Page 14 of Good at Being Bad (Rock Canyon, Idaho 8)

He finished undressing and stepped into the hot stream, thinking about Ellie and that night at Buck’s. He’d been sitting at the bar, drinking too much and feeling sorry for himself. When Ellie had approached him, he hadn’t been thinking about anything except that women sucked.

Yeah, he said it. They sucked hard sometimes.

So, he was pissed and drunk, and she’d come up to him with her hair curling down over her shoulders. Her eyes had danced in the low bar lights and she’d smiled seductively at him as she’d leaned onto the bar.

“Wanna buy me a drink, Mike?”

He could have politely declined or even just bought her the drink and left it at that.

Instead, he’d humiliated her.

Mike paused with his hands in his sudsy hair. He’d hurt and embarrassed her by calling her a dumb kid; she’d just been returning the favor tonight.

They were even.

As he crawled into bed ten minutes later, he decided it was about time to bury the hatchet with Miss Ellie Willis. Maybe they could start over with a clean slate and no more drama.

For either of them.

Ellie walked into the entryway of her sister Val’s house, dropping her keys in the basket.

“I’m home!” she called out, waiting for Jenny to answer. There was only silence, though.

When Val had decided to move in with Justin over two years ago, she’d allowed Jenny and Ellie to rent her place. The women had been really happy in the two-bedroom, two-bath home. Jenny was shy and introverted, while Ellie enjoyed being social, although less so lately. Still, the two were good friends, probably besties, despite their three-year age difference.

Ellie made her way into the kitchen to find Jenny sound asleep on her laptop keyboard, snoring slightly. Her blonde hair was in a lopsided bun, with strands of hair escaping. Off to the side were a giant cup of coffee only half-drunk and an open package of powdered donuts.

She grinned and pulled out her cell, taking a video of her friend snoring with a white ring around her mouth. Perfect blackmail for the next time they rented a movie and Jenny wanted to watch something nerdy.

Stuffing her phone back into her pocket, she wiggled her friend’s shoulder gently. “Jen, hey, wake up.”

Jenny shot up, her blue eyes blurry and the indention of the keyboard marring her cheek.

“What? I’m awake.”

“Yeah, you looked it. Come on, honey, let’s go to bed.”

Jenny yawned and stretched. “I can’t. I’ve still got to finish this paper.”

Ellie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, cause you were getting a lot done before I came in and woke you up. It’s due on Tuesday, right? That means you have tomorrow and Monday to finish.” Ellie hauled Jenny out of the chair and gently guided her out of the kitchen. “Better you get some sleep and start fresh tomorrow.”

“Okay, you’ve convinced me.” Jenny stopped in her doorway with a smile. “By the way, how was your night? Meet any hot guys?”

“Nope. Dale Ranney showed up to surprise me, but took off.”

“Why? I thought he was really into you.”

Ellie avoided her curious gaze and in a high, innocent voice said, “Reasons.”

Jenny’s face snapped into a scowl. “What did you do?”

“I may have gone off on Mike Stevens about being sexist in the middle of Buck’s, and Dale thought I was out of line.”

Actually, Dale had thought that there was something going on with her and Mike and when she’d denied it, he hadn’t believed her. Oh well, she wasn’t into him anyway.

Jenny leaned her face against the doorjamb with a groan. “Why are you so hung up on destroying Mike? He said one thing to you, and honestly, it isn’t even half as bad as some of the other insults people have hurled at you.”

“Gee, thanks. You’re such a good friend.”

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