Page 40 of Stick With Me
“Don’t hold back on my account,” she chimes in.
“Honestly, I’m clueless about what upsets women. I don’t know what topics are off-limits since I’ve never had a friend who’s a girl. I don’t have a sister. Hell, I don’t even have a relationship with my mom. Whoa, that went way off course.” He chuckles, but it’s forced. “My point is, I’m outta my depths here.” He looks horrified at the realization that he probably doesn’t know all that much about women outside of the bedroom… and romance books.
I laugh at his discomfort, because that’s what friends do. “How about we set a rule of not talking about your hookups? I don’t want to hear about them anyway, so it’s really a win-win. Everything else is fair game.”
He considers this. “Yeah, okay, but everything else is on the table?”
Given that it’s Fox, and I never know what’ll come out of his mouth, I’m thinking I may have just opened the floodgates. “Yeah…”
“In that case, who’s the brunette with the massive tits? I’d pick her… at least for one night.” He waggles his eyebrows.
I throw my head back, but Hannah’s laugh makes it impossible for me to hold in my own. I’m about to tell Fox he might be pushing his luck, but Hannah beats me to it. Rather than scolding him, she just plays along. “That’s Lara. She has a great body, but she’s kind of nuts.”
“Ah yes, the crazy-to-hot ratio. It’s a delicate balance,” he says seriously.
“How much crazy could I get away with?” Hannah jokes, not missing a beat.
“Even if you were committed, in the loony bin, I’d still—” he starts.
“Dude, don’t finish that thought,” I cut him off and scowl in his direction.
Hannah smiles up at me, probably enjoying driving me insane. At this rate, I might be the one who ends up committed.
We watch another episode. This time, Fox joins in with comments.
When the prompt comes up to play the next episode, Fox looks over at us with a wide grin. “I’m understanding the blue balls, my friend.”
I grind my jaw. “I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you’re talking about my balls and not yours.”
“Huh?” Hannah tunes back into the conversation. When she gets into the television-watching zone, the world around her disappears. “What kind of friendship do you guys have that talking about each other’s balls is a topic of discussion?” she adds, sitting up to look between us. When Fox and I are too tongue-tied to come up with an explanation, she huffs and lies back down.
Fox chuckles. I’m glad he finds this amusing. “Don’t worry, man, my balls are good.”
The rest of the afternoon goes on much the same—Hannah and Fox ribbing each other, and me trying to keep Fox in line and failing. By the time we’re caught up on episodes, Fox has successfully forced his way into ourYou’re The Oneritual, declaring that from now on, we have to watch them all together.Still not sure how I feel about that.
As I walk him out, Fox stops on the stoop and turns to me. “I like her. I get it now, and I approve.”
I know he means it as a friend, not that he’s into her. He may be a man whore, but he follows basic bro code,unlike someone I know, and our friendship is solid. I trust that he respects what I have with her. Even if, for now, she’s still just my friend.
“Wasn’t waiting for your approval.”
“Carpool tomorrow?” he asks, unfazed.
“Yep, see ya then.”
SEVENTEEN
“Look at this.”I place a coffee and my phone in front of Ada, then perch on the corner of her desk. I’ve never been more thankful for a new friend. We already had plans to meet this morning, but I practically sprinted to Paws Chicago as soon as the doors opened.
“Is thathim?” Her eyes ping-pong between the image on the screen and me, each time her brows rise higher.
Yep, that’s him with a gorgeous brunette tucked under his arm. Jace is grinning at the camera, while the woman plants a kiss on his clean-shaven cheek. It’s his newest post, and the caption reads:Scored big time with this one! #NewRoster #StartingLineup.
And the pretty brunette tagged in the post? None other than Rebecca Solera, Ryan’s ex, or whatever he wants to call her.
Hashtag WTF.
“That would be him, yep.” I opt not to get into the details of the woman in the photo.
