Page 98 of Getting Over You

It’s a lot of pondering, second-guessing myself, just to have a girl in my bed. It has never been this complicated. I enjoy the simplicity associated with hookups.

Gigi Knox is anything but simple.

The fact that I can’t stop thinking about her is indicative of that. I’ve been so wrapped up in her these past few weeks—since I met her, if I’m being honest—that I’ve let everything else fall away. I was frustrated when I came home from the diner thenight after dinner at Belinda’s and the apartment was clean. I wanted to pull my hair out when I realized she had made dinner. Then, in the days following that, it happened again. And again. And then, the next day, I come home to find all of my laundry and hers folded and placed, together, in my dresser.

When I asked about it, she went all baby blue eyes on me and said she was trying to help. The second my jaw started ticking, Gigi was unzipping my jeans. So much for that discussion.

And that’s how it has gone every day since. Gigi cleans the apartment, Gigi ensures there’s a fresh pot of coffee waiting in the mornings, Gigi makes the bed when I leave so I have to pull pristine well-tucked sheets free every night when all I want to do is sleep. When it crosses my mind how fucked that is, I attempt to mention it.

Gigi bats her eyelashes at me, tells me she’s trying to help, to pull her weight. Then,zip!Discussion over.

It’s like she’s doing it on purpose.

This afternoon, she’s at the boardwalk, shopping at a new boutique with Rory. So, I take the opportunity to get into EJ’s mind about all of this without Rory here to facilitate the discussion.

“Is it bothering you?” I ask him. “Is having Gigi here bothering you? At all?”

He turns to face me, muting the TV. “It’s bothering you,” he states.

“Well, yeah.” I clear my throat. “Dude. She’s cooking dinner, cleaning, doing my laundry. The other day I came home and my boxers were folded, and sitting in a drawer right next to a stack of her bras. Dude!”

EJ sighs. “I tried to tell you, man.”

“I fucking knew this was going to happen.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I knew better than to believe that she could handle this.”

“I don’t think she’s the one struggling.” My brother shrugs. “You look like you’re having a hard time handling your arrangement, too.”

“She’s the one making coffee and doing my fucking laundry, EJ. We’re hooking up. Not getting married.”

EJ looks at me, unenthused. “I like having her here. She’s so helpful. And it’s been nice to see her happy and not burdened by her mom. Don’t screw it up.”

“I try to talk to her about it, discuss ground rules, and she immediately goes touchy. I’m not going to say no when a girl heads south, idiot.”

“I think that’s the entirety of your issue right there,” EJ muses.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“You’re so focused on the southern part that you neglect the north.”

“Do you enjoy speaking in riddles?” I ask, jaw ticking.

“I enjoy telling my brother that he’s thinking with the wrong head, one-hundred percent of the time.”

“Gee, thanks.” I rub a hand over my face.

“Obviously, you aren’t all the time,” he decides after a moment. “You’ve brought her ice cream and coffee and given a shit about her this whole summer. It’s not just a hookup for you, and you know it, dude.”

I scoff.

“I’ve never seen you be as nice as you are to her to anyone. Ever. So your brain must be controlling some part of you still. Because the Cade that thinks with his dick doesn’t buy ice cream or bring a girl coffee or go have dinner at a girl’s fuckinghouse with her parents.”

“Belinda set that up,” I argue. “I didn’t.”

EJ sighs. “All I’m saying is you’ve been acting in a way a hookup doesn’t act. If that’s all you are to her.”

“That’s all this is,” I confirm, swallowing hard as my jaw pulses. “Meaningless sex. That’s all I’m in the market for. You know that.”

The night before my birthday, I make Gigi and I dinner. It’s just some baked chicken and vegetables from a can I found in the cupboard. But I started thinking about what EJ said, about how much Gigi does, and it made me want to take some burden away. At least until I put it all back on her.

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