“Really?” Luka asked with a scowl. “He’s not a fortune teller.”
“Fortune tellers are scam artists; so far, he’s a lot better than some weirdo waving crystals around incense and fucking with a deck of cards with pretty pictures on them,” Clay said excitedly. “C’mon.”
“Fine,” I said with a laugh, tickled by his enthusiasm and caught up in it because it was making him forget his playboy mentality for a moment. “Luka....hmmm.”
“Okay, how were you so quick with Cade, but you’re having to think for me?” Luka asked with a weary sigh. “You know me better than either of them.”
“I have to put all the pieces together in my head,” I said, tapping the table and nodding. “For companionship? You need someone who operates strictly at the same level as you; there can’t be any power plays or imbalances whatsoever. You need to feel completely equal; you wouldn’t want to feel like you hadmore power. You’d like someone who isn’t judgmental or harsh; you need someone who can at least bite their tongue, if not have compassion to the same degree you do. You also enjoy someone who’d test you, push you, and focus you. Sexually? More or less the same, but you’re definitely a bottom, and you probably love a forceful but not rough top.”
“Wow,” Clay said with a laugh as Luka stared at me. “Straight up called him out.”
“Oh, right, top,” I added, pointing toward Cade, and then moved my finger toward Clay. “Versatile, but top leaning.”
“That one kinda feels like cheatin’,” Cade said with a chuckle. “With how he acts.”
“There are plenty of bossy or aggressive bottoms, let me tell you,” I chuckled.
“So, how did he do?” Clay asked Luka, who glared at him.
“I didn’t need to get called out like that, but yeah, he did good,” Luka said with a sigh. “And get that look off your face, Clay. I’m not going to talk about whether it's accurate for someone I’m dating because I know better than to confirm I’m dating someone. After all, you’re all a bunch of gossips.”
“Definitely datin’ someone,” Cade said, making Luka sigh and Clay laugh.
“Alright, me now,” Clay said, wiggling in his seat.
I stared at him for a moment before grimacing. “You’re not going to like what I have to say.”
“Oh, it can’t be any worse than the shrinks around here say,” Clay said, but if he thought I missed the uncertainty that flashed over his face, then he was crazy.
“You like it when people give you a hard time, and don’t make that a cheap joke,” I said, and he closed his mouth. “Sexually, you crave someone willing to sleep with you and who looks good.”
“Wow!” Clay said with a shake of his head. “Bitch.”
I smiled. “I’m kidding. You will sleep with someone just because they’re good-looking and willing, but really, you want a partner as enthusiastic as you are. I suspect that you’re vanilla deep down. Still, you’re more than comfortable with someone’s kinks or interests so long as they don’t get into territory that grosses you out or makes you uncomfortable. I also suspect that despite your obvious search for multiple sex partners, you prefer to return to people you’ve gotten along with in the past and have already slept with rather than constantly going after someone new. And I don’t know if it’s because you’re kinder than you let on, or for the sake of your ego, but either way, you’d definitely get off on pleasuring your partner, more than you worry about your own pleasure.”
“Huh, I dunno if that’s right, but it does kinda sound like ’em,” Cade said thoughtfully, looking at Clay, who was staring at me with an unreadable expression. “What do ya think, Clay?”
Clay stared at me for a few more seconds before his expression cleared and the cocky smirk he wore so well slipped back into place. “Definitely could charge people for that, far more accurate than any psychic...and more honest too.”
“And it wasn’t nearly as bad as he made it out to be,” Luka said with a laugh. “I thought he was going to be brutal. Not sure how I feel about you liking it when people give you a hard time, though, since Cade and me give you shit all the time.”
“That’s different,” I said, and noticed the way Clay peered at me.
“What makes you say that?” Clay asked in a light voice I didn’t trust for a moment. Something was going on in that head of his, and I hadn’t figured out what it was yet.
“Cade gives you shit because he’s your friend and that’s how he shows you affection, just like you intentionally say things you know will make him roll his eyes,” I said, grinning when Cade chuckled in agreement. “Which is kind of cute because you bothclearly care about each other a great deal, but you choose to be a shit rather than show it, and Cade would rather give you hell than show it outwardly.”
“Damn,” Luka choked into his glass of juice. “Going for the throat?”
“And Luka,” I said, ignoring him to finish my explanation. “Luka shoots you down in a way you know means he wouldn’t come near your naked body unless he had to save your life. You think it’s funny to get a rise out of him, but let’s be honest, with how fussy he can be about your sexual innuendos, that’s like shooting fish in a barrel with a shotgun.”
“My throat now?” Luka asked in outrage.
I chuckled. “You like it when I give you shit because you’re still interested in me sexually, and while I’ve shot you down repeatedly, and even outright said no, there’s still a part of you that’s wondering if there’s still some flirtation on my part. And if there is? Well, wouldn’t that mean you have a chance? So, you like it when I give you hell because it feels like foreplay to you, and you like that someonemightbe interested in sleeping with you but isn’t willing to give it up easily. In short, you like it from Cade because that’s your friendship love language, you like it when Luka does it because it amuses you, and you like it when I do it because it turns you on.”
Cade gave another laugh that, unsurprisingly, drew the attention of everyone still in the cafeteria. “God, that’s so good. That’s a neat little trick ya got there. Ya managed to do what people always have a hard time doin’. Shuttin’ Clay up.”
Clay glared at him. “You’re the worst friend ever.”
