Page 71 of Craving Francesca

The laughing fit was like a palate cleanser. Not only had it erased any lingering tension between Myla and I, but it had successfully wiped Gray’s grin out of my mind for a few minutes. I was grateful for that.

I got into the shower in an attempt to wash away the rest of the day. It didn’t work, but it did ease the tension in my neck so that it didn’t feel like it was going to snap every time I turned my head. The other things, I’d just have to move past or work through.

As we sat around making fun of Lou’slawn ornamentthat night I decided it was time to start searching for a new job. That was one thing that I could do to make my life seem like less of a shit show. My dad was my dad, there wasn’t anything I could do about him except remember that he never followed through and set my expectations accordingly.

The problem with Gray was trickier. I didn’t see him much as it was, so avoiding him would be easy as long as I didn’t call him because I was having some sort of personal crisis. I just needed to figure out a way to stop thinking about him and making our non-relationship more than it was in my head. We’d hooked up once, and he’d been a good friend when I needed one. Sure, he was affectionate—but maybe he was like that with everyone, and I just hadn’t noticed. Fantasizing about some grand love affair would just fuck with my head, and honestly, I didn’t need that on top of everything else.

“You’re quiet,” Brody said, dropping down beside me on the daybed. “You good?”

“Glad it’s the weekend,” I replied, stretching out to rest my feet on his lap. “I’m going to sleep until noon tomorrow.”

“Bullshit. You never sleep in.”

“I am tomorrow.”

“Uh-huh.”

“What’s up with you?” I asked, poking him in the belly with my toes. “Anything new?”

“Nothin’,” he replied, shoving at my foot. “Work and home, rinse and repeat.”

“You need a girlfriend.”

“Yeah, like a hole in the head.”

“You never bring anyone around.”

“What, so you bitches could scare her off?”

“We would not,” I argued, poking him in the belly again. “We’re nice.”

“Lou’s nice,” he corrected. “Myla could go either way, dependin’ on how happy she is with Cian that day. You?” He shook his head.

“If she’s good to you, I’d be nice!”

“If I find someone worth puttin’ through the ringer, I’ll bring her around.”

I dropped my head back against the pillows. “Great, so we’ll never meet anyone.”

Brody laughed and bent one of my toes, making it twinge so bad that I shot up.

“Ow, quit!”

“Such a baby,” he teased, dropping my foot. “Keep your toes to yourself then.”

I curled my feet back protectively.

“How’s shit goin’ with Scott?” he asked, too nonchalantly to be believable.

“Scott is Scott,” I replied, wrapping one arm around my knees as I reached for the joint I’d left on the table. I didn’t smoke all the time, but I’d found myself at the dispensary more often than usual over the past couple of months. “I’m dealing with it.”

“You wantmeto deal with it?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Sometimes it takes assholes like that more than words to make them back off,” he warned.

“Scott’s a puke, but I don’t need you to beat him up.”

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