“Are you seriously gonna make me come back home?”
“What? Why?”
“To beat the shit out of you. How can you be so smart and so dumb at the same time?”
“What?”
“Close your eyes and take one fucking second to think about how you really feel about Marc. About why you’re so insecure with this whole situation that you had to text me to talk about it.”
“I…” Chris leaned forward again, resting his elbows on his knees and ruffling his hair. “I have no idea what I feel about him. But it’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I’ve never cared if my hookups were seeing someone else or been overly possessive when doing threesomes, either…”
“And you still don’t see the difference?”
“No. I mean, I do, but it’s not like it’s that much different from when you suddenly meet someone new and won’t stop talking about them.”
Leah raised a brow. “What?”
“I don’t know why the fuck it happens, okay? But I hate thinking of you calling anyone elseyour bestie, so I get overprotective and judgy.”
“Awww…”
“Stop it.”
“Sorry.” She giggled. “That’s actually sweet, considering it’s you saying it. But if it makes you feel any better, no one will ever take your place, Chris. You’re my person.”
“You’re mine, too.”
“I better be, or I’ll be the one going over-the-top ogre on you.” She laughed. “So, anyway, is it really just sex with Marc?” she said, her tone skeptical. “Because the way I’ve seen you look at each other sometimes…”
Chris gnawed at his bottom lip. “Well, um… I like it when he—”No, fuck that, I’m not talking about this.
“When he what?” Leah pressed.
“Forget it. It’s super cheesy.”
The ghost of a grin appeared on Leah’s face. “I’m even more curious now. What is it you like him doing that is so cheesy it makes you blush?”
“I’m gonna hang up.” Chris scoffed.
“No! Tell me. I promise I won’t call you cute or tease you about it.”
Chris grumbled and huffed some more, glaring at her through the screen before he finally spoke. “I’ve never slept with anyone after having sex with them, but after the first time with James, I kinda… needed it?”
“And?”
“Nothing. I hugged him and he grabbed my hand. We fell asleep like that. It was sweet, and it felt right.”
“It sounds like it.”
“And after that night, we kept doing it. It was nice feeling like more than a piece of meat.”
“Says the man who has never treated women as such.” Leah rolled her eyes.
“They knew what they were getting themselves into. I never lie about my intentions.”
“Touché.”
Silence lingered between them for a few seconds as the noise inside Chris’s head became almost unbearable. Wincing, he rested his phone against a dragon statue he had on the coffee table and pressed the mound of his hands to his eyes.
