Page 14 of You're so Bad

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Delia says, giving me a little Mona Lisa smile.

“No, we’re pretty sure he wants to bang you,” Mira adds. She’s been watching us with her stool pushed back, her feet kicked up on the bar top.

My mind shoots back to that two point five score card from my dream. I’m tempted to tell them, but it feels like I’d be giving too much away.

“Having sex with him would be a bad idea,” I say, because that much I know is true.

“Probably,” Mira says, swinging her feet down and leaning forward against the bar, “but let’s be honest, it would be a good time.”

The fluttering in my belly agrees with her.

“How long has it been for you?” Delia asks softly.

“Nine months.”

While the breakup with Colter was eight months ago, we hadn’t had sex in weeks. Possibly because he was already with Bianca.

Rubbing the bridge of my nose, I turn to Mira. “Okay, your turn,” I say. “You said you’d play story hour if I did.”

“Ugh, fine.” She waves a hand through the air. “I need to find a place to live. My boyfriend and I broke up weeks ago, and we’re still living in the same tiny-ass apartment. It’s becoming toxic. I poured lemon juice in his milk after he labeled itByron’s milk. I mean, seriously, did he intend to drink a whole carton of milk by himself? He was just being a dick.”

My mouth drops open. “I didn’t even know you had a boyfriend.”

She shrugs. “Because it was over before we met. Like I said, I’m stuck with him. You know how hard it is to find an affordable place to live in this city. I think I’m going to start sleeping at the bar.”

I glance around at all the color and glitter. “If you managed to fall asleep in this place, you’d certainly have interesting dreams.”

“You see my conundrum. Our mother offered to let me stay with her, but—”

“She’s not the most supportive person,” Delia finishes.

She’s overly charitable in her character assessments, so this probably means their mother is Satan reborn.

“You could live with Lucas and me,” Delia offers. I get the sense it’s not the first time she’s said it.

“Yes, there’s nothing newly single people love better than to live with people who are wildly in love. I’m going through mylove sucksphase, thank you very much.” She nudges her mostly empty drink. “This is a Love Sucks, and let me tell you, it is dee-licious.”

“You’re encouraging me to have sex with Leonard,” I point out.

“Yes,” she says. “Fuck the living daylights out of that hot piece of ass. Just don’t fall in love with him.Thatwould be a mistake.”

I look at Delia, who surprises me by shrugging. “Undecided. Like I said, I really do think he’s a good guy.”

“But what solid facts do you know about him? He seems pretty closed-off.”

“You know the part about Lucas’s parents, right?”

“I do.”

Mostly because she’s told me a little about it, and my grandmother has told me a lot. The Burkes made an irresponsible decision that killed some people, and instead of manning up and admitting it, they arranged for an innocent man to take the fall and then threw a bunch of money at the problem to make it go away. Solid folks. They drove Leonard out of town because he knew their secret, and he stayed away because they’d paid him off.

Again, solid guy.

Apparently, he’d even changed his name to stay hidden. To me, that doesn’t speak of a good guy or someone who has a clear conscience. Is it any wonder I don’t trust him?

I wrap the thought around me like it’s armor.

“Leonard’s a mystery,” she says softly.

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