Page 35 of Be Your Anything
Obviously—it’sourbusiness. But, I felt like he needed to be taught a lesson, and clearly, that’s not going to happen this time.
I just wonder how long it will be before something like this comes back to bite Otto in the ass, leaving a permanent scar.
When I finally crawl into bed a little while later, I struggle to turn off my mind.
I don’t know if it’s this shit with Otto, the stupid advertisement in the newspaper earlier, or the fact that I picked having sex with Lennon over surfing—a definite first for me.
Whatever it is, I can’t seem to silence all the thoughts as they ping into my brain, one after another.
It’s nearing dawn when I finally manage to fall asleep.
CHAPTER7
LUCAS
“He can’t be serious.”
I look at Paige over the top of my menu, finding her eyes focused on something else off in the distance. Realizing she wasn’t talking to me, I glance in the direction she’s looking and let out a hearty chuckle when I see who she’s glaring daggers at.
“Leave it alone, Paige,” I say. “You don’t actually care who Giroux is dating. You just don’t want him to dateher.”
She returns her attention to me, making a frustrated face I’ve seen her make many times through the length of our friendship.
“I’m not disputing that, but comeon. And to bring her here? It feels like a statement, and I don’t want to be pulled into whatever little game they’re playing.”
I refrain from rolling my eyes and look back to the menu in front of me, already knowing what I’m going to order but grateful for the distraction.
Paige and Nadine have hated each other since junior high when something happened in the girls’ bathroom that neither of them will talk about. To have her archnemesis on a date with her ex-boyfriend has to be some kind of deep burn only women can feel.
Whatever.
“Lennon told me Nadine has been going after Giroux since the moment he and I started seeing each other.”
I sigh, pretending to ignore her—tryingto ignore her.
I don’t care about town gossip.
“I also heard from Ji-Eun that he tried to hit on Tabithawhile we were dating. With how things ended between us, it wouldn’t surprise me.”
I drop my menu to the table and give her an exasperated look. “Paige, stop torturing yourself. You dumped him for many wonderful reasons, including”—I lift a finger to begin counting—“the fact that he cheated on you, the fact that he has a drug problem, and the one thing you seem to always forget: because you deserve better than a guy who couldn’t get you off and told you he wanted to ‘stick it in your gash’.”
She makes a face when I refer to one of the last times she and Giroux had sex, but she keeps looking over in his direction, and I have a feeling her attention is going to be divided for the rest of our lunch.
Growing up, Lennon was my best friend, though at some point we started to drift apart and Paige and I grew much closer.
Whether it was Lennon when I was younger or Paige now, I can say with conviction that having a female best friend is…interesting. It’s much different than my relationships with Wyatt and Otto. There’s a lot more talking, for instance. A lot more feelings.
I mean, it never would have been my plan when I was younger and hopped up on hormones to have my closest relationships be with girls—excuse me,women—but somehow, that’s where the cards fell, though in different ways.
Lennon was the girl I always wanted, but I knew it would never happen. Paige, on the other hand, was a fireball of sass and attitude that has always been placed firmly in the friend category. Maybe even more like a sibling.
Though now that I actually have a sister—two, though Ivy and I haven’t talked about the fact that she’s apparently known for a while that we’re related—calling Paige ‘practically my sister’ seems a little odd.
Regardless, I love Paige to death even though she drives me absolutely fucking nuts sometimes.
Like this shit with Giroux. The guy is completely useless. Just a big old bag ofno thanks.
Sure, he has a strong jawline and a charming smile, and some might dig that French accent he has going on even though I think it sounds fake as shit, but Paige doesn’t actually care about any of that stuff. She wants a guy who will give her his undivided attention, and not only did henotdo that, he wined and dined her then promptly gave his attention to someone else.
