Page 26 of Dirty Martini
“You want to fuck him.”
Once again, all our heads whip toward Skylar. “Excuse me?” I ask, eyes wide as my jaw drops in shock.
“It’s so obvious that there’s all this hot, sticky tension between you two,” he explains. “Maybe what you really want is to just tear each other's clothes off and go at it like horny animals.”
I scoff because I have no idea where Skylar got that from. It must be wishful thinking on his part—the forever matchmaker—that thinks I’m going to find my happily ever after in a forbidden romance. It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so stupid. “Doubtful.”
“You’re reaching, Skylar,” Britt teases, which causes him to frown.
“Nobody ever takes me seriously,” he whines, shrinking into Cassius’s waiting arms.
Cassius scoffs gently and runs his hands up and down Skylar’s back. “Come on, sunshine. Help me pick out my set for tonight.”
When Skylar nods, Cassius helps him off the bar top, grabbing his hand as they walk toward the stage. I watch them walk away, furrowing my brow. “Do you ever wonder why they’re not together?—”
“You’re not changing the subject, Rhys,” Britt says. Shaking her head, she hands me some fruit to chop alongside her. “What’s really going on with you two?”
I don’t have many friends apart from Elton, but you could say that Britt is the closest thing to one. Skylar is great too, but he can’t keep a secret to save his life. Britt, on the other hand, understands the concept of staying quiet.
I take a deep breath, trying to sift through all the complicated and intense emotions I hold for that guy. I know she won’t let up until she getssomething, so I give her a bread crumb. “We have…history. He did something in the past that affected me but left him free and clear.”
She nods pensively. “And does that have anything to do with why you’re here and not graduating college?”
I freeze with the knife halfway through a strawberry. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t give me that shit,” she chastises, rolling her deep brown eyes as she hip checks me. “You’re, like, the smartest guy I know. You could be off curing cancer, but instead you’re here.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being here,” I say through gritted teeth, feeling defensive.
“Of course, not. But…I don’t know, you could be doing something different,” she insists. “Is Everest the reason you’re not?”
I don’t answer her because I don’t think I have it in me. I could go into all the gory details of the night my life officially went off the rails, but I don’t care to revisit it. Instead, I continue to cut fruit silently, knowing that all the while Britt still has her eyes firmly trained on me. After a few minutes, it gets to be too much, and I sigh. “Maybe.”
She hums thoughtfully. “Right. Look, I don’t know what happened, but things are different now, right? If this really ishistory, enough time has passed that you don’t have to be a complete asshole to him.”
I raise an eyebrow. “And how would you know I’ve been an asshole?”
“Have you not?” Cocking her head at me, she smiles.
Touché.
“Maybe you could just try?” she suggests, and I gawk. There’s no way she fully knows what she’s asking. She must read my expression because she snorts. “Come on. You can try to be nice.”
After the things I’ve said? After the things we screamed at each other in the heat of the moment? I don’t think so. But maybe, justmaybe, Britt has a point. Ugh, I hate to think that it’s true, but I could at least try being cordial, for fuck’s sake. I’m twenty-three years old. I’m the adult here, right?
And Everest, even when he was cursing and headbutting me, really did seem like he wanted to make amends. What kind of person would I be if I didn’t give him a chance? I’d be just as bad as he is.
“I guess,” I grumble under my breath, sounding more like a child than anything else.
With another kind smile, she pats my arm before turning back to her task. “Good. Maybe you could even bring him around for one of our hangouts? You know, since it might be the only time we can convince you to come out.”
I snort. “Yeah, just try.”
“Fine,” she concedes, huffing as she hands me a plate of cut limes. “Put these in the tray and finish getting everything ready. I’m going to check in with Davis.”
With Britt gone, I have time to think as I mindlessly continue cutting up garnishes. Fuck, changing my entire dynamic with Everest is going to be tough as shit. I’d like to think I’m a goodman, but I’d have to be the better one to put everything aside to try to be…friendswith him.
Once again, questions I’ve ignored start to arise. Is he really a bad guy? Have I even gotten to know him the way Elton hoped I would? Are all the memories I have of him as a sweet, shy kid completely false? It could be that I haven’t given him the chance, and maybe I should.
