Page 40 of Chasing Lynda

Get Out

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Bennett

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I’M EXCITED.

I can’t wait to get to the party upstairs and show my best friends that winning the trophy for the “Gamma brother who fucked the most” four years in a row was no fluke.

I smile as I head down the long corridor to the indoor spa center and pool flanked by Zane, while Carter and Dodge go ahead to the sky bar to join the party.

Lynda should be there taking photos for our website and I intend to escort her personally to tonight’s party.

Zane keeps throwing me surreptitious looks as we walk.

“What?” I huff, stopping just short of the door to the spa area.

“Nothing, dude. I’m just surprised that you’re interested in Lynda. She isn’t your usual type.”

I level him with a hard stare; he’s been weird all day, walking around like a puppy who’s been kicked by his owner. “My usual type? And what type would that be? I really don’t have a type, Zee.”

If I thought he’d relent, I should’ve known better. Zane and I seem very different on a superficial level, but aside from being friends because we grew up together, we’re more similar than people think. For starters, we’re both stubborn motherfuckers.

“Exactly.” He nods, doing that thing where he pretends to agree with you to bait you into somehow being in the wrong. “And I might not know her that well but Lynda didn’t strike me like the hookup type. And she told me that her last breakup was really bad. So she’s guarded. It took her a while to relax during our date.”

I pause for a second, before opening the door to the spa and walking past the empty reception desk, as the spa is closed for the day. “So you say. Don’t worry, I’ll be nice to her. It’s hard to explain but there’s something about Lynda. Maybe it is because she doesn’t look like the sorority girl type; but I’ve never been more intrigued about a woman.”

He looks at me as if he were trying to read my mind. “Not since Chrissie.”

Fucking Zane! I grind my jaw, clenching my fists because right now I feel like I want to wipe that concerned expression right off of his face. But I know Zane genuinely cares about me, he doesn’t act this way just to be a fucking pain in my ass. “Right. That’s exactly why this time, we all know the score from the beginning. We all try our luck with Lynda and then it’s up to her.”

He doesn’t look happy about it. “But don’t you see what you’re doing? Chrissie screwed you up so much that since her, you haven’t even tried to form a real relationship with a woman. How do you think that recreating the same kind of situation we had with her is going to—”

“This is nothing like that!” I snap. “Chrissie made me believe that she was in love with me. She made each of us believe that we were ‘the one.’ We don’t know Lynda. We’ve all just met her. So the stakes aren’t as high here. Relax, dude. Have fun. We haven’t had fun in a while and with graduation and Dodge’s injury, this year has been hard on all of us. We need this.”

He narrows his eyes. “Are you so fucking sure that she’s going to choose you?”

Ah, that’s the problem. He’s worried he’s going to lose. “I know I’m at a disadvantage, because you’ve all kissed her, but I like a challenge; no, scratch that. I love a challenge.” I smile. “Truth be told, it’s good that I have competition this time. It’ll make me slow down and force me to get to know her before I jump into bed with her.”

Zane looks surprised. “Do you want to get to know her? You aren’t just trying to get laid?”

I bark out a laugh. “Stop trying to psychoanalyze me, bro! Maybe that’s part of my problem, I blaze through one hookup after the other without even stopping to really look at the women I fuck. Maybe it’s time to change.”

He puts a comforting hand on my shoulder, but I shrug him off. “I’ve grown fucking tired of it, to be honest. I’m bored. It’s like aside from my relationship with you guys, everything else in my life is fleeting and superficial. My parents don’t fucking care about me, I’m an asset at best in their eyes; and the only girl I’ve ever cared about? She played games with us, making us all believe we were her first, that we were the chosen one while she was fucking all of us. Then she chose Dodge and we all know how it ended.”

His gaze grows even more serious, if possible. “But this is exactly why I don’t get it. Don’t you think getting to know her puts you at risk of caring for her and getting hurt if she doesn’t choose you?”

I shrug. “Not really. First of all, because she’s going to choose me. Second—”

“If you like her this much, I can talk to the others. We can give you dibs.”

What the actual fuck? “Dude, what the fuck are you talking about? Or are you saying that because she ditched you and you don’t think you stand a chance?”

I finally get what I want. Zane stops playing nice and gets pissed off. “What the fuck are you talking about? You don’t even know her! She—”

I interrupt him. “That’s exactly my point. None of us really knows her. Not even you, Zane. But we all noticed her. And when was the last time we all really noticed someone this way?”

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