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“Nope, still can’t stand fucking people. They’re a bunch of idiots. The only person I’ve ever liked is you, Emmy. You know that.”
“And now Ella,” she clarifies.
“And now Ella,” I confirm, pausing a little. “Are you jealous that I’m friends with Ella?” I ask with the biggest smile on my face.
“What? No, I’m not bloody jealous. Curious is what I am, considering you never had any friends in school. Not that you ever wanted friends… though I can guarantee any one of the girls back then would have chopped off a limb to be friends with you.” She frames the word “friends” with air quotes.
“Ella’s my sister, Emily. There is absolutely no reason for you to be jealous of anyone. No one has ever been able to measure up to you.”
“I’m not jealous. I can see why you’d be friends with Ella. I mean, it’s been a long time since I’ve had any friends, but I can see she would be a good one to have.”
“Why haven’t you had any friends, Emmy. You were always surrounded by people at school. It seemed everyone wanted to be your best friend back then.”
“They weren’t really my friends, Josh. They were just too scared of what you would do to them if they weren’t. People had this assumption that if they were friends with me, you’d leave them be. God only knows why they thought that—it’s not like I was spared from your torture.”
“Trust me, babe, I spared you in high school.”
“You literally tipped a milkshake over my head the first time we met.” She holds up one finger before she continues. “Then there was that time you got me kicked off the cheerleading team. I still don’t know how you managed that, but I know it was you.” Her second finger goes up.
I smile at the fond memory. “I bribed the coach. But, in my defence, that uniform showed off way too much skin,” I argue.
“You weren’t my boyfriend, Josh. You wouldn’t even speak to me.”
“I was trying to save you from me.”
The third finger goes up. “The time you put red hair dye in my shampoo. My hair was bloody bright red. Do you have any idea how embarrassed I was to walk out of the girls’ locker room that day? That shit stayed in my hair for months.”
“I thought it would make you uglier, less appealing to others. That one backfired because you looked hot as fuck with that fiery red hair. Do you know how many guys I beat up in those few months? My knuckles were constantly fucking bruised.”
Emmy’s mouth hangs open as she shakes her head. “That, just—wow. You’re just… Wow,” she says, then holds up a fourth finger. “The time you slashed my tyres.”
“That was your fault.”
“How do you figure that?” she asks.
“You offered Jackson a ride home that day.”
“So, I do a good deed for someone and you decide that I needed to be punished for that?” Her eyebrows go up to her hairline.
“Not punished. Just stopped from having another guy in your car. Besides, I made sure you had a ride home that day and I replaced your tyres.”
“You had your limo driver take me home. Do you have any idea how embarrassing that was? To turn up in my neighbourhood in a damn limo?”
“Emily, you lived in the suburbs, not the fucking Bronx.”
“Doesn’t matter. It was embarrassing.” She holds up a fifth finger. I take hold of her hand, stopping her.
“As much as I’d love to continue this trip down memory lane, because really there are so many fond memories of us during those high school years, we’re here. Come on.”
“You do realise those fond memories are all one-sided in your own head, right? Those moments weren’t fond for me at all,” she says as she climbs out of the car. I have to step in front of her to prevent someone from getting a view of her ass.
If I thought I’d get any peace tonight, I was mistaken. As soon as we step through the lobby, we’re greeted by Sam and Tony. Tony is Sam’s assistant. I’ve never liked the prick, but I like him even less right now with the way he’s looking at Emmy.
