“Such a cute couple,” she coos at us, like we’re puppies. She looks over her shoulder at the poker table, making sure to flip her silky hair like she’s trying out for a shampoo commercial. “Brian, come meet Tommy. You’lllovehim! Aren’t they so sweet together?”
Brian saunters over, smirking at Kira in a way that’s intended to make her feel small. “Kira, a new beau? I swear, you never tell me anything anymore. I thought we’d still be friends, after all. Let’s see the new me.”
He did not just say that.I hate him already.
“Brian Worthington. And you are?” He sticks his hand out to me, and I have an intrusive thought that begs me to grab it and kiss it the way I was supposed to kiss Janessa’s hand.
It’s such a funny thing to imagine that I’m genuinely smiling when I shake his hand. “Tommy Claremont, so nice to meet you.”
“Tommy,” Brian repeats, a little cautious. My honest cheer and mirth threw him off for a second, but I see the moment he decides that I’m just a moron. Too stupid to be threatened by his emotional sway over my girlfriend, too clueless to know how he makes her feel, and not important enough to already be in the know about her past with him. His pale eyes brighten and his smile widens. He returns my handshake with vigor.
“We were just playing poker, if you’d like to join?” Brian asks, gesturing to the table where the two idiot brothers are leaning back in their chairs and smirking, loudly drumming on the table with their hands. I hope they fall over. I could push them. They’d hit the ground so hard. It would be funny.
“I don’t know…” Kira looks away, clinging to my arm.
“I’d much rather get drinks,” Lexie comments, already tugging gently on Kira’s other hand. “And we need to introduce Tommy to a few more people.”
“Bri,” Janessa uses the disgustingly cutesy pet name in a drawn-out, pouty plea. “We’ve been playing for ages. Let’s get drinks together; we can all learn more about each other, wouldn’t that be more fun?”
“Don’t be such a fucking baby,” Brian scoffs callously and rolls his eyes. “You do what you want, I’m not done playing, and I want to have a game with Claremont.”
“But Bri–” Janessa tries to regain control of the conversation.
“You girls go on,” Brian interrupts, like he has any fucking right to be giving Kira or Lexie permission to walk away. It almost feels like he’s not just giving them permission, butorderingthem to leave. “It can be a guys’ game. We’ll get to let loose without worrying about hurting anybody’s feelings. Right, boys? Unless one of you is on your period,” he calls to the brothers. They jeer and laugh and flip Brian off. He returns the gesture and raises an eyebrow at me.
The way Janessa stiffens angrily at his side makes me internally wince. Whatever she saw in Brian that made her want him badly enough to be ‘the other woman’, it clearly isn’t working out well for her. He doesn’t give a fuck about her. Probably never gave a fuck about Kira, either.
When I don’t answer fast enough, he prods me a little sharply with a knuckle against my shoulder, pushing me off center. “Well? You in? Earth to Claremont.”
I imagine how much he’d tremble if I threatened him a little bit. He’s so soft, I can practically smell baby powder on him. I bet he’d cry.
“Sorry,” I shrug, refusing to react to the physical jab. “I’ve never played. I’d just slow you down, and it wouldn’t be much fun.”
“I don’t mind teaching new players.” Brian’s smirk widens. “I taught Kira how to play, isn’t that right, sweetheart?”
Sweetheart?
I tilt my head, wondering if I just heard him right
Did he just call MY fake girlfriend sweetheart? He did, I realize when Kira flinches.
I have another intrusive thought, this one much harder to ignore; it would be so satisfying to punch his teeth out. He’d bleed all over his fancy shirt. He’d look up at me from the floor and I’d rear my leg back and–
“I can’t say I’ve ever been called sweetheart by a dude before, Bri,” I drawl, stealing Janessa’s nickname for him.
The brothers laugh, and Brian smirks at my weak barb. Janessa manages to dislodge Lexie from Kira’s side without appearing to do so, taking her place and holding Kira’s hand. “Let’s let the boys do their thing, Kira, and we can–”
“No.”
Everyone looks at me like I just went off script in a carefully rehearsed play. Even Kira and Lexie look startled. Unsure what else to do, I just repeat a firm “nice to meet you,” as I guide Kira further from them.
“Aw, don’t be that way!” Brian says to our backs. “No need to be rude, Claremont.”
“Honestly, us girls need our girl time,” Janessa tries again, keeping her hold on Kira, forcing me to stop or risk starting a game of tug-of-war with my precious fake girlfriend in the middle.
“No.” I don’t understand what they aren’t getting about that simple word. Then again, lots of people pretend to misunderstand that word. “Kira wants to get drinks and introduce me around, so that’s what we’ll do.”
“Pussy whipped,” one of the brothers–Leonard, Gregory? Who cares which one–coughs into his fist. It’s such a lame, tired insult that it slides right off me.
