Page 52 of Mostly My Boss
“Yep,” Jules replied.
In that brief second, I almost hated her. And what crushed me was that I could tell she hated me a little, too.
* * *
A few weeks later
“Who is that guy?”
Daniel turned in the direction I was staring. We were walking to our next class and I’d spotted Julia sitting on a bench with some guy next to her. He was saying something, and she was smiling.
“His name is Malcolm and don’t go there.”
“Don’t go where?”
“Leave her alone and let her have that. She’s had to put up with you and Nicki for weeks. If some guy is into her, it’s okay for her to have that.”
I needed to end things with Nicki. It was just…every time I tried, she gave me a reason for why we were so good together.
“I’m asking who my friend is hanging out with,” I said defensively. “I wasn’t about to go over there and punch the guy out.”
“Sure you were. And it’s fucked up. You don’t want her, but I know you, Ethan, and you’re not going to want anyone else to have her. Like she belongs to you and you alone.”
She did belong to me.
I found her first.
I looked at Daniel. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m talking about how you two are. Or were. Before Nicki. Tell me again why you decided to bang Julia’s roommate?”
I thought back to the night it happened. I still didn’t even remember running into her after the bar. But I was in her bed with her the next morning and the used condom was still hanging from my dick.
I apologized profusely. I couldn’t have been a good lay, and she said the only way she’d accept my apology was if I took her out on a real date.
And since Jules hadno problemwith that, I did.
I took Nicki out on a date. I took her back to my room. I fucked her and made her come a few times then, when it was done, I went to my bathroom and got sick.
And the only reason I kept dating her was because she didn’t want it to end. At least, that’s what I told myself in the beginning. It was getting harder and harder to convince myself that was true.
I watched as the guy reached out and touched Jules under her chin. She smiled but batted his hand away. He’d probably said something totally cheesy, which was not her thing.
“He’s a computer science guy and absolutely her speed,” Daniel said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means I asked around. He’s not a player. He’s into her, for her. And she should have that with the guy who takes her cherry.”
Suddenly, I wanted to hit Daniel very hard in the mouth. The anger was pulsing under my skin and I had to take a few shallow breaths to control it.
“I’m serious, bro. Let her have this. It will equal things out between you two.”
I forced myself to look away from them and started walking in the other direction. Daniel walking quietly next to me.
“You’re right,” I said after a while.
“I know.”
