“Mhm, I would expect this from your dirty dick friend, but you, Arnold?” Evie says, looking between Arnold and Christian with disgust.
“My dick’s clean,” Christian rebuts. “But yeah, bruh, I wouldn’t even do that shit,” he says to Arnold.
“Yes the fuck you would,” Evie argues.
“Shut up!” Ri screams at the top of her lungs. Everyone’s eyes cut over to her. Evie plants her hands on her hips, daring Ri to say something else she doesn’t like. “Everyone shut up. You’re all just feeding into Janelle’s lies.”
Arnold tips his head to the ceiling, seeking strength from a higher power, I guess.
“So I’m a liar, Arnold? Is that what we’re doing now?”
He rubs his hand down his face. “Fuck,” he drags out the word.
The rise and fall of Rome’s chest becomes so erratic, I know I’m losing my hold on him. He’s clenching his fist so tight I can hear the bandage stretching beyond its capacity.
“He touched you,”he says, his voice low and gravelly in my ear. It’s not a question. Unlike my own sister, Rome wouldn’t question me on something like this. He knows I’m telling the truth and he’s trying to figure out how he’s going to handle it.
“He tried to kiss me. I slapped him and got him out of my room.” A deep snarl escapes his throat.
“Ugh!” Ri lets out a banshee cry, having heard my response to Rome. “Stop saying that, it’s not true.”
She’s determined to be delusional and I’m not interested in being the one to coax her back down to reality. If she’s happy in her fantasy land, so be it.
“You got it, Ri. I’ll stop. Are we done here?”
Everyone’s voices keep buzzing around in my head, whispering their two cents and protests. I rub firm circles into my temples, trying to keep the impending headache at bay.
She huffs. “I’m so done with you. I can’t believe you betrayed my trust for a fling.”
“Betrayedyourtrust?” My hands fall to my sides. “That’s it. Everyone out. Everyone get out now.” She can spin the story however she wants to everyone later. When I leave this seat, I will have freed myself from her for good.
“You gonna be okay?” Rome asks. I take a moment to study him. I can feel his chest buzzing with ire. His eyes are drilling into the depths of Arnold’s soul and yet instead of jumping at the chance to confront him like I know he wants to, he waits to see if I need him more. I keep telling myself these past two weeks have been too good to be true. I’m so used to being slowly drained dry that the feeling of someone breathing life into me is a foreign concept.
Leaning my forehead against his, I close my eyes and breathe him in. “I’m gonna be just fine. Are you?”
“Depends on what he has to say.”
“You’ve hit your quota on the number of guys you can send to the hospital, okay? I was joking about the dark romance thing.”
He laughs as he stands from the couch, keeping his gaze on me as he moves toward our lingering friends. “That’s to be discussed at the next book club, J.”
“The book club of just you and I?”
“Who else do we need?”
“Damn, how did I miss them being all lovey-dovey like that?” Christian questions.
Evie shoves him in the chest. “Get your nosy ass outta here.” She continues pushing him until they’re out of sight.
A lifetime seems to pass before Ri and I so much as blink. Neither one of us wants to concede power to the other, but since I no longer feel the need to control the outcome, I decide to break the silence.
The moment I open my mouth, however, it’s Ri’s words that come out first. “Why do you have to have everything?”
She’s a lot less brazen now. Her shoulders are slumped forward in defeat. Her downcast eyes are void of any fight.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You couldn’t just let me have one thing. You had to prove to everyone that not only could you have my soon-to-be husband if you wanted, but you could have his best friend as well. Who’s next? Micah? Christian? Hell, why don’t you go for Arnold’s dad? That’ll really show him.”
