Page 22 of Hard to Take

It’s making my head pound.

“Are you missing an earring?”

The first thing my mom says to me after the speech isn’t thank you, or even hello.

I feel my lobe and realize I’m one short. “Damn it.”

“You know how important jewelry is,” my mom is saying. “You would have been better not to wear any, but this makes you look careless.”

I smile and take her arms in my hands, making her inhale with surprise.

“Thanks for reminding me what matters. I was more worried that Grandma gave me these earrings and apparently I’ve lost one.”

I swallow down the emotion rising up my throat. Around these sharks, it would be viewed as weakness.

I need to try something different.

As my gaze lands on a familiar face that smiles in recognition, I know exactly what.

* * *

“This place is impressive,” Trev says when I let him in.

“Make yourself at home.”

I run into my room and search through my bag for the dark plum lipstick that looks amazing with my skin.

“I’m glad we ran into each other,” comes his voice from the other room. “It’s been a minute.”

“Years,” I echo.

He looks different than when we used to hang out as seniors. His glasses are more stylish, and he’s in a suit.

Trev was a fun distraction after everything that happened the summer of junior year. He didn’t care about the gossip and never took things personally.

Which is why we hooked up more than a handful of times through the fall.

It was never serious, for either of us.

He’s exactly what I need to get through this day and the fact that the only man I’ve slept with in way too long is my roommate, who I need to avoid at all costs.

Moments later, I hear voices.

Shit.

I go out into the living room to see Miles and the guy in a standoff.

It’s almost comical given Trev’s the same height as me. Still, he played rugby in college, and from the way he fills out a suit, I’d bet he kept up the workouts.

“Trev, this is my roommate, Miles.”

“Hope this isn’t weird, but I’m a huge fan,” Trev says.

Seriously?

“I’ll be right there,” I say, pasting on a smile.

I go back to my room and search through my bag of toiletries. There’s a box of condoms, which I need. The voices outside—Miles’s smooth one and Trev’s excited one—set me on edge. What are they talking about?

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