Page 39 of Would You Rather
A soft chuckle escapes him. “I try,” he admits. “I really fucking do, but there are some things that I can’t help her with.”
“What do you mean?”
He sighs, shaking his head. “My sister has always been bigger than other girls, even as a little kid, and she… she was having some problems with bullying.” My heart aches for her, for every little girl who grows up to hate their bodies. “I couldn’t do shit,” he admits with a shrug. “They were twelve-year-old girls. What could I do?” His jaw tightens. “Adrianna wouldn’t talk to me, she would just shut herself in her room for hours, and it broke my fucking heart knowing those girls were hurting my sister.”
“That’s so awful. Is she ok now?” I ask, worried for Lucas’ sister. I saw the toll it took on Leila growing up with constant negative comments about her body and the way she treated herself like she wasn’t worthy of love just because she lived in a bigger body. I’m so glad she found Aiden, who’s completely obsessed with her. She deserves it.
“Luckily, yes. But it was all thanks to Leila.” He shakes his head. “I honestly think she saved her, Mads.” My throat swells at the nickname. “If she hadn’t talked to Leila, I genuinely think…” He shakes his head, not wanting to finish the conversation. His eyes drop, and his lips part as he lets out a shaky exhale. I can see how much this is hurting him.
I blink away the wetness in my eyes and sit back on the armchair. “My turn,” I say, wanting him to forget about what might have happened if Leila hadn’t been there for his sister.
He runs a hand through his hair. “Hit me.”
I look to the side wondering what to ask him, when the biggest question roaming through my mind hits me. “Question number four. Why don’t you date?” I ask him.
He narrows his eyes at me. “Seriously?”
I shrug. “I’m just trying to get to know you better.”
He chuckles, shaking his head. “I don’t trust easy,” he admits, blowing out a breath. “And being in this line of work, the girls I meet only want one thing.”
“Sex?” I guess.
“Well, that, yes, but mostly they want fame.” He shrugs. “They want to be seen with me, be my date to an event, or get their picture taken with me because if they do… they become someone, they get a piece of my fame.”
I bite my bottom lip, wondering how often it had to happen for him to write off every girl as being after his fame. “So that’s what you thought of me?” I ask him. “The day we met?”
“You were a pain in my ass that day.” He laughs. “But I genuinely thought you were panicking, and I was trying to help you. But then, when I saw the headlines and when I saw you again in Ana’s office, I was certain you had used me and that I fell for it.”
My brows furrow, trying to imagine not being able to trust anyone. He was so cold that first meeting, but I had cracked it up to him just being an asshole who thought he was better than everyone else. “I didn’t even know who you were,” I tell him, wanting him to know I’m not the kind of girl who uses people. “I just thought you were a bossy asshole.” He chuckles. “And honestly, I was too preoccupied with being stuck in a giant metal box twenty feet in the air with a stranger who was yelling at me.”
He scoffs. “I was not yelling.”
I narrow my eyes. “You definitely were.”
“Next question,” he says.
I let out a laugh. “Deflecting from admitting the truth, I see.”
“Question number five,” he says, grinning. “When was your first kiss?”
“You’re joking.” I glare at him.
“Hey,” he says with a playful smile. “I’m just trying to get to know you better.” He throws my words back in my face, and I narrow my eyes at him.
“And knowing about my first kiss will do that?”
He shrugs. “You never know. It could have been a memorable kiss.”
I sigh, looking to the side when I think of my first kiss. “Sixteen,” I tell him.
“Late bloomer,” he teases.
I was too damn young and stupid, but I just press my lips together and ask, “Why, when was yours?”
“I was seven. It was with this girl I went to school with. I had seen my parents kiss, so when I was saying goodbye to her, I smashed my lips against her face and kissed her instead.”
I chuckle, imagining little Lucas running around kissing people as a goodbye. “As adorable as that sounds, that isn’t a real kiss.”
