Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 32750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
“Crystal, I—”
She steps forward, pointing a finger in my face.
“I knew you were jealous of what I have with Nate, but this is low, even for you. You need to stop sleeping with my uncle right now, or I’m going to tell everyone what you two have been doing!” Her tone is harsh and cutting, and I’m genuinely surprised there isn’t steam coming out of her ears.
“Seriously?” I hiss back at her, swatting her hand out of my face. “That’s what you think this is about? You think I’m so jealous of your life that I’d seduce your uncle just to get a piece of it? That doesn’t even make sense.”
“Well, you’ve done it before, haven’t you?”
“No, I haven’t. Your boyfriend’s full of shit. And while I sympathize with the shock you’re feeling, what Ben and I do in private is our business.”
“So you admit it, then!”
I squint, confused. “I can’t exactly deny the photographic evidence, now can I?”
“What photographic evidence? You guys take...pictures?” Crystal shudders like she’s going to be sick.
“Obviously,” I say. “I mean, that’s what this whole thing is about, right? Nate showed you the photo, and rather than confront your shitty-ass boyfriend about why he’s been following your former friend’s blog all these months, you come here to threaten me.”
That seems to take the wind out of her sails a little bit. She purses her lips, her eyebrows knitting together. “Your...blog?”
Crystal appears genuinely confused, which confuses me even more.
Sighing, I step back into my apartment and gesture for her to follow me. “As much as I love giving my neighbors something to gossip about, can we please continue this conversation behind closed doors?”
She hesitates for a moment before stepping inside.
I take a seat on the couch and motion for her to join me if she wants to. She chooses to stand. I let the silence hang between us like a taut guitar string, trying to ease some of the tension.
“Let’s just back up a second.” I sigh, rubbing my forehead. “How did you find out about me and Ben?”
“Nate told me,” she says, as if that’s the obvious answer.
“And how did he find out about it?”
“He saw you guys kissing at the gym.”
So, I realize, Nate did recognize Ben’s body from the photo. I can’t say I’m surprised; Ben’s physique is rather...distinct. I wrack my brain for any recollection of a slip-up at the gym, a moment of weakness when Ben and I couldn’t resist each other. But in spite of our all-consuming passion, we’ve been very good about keeping things professional at the gym. Unless Nate happened to be there the night Ben took my virginity, there’s no way he saw us kissing.
“Crystal, Nate couldn’t have seen us kissing at the gym.” When she starts to protest, I cut her off with, “I know this because I know exactly how Nate found out about us. He found out through my blog.”
“What blog? You keep mentioning this blog like I’m supposed to know what you’re talking about.”
Finally, she sits down on the opposite end of the couch. I know I don’t owe her an explanation. But, as much as I’d prefer to keep some semblance of my privacy, I want Crystal to know what Nate’s been doing behind her back. We may never be able to repair our friendship, but I care about her enough as a person that I don’t want to see her get taken advantage of.
“I have a blog about body positivity. It’s not popular or anything, but I like helping people feel comfortable in their own bodies. One of the ways I do this is by posting pictures of myself doing yoga. And—” I take a deep, fortifying breath. “—sometimes I don’t wear clothes in these photos.”
Crystal’s eyes widen, but she doesn’t say anything, so I continue.
“A couple of weeks ago, Ben stayed overnight, and the next morning we did yoga and took a photo.” I gesture down my body, trying to skirt around having to say, Yeah, I took naked yoga photos with your uncle.
Her face glows pink and I know she understands the implication.
“I posted the photo on my blog and a few days later, Nate came to one of my yoga classes. He hit on me and told me that he’s been looking at my pictures. Ben walked up to us, and I guess Nate recognized his body type, put two and two together, and, well...” I shrug rather than finish the sentence. Here we are, in my living room, pitting my word against Nate’s once again.
“No,” Crystal says, shaking her head in disbelief. “No, you’re lying. Nate wouldn’t look at your photos. You’re—you’re the one that keeps coming onto him.”
She stands and starts backing away, putting distance between us.
“Crystal,” I say with a sigh. “I swear to you, I’ve never ever hit on Nate. He’s the one who keeps harassing me.”