Page 51 of Bad Boy Next Door
“No shit, Sherlock.” I dropped hard onto a chair, its legs scraping on the concrete as they took the load. I drank about half the beer in one go.
Mac pulled his chair closer to mine. “They were your flowers? For her?”
I chugged down the rest of the beer, then settled the bottle with a clank on the deck.
Mac handed me a second. “Shit. That’s cold, man. What the fuck did you do? I guess even sex slaves have limits.”
I glared at him.
He held up his hands. “No more jokes, I promise. Tell me.”
“That’s just it. I toldher.I told her the truth.”
“That you’re gay?”
I kicked him.
“Sorry. Jokes over. Promise. What did you tell her?”
“The fucking truth. That I wasn’tthatNick. That she didn’t owe me anything.”
“Oh, man. That was dumb.”
“Was it?” I rubbed my head. “I mean, how could I keep lying to her, especially once we—”
Mac tipped his beer toward me and winked. “I’m at least glad to hear you fucked her.”
I stretched out my legs, staring across the pool at the scraggly, neglected palm tree. A dead frond fell, no breeze to carry it anywhere but straight to the ground.
“Come on, little brother,” Mac said. “Cheer up. So she didn’t like your shitty flowers. No big shocker there.”
“Shitty?”
“Dude, they’re carnations. Tacky.”
“You think she tossed them out because they were the wrong kind?” So much for Mac being helpful. “Jade’s not like that.”
“Of course she’s not.” Mac leaned over and clapped me on the thigh. “Of course not, buddy. What else have you tried?”
“Everything I could think of. Chocolates. A card. I’ve been holding doors open. Complimenting her. I’m running out of ideas.”
“She won’t even talk to you?”
“She won’t evenlookat me.”
“That’s cold, man. You sure she’s worth the trouble?”
Jade was so worth the trouble. “She hates liars. Pretty sure someone did a number on her.”
“Okay. So you like this girl. Sounds like you’ve got to do something big. Something to make things even. No more of this cliché apology shit.”
I nodded. If it were that easy, I’d have already done it.
“Remind me.” Mac tipped his bottle toward me. “Why did she think she owed you in the first place?”
“Something about her dad doing someone else’s time.”
“Could you find out whose time he’s doing? Make that right?”
