Page 6 of Get Even

“I don’t give a shit about Taylor,” he said in his smooth, even voice and I rolled my eyes, like that made it better. “I’m here for you. We need to talk about this, Jay.”

“We really, really don’t. You know what they say, right? A picture is worth a thousand words.”

Aaron’s perfectly pleasant expression darkened for a moment at my reminder of the menage-a-trois I’d organized and then cleared just as fast, fading back into that Prince Charming, fake smile he’d utilized his whole life to present therightimage. “We both made mistakes, it’s okay. I forgive you. I just want us to work through this–”

“Well, I don’t,” I snapped and Aaron’s pale blue-gray eyes widened as his jaw clenched. “I didn’t make a mistake,you did, I happened to have a great time yesterday with Brad and Cody. You know, Cody can do this little thing with his tongue–”

Aaron’s hand hit the door frame and his face was cold and hard, gone was the sweet guy-next-door image he portrayed, like it would fool me. “Enough,” he said carefully and I squared my shoulders, darting a glance back to where Liv had poked her head around the living room door and waving her back. “You know that what we have is special, baby. Taylor was just… a quick fuck. A stupid mistake. She couldn’t keep her legs closed if she tried.”

I wrinkled my nose in distaste, did he even hear how he sounded? I wasn’t sure if I’d ever been in love with Aaron but I knew that whatever it was he felt… it wasn’t love. Or it was a love so twisted that it might as well have been hate.

I stepped forward and his eyes lit up as I got close, tilting my head up so I could see into his eyes before I took another drag of smoke. “Get out.”

Aaron frowned, “Jamie–” he said warningly and I laughed, my lips almost brushing his as I let him look his fill, let him see the absolute lack of emotion in my eyes as I regarded him.

“If you come back here to bother me again,” I said softly, tapping my joint so that the ash fell on his pristine-white trainers, “I’ll cut off your balls and feed them to you.” I pressed a cold, unfeeling kiss to his mouth and he flinched. “Have a nice life.”

I stepped back and slammed the door shut, breathing hard for a second and then flipping the lock and slipping the deadbolt into place for good measure. Aaron wasn’t accustomed to being denied and I was done with his bullshit. What I’d ever seen in him I couldn’t say.

“Is everything okay?” Liv asked quietly and my head jerked up, my hand shaking as I raised the zoot to my mouth again. She strode forward and paused before hesitantly wrapping her arms around me. “You are… something else, Jamie.”

“Says the girl who led a lesbian revolution at St. Agatha’s,” I smiled, letting loose a shaky breath as I squeezed her gently before letting go. “I don’t think I gave you a tour last night,” I said, eager to change the subject and uncomfortable with my own vulnerability, “so shall I show you around now?”

Liv’s eyes ran over my face before she nodded and I pointed her in the direction of the linen closet, my room and then our shared bathroom, all with her watching me like a hawk. My room was organized chaos, clothes overflowing from my wardrobe, my guitar resting against my desk and various chokers slung across my dresser. But the sweet orange walls soothed me and I could see that Liv was surprised at the size of the room – the large bed against one wall took up a lot of space but it was a necessity, I liked to starfish.

“The rooms are pretty good sizes,” I said and Liv nodded along, “obviously you’ve already seen the second bedroom but it’s only a little smaller than mine.”

The shared bathroom seemed almost bare without Taylor’s shampoo and make-up cluttering up the space but Liv seemed pleased, it was relatively modern and the water pressure was good so I couldn’t have asked for more than that with the budget I’d had to work with.

“What do you study?” Liv asked as we made our way back into the lounge, clearly she’d decided to let me avoid the topic of Aaron for now. I dropped back onto the sofa as I finished my joint and she sat gingerly down beside me and it only hit me just then that I had a virtual stranger sitting in my apartment with me. Thankfully, the weed killed any sort of panic I might have had. I hadn’t known Liv for long, but I could tell she was a good person. Trustworthy. Plus, it was hard to be suspicious of someone who looked so… sweet. We’d grabbed her stuff from the temporary housing dorm last night before stumbling our way back to mine. I was pretty sure one or both of us had fallen into a bush – but there wasn’t any lasting damage, all’s well that ends well after all.

Liv tugged nervously at the end of her long hair as her eyes ran over the room before she bent and swept it all up into a messy bun piled on top of her head. My eyes were starting to feel heavy but at least my headache was fading a little, as well as the memory of Aaron’s impromptu visit, and I let a relaxed smile slip across my face. I was glad I had cut all my hair off last summer, it was so much easier to manage than when it had been waist-length.

“Um, Jamie?”

My eyes fluttered open and I laughed lightly, poking one of the pink hearts that decorated Liv’s PJs, “Sorry, sorry – I study History.” Liv nodded a little but her eyes were still darting around, as if trying to take in every detail and commit it to memory. “Hey, relax. This is your place too – if that’s what you still want, I mean, if you’ve changed your mind it’s fine.” I tried to keep my voice light and turned away to stub out the joint on my favorite tray. I hoped she would stay though.

Hanging out with Liv and Kat last night had been the most fun I’d had in, well, alongtime. I hadn’t realized Taylor and I had been missing anything from our friendship until I’d slung my arm Liv and sweet-talked Kat. Things with Taylor were…had been, I corrected myself, conditional. Like I’d been balancing on a knife’s edge for a while and not realized it until my feet were back on solid ground. This was a fresh start.

“Oh, that’s cool,” Liv blinked several times, her brown eyes wide and I choked back a laugh.

“Not what you expected?”

“Well, I just–”

I shrugged at her, “Don’t worry, I get that a lot. Academia is not a place for women like me.”

Liv’s mouth dropped open, “What? Did someone actually say that to you?”

“My Professor. He hates my guts and apparently only accepted me on to the course because he thought I was a guy. Easy mistake considering my name is Benjamin.”

“He sounds like a dick.”

A startled laugh flew out of me and I smirked at her, “You would be right. The only other girls on the course are timid little good girls that hang onto his every word. I’m pretty sure he only accepted them for like, statistics.” I waved a new joint at her from the tin under the table in a lazy salute as I sparked it. “What’s your major?”

“Communications,” she said with a sigh, finally settling against the couch and letting her head fall back. “I know it’s a little generic, but I’ve never really had the chance to think about whatIwant to do. Not seriously anyway. I never even really cared about coming to college but my parents…”

“They’re really not talking to you?”

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