Jodie leaned into my ear. “An employee thing, huh? And yet I don’t see him staring at Grace like that.”
I flashed my eyes to hers, the heat blossoming on my face. “What? No, don’t be silly.”
Georgie frowned. “I wouldn’t mess around with either of them. I don’t think he killed that girl like everyone says,” she paused looking at me, “I assume you’ve already heard?” I nodded. “But they’re both bad news.”
I couldn’t help but ask, “How so?”
She leaned in. “They’re assholes. I saw Karson ram a guy into a wall once, and he almost choked him to death. Ethan had to pull him off. If he hadn’t, I think Karson would’ve killed him.”
He had a temper, but it didn’t make him a killer.
“They are assholes,” Jodie agreed, peering up at them under her long lashes. “Hot assholes. And every girl loves a bad boy.”
“What about the good guys?” BJ protested.
Jodie waved her hand. “Good guys are for marriage and having families with. But we’re far too young for that bullshit. The bad boys are for fun.”
Georgie gave her a subtle elbow in the side and looked pointedly at my ring. Jodie grimaced.
I choked down a mouthful of drink and pretended not to notice.
A tall blond guy dressed in a black fitted T-shirt with bulging arm muscles flashed me a smile. I smiled back to be polite and took another sip.
“You know, Amy, you’re going to have to be careful,” Georgie said, watching him. She shot her drink down like cordial. “Out in the real world, you’re hot. But in Church Heights, your hotness-scale escalates.”
“Yes.” Jodie sat her drink down and leaned forward, oddly excited again. “What’s your favorite sort of ice cream?”
I thought it was a strange question, and I shrugged. “Depends on my mood.”
“Okay, but if I asked you what you wanted to eat today, what would it be?”
“Mint chocolate chip.”
“Right, perfect.” She nodded, like that was an appropriate choice. “And why would you choose mint chocolate chip?”
“It’s sweet and leaves a fresh taste in your mouth.”
“Ah-huh.” She set her drink down. “Imagine that you have an ice cream store that only sells vanilla. Everyone likes vanilla, and there’s nothing wrong with vanilla, but it gets boring. Church Heights is like that.” She spread her arms out, indicating the room. “The girls in it are vanilla.” She paused to see if I followedher, and when I looked like I did, she added, “And you, Amy, are mint chocolate chip. Everyone will be lining up to taste the new flavor.”
“And that’s where we come in,” said Georgie, matching Jodie’s excitement. “We will be your wingmen. That guy you smiled at, Johnny, is a no-go. He’s a fail between the sheets. His body feels great beneath your fingers, but that’s where it ends.” She leaned forward, put one hand on the side of her mouth, and said in a hushed voice, “He has a really, really tiny dick, and wouldn’t know a clitoris if it jumped out and slapped him in the head.”
I threw a hand over my mouth to capture the horrified laughter which escaped my lips, glancing across at Johnny, who stood by the dance floor. He was looking at us like he knew we were talking about him, but from his smile, he had no idea the conversation was not in his favor.
I chuckled. “You guys are hardly vanilla.”
“Well, obviously we didn’t mean us,” Jodie said, sitting back and crossing her legs.
“We’re more like chocolate,” BJ chimed in, grinning.
“With nuts and cream,” Georgie added.
“We’re the whole fucking banana split,” Jodie said.
After that, the rest of the night went well. Georgie loved to talk, she could talk with a mouth full of bubble gum under water. She provided most of the conversation. I’d found out they were all born here, went to school together, and had been lifelong friends. Georgie was in her last year of nursing, with just the practical stage to finish and a final exam. She had a boyfriend called Jeff. He was away on a basketball scholarship but would be back soon for a few weeks.
Jodie lived with her excessively wealthy parents. Both were lawyers, and she drove a red Porsche and wore designer clothing. She didn’t know what to do with her life yet, but herparents wanted her to be a lawyer. She didn’t want to do that, but studied it slowly by distance to keep them happy. She had a boyfriend, Trent. They’d dated on and off for about six months. He was away studying and would be back soon as well.
Despite my initial reservations, there were no more awkward moments with BJ. He’d come home to help care for his sick grandmother, who’d passed away a few months back. He’d stayed to be with his mom, who’d taken her mother’s death hard. He would go back to his studies next year. He wanted to be a cop eventually.
