Page 95 of Just for Fun
“You friend doesn’t have a very good impression of me,” she murmurs.
“Who? Alex?” I wave her off. “He’s an idiot. He doesn’t like anyone. You should ask Hayden about it. He treated her like garbage when we all first met her.”
“He thinks I’m plain.” The words are so soft, I can barely hear them. “I’m not good enough for you.”
“Babe, Alex doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground. He is always worried that someone is after his money, and now he is worried that everyone is after our money, too. That’s why he thought Hayden was with Ray for his millions, and…”
“Millions?” Her eyes bug out of her head.
“But!” I put a finger up, happy to further explain. “He didn’t know that Hayden’s wealth was in the billions, with a b. So he made an ass of himself.”
Zara swallows and looks away.
“This is a very different world than the one I live in,” she tells me. “Do you have millions, too?” she acts point blank.
I never discuss how much money I have or don’t have, especially with anyone I have sex with. The only person who is allowed to know about my business is my financial advisor, and he’s cool.
“I have a few,” I now tell Zara, shocking myself with it.
She doesn’t look as impressed as I was hoping. Instead, she bobs her head up and down a few times, licking her lips continuously.
“It’s a good thing that we’re only temporary,” she finally says. “I would never fit in.”
I remain quiet because I don’t know what to say. I can’t believe she still doesn’t think of us as a couple.
We’re temporary.
TWENTY-NINE
Zara
I’ve never been calledplain to my face. Not that I ever had any illusions of being beautiful. But to hear the words said so matter-of-factly… it hurt.
The world that Kyle and his friends live in is not real, not for me at least. They all seem to have money while pretending like they’re average. There’s nothing average about them, and it’s more obvious the more time I spend with them.
On the positive side, Kyle was right. The girls of the group are awesome, and I like them all. There’s Evie, who owns a flower shop. She is very nice and funny, maybe a little ditzy, but totally in love with her man, Cal.
Evie’s best friend is Carrie, whose boyfriend is friends with all the guys as well.
Part of the group is the groom, Ray, who brought into the fold the bride, Hayden. They all seem to love her, and everyone gets along great.
Hayden became good friends with Ray’s father’s fiancée, Shannen. She and Bryan, Ray’s father, are visiting from Florida, and she has all sorts of funny stories from there.
Everyone is laughing and having a good time. With every moment that passes, it becomes more obvious that I am the outsider. And I don’t necessarily think it’s them, because they are making a real effort to get to know me, pull me into their conversations, laugh with me.
In the end though, I am just being me. Apparently, I have no personality, and I am not capable of having meaningful relationships in my life, other than with my mom and my brother, of course.
But even they seem to want to have their own lives where they don’t constantly have to worry about me and my wellbeing.
“Kyle let you out of his sight?”
I jump when I hear the voice, recognizing it to be Alex’s. For someone claiming to be Kyle’s best friend, he sure acted weird toward him all night long.
“Kyle went to grab me a water,” I explain.
Alex walks over and leans against the banister of the balcony I am on. It overlooks a beautiful pond where swans swim freely in the water. The lawn around it is perfectly cut, and I smile when I hear a couple of kids playing out there.
“You don’t seem to enjoy Kyle’s friends’ company very much,” Alex comments in a casual tone.
