Page 60 of Enemies with Benefits
"I meant," I continued, ignoring him because I knew that would get a bigger reaction than taking the bait. Even when we were trying to get along, we couldn't help but find ways to dig at each other, "that people usually don't give a flaming fuck about intentions. Doesn't matter if you accidentally said something stupid, all people are going to care about is that you hurt their feelings. But that same person is going to get pissy if they upset someone else because they didn'tmeanto. My mom liked to tell me that we judge other people by the results, but want ourselves to be judged by our intentions, and I've yet to see evidence to argue against it."
Jace looked at me in disbelief. "Is that how you justify it? Everyone's going to think you're an asshole anyway, so you might as well be one?"
"Nah, I'm just an asshole, no point in trying to cover that up," I said with a laugh, stretching my legs out and sitting up straight. "But hey, one bonus with all of that is that people don't expect me to be a nice person, so when I am, they know I mean it."
"The mental gymnastics you go through are amazing," he said with a roll of his eyes.
"You only have to do mental gymnastics if you're trying to justify or understand something," I said with a shrug. "I don't need to do that. I know what I am, and I'm at peace with it. You're the one going through gymnastics right now. At the moment, it's trying to peg me with some label you can understand and work with. But overall? You're trying to figure out why my sister did what she did, even though it's as simple as people sometimes do shitty things for half-baked reasons that don't make sense to them most of the time. You're trying to figure out what's going on with your sexuality when it's as simple as hell."
"The fuck it is."
"It is. You've discovered you like dick on occasion, big fucking deal. And it's only a big deal because you're making it one."
"You're so good at empathy, I really hope you don't work with people."
"I'm a club owner, letting people tell me their business and giving them blunt statements is part of the job."
"What club?"
"Up in Portland."
"Then why the fuck are you here? Instead of running your club?"
"The wonderful thing about being the owner of a business that's doing well is that it's running well because you've got people who know what they're doing. Which means they don't need their boss breathing down their neck to make shit run right. Get good people, trust them once they're established, treat them well, anddefinitelypay them well, and it's a miracle, suddenly they're willing to do their job and do it well."
"Or they're just glad you're not around anymore."
"Eh, I'm a better boss than I am a person."
"Modest."
"Honest."
I stopped when the sound of wet footsteps approached, and I looked up to find Micah standing before us, a towel wrapped around his thin shoulders and a serious expression on his face. "What's up?"
"I want my snack," Micah said, looking between us. My family had been right about Jace and me needing to play nice with one another because it seemed like whenever we were around one another, Micah was always watching us. The kid had always been incredibly sensitive to the moods of people, and it always felt like he was trying to gauge what kind of day Jace and I were having with one another.
"That feels like something I'm missing information on," Jace said slowly.
"He's been on a charcuterie kick lately. But like...very specific and ever-changing parts," I explained with a snort. I raised a brow when Micah opened his mouth. “C'mon, dude, we both know I'm not the one you need to tell. You're in luck that it's Lilah working today, and she loves indulging your weirdness."
Micah thought about that for a moment before nodding. “You're right. I'll tell her."
"Make sure to wash that chlorine off," I told him as he turned to walk off, giving me a sigh before walking toward the small changing room just off the pool area. I glanced over to find Jace scowling at me. “What?"
"Why do you keep calling him weird?"
"Because he is."
"He is not."
"Yes, he is. And there's no point in pretending he's not, because the world sure as shit isn't going to let him forget he's weird. Better that he learns he is now and learns to embrace it. Otherwise, people will use that fact against him. They already do. You think the kids he goes to school with aren't aware that he's weird as hell? Because they are, and some of them try to use it against him."
Jace's brow furrowed deeper. “And you just...let it happen?"
"Nope, Moira has repeatedly gone up there trying to get it taken care of, but we know schools only do so much," I said with a shrug. "Better that he learns to embrace his weirdness surrounded by people who don't care that he's weird and still love him. Not just in spite of him being weird, but because of it too. He needs to know how to be tough, but not afraid to be himself."
Jace stared in the direction Micah had walked off in. “You ever thought about teaching him how to be tough in other ways too?"
