Page 65 of We Shouldn't Be Together
“Doesn’t count. She’s one of the guys. That’s guys being guys.”
“Mm-hmm. Keep telling yourself that.”
“Look.” I puff out my chest on instinct. “If you think I’ll tell you it’s okay to keep bullying my best friend, then you really are a lost cause.”
“Of course, I don’t think it’s okay,” she wails. “I don’t want to do this.”
“Then tell me you’ll stop.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Yes, it is.”
Her face falls, and she heaves her next breath. “But I… I… I can point Cammy towards other girls. I can try to save Jamie.”
“You think I’m okay with the bullying continuing?”
“Can’t you see it’s a start? An olive branch?”
I cross my arms, taking her in. I can’t accept this. I can’t tell her this plan is okay.
But it does save Jamie.
“I can’t say it’ll work,” she whispers. “If Cammy suspects me, she might double down on Jamie.”
“Yeah, she is unhinged.”
“But it might work out. If I put my foot in it, she’ll go nuclear on me. That’ll definitely save Jamie.”
“You can’t put yourself in the firing line.”
She shrugs. “I’m always in the firing line.”
For a moment, we silently hold the stare. Her brown doe eyes, framed by long lashes and shimmering purple eyeshadow, lock me in a trance. Under this lighting, her tanned complexion is somewhere between golden and olive. Her maroon lipstick makes me want to surrender to every word that comes from her mouth.
She really is beautiful.
The thought makes me shiver.
“Whoa. You okay?” she asks.
I clear my throat. “Mm. Umm, yeah. Totally.”
“Look, just forget everything I said,” Tabitha says in a calmer tone, waving her hand. “I don’t mean to make excuses for myself. I just want to end the arguing while we’re stuck working together.”
“Agreed. It’s exhausting.”
She smiles. “Is this actually a truce?”
“Did you really mean you’ll lay off Jamie?”
She nods but doesn’t speak.
My guard lowers, accepting it as enough.
She shakes out her shoulders. “Oh my gosh. I don’t know what that was, but it felt good.”
“Huh?”
