Page 107 of The Casualty of Us
“You’re taking advantage of me.”
“You would do it too.”
I would. I would do it in a heartbeat under the right circumstances, and the fact that she recognizes that has me fighting a twitch of my lips. But regardless…it’s too tempting an opportunity to pass up, and I’ll deal with the emotional fallout of a possible win later. Soothing myself with the reminder that I can escape whenever I need to.
“Deal.”
“Eek!” She squeaks before lifting her drink, waiting for me to tap mine against it with a quick cheer to sigh. “This is going to be so much fun.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not even going to ask.”
“That’s the spirit.”
“Hey!”
We both turn at the sound of Graham’s shout to see him climbing off the jet ski at the end of the dock with another guy I recognize from the football team in tow.
“First party of the last week tonight!”
Lisette gives a laugh next to me, shouting back, “Since when?”
“Since now, Lizzie!”
I move my eyes between the two of them a couple of times, seeing the lingering smile on her lips and the way she watches him as he ties off the jet ski. How his lips kick up higher and he pauses for a beat before looking away with a quick jerk of his head. How her eyes go a little wistful before she looks down into her drink with her cheeks flushing.
She’s the girl. The one he was trying to make jealous.
And from the look of things…she’s in love with him.
Or at the very least likes him.
So what gives?
I think about pressing it with her for a second but decide to let it go since I don’t exactly see her as the type of girl jumping to lay her heart on the line, and I can definitely understand that.
So instead of calling her on it, I reach down in between us for the bottle of gin and start the night early. “Let’s do a shot.”
Doesn’t matter whether they’re stalkers, ballers, or rockers, I guess.
At the end of the day, they were all just men complicating shit.
“Do you think…”I lean forward, squinting at myself in the mirror and trying to imagine it. “That I would look good with short hair?”
“Sure.” Lisette flushes the toilet and comes up next to where I’m standing at the sink of the poolhouse bathroom, tilting herhead so far to the side that she starts to fall before grabbing for the counter. “You could totally pull it off.”
She pulls open one of the drawers and starts to dig around, making me stumble back a step back. “Not now.”
No drunken decisions when it comes to hair—that should be a rule.
“Your call.” She shrugs, stepping up to the sink and starting to wash her hands. “Hey, Matty is totally into you by the way.”
I scrunch up my nose while thinking about Graham’s linebacker friend who came with the twenty or so other people for the party. “Not my type.”
“Hmm.” She narrows her eyes at me, finishing up and grabbing the shots we brought in with us. “Cheers.”
I toss back the clear liquid without much thought at this point, head going a little light for a second before righting myself with a blink. My hand immediately reaches for the counter, and I decide I’m done with the shots for the night as Lisette sets down her glass.
“Come on, we’re going to miss our turn at beer pong.”
