“What?”
“Do you want something to?—”
“Calvin sent you?” I ask, through clenched teeth. That son of a bitch.
“Yeah, to get your order.”
“Ellie, uncover your eyes, there’s nothing to see,” I snap, not meaning to take my anger out on her. I want to throttleCalvin. He knew exactly what he was sending her to walk in on.
She peeks through her fingers. When she sees me dressed, she drops her hand. It’s not like she hasn’t already seen everything anyway.
“So…do you want food?” she repeats, not looking the least bit embarrassed or pissed about what she just walked in on. No hint of blush on her sharp cheekbones. Then again, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her shy or embarrassed.
“Fuck yeah, I’m starving.” I hop up, and Ellie trails after me. I stalk past Calvin with a glare, shoulder-checking him. I’ll deal with him later.
“The guys are this way.” Ellie points down the sidewalk.
I continue in the opposite direction, leaving her no choice but to follow. “I want tacos. Where can we get tacos at this hour?” I wonder out loud.
“Well, there’s a Taco Bell two blocks away. Paco’s Tacos around the corner and…”
I spin around and she bumps into me. She looks up from her phone at the same time I glance down at her screen. She’s pulled up the Google results for nearest tacos.
“What’s Paco’s Tacos?” I click on the tab, and we both wait for the page to load. We scroll through the menu and decide to check it out.
It’s a small, colorful joint with sombreros hanging everywhere and Mariachi music playing in the background. My stomach rumbles as the smell of sizzling onions, peppers, and grilled meat hits my nose, reminding me I haven’t eaten in hours. Ellie grabs us a table in the corner while I walk up to the counter and order a little bit of everything, then join her.
“You ordered for me?” She cocks a sassy eyebrow.
I shrug. “I know what you like.”
She tucks her plush lips—ones that are the perfect size for kissing and cock sucking—between her teeth and smiles. She doesn’t try to deny it. She knows as well as I do we were goodtogether—in the bedroom. Or the car, or alley; anywhere as long as it was me between her thighs.
It was the other stuff that got complicated. I could feel her getting attached. Of course, she never said that, but I knew. It was in the way she would linger longer after hookups, cuddle me at night like she didn’t want to let go, the way she’d text me about her day. The way I’d catch her staring at me with stars in her eyes like I was something special. I’m not.
I thought we were on the same page, but she wanted more. When she proposed exclusive friends with benefits, I freaked out and ghosted her. It was a dick move, especially since I knew I couldn’t actually hide from her. Our best friends were falling in love.
I knew we’d have to face each other eventually. I hid as long as I could, and she let me. She never tried hunting me down, and when we saw each other again, she pretended I didn’t exist. Then Penn went and punched Olivia’s ex-boyfriend, and the blood from his nose caused Ellie to faint. I helped nurse her back to health, and it seemed like she forgave me after that.
Since then, we’ve been friends, only cashing in on the benefits a few times, but that was a while ago. We’re strictly on business terms now.
The guy brings our food to the table, and we chow down on the assortment of tacos and salsa. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your…you know,” Ellie says, crunching on a chip.
I wave her off, shoveling a chicken taco down my throat in one bite. They’re smaller than my hand. I don’t bother telling her that Calvin set her up to see me like that. He probably just wanted to stir shit up.
Besides, it’s no secret I’ve been hooking up with groupies. Or trying to, anyway. Just as I’m sure Ellie’s getting her rocks off. I’ve caught her flirting with the crew members at venues. I assume her hotel bed hasn’t been cold this whole time.Thankfully, I haven’t had to see it, so I can pretend otherwise. Ignorance is, in fact, bliss.
8
ELLIE
As soon asI’m in my room, I FaceTime Liv. She answers on the second ring.
“Hey.”
“Oh my God,” I start. “Guess what just happened?” I lay the phone on the bed as I kick my heels off, unzip my black slacks, and yank my blouse over my head.
“What?” she asks. She’s curled up on the couch, a ball of yarn in her hand.
