Page 27 of Love Lessons
Youarea pain in his ass, my inner voice whispers.Nice job. And you owe Ian. Big time.
He’d been a prince when I’d panicked. He’d held my hand and got me water to drink.
I let out a low moan of embarrassment.
“Ian laughed it off,” Charli insists. “You clung to him, but you were very well behaved as he steered you around.” Charli pokes me in the knee. “Admit it. You have a thing for Crikey.”
“I do not,” I argue.
“He’s a hottie,” Sylvie chirps. “And I hear he’s single.”
“Seems like the kind of guy who’s always single,” Fiona says.
“This is true,” Charli agrees. “It freaks him out that all his friends are coupled up. He says he’s never getting married. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have vacation sex with him.”
“Oh God.” I lift my head and take in all their smiling faces. “Donottry to set me up with Ian. It won’t go well.”
“Why not?” Charli presses. “You could have a fling with him before you go back to dating what’s-his-name. The banker ex.”
“You have a banker ex?” Sylvie asks.
“Yes,” I say, grateful for the change of topic. “He just moved back to New York.”
“He invited her to a gala at the Met. I still want pics of this guy,” Charli says. “You promised.”
She’s right. I grab my phone out of my carryon, which is tucked at my feet. My friends are awesome, because I don’t remember putting it there myself.
I open up my photos app and start scrolling. After Danforth dumped me, I archived all our photos, but there’s one that’s still tucked into a folder somewhere. I just couldn’t make myself delete it. “Ah. Here.” I pass the phone to Charli.
“Ooh, okay. Wow. He is attractive in a preppy kind of way. I can see why you still carry the torch.” She passes it on to Sylvie, who makes a noise of admiration before passing it around the limo.
“I’m not sure how I feel about him,” I admit. “It’s embarrassing that I still want his attention after all this time.”
“Why?” Fiona asks. “You can like whoever you like. Doesn’t have to make sense.”
“Because he treated me badly,” I point out. “And I’m not a stupid girl.”
“Hearts are stupid sometimes,” Charli argues. “So are pheromones. That’s how I ended up boinking Neil in the backseat of a limo. So don’t blame yourself for wanting him. Just don’t take any more crap from him.”
“Oh, I won’t,” I assure her. “But riddle me this—do I really want him back? Or do I just want him to grovel. Alot.”
“Ah.” All four women murmur in understanding. “Good question,” Sylvie says. “You want him to realize what he gave up.”
“Exactly,” I agree. “I want him to want me. And maybe if he does, I might be able to figure out if I still want him back.”
“I’ve heard worse plans,” Charli says. “So what are you going to do about it? Besides dazzle him at the gala?”
“Well…” There’s one more complication. “The thing is, when Danforth left town, he didn’t just say that we’d grown apart. He made it worse by implying that I didn’t do it for him anymore. That I wasn’t sexy enough.”
Especially in bed, my inner critic reminds me.He said you were too vanilla.
As if I could ever forget.
“That is a rat bastard thing to say,” Sylvie protests. “So why are we still talking to this chump?”
“That’s the million-dollar question,” I agree. “But maybe he’s missed me. And he realizes that there’s more to a relationship than endless entertainment.”
Or maybe he just misses the way you worshipped him.Some guys need their egos stroked more than they need their dicks sucked.
