Page 150 of Girls Will Be Girls
“I-” I stutter.
I never thought about them not approving of her. The possibility never even occurred to me. Why would it? Spend one minute with her and it’s impossible not to fall in love with her.
“What do you even care?” I finally say.
“Come on.” He sticks me with a glare. “I saw you introducing yourself to her friends tonight. You can’t have been dating very long. You don’t know this girl, and now what? You’re marrying her?” He steps closer. “Come on, Lou.”
I shake my head. “I don’t care how long it’s been, I’d marry her even sooner if she’d let me.”
His glare turns to pity. “She’s not serious.”
“What does that mean?”
“She writes for a magazine, Lou.” He almost pleads. “She’s fun, but she’s not who you end up with.”
“Excuse me?”
“She looks like Malibu Barbie half the time.” He lets out one humorless laugh. “You can’t marry Malibu Barbie.”
I step even closer to him, now only inches between us. “I think it’s time we revisit the part where I hit you.”
“I’m trying to protect you.”
I can’t help the laugh that escapes me. “Protect me? Is that what you’ve been doing all this time?”
He has the good sense to look away. To look embarrassed.
I lean into him. “Stay away from us.”
I walk off feeling like I have anger running through my fingertips. Like, I finally understand the toxic masculine need to break something.
I don’t love it.
I finish my drink, the ice clinking against my teeth, before I slam it down on a table. The older couple sitting there looks up at me, startled and a little annoyed.
“Sorry.”I mouth.
I look around the room, scanning for friendly faces, for someone I like, but I come up short. There’s not a single person here who is a part of my life. Not one friend, not even a family member I like.
Even Louisa’s friends aren’t around anywhere, and I already know I’d rather spend my time with them than anyone else here.
I know that I can’t lose Louisa, that I need her in my life.
Even if she won’t let me say it yet, I know I’m head over fucking heels in love with her.
I start half jogging towards the exit. To go after her.
This whole thing is my fault.
I shouldn’t have let her keep lying for me because of my stupid need to exact petty revenge on my asshole big brother.
When I realised he was in Tahoe, and the way he was looking at her, I just lost it.
Our parents would pit us together at everything when we were kids. We saw each other as competition more than brothers. We competed for their attention, their praise, their love. Nothing that mattered was given in our house, it had to be earned.
So when we were both ushered into our respective careers, it having been made clear that we would be following in the footsteps of either our journalist mother or politician father, the competition never stopped.
I couldn’t stand the idea of being a politician.
