Page 85 of Yours and Mine (Friends with Benefits)

“She has school to finish. But fuck yeah, she’s gorgeous.”

“And I bet you one hundred bucks that she’ll come back home in three years, still untouched. You know, this shouldn’t be a tough sell.”

He laughed, then looked Molly’s way. “It’s not a tough sell, Jo.”

I leaned in closer to him and looked around, making sure that no one else could hear me. “You’re a pussy.”

His mouth opened wide. “Joelle Kagen, just when I thought there was nothing you could say that would shock me...”

“Please. I think you’re just afraid of rejection. I think you like her so much that you’re afraid you’ll blow it if you approach her with your usual manly flirting.”

“Oh, yeah? Watch and learn, Jo.”

He raised his chin higher and walked to where Molly was standing by the drink station, pouring punch into plastic cups for the kids. I watched them eagerly, wishing I could hear what they were saying. By now, Nick came back and sat on by side.

“What are you looking at?” he asked.

“Carter’s making a move on Molly.”

“Well, isn’t that interesting?”

“Why?”

“Because Carter sucks at making moves. His mouth gets away from him and he says the most inappropriate things.”

“Oh, come on. Have some faith.”

“Look, he’s about to strike out.” He pointed.

The frown on Molly’s face wasn’t easing. Whatever Carter had said to her must have been bad.

“Oh, no. I think you’re right.” I covered my mouth.

Molly took the pitcher of water she was holding in her hand and poured it right over Carter’s head. My heart broke for him. He was trying so hard and was a very nice guy. I wondered what he’d said to Molly to get her that upset.

“I feel bad for him.”

“Carter knows how to get back up on his feet. Don’t worry. He’ll get it right one day.”

“Yeah, but that was just sad.” I lowered my voice as he approached us at the table. His shirt was soaking, and so were his pants. He reached for the hem and pulled his shirt over his head, slapping the wet fabric on the table and sitting across from us. Carter was officially shirtless at my parent’s wedding.

“Well, that went just as I planned,” he mumbled.

“Only you could fuck up a good thing, brother.”

“Easy for you to say. You guys always knew you were meant to be, and didn’t even have to try.”

“Ha!” Nick laughed. “We didn’t always know, but we were friends first. Friends who cared about each other.”

“I do care about Molly.” He turned around to have another look at where Molly was filling up the cups. “I care about her long legs, that low-cut dress, and the pretty pink underwear she’s wearing.”

“Now how do you know they’re pink?” I asked.

“Guys are meant to know this stuff. It’s intuition.”

“So what’s going to happen now? What did you say to her to make her that angry?”

“I might have mentioned something about someone waiting to be deflowered by the right guy.”

---