Page 107 of Bring You Back

The guys in our group. We sure know how to pick ‘em.

I push to sitting and give Reyna my steadiest stare, a verbal twist of her arm. “You should talk to Julian about this. It’s him you need answers from, not me.”

She laughs through her nose, looks down at where her fingers play with the hem of her dress. “Yeah, if it were that easy, I would.”

My laugh matches hers. “Been there.”

She smiles at me—a connection. We’re on the same page. But I sense the relief that it’s not just her. That it’s me, specifically.

“So, what was your life like after you cut us off?” She changes the subject with a half tease. “Did you make any friends you like more than us? A boyfriend?”

Her questioning sounds less like casual conversation and more like she’s fishing for reassurance. She needs a better pole.

The answer to the first question: No. I didn’t like them more.

The answer to the second question: Also no. But I did lose my virginity. It wasn’t anything spectacular—I just wanted to get it over with, and the guy—Shawn, who I’d known off and on for a couple months—had a surface-level crush. One thing led to another, and I let him inside me. End of story.

I’m not telling this to Reyna, though. She’d ask an endless slew of more questions, and I’ll pass on that.

I give her the short answer. “No.”

Her face shifts to disappointment that I have no juice to squeeze, but she’s not as disappointed as I now feel about the music drifting in from the hall. It’s the beginning notes of one of my least favorite songs, and I’ve told myself that if I ever have to hear it again, I’m going to off whoever plays it. So,offI go, boots stomping through the hall, Reyna at my heels. Banks is still in the living room, shout-singing about how he doesn’t want to be all by himself.

“You will be if you don’t stop singing that damn song,” I shout at him as I come to a stop in the kitchen. Reyna stops beside me, the two of us watching him use the stereo remote as a microphone.

He sings it louder, and I’m tempted to throw my boot at him, but I don’t want to get it dirty again.

“A girl he’s into apparently told him she likes it,” Julian informs us from the island with an amused smile as he spreads butter onto a piece of toast. Beside the plate rests the old Banks-stained bottle of honey, and I smirk.

I scowl as I look back at Banks. “Sounds more like she shut you down.”

“Yeah,” Reyna agrees, her head cocked as she takes in the song. “Like she was trying to let you down easy.”

“No,” Banks disputes with a face. “She doesn’twantto be alone. Are you even listening to the song?”

“Unfortunately,” I mutter.

“I’m trying to memorize it so I can serenade her,” he says, but all I’m hearing underneath his blabber isblah, blah, blah. “She’s gonna be so impressed that I took the time to give her something she loves.Thenshe’ll have to give me something I love.” He waggles his brows,blah, blah, blah.

“You must like the taste of shit, because that’s all I hear spewing from your mouth. And stop egging him on,” I add to Reyna as Julian snickers at my comment.

“What?” she defends in the midst of her own amusement. “He’s funny.”

“Damn right I am,” Banks says with a wink in her direction.

“And hey, it could be worse. We didn’t walk in on him masturbating to ‘Beat It’ again.”

Banks points at her. “Hey! It was encouraging.”

“Whatever,” I yell over Reyna and Julian’s laughter, and the rest of the noise. “Just turn off the song!”

“Yo,” Julian says to Banks now, his stare and tone serious. “Turn it off.”

Banks makes a face at him, rolling his eyes. “Fine. I’ll find somewhere else to practice.” He cuts the music, my mood now ten times better. “Party poopers, both of you,” he says with a pointed look at Julian, then me. “You’re good,” he assures Reyna before he walks out the door.

“Smell that?” I ask the room.

“What?” Reyna says, sniffing the air.

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