AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What I’m certain of,” Jack replied, “is that I’m sick of you two over-analyzing the way I act around Alyssa fucking Ford. We’re all adults here. Can we please just act like it? Go out with Alyssa if you want.”
“I am not going out with her,” I quickly explained. “I am teaching her to surf in exchange for Tinder photos.”
Jack wiped mustard from the corner of his mouth. “You don’t have to explain anything to me. Teach her to surf. Get drinks. I don’t care, as long as you stop making a big deal about it.” He glanced at Liam. “Both of you.”
Liam held up his hands innocently.
I didn’t want to get involved with Alyssa, of course. We were simply two people doing favors for each other. There was nothing unusual about it.
At least, that is what I told myself.
15
Alyssa
“He totally wants to bone you.”
“No he doesn’t!” I shot back at Brandi.
“Yes,” she said simply. “He does.”
Our argument paused as we carried another bolt of fabric out of the store. They were heavy. Almost too heavy to carry between the two of us. By the time we had moved it outside and into Brandi’s trunk, my arms burned and I was panting.
According to our mother’s credit card statement, we had almost a hundred grand worth of fabric on hand. The supplier wouldn’t give us a refund for any of it, but Brandi had found a few other fabric stores in the area that were willing to buy them. Of course, they were only willing to purchase the fabric at a steep discount. But at least we were getting something. If we managed to sell all of it, we would be able to make an enormous dent in our mother’s debt.
“You know how I know he wants to bone you?” Brandi asked.
“I thought you had given up tormenting me.”
“I know,” she explained, “because all men would want to bone you. All straight men, at least. You’re an attractive woman.”
“Most men would sleep with a cardboard box if it had boobs,” I replied.
She pointed at me. “Exactly. You’re helping prove my point.”
“That wasn’t my intention.”
“You should flirt with him. See if anything happens. He’s so sexy. And exotic. Like Antonio Banderas. I bet he’s great in bed, too. You saw how he handled that drink shaker.”
I rolled my eyes, but I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it. But it was only a brief consideration. The last thing I needed to do was add Mateo to the complicated situation surrounding Jack Franco.
“Is this because of Jack?” Brandi asked.
“I really don’t like how you’re able to read my mind.”
“It’s a twin thing.” She grinned. “If the roles were reversed, a guy would be considered a king for sleeping with three hot girls who were all friends. We’re not in high school anymore, Alyssa. Nobody is going to slut shame you for going out with Mateo. Sleep with whoever you want!”
“I am sleeping with exactly who I want,” I replied as we went back inside the store. “Which is currently nobody.”
“Nobody but Liam, the sexy kiwi.”
“That was days ago,” I insisted. “It was a one time thing.”
“Sure it was.” Brandi winked suggestively at me.
I groaned as we lifted the next bolt of cloth off a shelf. This was getting old. I was used to Brandi trying to encourage my love life, both in high school and more recently, but this was starting to get annoying.
I just need to focus on the work here, then get back to New York, I told myself. With some innocent photography and surfing in between.
