Page 7 of The Guy on the Right (The Underdogs 1)

“You’re right, it’s masochistic. Why even plant these things? They’re ugly anyway.”

“Agreed.”

She dusts her palms off and takes a seat next to me. “Why do you believe me? That he’s a dick. How do you know I’m not the dick?”

“Just being agreeable. I’m treading lightly. I’ve seen your bad side, it’s not pretty. Sisters, three of them,” I grumble. “All older.”

“Shit,” she laughs. “Yeah, you are well-trained. Well, I have a feeling neither of us is living our best life tonight, so do you mind if I sit with you a minute?”

“Not at all.” I scoot over, giving her room on the safe side.

“Who are you hiding from?”

“Can’t really say.”

She slinks down next to me with a sigh. She smells clean, aside from the acid lingering in the air, like mint and citrus. “You don’t know who you’re hiding from?”

“No. Really I don’t. Girl, brown hair, blue eyes. The details are still fuzzy. I smiled at her, she smiled back, another shot, the next thing I know…” I look back at the house, “never mind, it’s nothing.”

“Doesn’t sound like nothing,” she says, her finger pressing into my neck before I find motor skills enough to jerk away.

“Ouch, what are you doing?”

“As dark as it is out here, I swear that I can see she leeched your neck.”

“You’re kidding?”

“No, and it’s not the size of a quarter either, that’s an appetizer plate hickey.”

“Jesus.” I bury my head in my hands. “I never thought I would say this again, but I need a drink.”

“Didn’t go well?” She asks with an uplift to her voice I’m all too familiar with. She’s teasing me.

“Look, I don’t mind you sitting on my patch of grass, but this is no joking matter. I seriously screwed up. There is no do-over.”

Instantly, I regret my words through the awkward silence that follows.

“Because you have a girlfriend?”

“What?” I realize then why she got quiet. “No, I wasn’t cheating. I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Oh, well, sorry,” she says on a sigh. “Your drama, my distraction. I’m trying not to freak out I just broke up with my boyfriend.”

“I’m trying not to freak out that I just lost my virginity and may need a rabies shot.”

What in the hell, Theo?

“You serious?”

“As a velociraptor attack,” I say, wishing a meteor would be decent enough to strike me dead.

“You want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“Obviously you do, or you wouldn’t have told me.”

“Slip of the tongue.”