Page 51 of Hide and Seek
“Your feelings?” Izzy mutters beside me. “As far as I was aware, there’s only one new dick bouncing around Harper’s face, and here I am finding out there could be two.”
“Oh shut up,” I laugh. “There is only one new dick in the picture. I just meant that it’s so fantastically massive that it would be criminal for it not to take out both first and second place.”
“I . . . I’m still offended,” Laith mutters. “In the very least, I should be holding on to third. You haven’t even thought about Big and Long Schlong number one in years. I think he should be the one demoted. Not me. After all, I’m the one putting in all the work.”
Izzy scoffs. “From what I’ve heard, you’re going to have to up your game. You’ve been slacking, and while your new loyalty card remains unpunched, someone else has been taking our girl to pound town.”
“Let him,” Laith scoffs. “She always comes running back when she realizes nobody does it better than me.”
Forgetting I’m on camera, my face twists, knowing that while Laith is certainly a high achiever, he could never compare to how it was with Knight. Even how it was with my stalker in my bedroom. It was certainly strange, but there’s no denying just how intense it was.
“What the hell was that look for?” Laith demands, a hint of panic surging through his stare. “Don’t tell me this new guy puts it down better than I do.”
I cringe again, and Laith looks horrified. “No. That’s not possible. Nobody gives it to you like I do.” Laith pauses a moment, shaking his head as though he can’t possibly believe what he’s hearing. “I need to sit down.”
“You’ll always be my . . . second favorite.”
“What was that pause?” he demands. “Why’d you pause like that? What’s there to think about? Is there . . . Is there another favorite above me and this new guy?”
“No. Not above the new guy,” I clarify.
“Oh sure,” he scoffs. “So just potentially above me then?”
A laugh bubbles up my throat, and I watch as Laith strides through his apartment, taking me into the kitchen where he helps himself to a drink, all while shaking his head.
“You’re buzzed, aren’t you?” he questions, and that playful tone in his voice shifts to something a little more serious, prompting me to walk back out to the living room where we can have just a scrap of privacy.
“Sure am,” I tell him, more than feeling myself right now.
“This new guy,” he says, a slight edge to his tone, but something I can’t quite place. Jealousy maybe? “Is it anything serious? Do we need to pump the brakes for a minute? I don’t want to overstep if you’re starting something good.”
A soft smile pulls at my lips, loving the way he cares about what’s best for me. “I love you, Laith. You know that, right?” I tell him. “But to be honest, with this new guy, it’s complicated. If anything, it’s probably just fun. It can’t progress into anything more than that, even if there might be real feelings there. I just—” I cut myself off and let out a heavy sigh. “We still good?”
“Always good, tiger,” he murmurs. “Let me know when you figure it out. I’d hate to lose you in that way, but I want everything for you.”
“Right back at ya,” I say as a dorky smile pulls across my lips.
Laith messes around with something off camera, and a moment later, I see a little card appear on the screen. “I suppose getting this printed was pointless,” he says as I lean in a little closer to make out what’s on the card, only to find the wordsDick-Me-Down Loyalty Cardat the top, and ten perfect squares below.
“You didn’t?” I gasp, laughing.
“Of course I did.”
A howling laugh tears out of me, and I shake my head, more than impressed with his dedication to the cause. “Don’t get rid of that too soon,” I tell him. “Who knows how long it’ll be before I’m knocking on your door again.”
Laith grins. “Oh, I know you’ll be back,” he says, making a show of putting the loyalty card right back into his wallet to keep safe. “But listen, tiger. If a heart needs to be broken, make sure it’s not yours.”
“My heart’s not capable of breaking. You know that.”
He rolls his eyes. “I’ll let you go. Don’t be a stranger. And don’t write yourself off tonight. Be safe.”
“Hey,” I rush out before he goes. “Have you ever thought that maybe you and I, one day in the future—”
“Might end up together?” he finishes for me. I nod, and he muses his response before finally giving it to me. “I’ve wonderedabout it before, but I also think that if something were going to develop between us, it would have happened by now. I love you, tiger. We have amazing chemistry, both physically and emotionally, but we’re friends. I think that’s where we shine.”
“I think so too,” I tell him. “But if we get to fifty years old and we’re still playing this game, put me out of my misery and just marry me so I don’t die all alone.”
Laith laughs. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
