Page 19 of Matched By My Rival
He laughed, his teeth bright against the dark interior. “No, dipshit. Letting Simon do you like that? A lot of guys would have refused.”
“Probably should have.”
Darnell seemed to assess me. Whatever he saw, he seemed satisfied. “He can be a prick, but he’s also miserable. I think you showing up, letting him dish out a little punishment—deserved or not—might be just what he needed. What you both need.”
I didn’t have anything to say to that. I wasn’t sure how wallowing around in trash was what I needed, but I got what Darnell was trying to say. Simon might have been the one to punch me, but he’d also been the one to lose everything as a result. He needed someone to blame, and I was the easiest target. Today, I gave him an outlet for all that resentment.
“Yeah, okay. Just don’t expect me to be his whipping boy forever,” I said as I got out of the car.
Darnell smirked. “Well, it was fun while it lasted.”
“Fuck you,” I said with a laugh and jogged up the sidewalk while he drove off to pick up his date.
When I got inside, I was too wound up to sleep. Figured. I’d spent all evening fucking exhausted, and now my body refused to settle. Darnell’s comments about Simon rattled in my brain, starting an uncomfortable buzz under my skin. Maybe he was right, and I’d soothed some of Simon’s ruffled feathers. Maybe there’d come a day Simon didn’t hate me so much, but so what? Why did that thought make me restless and jittery? Why did it make my heart race and my palms grow damp?
I tried to shrug off the feeling, but it persisted. Simon’s death glare came to mind, along with that stray thought I’d briefly entertained about strangling and kissing him.
“Oh, fuck no,” I groaned. “Not happening.”
I wasnotgoing to sit there and fantasize about a guy who hated me. No way, no how. I’d sought out Simon to make peace, not to…pant after him like a lap dog, for fuck’s sake.
With a growl of irritation, I tugged out my phone and opened the Thrust app.
Maybe BiCuriousStud would want to chat. He was worth more of my attention. I’d felt a connection from our very first words. There was potential there if I played my cards right and let it unfurl gradually.
I didn’t need Simon’s glares or hostility—even if he was incredibly hot.
* * *
SIMON
By the time I finished closing the bar and got back to my room, my stomach was knotted with nerves at the thought of chatting with HotPan again. I felt ridiculous. I wasn’t getting naked with the guy. I wasmaybeflirting. With a guy. With a really hot guy, judging by his photos, which were a lot nicer than mine. Clearly he knew his way around a hookup app and had probably been with a lot of men before, and—
Just man the fuck up.
I clicked the T icon and waited while the app opened. My inbox was stuffed with more match requests. Jesus. How did anyone sort through the onslaught? It was like going to one of those restaurants with a massive menu of one hundred-plus items. It sounded good in theory, but then you ended up staring at the menu for an hour, no clue what to order.
I bypassed all the requests and went straight to the message stream with him. He’d probably forgotten about me and moved on already. Who the heck wanted to stick around for a guy who bluntly said he wasn’t interested in hooking up on ahookup app, for fuck’s sake?
I clicked the window, and my breath caught.
He’d messaged me.
HotPan22:You around tonite? We could chat…
A nice, tame invitation. Some of my nerves settled. I’d been imagining all kinds of demands, but this felt low-pressure.
BiCuriousStud:I was working, but I’m free now. What did you want to talk about?
HotPan22:You.
That gave me pause. I wasn’t ready to divulge too much about myself. I knew I wanted to explore, but it wasn’t as if I were ready to announce that to the world. Besides, this guy could be anyone. He might be in one of my business classes, for fuck’s sake. He looked to be close to my age, and it wasn’t like Hayworth was a huge campus. Our paths could cross at any time.
Not sure I want to give out my personal info.
Sorry if that seems rude.
He was quick to answer.
