Page 57 of Force At Third

“I’m not after your guy,” she says, sitting on the stool on the opposite side of the island.

“My guy?” I ask.

She cocks her head to the side. “Locke and you clearly have something going on.”

“Had. A very long time ago. He’s free to be with anyone whom he chooses to be with. You two have a much more recent connection, so?—”

Dromida leans back and sighs loudly, stopping me. “I don’t play games. I don’t have time. So, when I tell you that we happen to be at a concert, me, my sister, and Francesca were trying to get CeCe to loosen up. Those four guys, one being Locke, happened to be there and were used in our little scheme, which totally worked. I didn’t fuck Locke in the middle of a concert with a hundred thousand people around, didn’t even exchange names or numbers, you can believe me.”

“And when I tell you I saw mutual interest between you two, and that I don’t even live in the state, that he’s not my guy, that you should go for it, you can believe me.”

“I believe that’s what you’re trying to convince—” She stops, and we both look toward the living room and spot two sets of eyes peeping around the corner.

“We’re not spying; we’re hungry.” Fawna pouts.

“Lies. All Lies.” Dromida shakes her head.

“Come eat.” I wave them over, glad for the interruption.

They all gather around, and Francesca states, “So, CeCe said you and Leland Locke were the ‘it’ couple in high school.”

Dromida raises her eyebrow.

“We dated.”

“Two years, voted class couple, the envy of Chloe and all the other girls.” Francesca rests her elbows on the island and her chin in her hands as she looks up at me like it’s story time.

What the fuck?

“Class couple, yeah. There were like fifty kids in our graduating class, most related to each other, so there was no one else.”

“Oh my God, how adorable,” Cora says, hurrying over.

“This was a decade and a half ago. We broke up, like, immediately.”

“Was it hard?” Cora asks.

“Everything is hard when you’re an eighteen-year-old kid. You get—” I snap my mouth shut and groan. “Sorry, no disrespect to your youth, but Locke was not the end-all-be-all. We were not meant to be. Mutual breakup. End of.”

“Was he your first?” Cora asks.

Honestly not trying to be a dick, but really?

“That pause means yes,” Dromida chides.

“I wish my first was meaningful.” Francesca grabs a wrap and takes a big bite. “Two minutes—two—and it was just to get rid of my V-card.”

“Do you regret it?” Cora asks.

“Don’t we all?” Fawna sighs.

“Sure do.” CeCe grabs a slice of cheese.

“Not all of us,” Dromida says, and we all look at her. They want the story. I want the focus off me. “Oh no, not me, Gwen.”

“Two minutes? Consider yourself lucky,” I joke. “Took us months to build to that.”

“He was a virgin, too?” CeCe asks.

---