Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin

some
    trouble getting a cab."
    "No worries," he says, offering me a stool next to his.
    I sit down. He smiles, exposing two rows of very white, straight
    teeth. Possibly his best feature. Either that or the cleft in his
    square chin.
    "So what can I get you?" he asks me.
    "What are you having?"
    "Gin and tonic."
    "I'll have the same."
    He glances toward the bartender with a twenty extended and then
    looks back at me. "You look great, Rachel."
    I thank him. It's been a long time since I've received a proper
    compliment from a guy. It occurs to me that Dex and I didn't get
    around to compliments.
    Marcus finally gets the bartender's attention and orders me a
    Bombay Sapphire and tonic. Then he says, "So, last time I saw you
    we were all pretty wasted That was a fun night."
    "Yeah. I was pretty out of it," I say, hoping that Dex told me the
    truth about keeping Marcus in the dark. "But at least I made it
    home before sunup. Darcy told me you and Dex were out pretty
    late that night."
    "Yeah. We hung out for a while," Marcus says, without looking at
    me. This is a good sign. He is covering for his friend but has
    trouble lying. He takes his change from the bartender, leaves two
    bills and some coins on the bar, and hands me my drink. "Here
    you go."
    "Thanks." I smile, stir, and sip from the skinny straw.
    An emaciated Asian girl wearing leather pants and too much lip
    liner taps Marcus on the arm and tells him that our table is ready.
    We carry our drinks, following her to the restaurant area beyond
    the bar. As we sit, she hands us two oversized menus and a
    separate wine list.
    "Your server will be with you shortly," she says, before flipping her
    long, black hair and waltzing off.
    Marcus glances at the wine list and asks if I want to order a bottle.
    "Sure," I say.
    "Red or white?"
    "Either."
    "Do you think you're going to have fish?" He looks at the menu.
    "Maybe. But I don't mind red with fish."
    "I'm not very good at picking wines," he says, cracking his
    knuckles below the table. "You wanna have a look?"
    "That's okay. You can pick. Whatever is fine."
    "All right then. I'll wing it," he says, flashing me his "I never
    skipped a night wearing my retainer" smile.
    We study our menus, discussing what looks good.
    Marcus slides
    his chair closer to the table, and I feel his knee against mine.
    "I almost didn't ask you out, since we're in the same summer
    house and all," Marcus says, his eyes still scanning the menu.
    "Dex told me that's one of the cardinal rules here. Don't get
    involved with someone in your house. At least not until August."
    He laughs as I store away this fact for later analysis: Dex
    discouraged our date.
    "But then I thought, you know, what the hell I dig her, I'm going
    to call her. I mean, I've been thinking about asking you out since
    Dex first introduced us. Right when I moved here. But I was
    seeing this girl from San Francisco for a minute in there and
    thought I should wrap things up before I called you.
    You know,
    just to make it all neat and kosher. So I finally ended that deal
    And here we are." He wipes his forehead with the back of his hand
    as if relieved to make this confession.
    "I think you made the right decision." "To wait?"
    "No. To call." I give him my most alluring smile, fleetingly
    reminding myself of Darcy. She doesn't have the market cornered
    on female attractiveness, I think. I don't always have to be the
    serious, dowdy one.
    Our waitress interrupts the moment. "Hello. How are you this
    evening?"
    "Fine," Marcus says cheerfully, and then lowers his voice. "For a
    first date."
    I laugh, but our waitress musters only a stiff, tight-lipped smile.
    "Can I tell you about the specials?"
    "Go for it," Marcus says.
    She stares into the space just above our heads, rattling off the list
    of specials, calling everything "nice" "a nice sea bass,"
    "a nice
    risotto," and so on. I nod and only half listen while I think about
    Dex telling Marcus not to ask me out, wondering what that