Page 29 of Accidentally Forever
She squeezed my hand, and I ran my thumb over her skin, needing that connection. “Heistalented. And, of course, then he realized he was talented and thought he was a goddess’s gift to earth. And while it’s good to have self-esteem, something that I do not have in large portions right now, he took it too far. He wanted to be that Tragic Artist. And leaned into it. I couldn’t hold him back. The boy who eased my hurts and saved me, was out of my grasp. And I know it’s ridiculous. I know that it is not my fault. But that doesn’t help the little voices screaming that it is.”
“I want to hit him all over again.”
“I know you do. But you can’t. He left town.”
My eyes widened. “Oh?” I did my best to make my voice calm.
“Yes. He texted to say he was taking a break and leaving town. I don’t know where. I don’t want to know anymore. I’m honestly tired of everybody walking on eggshells around me. So worried about me because they think I’m deeply in love with that man.”
I raised a brow. “Instead you were upset with yourself for not being able to save him.”
“Pretty much. How self-righteous is that?”
I ran my hand over her hair. “You’re a damn goodperson, Aria. And we’re going to go back to that self-esteem thing.”
She gave me a wry smile, her fingers dancing over the denim on my thigh. “Of course you would pick up on that.”
“I’m a jerk like that.” I frowned. “If we’re going to talk about past people we dated or didn’t date, you know Daisy and I only hung out for a little while, right?”
She nodded, though I saw the tension sliding back into her. I hated being the one to do that.
“It was more of friends figuring out what we wanted, and it wasn’t real.”
“But you were having sex. Andgoodsex according to Daisy. Because she went into detail.” At my widened eyes, she continued. “Daisy is one of my best friends. Practically my sister versus my cousin. Of course we tell each other everything.”
I winced. “I don’t really want to know any more, do I?”
“She was very supportive.” Her voice was its most prim and proper.
I threw my head back and laughed, thoughts of what exactly had been said filling my mind and honestly terrifying me. “Dear God. Women really do talk abouteverything, don’t they?”
“Maybe.” She held up her hands a little over ten inches apart, grinning far too widely for my taste.
I ran my hand over my face. “Aria Montgomery.”
“What?”
“Please do not tell any more of your family members the size of my dick.”
She burst out laughing. “I will do my best not to. Although Daisy knows.”
“Daisy is married, and not going to talk about my dick anymore. At least I hope not.”
“No, there’s a code. She only talks about her husband’s dick.” At my look, she grinned. “No, she keeps that dick to herself. Don’t worry.”
“I think I should be worried.” I cleared my throat. “Lex doesn’t know what my dick looks like either.” I paused. “No, wait, that’s wrong.”
Aria had just taken a sip of her soda and spewed it over the table. “What? I thought you said you and Lex were just friends.”
“There are showers at the gym. And we have peed next to each other. At a urinal. Outside. Camping. And a group of us skinny dipped in the lake once. So I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a few Montgomery dicks. But not in a fun way.” I did my best to keep a smile off my face, but at her wide eyes, I couldn’t help but grin.
“We’ve said the word dick a lot.”
My shoulders shook. “We can talk about cock if you want. Or penis. What innuendo would you like?”
She studied my face, her smile softening. “I like you like this. Laughing and smiling. You don’t do it often enough.”
“You haven’t recently either.” I reached for a chip even though I wasn’t hungry anymore. “It feels weird to think about ever even being with Daisy. Or people thinking I’m with Lex. They are family.”
