Page 32 of The Nice Guy
Getting ready, I smile as I see hisGood Morningtext, and I know he wants me for more than what I look like. That heseesme. Not the beauty queen. Not the woman who almost married into one of the richest families in Chicago. He sees Brynlee.
I quickly eat a piece of toast—the last piece of bread I have in the house—and I know I need groceries. I cannot eat another meal of tater tot casserole.
Looking in the mirror by the front door, I check to make sure I have my game face on,thanks, Mama,and head into town.
I should just let things happen the way they will. As much as I don’t want Rhett to leave me in the morning, I know he has a normal Monday through Friday job. He doesn’t have the luxury of making his own hours like I do. But I don’t want to wait another week to finally let him inside.
I felt like I was about to explode last night after I shut the door. It took every ounce of strength I had not to swing it back open and tell him I don’t care. Tempting him after he told me he respects me wouldn’t be fair, though.
“Oh, hey,” someone says, pulling me from my delicious memories of last night as I walk towards the store.
I jump, startled, and step backwards. Honor Phillips. “Hello.”
“You’re Brynlee, right? Rhett’s girlfriend?”
As much as her voice drips with sweetness, her face reads the same as it did Friday night. This isn’t my first rodeo with a mean girl, and I can spot one a mile away.
“We haven’t put labels on anything yet, but I was with him on Friday for Carter’s birthday.”
“It was Everett’s birthday, too. They’re twins, you know.”
The way she says it tells me everything I need to know. She thinks I’m stupid. “I don’t know Everett, but I know Carter. And I was aware they’re twins.”
“I’m Honor. I’m sure Rhett’s told you all about me,” she says, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
“Just that you two dated for a bit,” I say, playing it coy.
A smirk appears on her face when I expect her to be outraged he didn’t proclaim his heartbreak over losing her. “So, no labels, huh? I get it. You’re not sure you want to be seen with him, especially after meetin’ all the other hot guys in town. You don’t want to hurt his feelin’s. I’ve been there.”
She’s been there, but she didn’t have the pick of men she wants me to believe. Not for more than a one-night stand. “Is that right?”
“Trust me, I know what you’re thinkin’. And while he’s amazin’ in the sack, and it’s really the only place he has real confidence, you want to turn out the lights to pretend you’re with someone else while his beard tickles your thighs. Girl, I understand.”
Leaning back, I cross my arms under my chest. “Excuse me?”
“He’s one of the few men who are more than happy to go down, and his tongue isfantastic. He’s also so well-endowed, it’s hard to tell which is better. Not to mention how he can get a little domineerin’ in bed that you want to keep him locked up in your bedroom forever. Just as long as you don’t have to go out in public with him. Girl, I get it!”
It doesn’t sit well with me that she knows Rhett as intimately as she does. “Is that right?”
“He’s not the type who’s willin’ to be a secret, but trust me, even though we know he knows what to do with what he has, it’s not worth the public humiliation.”
“Public humiliation?”
Twirling a chunk of her hair around her finger, she looks like she’s sharing a secret with her best friend. A look I’ve seen on women in higher positions than she’s in who can pull it off a lot better. “You know what I’m talkin’ about. Pretty girls like us bein’ seen with a man so… average-lookin’? That’s enough to get you downgraded and never sought after again. At least, unless you cut him loose soon enough like I did.”
“Well, not that it’s any of your business, but I didn’t take him to bed,” I say.
Her eyebrows lift in shock. “Oh, you’re not sure what you want to do. I get it, girl.”
“Okay, let’s cut the act. I’m not your girl. And it’s not that. I just don’t hop into bed with men right away. I like to get to know them first. Make sure we have something in common outside of the bedroom.”
I bite back my smirk as she scowls, and I know I hit a nerve. “And I’m the type to do that?”
“Look, what you do in or out of the bedroom, and with whom, really doesn’t concern me. But I’m not going to give you details about my relationship with Rhett so you can gossip.”
“I’m in a relationship. Have been for almost two years now, bitch.”
“The friend of Rhett’s you slept with right after dumping him. I know all about how you used Rhett to help your reputation.”
