Re: Derek/Nell
Making the cake for the boys' party had been fine. The first little bit of time at the actual party had been fine. Despite her reservations, Nell had managed pretty well up until the point the stripper had tried to give her a lap dance. Since then she'd hovered both on the edges of the party and on edge in general. Still, when Derek approached, she flashed him a smile.
"Not that there's a 'we', but it's kind of the default if we were to attend?" she prompted with a chuckle. "It's okay, Brian mentioned an after party and the fact I'd be the only unattached woman when we were planning the food for tonight." It would probably happen more and more, too. They'd get thrown in together because they were friends, because everyone else in their group was paired up, because serious and monogamous seemed to be the default assumption as soon as two people got close. Tilting her head to one side, she regarded him with curiosity for a moment. "Do you want to stay?"