle between her legs, making Petra snort. “You know my deepest
secrets, Rach. Spill it.”
    Rachel took a drink of coffee to help her swallow the bite
lodged in her throat. Petra slid her a look before taking a deep breath.
    “She was dating this cook right before I introduced the two
of you,” Petra started. “He was cute, he took her out on fun dates, they hung
out.”
    “One night a couple of months into dating, I slept with
him,” Rachel said, taking over the story. “I’d only been with one other guy
before, and he was a straight missionary man, so I had zero experience.”
    She didn’t feel the need to tell Bree how the coworker had
bragged about his oral sex skills, or that when he actually got down there to
show her, she hadn’t felt a damn thing. In fact, it had been one of the most
disgusting experiences of her life.
    “I didn’t realize it then, but the sex was horrible. I
thought it was me.” She blushed at the memory and the humiliation of saying it
out loud, even after all the years that had passed. “He told everyone we worked
with I was terrible in bed. The next day.”
    “Oh, sweetie.” The water bottle wedged between her legs fell
to the floor as Bree jumped out of her seat and threw her arms around Rachel’s
neck. “You poor thing.” She took Rachel’s face in her hands and looked into her
eyes. “You know it’s not you now, right? Because yours weren’t the only moans
and groans I was hearing through the floor last night.”
    The heat in Rachel’s face grew. She closed her eyes. “Yes, I
get that now.”
    “Good.” Bree sat and held Rachel’s hand. “Honey, listen. You
haven’t interviewed yet, and the job isn’t guaranteed even after you do. And
you’re talking about the difference between a doctor and a line cook, who
likely never had the ambition to be anything else. Not that there’s anything wrong
with that. I’m just saying.” She squeezed Rachel’s fingers. “Don’t get me
wrong, I’ve worked with my share of asshole docs, still do in fact, but I think
it’s safe to say they tend to be a more discreet breed of asshole.”
    “She has a point,” Petra said.
    “Thank you.” Rachel gave her a withering look. “I hadn’t
caught that.”
    “And it’s not like Ben’s the kind of guy who keeps a steady
girl around.” She gestured to Petra. “You said yourself you’ve never known him
to date anyone longer than a few weeks, and never seriously.”
    Now that made her stomach take a turn for the worst.
Just what she needed was to get involved with another man with a short
attention span.
    She dropped her bagel onto the table and brushed crumbs from
her fingers. “None of your points matter,” she said to Bree. “I’m not going to
the interview. It’s not like I need the job. I have money saved from
working for the cruise line and living cheap with my friends. I can take a spa
job instead.”
    “Rachel,”