Page 131 of Hooking Up
"Uh-huh." She shakes her headyou're ridiculous.
"Or truth or dare," he says.
She looks to me. "See what I deal with every day?"
I laugh. "It must be rough."
She does too. "It really is. But I love it here. Serious eye candy."
Dean motionsaww, you shouldn't havewith mock humility.
It's clear she isn't trying to pay Dean a compliment, but he is super, duper, amazingly hot. Tall. Broad. With shaggy brown hair, piercing blue eyes, and a million-dollar smile.
He looks like trouble. Like the kind of guy who will get wasted with you, fuck you senseless, then leave you with nothing but memories.
"Brendon, Ryan, and Walker are super hot, yes." She ignores him. "But the clients. All the surfer boys and the local musicians get their work done here. And I don't mean local, playing at a dive bar in Burbank. I mean fucking rock stars who live in Venice." She fans herself. "Why am I not having sex again?"
"You make bad choices," Dean says.
"That hurts coming from you." She smiles. "It's true. Turns out tattoos and muscles don't always equate to boyfriend material."
"In my experience, a short haircut and a nice suit don't either," I say.
"Tattooed manwhores aren't your type?" Dean asks.
"Not usually." I press my hands into my sides. It feels weird not holding a drink. "Excuse me." I move to the bar. Grab a cup. Fill it with grapefruit juice.
God, that Belvedere looks so good.
And it isn't opened.
It would be so, so easy to chug a few shots, let my inhibitions down, bring out fun, party girl Iris.
But the chain reaction that starts…
It isn't worth it.
I move back to Dean and Leighton. They're hate-flirting over something.
And Walker is laughing with his friends. Well, Ryan isn't exactly laughing. But he looks slightly less miserable.
"You're really into him, huh?" Dean asks.
"Seriously, Dean?" Leighton shoots him areallylook.
"I don't sleep with people I don't like," I say.
She laughs. "Foreign concept. You'll have to explain it to him."
"Nah. It's more than that level of like." Dean's eyes meet mine. "You're looking at him the way Brendon looks at Kay."
"Like she wants to drag him to the back room, pin him to the wall, and rip his clothes off?" Leighton takes a long sip. "Who doesn't? I'm not into your boyfriend, Iris, but he is fine."
"He's not my boyfriend." The words are quick. An impulse. But they don't feel as true as they should. "We're just having fun."
She nods even though it's clear she doesn't believe me.
"I hope that's true." Dean taps his glass with his pointer finger. "'Cause I don't want to see him turning into some more annoying version of Ryan."
