Page 50 of Such A Bad Girl

“Think you’ll ever settle down, man? You’ve been doing this shit a long time now. We both have.”

“I certainly hope not,” he laughed. “You don’t want to settle down, do you? Fuck, we’re young. We’ve got lots of time for wives and kids, and all of that ball-and-chain stuff in the future. Right now, I’m having a hell of a good time living it up.”

“You make it sound so appealing,” I quipped. “But maybe it’s not for everyone.” The way he described settling down sounded horrible, but when I thought about it lately, it was nothing like he was describing. I know I used to think like him, but everything seemed to be changing very quickly.

“Do you mean West? Sure, West seems happy. Doesn’t seem like he misses his time at the temple at all. Maybe it was just his time to bow out.”

“Well, he’s head over heels in love with Kaylee. So to him, living it up means something else now. I don’t anticipate we’ll see him in the temple too often anymore.”

“Speaking of which, you disappeared the other day.” Rian tilted his head. “And then I never saw you again.”

“Yeah, I was, uh, preoccupied, I guess.” Images of Everleigh splayed out naked flashed in my mind.

“Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?” He raised a brow, looking at me curiously.

“Yeah,” I admitted, hanging my head.

“This looks serious. Coffee?” He looked at my face and shook his head. “Wait. Whiskey?”

“How about both?” I asked, following him to the kitchen.

“Damn. Okay, let’s do this.”

While he brewed the coffee, I glanced into his nearby sunken living room and saw the remains of last night’s party strewn everywhere — clothes, liquor bottles, condom packets, panties.

“Damn, dude,” I said, gesturing to the mess.

“Turned into a bit of a party, I guess,” he shrugged.

I couldn’t help but laugh. I loved Rian. He never pretended to be anybody he wasn’t.

He slid a cup of black coffee my way, then handed me a bottle of rye. We sat at his kitchen table and he looked over at me expectantly.

I poured a shot into my cup and sat back. I took a deep breath, my stomach in knots. “I need to talk to you about Everleigh.”

He raised a brow, waiting for me to go on, but I hesitated. “What did the little brat do now?” He squinted over at me.

I laughed, shaking my head. “Nothing, actually. It’s me.”

“Dude,” he groaned, cocking his head. “Please tell me you did not fuck Everleigh.”

I sighed, staring over at him for a beat before replying. “Uh, well…not technically.”

I mean I wasn’t lying. I did not fuck her. At least not with my cock. My mouth, my tongue, my fingers, absolutely. But that didn’t really count, right?

“Dude,” he repeated, his eyes wide.

“We’ve known each other forever,” I pointed out.

“And you’ve known her brother forever. You know West is overly protective of her. What are you thinking?”

“I know, that’s why I need your help. I’ve got it bad for her.”

“What do you want me to do? I’m not taking her off your hands! I know better!”

“That’s not what I meant, Rian! What the hell?”

“Good,” he muttered, sipping his coffee. “Then what?”

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