Page 106 of He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

‘You think I’d be talking to you about this if I didn’tknowshe feels the same way?’

‘After amonth?’

‘We’ve known each other our entire lives.’

He stares at me, no emotion on his face.

‘I even ended things with Sydney.’

‘This is gonna make me seem like I have feelings,’ River says, rolling his eyes, a smirk on his face, ‘but Hollyn means everything to me. No matter what stupid shit I do, I know she’ll be on my side without a doubt. Maybe I’m an ass to her sometimes, but she’s no fucking angel. I’d never intentionally hurt her feelings.’

‘Then we have that in common.’

He stares at me, his arms crossed over his chest for what feels like forever. He points to the shots. Rarely do I drink, but I grab a shot, down it and softly set the glass on the table.

‘I can’t give her up, so you’ll need to make your peace with this.’

‘You ever hurt her the way Professor Fuckface did, I’ll kill you,’ River says, his face stone-cold sober. ‘I mean that.’

‘I’d be concerned if you didn’t.’

He shoves the last shot my way. This time just thinking about doing it makes me wanna puke. I down it, turning it upside down and setting it down.

‘If you two break up? What am I supposed to do then?’

I shake my head. How do I answer that when I don’t even want to consider it? ‘I guess we’d sit down and talk again.’

‘You know if you two got married, we’d be brothers.’

‘We’re not even close to saying that word.’

He laughs, shaking his head. ‘Well, congratulations on boning my sister, man. But since your impending drunkenness is on me, I’ll order you an Uber tonight. What do you want to drink?’

‘Water,’ I say as he walks away towards the bar. I’m four shots and a beer in. There’s no way I’m going balls to the wall drinking then home to Hollyn. I want to be conscious for night number two with her.

I pull my phone from my pocket while River’s gone, sending Hollyn a text. She was nervous for tonight but knew she could torment River into submission if she needed. Those two never grew out of their teenage years when around each other.

It was touch and go, but he’s cool. We can commence the bedroom sharing. If you wanna?

The three dots of her typing appear almost immediately.

I wanna. You know where to find me.

28

HOLLYN

Friday Night – At the Rooftop Garden…

This week, the show is filming in Portland. Since we’re down to the final three, we’re filming the results as we find them out tonight.

‘Hey, Daxy,’ Celeste says in a sing-song voice.

Cutesyandballsy. Who calls a guy they hardly know by a childish nickname? I’ve slept with him multiple times, and no way would I call him Daxy as if he’s five. Nope. Not even in the throes of passion will that come out of my mouth.

‘Celeste,’ he says with little emotion.

‘Did you get my last email?’

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