Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 162138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 540(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 540(@300wpm)
“I’ve never seen her around,” I said.
“She only takes online classes so she’s never on campus unless she has to do labs or whatever. Nothing interests her, so the fact that she's coming out twice in one weekend is a big deal. This will be good for her.”
“Everyone is different. Maybe people need to let her grieve in peace.”
“Grieve?” I felt her eyes on the side of my face for a long time before she spoke. “You know what happened?”
“I have access to the internet.” Damn, someone died in that car accident.
“YOU GOOGLED LYLA?” she shouted. “Why?”
Because she’s beautiful and funny when she wants to be, but mostly because she makes me feel something I’ve never felt before, and I’m intrigued by her. “She’s weird, so I Googled her.”
“Weird?” Marissa wrinkled her nose. “Look, if you want Lyla, just say the word.”
My head whipped to her. “What?”
“I’m just saying, if you want her, I can put in a word.” Marissa shrugged. “You and I never hooked up. She’s not weird about sharing, so even if she thinks we did something, she probably wouldn’t care as long as she knows it was never serious between us. NOT that I want to be with you if you want her. I don’t do the sister wives bullshit.”
I didn’t know what part to focus on — the sharing comment or the rest. Of course, I was going to fixate on the sharing comment. I’d have to do more digging. Did that mean she was into threesomes? If so, how? Two girls, one guy? Two guys, one girl? She didn’t strike me as someone who would enjoy that, but if her best friend said she was into sharing, I had to believe her. Unless it meant she was into open relationships? Or only hookups? Only hookups would be the best-case scenario for me. Two hookups, to be specific. I shook all of those thoughts away. I was getting ahead of myself. For now, I’d put all that aside and add it to the list of things that made me curious about Lyla. I hadn’t even sent Marissa a friend request because I didn’t want her to think anything of it, but I might have to see what pictures she had of them together.
“Why are you saying this?” I turned into the parking space and shut off the engine.
“Because you had, what, two conversations with her and then GOOGLED her?” She was laughing as she got out of the car.
“So? I Google people all the time.”
“Did you Google me?” She stopped walking when we got to the door and put a hand on her hip.
“No.”
“You want Lyla.” She pointed at me. She didn’t seem upset or confused, or jealous. If anything, she was amused by this.
“I don’t want her.” I scowled and opened the door for her.
“Look, I’m going to tell you two things, and then you can decide if you still want her.”
I stopped walking and faced her. “I’m listening.”
“One, if you break her heart, she’ll never, and I mean ever, give you a second shot,” she said. It seemed like an obvious one. “Two, you know those girls who like to play hard to get?” She waited until I nodded. “Lyla is hard to get, but man, when she opens up, she’s just. . .she’s honestly one of my favorite people on the planet.”
“Why is she so closed off?”
She raised an eyebrow. “I thought you weren’t interested.”
“Cut the shit, Marissa. Why? Because of the accident?”
“She was always a little guarded and selective with her inner circle, but she was voted Miss Congeniality for the high school yearbook if you can believe it.”
“I can’t.” I started walking again. “So, the accident?”
“I don’t like to talk about it, especially behind her back. Maybe Prescott will tell you.”
Motherfucker. Another thing to add to the damn list. A hostess greeted us, and I let Marissa talk since I was now trying to figure out why Lyla was hard to get. Was she a virgin? Maybe she was saving herself. She did say she didn’t like sex, though, which meant she’d experienced it already. Probably some two-pump chump who didn’t get her off. Asshole. Now the rest of us had to pay for his selfishness. We took two towels from the hostess and walked in the direction she pointed.
“Have you been here?” Marissa asked.
“For brunch, not the pool.”
“Oh, my God. Get ready to have your mind blown. It’s indoors but it feels like you’re on a beach.” She smiled wide.
When we reached the pool area, I had to pause to take it all in. It was huge, and it did look like a beach. The guys waved us down when they saw us from their seats. Prescott invited ten of us for brunch and the pool. I counted eight, including us. Prescott and Lyla were the only ones missing. The thought of them being alone together irritated me more than it should have. I had no claim on her; even if I did, she could be friends with whomever she wanted. I told myself all that, but I still felt hot. My mind drifted to other things. This was a pool party. Did that mean she’d finally take off her baggy clothes, or would she keep them on and sulk on a chaise? All thoughts of her were put on the back burner when we sat down and started talking to everyone.