“I won’t be your next arrangement. And I mean it. Stop leaving those flowers on my doorstep, and stop sending me shit. It’s creepy.” She takes a deep breath and continues. “I could never be with someone who was with Lexi.”
Chapter 15
Eden
Two days after one of the weirdest interactions of my life, Cori slams a folder down in front of me. Selene reaches for it, but I grab it first.
After sleeping until about noon, I texted my girls to meet me at a local diner on the outskirts of town. Opening the file, I find what I’m looking for on the front page.
“Thanks.” I don’t say anything more while the waitress serves us our water. I’m only here today because my dad gave me two hundred dollars. He handed it to me in an envelope and left before I could look inside it.
“I’m about sick of this guy,” I whisper, refusing to say his name. “When I woke up the next day, a rose was there. Lunch was dropped off right at noon, and he sent groceries to me yesterday.” I tell my friends all the things he sent, from eggs and cheese to chicken, expensive cuts of beef, and vegetables.
Smiling, Selene rubs her hands together, as if anything I said was good. When I glare at her, she sobers.
“And did you see his address?” I open the file and point at it. “He lives in that old house that’s been abandoned since before we graduated high school.”
“So?” Selene says. “Who cares where he lives? He sounds so romantic.” She puts her hands under her chin and bats her eyelashes.
Cori snorts.
“Romantic, Selene? The man is a criminal who—”
“What are his crimes?” That simple question shuts me up because I don’t know the answer. “And you think what? Not getting involved with him will accomplish what? I’d take a man like him over one like my father any day. My dad treats my mother like a maid, and she takes it. He uses his pulpit to control and manipulate. This guy, the so-called ‘criminal,’” she puts criminal in air quotes, “sends you food and leaves you flowers. He cleaned your apartment and rubbed your feet. My dad thinks cleaning is a woman’s job and barely remembers my mother’s birthday. This criminal sought you out after work and gave you a ride home. He saved you from a rapist pig. My father would have said it was your fault for putting yourself in that position.” She sips her water, but puts it down, waves the waiter over, and orders a martini.
Cori puts her hand on Selene’s wrist and squeezes it.
“Okay, all valid points,” I say. “But you all forgot about the Lexi situation. Remember how she called his phone the other night to remind him about her pussy?” A shiver runs through me after uttering those words. I have to take a big gulp of water to stop myself from vomiting. “I’m not about to be with a man who was with her ass.” I make a face, and so do my friends. “I will not share dick with Alexis Carmichael.”
They both giggle, and the server returns with Selene’s cocktail.
“Unless you’re with a virgin, you’re sharing dick with somebody. It’s not like you guys will be sister girlfriends or anything.” Selene puts the drink down and gestures for us to come closer. “It was probably a situationship.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m trying to pay off my debt so I can move out of my parents’ house. I’m not going to make another mistake with a man. Honestly, I’m not looking for anything, and when I decide to start dating again, I’d want someone less feral.”
“Domesticated men are so lame, though,” Selene says. “But I get it.”
“Alright then, it’s decided. But what did you need his address for?” Cori asks.
“I’m going to return those damn roses to his doorstep, and you’re going to give me a ride, Cori.”
She raises her water glass and says, “Let’s show him who’s boss.”
“Are you going to throw up on his doorstep? That would serve him right.” Selene asks with a loud laugh.
Ignoring her, I stomp through the parking lot to get to Cori’s car.
“Remember when Devin’s girlfriend left that box of shit on your doorstep, Cori?”
“Can we not talk about my dumbass brother right now?” Cori responds.
After we finished lunch and asked for the check, I was informed that our bill had been taken care of. “And I like this benefit,” Selene mutters. “Let’s go for a seafood boil tomorrow.”
As I am waiting for Cori to unlock her car door, a tacky little sports car whizzes into the parking space next to the Explorer. I don’t pay any attention to it until the window rolls down, and I see Lexi’s face.
“Open the door, Cori,” I yell, but Lexi steps out.
She’s dressed like she’s going to a nightclub, and it’s only three in the afternoon. She’s wearing a tight, black dress with a long silver zipper down the front, stilettos, and a full face of makeup.
