Abbie listens and learns more about Phil's friends

[NOTE: This chapter happens in parallel with Jake's narrative.]

"I barely know you, but I want to be your friend already," said Melanie to Abbie. "Something about you is ... I don't know, just earnest and trustworthy."

"Wow, thanks!" said Abbie. "I think I'm a pretty good time."

Staci cocked her head to the side. "Well, depending on the kind of good time you want, Danny DeMarco may be your guy." She gestured toward the group. "He's the Italian-looking guy. Definitely a player, definitely going to be making moves on anything that breathes this weekend. So watch out."

"Sounds like you don't like him much?" said Emily.

Staci sighed. "It's not that. I just ... I don't really understand him. He's Phil's Best Man, and I don't really know why. He just seems like such a tool most of the time."

Abbie shrugged. "He's cute."

Staci scoffed. "He's a pervert."

Abbie turned to Staci. "Really? What's he done that's perverted?"

"Oh, I don't know."

"Come on, Stace. Spill it," said Melanie.

"It's nothing, I guess."

"Nothing?" said Emily.

"Oh, whatever. He hit on me after a party we had last month. Obviously I was already engaged to Phil, and he kind of told me that he thought he and I would have a good time."

Abbie thought for a second. "So he told you he thought you were attractive ... which you are. And that it would be fun to mess around together?"

Staci slowed down a bit with her answer. "Well, yeah."

Abbie shook her head. "I don't see what's perverted about that."

"I had a boyfriend! A fiancé!"

"Yeah," said Abbie, "but that's not perverted. I mean, if you made it clear that you had boundaries and he was crossing lines, then it would be inappropriate -- but come on, it's not perverted for a straight guy to think a girl is hot."

Staci stared back at Abbie. "Okay, now what are you doing. Are you a lawyer or something?"

"No," smiled Abbie. "A PR rep. But still. All you have to do is tell him where your boundaries are, and you're all set."

"So you did that, right?" said Emily.

Staci was silent.

"Wait, you didn't?" said Melanie.

Staci looked over at Danny, and quickly looked back to the girls. "Come on, don't make a thing of it."

Abbie giggled. "So it's only perverted because you're embarrassed about it?"

"Stop!" said Staci. "Besides, Phil knows all about it. It's not a thing. So don't make it a thing."

"Spill the tea, Stace!" said Melanie. "What happened?"

Staci sipped her cocktail. "Oh my god, I can't believe that this is what we're talking about the day before I get married!"

Emily shifted in her seat. Abbie took a step closer. They were all quite engaged in Staci's narrative.

"It was really nothing. He hit on me, he started touching my arm. My arms are super sensitive. I don't know if Danny knew that. But he was whispering things to me, and stroking my arm."

As she spoke, Emily gently reached out and touched Staci's arm. Staci's voice broke slightly as Emily touched her. She held Staci's hand in her own, palm up, and with her other hand, her other fingers, she lightly scraped back and forth along the inner, softer side of Staci's forearm.

"My eyes fluttered closed. He told me he thought I looked gorgeous that night. And I did. He was right. He told me how lucky Phil was. And how he looked forward to someday having a girl in his life like me."

Emily's fingers were running the length of Staci's arm with both more intensity and more tenderness. She knew Staci's sensitive spots and lingered on them.

"Phil and I have always been really honest with each other. And while we're absolutely committed and truly believe in a monogamous marriage, we also know that we're young and smart and vibrant and that we're adults. We can respect our relationship and each other while not being blind to reality."

Emily was beginning to breathe heavier as she touched Staci. Her chest rose and fell, and she found herself licking her lips and began to feel warm.

"I don't know why, but in that moment, Danny DeMarco was saying things to me that made me kind of tingle. I wasn't missing anything with Phil, don't think that, but this still made me feel something."

"Being connected to one person doesn't mean you can't connect with others," said Abbie.

"Exactly," agreed Staci. "Danny kept touching my arm, and I was melting. He told me how beautiful he thought I was. He said things about my body, things I would probably have been shocked to hear from him an hour earlier, but things that in that moment just gave me such comfort and validation. You would probably think he was being rude or objectifying, and I get that, but in that moment, it just gave me such joy."

"What did he say?" asked Emily softly.

Staci took a deep breath. "He told me that my arms were lovely, strong, smooth, and warm. He told me that my back was powerful and made me look like a goddess. That day I was wearing a backless dress, and my back did look fantastic. He told me my legs looked toned and tapered at a sexy angle into my feet, that my shoes made me look like I was walking on clouds."

Staci smiled as she recounted the descriptions.

"He told me that he'd always thought my breasts were perfectly sized, but that in that dress that day, I looked like a runway model. I opened my eyes and saw him looking at my breasts. The dress was backless and also cut deep in the front. Normally no one would be so close to me as to bluntly stare down the front, but that's what Danny was doing."

Abbie found herself breathing a little more heavily as the story went on.

"He told me he wanted desperately to touch me, to feel the warmth and fullness of my breasts." Staci brought her own hand up to her chest, but stopped short of fondling herself.

"... And?" prompted Melanie.

Staci bit her lip and smiled. "And I told him that if he wanted to feel one, he should feel one."

Abbie gasped lightly and smiled. She liked this story. Emily continued to rub Staci's forearm.

"I could tell he was feeling warm from the moment, too. The heat was radiating off his skin. Without saying another word, he slowly reached a hand up to my chest. He gently touched my sternum, here, and ran his finger down the front of my body, the part that was exposed by the way the flaps of the dress overlapped. His fingers pressed more firmly into my skin, and then he slid his hand across to one side. He slipped his fingertips under the material of the dress, touching more of me. He pressed against that part of my breast that starts to get fuller and plumper. He kept moving his hand, and within a few seconds, he was completely inside one half of the top of my dress. He cupped his hand around my breast. He squeezed lightly. I felt the strength of his hand, his narrow fingers. Surely he felt the fullness and firmness of my breast. I heard him moan to himself slightly. Then he slid his hand back off, touching as much of my skin as he could, and slipped out of my dress, and dropped his arm."

Emily's massage of Staci's arm was more full now, wrapping her fingers around the circumference of Staci's elbow and wrist.

"He brought his hand up to my cheek." Staci touched her cheek as she remembered it. "He rested against my face, then touched my lips. I kissed his fingers gently. My lips were dry. But I heard him sigh. He touched my cheek one more time, and then he stepped away and left me alone."

Then women were silent for a bit. Emily's fingers slowed on Staci's skin. Abbie watched, absorbing the conversation. Melanie leaned back in her chair.

Abbie turned to the side and noticed that Aguri and Kei were still there, though whatever their conversation was, it was intense and focused. She looked toward Jake and the other men, and saw Danny standing up.

"Staci," she said. Staci turned and looked, and saw Danny approaching them.

He arrived at the bar, and Abbie took a step back to make space for him, assuming he would be there to say something to Staci.

"Hey Stace. You look great today." Danny nodded to her politely, but made no other gestures or anything. Then he turned to face Abbie. "Hi."

Abbie looked at the other women, who all stared back, eyes wide.

"I'm Danny. We met outside."

"Yeah, I remember." Abbie nodded to him, smiling. She could make anyone feel welcome and important.

"I've been looking at you from over there. You're absolutely radiant. I kind of can't stop thinking about you."

"Mm," Abbie murmured, lips tight. She was still smiling.

"I know this weekend is pretty full of, well, you know, Staci and Phil are getting married and all, but ..."

"... but?" Abbie asked.

"You wanna maybe chill together sometime?"

Abbie shrugged and smiled. She tossed her hair back. "Sure, that sounds nice."

"Can I text you?"

"Sure," said Abbie. Danny pulled his phone from his pocket. Abbie recited her number, which Danny typed in.

"Yeah, okay. I mean, nice to meet you." He extended his hand, which Abbie clasped gently. Then he nodded to Staci and the others and returned to his table.

Staci was still staring back at Danny. "That's not the same Danny."

Abbie tilted her head to the side looking at him. "Why not? He seemed kind. The guy you described seemed kind too."

"Yeah, but ... usually when he hits on girls it's a little, I don't know, dirtier. More sexual."

Melanie tossed back the rest of her drink. "I think he's hot."

Abbie giggled and leaned toward Emily. "What about you, Emily?"

Emily shook her head. "Not really my type." She turned back to Abbie. "Aren't you here with a guy, though? I mean, no judgment, because I don't know anything."

Abbie nodded. "I am." She looked back at Jake. She longed for him in a strange way. She was intrigued by Danny, and she was intrigued by Staci's story (and by watching Emily touching Staci's arm, for that matter). But she was looking at Jake. And she acknowledged to herself that even if she did talk to Danny, even if he asked questions and she said yes, it was still Jake she was going home with at the end of the day.