Maybe he resented her for being so bossy. Nothing Connor said so far was a concern at all. I loved Rory's friends. He could hang out with them whenever he wanted. And I would never try to control him. I was a complete pushover. I was barely good at making decisions for myself.
"I think he thought that she was out of his league or something. Like she was the best he could ever do. And he completely lost it when he found out she cheated on him. He crashed at my place for months and then just disappeared. He didn't even tell me he was going to Italy. When he came back, he seemed completely back to his old self. Except for his desire to fuck every girl in the city. It was like he was taking it out on every girl he met."
I winced.
"Sorry, Keira."
"No, it's fine." I ran my thumb along my coffee cup. For some reason that information was unsettling. I thought about how he was always so in control again. Did he like dominating women to somehow get back at his ex? That was really messed up. Was he actually thinking about her when we were having sex?
"Keira, I wasn't trying to upset you. Rory is a good guy."
"But he's super fucked up, right? Isn't that what you said?"
"I shouldn't have said that before."
"It doesn't make it untrue." I swallowed hard. "Do you think he still loves her?"
Connor laughed. "No. I don't think he ever loved her. He just liked the idea of her."
Because she was out of his league? I felt a pit forming in my stomach. "Do you think he's settling for me?"
"You're not the type of girl someone settles for, Keira. You're a reacher."
"A reacher?"
"Yeah. A girl that someone reaches for." He smiled at me.
I was overthinking this. Rory wanted to be my boyfriend or he wouldn't have asked. And yes, he liked being in control in bed, but I liked that about him. And last night he wasn't being dominant. He had made love to me. Twice. There was definitely a difference there. We were more than whatever it was he and his horrible ex were. And he hated her for more reasons than her just cheating on him and lying to him. He'd forgive me for the article. He had to. Besides, he and his friends definitely weren't going to sit around in a circle reading boring articles all morning. Everything was fine. I still had time to figure out the best way to tell him.
"So I'm assuming if you're asking these questions that last night went pretty well?"
"It did. Thank you for encouraging me not to run away."
"Well, that's what friends are for." He lifted up his cup.
I tapped my cup against his. "You're a really good friend, Connor."
"I still don't know how I wound up in the friend zone in this situation."
"Because you're the nice one."
"I hate being the nice one."
I laughed.
"Wow, you really are comfortable around my friends," Rory said as he walked out of his room. He was wearing athletic shorts and no shirt. It was hard not to drool over his abs. Rory looked down at the t-shirt that I was wearing. "And that looks a lot better on you by the way."
I could feel my face turning red. "Sorry, I didn't realize anyone was coming over. I need like a schedule or something to keep track of all this stuff." I stood up. I needed to go to my room to change, but I also didn't want to leave the newspaper unattended.
"I send email memos," Jackson said as he got up off the couch and walked back over to us. "Are you two done with your top secret conversation yet?"
Rory lowered his eyebrows slightly.
"Yeah, we're done talking about you, Jackson," Connor said.
Jackson laughed. "I'm flattered."
"Maybe you can put me on that email list?" I asked Jackson, hoping to change the subject.
"Well, that depends. It's only for committed members of the group." He glanced at Rory and then back at me. And then he looked at Connor.
Connor gave him a dirty look. I hoped that Rory didn't see it.
I stayed silent. It wasn't my place to tell Rory's friends that we were a couple now. Jackson seemed to purposely be pushing everyone's buttons this morning. Maybe he was still mad at me for not setting him up with someone. I was starting to think he'd be a great fit for my editor, Judy. She loved pushing