My Favorite Hal-Night Stand - Christina Lauren Page 0,41
Mills says with a gentle fist to his shoulder.
Ed downs about half of his beer and then burps. “Clearly I’m not firing on all cylinders. I need more beer.”
Alex tilts his head to the side, indicating the living room. “Ed just got a message from Selma.”
“The hot one?” I ask.
Ed nods, trying to look breezy about it. “It’s going pretty well. I asked her if she wants to meet up next week.”
“Already?” Millie asks.
“Millie,” Alex says, laughing, “people on Tinder meet the same day they match.”
Millie shrugs. “I know, but I guess IRL seems to emphasize taking things slow.” She glances to me and quickly away. “Which I like.”
“I’ll meet her whenever she wants.” Ed shrugs and then studies the beer in his hand. “I should cut down to, like, three beers a day. I need to lose weight. I’m tired of being brave at the beach.”
“Isn’t that why we get into relationships?” Millie asks. “To start eating again?”
Alex laughs again, and then points his beer bottle at me. “What about you, Reid? What’s up with your ladies?”
“I still really like them both.”
“We need to think of a tiebreaker,” Alex says.
Millie steps forward, slightly flushed as she looks at him with genuine scorn. “Has it occurred to you guys that Daisy and Catherine are probably talking to multiple men, too?”
I blink. I am such an asshole—and realize it the second she says this. “Is it terrible if my answer is no?”
Ed and Alex say, “No,” at the same time Millie shouts, “Yes!”
I give a tiny apologetic wince. “It just seems crazy that Cat would be having this kind of interaction with someone else.”
Conceding this with a nod, I say, “I mean, yes, though I probably talk to Cat more frequently, and openly.” When silence stretches for a beat, I say, “So when should I ask to meet them?”
“Maybe ask for more pictures first?” Alex says.
Millie gasps. “Don’t do that, that’s douchey!”
We fall into a contemplative silence.
Millie is normally unflappable, and can hold her own against us in every way. Is she worried she’ll lose me to another woman? That the friendship we have will suffer?
“Okay,” I say, “it’s someone else’s turn to be in the spotlight. It’s not like I’m the only one who is on this app.”
“Chris matched with one of his old TAs the other day,” Alex says, and we all turn to look at him in shock. “I was giving him shit about it, but then I got on the app and saw that I’d matched with my sister.” Our shock deepens into horror, and Alex shivers violently. “I feel like she’s seen me naked now, okay? Maybe you can understand why we’re hoping your story goes more smoothly, Reid.”
We marinate in this for a few more silent beats, and then everyone turns their optimistic attention back to me.
“Well, I like them both,” I say, “but I feel weird about dating them both in person because I’ve never really worked that way.”
“So just ask Daisy out already,” Millie says with vinegar on her lips.
“I like Catherine a lot, though,” I say. “She’s funny and we interact a lot more. It’s hard to find funny.”
Millie gapes at me, offended. “Excuse you! I am hilarious, you dark stain on humanity.”
“I am forever calling my brother that, from this day forward.”
All attention sweeps to the door to the living room, and a hush falls over the group as we all take in Rayme in unison. My little sister has always had a flair for exotic outfits, but right now she’s wearing a loose-fitting sequined tank top and . . . I’m not even sure whether the bottom half qualifies as a skirt.
“Rayme, what on earth? It’s forty degrees outside,” I say, probably too loudly.
My sister is trying to kill Ed and Alex.
Or win over Chris.
“Wow,” Alex says, tongue rolled out all the way to the floor.
“Alex, close your face,” I say. “Rayme, go put some clothes on.”
I think she’s coming in for a hug, but she veers over to Millie instead, throwing an annoyed “Excuse me?” over her shoulder.
“Are you trying to murder them?” I point to Drooling Thing 1 and Drooling Thing 2.
She hugs Ed next and the contact turns him into a bright red statue, his arms stiff at his sides.
Millie gives me a reproachful glare but doesn’t say anything. We both know my sister can fight her own battles.
“They are grown-ass men,” Rayme says. “If they can’t handle a