I glanced at Jinx, noticing the way his jaw clenched. I was in agreement. The guy was a douche. Any man lucky enough to be in her company should’ve been riveted by her beauty, not coming up with ways to change her.
“What happened to him?”
“I broke it off when he took his drunk ex-girlfriend home that night.”
“You caught him cheating?”
She laughed. “No. Didn’t have to. He was pretty upfront about his feelings based on the way he drooled around her. She was the one who invited us to the party. He claims she’s now his best friend. He texted the next day like nothing had happened. I told him it was better this way.”
She didn’t seem fazed by the fact a guy she was dating had been with another woman. I figured it wasn’t the time to tell her that the guy’s breakup with his girl was merely a ruse. Wes Carver had been in a serious relationship with Chastity Moore. That had remained the case even after Wes started dating Laikyn. I knew because Red Wally had been monitoring the situation after Monica set Laikyn up with guy #2. At that point, Jinx and I figured Monica had learned of the stipulations of the trust, and her plan was to marry her daughter off.
“How’d you meet him?” I asked.
“My mother introduced us. He’s the son of her plastic surgeon.”
“Did you like him?”
“Not really, no. I mean, he was nice. And by that, I mean he was simple. I didn’t have to think too hard to be around him.” Laikyn shrugged. “I was only trying to fuck him, anyway. What about you two? Any girlfriends going to come around trying to get you back?”
“Never had one.”
Her eyebrows slowly rose toward her hairline. “Never?”
“No.”
“But you’ve dated.”
She knew I had because I told her about myfirstfirst date when we went to dinner the other night. Since it wasn’t a question, I didn’t respond, waiting for her next question. I didn’t have to wait long.
“You?” she asked Jinx directly.
He shook his head.
“Have you ever been in love?”
Jinx’s gaze dropped to his plate as he answered with another shake of his head.
When Laikyn looked at me, I said, “No.”
“Ever loved anyoneat all?”
I could tell she was trying to get to the root of whatever problem she thought I had. It would’ve been easy to tell her that I’d loved someone once, but that was a mistake I didn’t intend to make again. I’d wrongly believed I could find a home, a place where I belonged, perhaps parents who wanted me. After the fourth foster home, I realized that was an impossibility, although, at the time, I thought I was fitting in, that they were welcoming me with open arms. That was until I overheard the foster mother telling my social worker I was unlovable.
I told Laikyn none of those things because they didn’t matter. I didn’t live my life intending to find someone to love me. It wasn’t going to happen, so why bother?
“No,” I said simply, then turned my full attention to finishing my food.
“Want to go for a swim when we’re done?” Laikyn prompted, glancing between the two of us.
“Sure.”
Clearly, she was changing the subject for my benefit. I couldn’t help wondering how often she’d had to do that in her life. Switch things up because her curiosity went too far. I liked that she asked questions. I liked that she wanted to know things about people. I spent so much time around people who kept their personal details to themselves. Rhyan was the only one who talked about her past, her present, even her future. Sometimes to the point of too much information, but she was the only one comfortable talking about personal shit.
As for Jinx. I knew his story because his story had collided with mine long ago. We didn’t classify whatever this was, nor did we feel the need to. It simply was.
Twenty minutes later, after I’d taken our empty dishes to the kitchen, I returned to the patio to find Laikyn wading into the swimming pool. She was naked, every curve outlined by the night and backlit by the lights in the pool. I had never seen a more stunning creature in my life.
But it wasn’t only her physical beauty that ensnared me. I liked her outlook on life. For whatever reason, we had a connection. Although her mother had raised her, I got the sense that Laikyn had abandonment issues that mirrored my own. Although she’d never had to worry about shelter or food, Laikyn had looked after herself because her mother’s attention rarely strayed beyond her own needs.
