Page 90 of Not Dating Material

I cross my arms and huff. “Fuck Pilot Markie.”

Xander laughs. “He’s the sweet, kinda nerdy sidekick, who’s dumb as fuck but in a golden retriever way. Other than the dumb-as-fuck thing, you remind me of him. A little.”

“I’m not nerdy.”

“No, it’s … the vibe. This wholesome, cheery, boost-everyone-up thing. Seven likes that, I think.”

“I see myself very different to you.”

“How do you see yourself?”

“Like … a blister. Painful, popping up in unwanted places, and no one wants to deal with me.”

“Whoa. No. Rejected.”

I give him a perplexed look. “What is?”

“You can’t be as broken as the rest of us. I won’t let you. You’re my who I wanna be when I grow up.”

“I’m a year older than you.”

“Exactly. This time next year, I want to be happy and positive and shit rainbows toooo.”

“I think you’re setting yourself up to fail. Shitting rainbows is something I was born with.”

He sighs dramatically. “Well, there goes that idea. Though, you should probably see a doctor about that condition.”

“Maybe I’ll book in with your nurse.”

Xander almost swoons. “You should. He’s amazing.”

“Cute too.”

“Yup. Makes having to see him so much more embarrassing.” He plays with one of his gold-painted nails.

“What do you do if he’s not working?”

“Haven’t had to deal with that yet, thank fuck.”

Considering they’ve been going there for a while and Xander’s attacks can be frequent, that’s a huge fucking coincidence. I can only hope that his luck holds. And that if Derek isn’t there, it’s not one of the times I’m with him because I’d have no goddamn clue how to handle that.

“Speaking of dates …” Xander says. “How did the painting with Seven go?”

My lips twitch, but I’m determined to keep what happened to myself. Not because I give a shit about the house rules on not hooking up with each other but because it’s up to Seven to tell Xander. I don’t want to overstep in their friendship.

“It was good.”

“The messy canvas you left behind says otherwise. All I could smell was sweat and cum when I picked it up. The hormones were practically airborne. I could have caught something.”

I cringe. “No idea what you’re talking about, but I went back the next morning to clean it all up, and you’d already been there. So. Umm. Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Xander tugs his glossy bottom lip between his teeth. “I wanted to do it.”

I roll my eyes. “You’re such a perve.”

“Did he fuck you?”

“Nothing happened.”

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