Page 73 of The Keeper
Mack’s brow furrows.
“What I want in a girl? RJ, I…”
“I don’t need you to clarify anything for me, okay?” I’m quick to respond, cutting him off mid-sentence. “We’ve been here before, remember? After thefirsttime I saw you two together. I feel like we keep coming back to this place where we misunderstand or miscommunicate and then we both assume the worst. And I never thought I would be this jealous person. But knowing that the two of you have an obviously very…very,sexual history and that it was so easy for you to pick it up again… I just don’t see how that leaves us in a space where we can move forward when that kind of life is the norm for you.”
“But it’snotthe norm for me, RJ.”
I shake my head.
“Don’t lie to me, Mack. Not now. We have been brutally honest with each other. It has been the one beautiful constant in this non-relationship, so don’t start lying now.”
Mack is silent for a moment, his hands playing with his black wristband. The look on his face is different than what I’ve seen before. He looks stopped up, like he wants to say something but can’t verbalize the words or can’t force himself to say them.
When he stands abruptly and walks over to me, I’m startled. Before I even know what is happening, his hands are on my face, pulling me into a kiss. It’s delicate and sweet, and it would be so easy to just fall into everything that is him and get swept up in it. But I pull away before it can go any further.
“RJ,” Mack whispers, keeping his hands on my face, his eyes latched onto mine. “Thatwasthe norm for me. A long time ago. But it isn’t who I am now and it isn’t who Iwantto be.”
I shake my head again, dislodging his hands and taking a step back.
“How many girls have you slept with since you’ve been in LA, Mack?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Just tell me.”
He pauses for a beat, and my stomach plummets when for a brief moment, I worry that he doesn’t actually know. Maybe the number is too high. Maybe he doesn’t remember because it is all a blur mixed in with alcohol and parties. A life I can’t get wrapped up in.
“None.”
My head jerks slightly in surprise.
“What?”
“None. Is that surprising to you?”
I just stand there, confused.
“But Jeremy said…”
“So, therealroot of the problem,” Mack says on a frustrated exhalation. “Jeremy.”
He takes his hands and twists them into his hair, then down across his face in frustration and disappointment.
“Apparently I’ve been getting rave reviews.”
His tone is slightly bitter, his eyes glassing into a frosty glare.
“What did my dear friend tell you about me?”
I swallow hard, unsure how to answer the question. Do I tell him what I’ve read online? What I’ve heard from the girls? What Jeremy has told me?
“Come on, RJ,” he says, as he walks backwards and leans against his desk, crossing his arms. “You owe me a chance to hear what’s been said.”
I swallow hard, again, my throat dry.
“He said you slept around a lot after the accident,” I finally get out. “And one time you had a threesome with strippers at the strip club in a public space.”
I see the wince on his face, his embarrassment clear.
