Page 35 of Anyone But Her

"Yeah. It's under 21 night."

So Cal wasn't kidding. They really are going to spend their nights trying to find girls. For some reason that annoys me.

"I think I'll just stay here," I say.

"C'mon," Luke says. "It'll be fun."

I look at Cal. "Watching you and Cal find one-night stands? That's not really fun to me."

"One night stands?" Luke says. "What are you talking about?"

"Cal said you guys were going to go out every night and look for girls."

Cal looks at Luke. "The one-night-stand thing is all her. I never said that. She's just making assumptions."

"Luke doesn't live here so if he meets someone it's not like it could go anywhere, which means..." I stop.

What am I doing? I shouldn't be commenting on Luke's dating life. What he does is his business, not mine. I shouldn't even care.

"I'm only going to the club because it's something to do," Luke says. "I'm not looking for girls."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to imply anything. It's none of my business." I get up. "I'm going up to my room. You guys have fun."

"You sure you can't come with us?" Luke asks. "It seems wrong to leave you here all alone."

"She'll call up one of her friends," Cal says as he checks his phone. "Taylor, when's Birdie getting back?"

"She doesn't have break until next week. Same for everyone else I know."

"Then you should go out with us," Luke says.

"You might as well," Cal says. "You and Luke both need to get out and meet people. When's the last time you had a date, Taylor? Like two years ago?" He laughs.

I put my hands on my hips. "For your information, I've been going on dates since I started college. Lot of dates. With lots of guys."

Glancing at Luke, I notice he's no longer smiling. He almost looks a little angry, although I'm not sure why he'd be angry.

I focus back on Cal. "I haven't told you about any of my dates because you overreact whenever I go out with someone."

"Because you only go out with assholes," he says, swiping through his phone.

"Is that true?" Luke asks.

"No. Cal's just being an annoying big brother. In his mind every guy I go out with is an asshole. Even guys he's never met before."

"I'm looking out for you," Cal says. "You should thank me for that, not get mad."

"You don't have to look out for me. I'm 19. I'm old enough to look out for myself."

"Not when it comes to guys. You don't get how guys think. How they say whatever shit you want to hear just to get what they want."

"Not every guy's like that," Luke says.

"The ones Taylor dates are," Cal says. "She chooses guys based on who she thinks is hot and those guys tend to be assholes."

"That is so not true!" I say. "I don't go out with a guy only because he's hot."

"Yeah, right." Cal stands up. "Luke, let's go. I need to stop and get gas on the way there." He pats his shorts pocket. "Left my wallet upstairs. I'll be right back." He runs up to his room.

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