Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 105306 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 527(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105306 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 527(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
My girlfriend’s mouth is downturned. “Don’t you see, though? Everyone thinks you cheated on me. It’s all over the news now—again. My parents have been calling me constantly—again. The whispers went from ‘Oh my God, that’s who he’s dating?’ to ‘Oh my God, did you hear? He cheated on her, go figure.’ No one thinks I’m hot enough to be your girlfriend.”
“That’s the fucking problem. Everyone thinks they know me because they see me on television and watch my interviews. Everyone thinks because they have a pulse, they get an opinion on my life. I don’t get to date who I want, I don’t get to go to college where I want, I don’t know if I’ll get to play for the team I want to play for.” I stand up, frustrated. “Don’t you see? You’re the only thing I get to choose that’s choosing me back, and one little misunderstanding shouldn’t stand in the way.”
I’ve worked too damn hard and have been too damn unhappy for too damn long for her to dump me over this.
That fucking Tiffany.
“I’ll move out of that goddamn house if I have to.”
Ryann scoffs. “Don’t be ridiculous. Why would you move?”
“So I’m not near that lying, backstabbing bitch.”
Anything to distance myself from the female who created this unnecessary drama.
“That’s a harsh thing to say about her.”
I gawk at her. “Are you pissed at her or are you not?”
“Yes. Both. And I’m pissed at the situation because I have no idea how to handle it, Dallas. I haven’t been doing this for years the way you have, so forgive me for freaking the fuck out!” Her hands go up over her head and she stalks away, toward the kitchen.
Comes out moments later carrying containers, plops them down in the center of my table.
“Here.” Puts her hands on her hips. “You should go.”
“But…” We haven’t paid. She hasn’t given me a bill. She hasn’t forgiven me or the situation, hasn’t let me beg.
“You should go.”
Beyond her, the chef holds up his spatula. A sign? A warning?
Simmer down, pal. I’m going.
I shimmy out of the booth, stuffing my hands in my pockets so I don’t reach for her. She doesn’t want to hear the sound of my voice, let alone accept a hug from me.
Drake and Drew stand, too. For once, they’re speechless.
Ryann nods toward the table. “Don’t forget your food.”
“Yeah, don’t forget our food,” Drew whispers, breaking the silence.
Drake leans around me to snap up the containers, tucking them under his armpit. Claps his hand on my shoulder and squeezes.
“Let’s go, bro.”
“Ryann.” Her chin rises when I say her name. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
Her face gives nothing away as she says, “For what it’s worth, I believe that you believe you’re telling the truth.”
Ouch.
My brother nudges me from behind. “Come on, bro.”
I only glance over my shoulder twice as we’re walking out the door, Ryann no longer giving me the time of day.
forty-one
ryann
“He may not be good for the soul, but he’s great for the vagina.”
– Winnie
“And then what happened?” Winnie and I are folding silverware at work; she arrived after I messaged her that Dallas and the twins had just ambushed me.
She’s not on the clock, but she’s helping me anyway so I can give her all the tea in person.
“He said she was just sitting there waiting for him when he walked onto the porch, and he thought it was weird she wasn’t wearing a jacket.”
Winnie nods. “I mean, it’s like, forty degrees outside. Who doesn’t wear a jacket?”
“You. You don’t wear a jacket.”
“Well, duh, sometimes they don’t match my outfit.” She takes a napkin and spreads it out, folds it into a triangle, then sets a fork, knife, and spoon inside before rolling. “So then what?”
“Then I think I rolled my eyes? Or maybe I made a comment like, ‘Oh, I’m so sure you were thinking about how she needed a warm coat’ or something like that. I don’t remember exactly.”
“Did she kiss him?”
“I don’t think so.” I pause, doing my best to recollect his words. “He said something about her propositioning him. What do you think that meant?”
Winnie stops folding the silverware. “Like…she offered to have sex with him maybe? Girls do that all the time.”
“He said he told her he has a girlfriend.”
“Yeahhhh, they don’t care.” Winnie resumes folding. “I know a few girls who have blown the bouncers at the clubs downtown so they can get in because they’re underage.” She grimaces. “There is no club on this earth I want to be inside of bad enough to suck some sweaty dude’s dick.”
She gags.
“Agreed. Nor would I proposition someone who had a girlfriend. The fucking nerve.”
The fucking nerve is right.
“You’ve seen her, though.” My best friend defends me like no one else. “She and her friends are over there all the time, and it’s not because those three guys have great personalities. The twins aren’t even that cute.”