Page 45 of The Jerk in Apartment 1B

“No, and now that you say that, itiskind of weird.” I pause, my mind going back to last night when Scott was buying all that whipped cream. You wouldn’t want that getting all over your sheets or your mattress. “Oh my God!” I jump up from the pool float and kick it away.

“What’s wrong?” Callie says.

“I think I know why he has a pool float.”

I tell her about last night, about Scott and Bridget and the whipped cream.

“I don’t think your neighbor would give you something he had sex on,” Callie says.

“Why wouldn’t he? He’s a guy. Guys don’t think about germs or… bodily fluids.” I shudder. “Oh, God, I can’t believe I slept onthat last night and have been sitting on it for most of today. I’m going to have to shower again.”

“Does it look new, or like it’s been used?”

“It’s hard to tell,” I say, staring at it. “I guess it kind of looks new.”

“Then it probably is.”

“Or he has several and rotates them between girls so they don’t wear out.”

“I don’t think that’s happening. Is he really with that many girls?”

“I’m sure he is. He’s really hot. Like a million times hotter than Asher.”

“So your really hot neighbor took you out this morning, but it wasn’t a date.”

“No. Absolutely not. Trust me, I’m not his type. That girl he was with last night was gorgeous.”

“Yeah? So are you.”

“Not like her. He said they used to date. I’m guessing they’ll get back together.”

“You said he didn’t want to be in a relationship.”

“They can be together without being in a relationship.” I stare down at the pool float. “I gotta get this thing out of my apartment.”

“I really don’t think he had sex on it.”

“It doesn’t matter. Just knowing he might have means it has to go.”

“So you’re just going to sleep on the floor?”

“It’s better than sleeping on that sex float!”

She laughs. “Why don’t you just ask him if he had sex on it?”

“I’m not doing that! Even if I did, he’d probably lie.”

“Hey, hold on. I’ll ask Nash.”

“Ask him what?”

“Nash, I have a question for you.”

“What is it?” I hear him say in his deep voice.

“Trina, I’m putting you on speaker.”

“Callie, no! Don’t—”

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