Page 96 of Toxic Wishes
“Yup.” I pop my lips together, blending in the red lipstick I applied to them.
“So, are you guys going somewhere fun tonight? Is he taking you to an alley somewhere where you guys can bang and feel naughty, and you're just not telling me? Please tell me that’s the case.”
“No,” I scoffed. “I’m going to work, it’s my first real night on the job .”
“Oh, that's right. You passed up working for an easy job where you could potentially meet a rich guy to be surrounded by sleaze balls all day. I’m still trying to wrap my head around that one.”
“I told you, I’ll make more money here,” I add a sheen top coat to my lips so my lipstick doesn’t smear.
“You could have landed a sucker that would have paid all your bills if you worked at the matchmaking company. Duh.”
I put all my makeup back in my bag. “You know darn well that's not why I would be working there, and that’s not my style.”
“Why the hell not? You know women's equality is overrated. We weren’t meant to stress. It causes wrinkles.”
She lets out a dramatic sigh when I silently respond to her comment.
“Since you are going to be dressing sexy to work instead of working from the comfort of your own home in sweats, I better hear a hot, sexy story soon. That's an order, too.”
The thought of Colt up against me when he claimed my lips the other night sends heat running through my whole body, making me dizzy all over again. I could almost feel his firm grip squeezing my ass. His touch was electrifying.
“Speaking of bills, how are you paying your rent there if you claim you are saving money? Hmmm?” She hummed, taunting me more with her questions.
“Will you let that fantasy go?” I tell her.
“Sorry, I can’t do that.”
I groan as I grab the phone off the counter, taking it off speaker. “I do chores around here, so I earn my stay.”
“I bet you do,” she says in a seductive tone. “Stop, I do. I offered to clean the place and do the grocery shopping, and I also do most of the cooking since he doesn’t cook. So, I’m teaching Bodie how to eat healthy home-cooked meals. It’s funny. I thought all NFL players ate healthy, but not during the season. As ripped as Colt is,you wouldn’t think he eats anything he wants.”
“I bet he does.” She taunts. But I hear the glimmer behind her tone.
“Oh my God,” despite her annoyance, I laughed at her ridiculousness. “Mel, I’m about to hang up. Do you need to get laid or something? You’re worse than a guy.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop.”
“There is a God.” I close my eyes, as I tilt my head back.
“But you guys are basically a domestic couple now. You know that, right? If you know his eating habits, you might as well say you're his live-in girlfriend.”
“I am not,” I say, holding my phone to my ear as I check my emails, ensuring I don’t have any new homework to do tomorrow.
“Well, without the sex.”
She can’t see my scowl, but I’m unamused by her assumption. “Please go get laid so you can get sex off of your mind,” I tell her.
“Already ahead of you. I’m going out with a wanna-be model slash actor I met on one of my dad’s sets. I don’t even care if he rocks my world. I think I’ll cum from looking at him being on top of me. This guy is crazy gorgeous, but dumb as shit. He wants me to teach him how to make a girl cum, he’s thinking of becoming a porn actor, so I am all about that project.”
I shake my head, letting a rumble of a laugh pour out. “That’s great, Mel.” I put my phone back on speaker as I slip on my tennis shoes.
“All I know is you haven’t brought up douchebag, and whatever you two got going on over there makes me like Colt even more. There was a time when you would be so insecure about Jared taking you back that it almost made me concerned. I was waiting for you to bring him up and ask what he’s been up to or, more like, who he’s been up to.”
I rub my temples. Even though I don’t want to admit it, she’s right. There was a time when I would do anything for Jared to keep him and call him mine. That’s why the car I’m driving has his name on it and mine. But luckily, I’m the one with the better credit and was making the payments, so he can’t do much about it as a co-signer.
I lay back on the bed, unable to fathom why I went through something so significant like buying a car. Knowing damn well, he would leave all the responsibility to me. And even though I was the one who ended up leaving him, it still hurt because there was a time we were best friends. We both shared everything. I opened up to him about my fears and deepest dark secrets, including my eating disorder. He made me feel safe, so I let him see my vulnerable side. But towards the end, when he began to change, I knew my esteem couldn’t afford to have him hurt me anymore by cheating or leaving, so I left before he could. But what made it hard was not only did I lose a boyfriend, I lost a friend too.
And now that I was here with Colt, I wondered if what was shifting between him and me was something more or if it was just happening because I was convenient. I raised a hand to my collarbone where he bit me the other night.