Page 84 of Wicked Me
I followed him, neither agreeing or disagreeing, and shut the door once he climbed inside.
“I’m not going to say sorry. But I do have something else to say...” I started like it was an afterthought, even though it really, really wasn’t. “I’m fucking Paige.”
24
Sam
ANNND NOW I WAS SPORTINGtwo black eyes. Funny, I thought telling Riley about Paige and me would help put his mind at ease that someone was actually looking out for her. Kidding. No I didn’t. But this whole truth-telling thing was getting kind of painful.
I sucked in a breath as Paige swabbed rubbing alcohol on the cuts all over my face.
“Quit being a baby,” she warned.
We were crowded in the downstairs bathroom, me sitting on the sink, her between my legs. The ends of her hair tickled my chest, her nearness distracting me from the sharp stings she inflicted with her steady hand. I could think of a couple things I’d rather be doing right then, but this wasn’t nearly as bad as it could’ve been.
“So you’re not going to tell me why Riley blew up like that?” she said.
“He got fired today and started swinging at the first person he saw.” I shrugged as if that was both the beginning and the end of the story.
“He got fired? Why?”
“If you turn on the news today, you might see some things that don’t put the best slant on my big brother.”
She threw away the bloodied swab and leaned back to look at me, a question in her eyes.
“He likes to fuck whores,” I said.
Her mouth popped open. “Riley?”
“The one and only.”
“But...” She shook her head. “He was...”
“A boy scout, top of his class, your childhood friend.” I took her hand and pulled her closer. “I know.”
Her mouth pinched together with a wince, and a flash of guilt swept through my gut. Maybe I shouldn’t have been quite so blunt with her with the whole fucking whores thing.
