Rich Prick – Tijan Page 0,88
she’s banging two of your buds.”
“We’re not really buds anymore.”
“Yeah.” Zeke got quiet. “I hear ya. So what do you think?”
Blaise stroked the back of my head.
“I’ll talk to her. I know you’re actually friends with Penny and Ria. This hasn’t been fair to you.”
Zeke snorted. “Screw that. Pen still hits me up on the phone, and it’s not like I haven’t had pussy for the last two weeks. That Monica girl has a big throat.” He laughed. “Though, she thinks we’re still dating. Might do good to let her see me with Penny again. Pen doesn’t let any girl think they own me.”
“Yeah. I’ll talk to Aspen.”
“I know she’ll be good about it. Your girl is a good one. She wants what you want.”
Blaise’s arm tightened around me. “Yeah. Maybe.”
There was a thump on the door, and Zeke said, “Okay. Get back to your woman. Get her home; she looks tired. I’ll hit you up with time and details tomorrow.”
The window whirred up. “You think your parents will freak if you sleep at my place?” Blaise asked.
I lifted my head, still feeling drowsy. “Nate flew back to Boston. My parents are deep in edits for the docu-series, so no. But we should stop at my house so I can grab some clothes and make it look like I slept there when Miss Sandy checks my room tomorrow.”
I tipped back and smiled up at him. “How’d I get so lucky to have you care about me?”
His eyes darkened. He traced every inch of my face with his eyes, and my body warmed, tingling with each second that passed. “How about we go to my place and I’ll further explain how much I care about you?”
I sat up, my mouth just over his. “That sounds perfect.”
As we kissed, I renewed my vow: answers. I was going to get them. Plus, I knew he had condoms there, though I’d been on birth control since I was fifteen to regulate my periods. We’d had a whole conversation about that. He wasn’t a guy that looked queasy when talking about that stuff. I liked that a whole lot.
“When’s the trip?” I asked as I slid back over to my seat.
He glanced sideways at me as he pulled out of the drive-in lot. “I knew you were awake that whole time.”
“It’s Mara, right? Her friends too?”
He was silent for a beat, then shrugged. “Yeah.”
“What are you worried about exactly?”
He grunted. “Them being assholes to you. Isn’t that enough? They’re catty bitches.”
I angled my body toward him and rested my head against the seat. “But isn’t that my problem to deal with?”
His hand flexed over the steering wheel. “What do you mean?”
“It’s a girl thing. You can’t take that on for me.”
“They’re bitches.”
I hid a grin. “That’s my problem to handle. You can’t control everything.”
He swore under his breath. “I can damn sure try. Those girls aren’t nice. They’re mean. I’ve seen how they tear into someone. They’re vicious.”
“Like you have?”
Another jaw clench. “It’s not the same.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s not you. I don’t care about anyone else. What are you doing here? You want me to let those girls go at you? You nuts?”
“No.” I laughed. “And I brought you up because no one could control what you say or do to people. And those people either fight back or they don’t.”
“Babe, I annihilate people. I don’t ever want you to be on the end of that from anyone.”
“Well, while that makes me feel good, you know people are going to be mean. It’s the world out there. And if you think I haven’t had to deal with mean girls, you’ve got your head in the sand.”
“The fuck?” He shot me a look. “Who was mean to you?”
“Girls at Hillcrest. They didn’t like that I started setting the curve in our classes, especially when I wasn’t supposed to be in their grade. Some girls targeted me when Owen didn’t want to date them. He was like you, you know.” My smile turned sly. “Not promising anything and actually sticking to that, even if the girl got mad, thinking she could trick him into dating her. He wasn’t as blunt as you are, but he was honest.” I thought a moment. “I think that’s why I like when you’re blunt.”
“Aspen.” He took my hand and pulled it back to his leg. He entwined our fingers. “I’m never bluntly honest with you.”
My throat tightened at that. “I wish you were, and you were in the beginning.”
He glanced over,