Page 23 of Privilege
She sighs. “I feel like we can move past that, yeah?”
“Haveyouseen you naked?”Am I slurring? How many beers have I had?
“I was in front of a mirror, you fucking idiot.”
I point my beer bottle at her. “It’s shocking that you can get through the day without fucking yourself. Really.”
“Who says I do?”
Ooooof.
“Andthat—”I take a long swig of my drink “—is why we can’t be friends.”
“You seem like the kind of guy who flirts with everyone. What’s the difference with me?”
“I actually like you?”Oh, I’m very drunk.
“Haven’t you ever had sexual tension with friends?”
“None who I wasn’t also fucking.”
She closes her eyes and rubs her forehead like I’m testing her patience. “Dane. Being home, without you there, is hard for Rich, I think. I can’t count the number of times your name has come up in the past two weeks.”
“Trust me, he doesn’t want to see me. It’s better this way.”
“What’s better? That if you’re not at Blackstone, you won’t try to fuck me.”
I stare at her. “If I were trying, it would have been me in that mirror.”
She pauses, a little taken aback, and flushes. “I don’t think you’re trying to get in my pants, Dane. I think you like women. And I think the Hamptons have very little to offer you.”
“Nobody rocks a Brazilian like a Hamptonite.”
“Brazilians have always confused me. I feel like it would be distracting, going full bare-seal, everything rubbing around down there…”
I am not thinking about her perfect blonde bush. I am not thinking about her perfect blonde bush. I am not thinking about her perfect blonde bush.
She makes a funny face, like she’s swallowed a lemon, or realized she’s talking about her pussy with a stranger.Yeah. Hi. Welcome back to the conversation.
She clears her throat. “Look, I don’t know what happened with you and Jamie—”
“You can leave now, Cara.”
“—but I know it wasn’t whatever Rich thinks it was.”
I narrow my eyes. “You don’t knowshit.”
She throws up her hands. “Neither of you will tell me what happened but I’m not fucking stupid. I’m going to guess he walked in on something that looked like you were hitting on Jamie. Jumped to conclusions. Because you’re…” she waves her hand at me “...you.”
I say nothing.Don’t get into this. Do NOT get into this.
“Anyone who has met Jamie knows she’s a snake, Dane. And it’s clear you love him. I’m willing to bet whatever happened—”
“I initiated it,” I say blandly.
She looks at me for a solid minute, stares at me like I’m a math problem to be solved.
“Maybe,” she says slowly. “But if you did, you had a reason.”
