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This day, this awful day, blew past my limit at a hundred miles per hour. The words were out before I could stop them. “I have plenty of fucking spark!” I shouted into the phone, my voice bouncing off the close confines of the car.
There was a moment of stunned silence—from both of us.
“Okay,” Josh said at last. “But I’m worried about you, because you left with that guy last night.”
“Nick?” I said.
“Oh Christ, you know his name. Did you notseewhat he did to me? That guy is violent and crazy. He nearly broke my nose!”
“You slept with his girlfriend,” I pointed out.
“It was assault!” Josh was worked up now. “First degree! I could have had a concussion or something! I could have called the cops! That guy is a complete fucking animal. Don’t you know who he is?”
“Am I supposed to?” I asked. “Is he a rock star or something?” I could kind of see that, actually.
“No, he’s not a rock star, for God’s sake. He doesn’t do anything at all.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means he doesn’t do anything. He has no job.” This, in Josh’s world, was a cardinal sin. “Gina told me all about him,” he ranted on. “He’s a spoiled rich kid. He lives off his trust fund. His own parents hate his guts. All he does is party—he does nothing but live it up. Stay away from him, Evie. He’s completely irresponsible and he has no respect for anything. He’s a loose cannon. He’s not the kind of guy you want to date.”
For a second, I almost saidHow do you know what kind of guy I want to date?Then I remembered that the kind of guy I wanted to date had been him. Until last night.
Strange. Nick hadn’t given any indication he was rich. His clothes certainly hadn’t given it away.
But I was sure Josh was right about this. If for no other reason than because Josh was so mad, and the only thing that could work him up like this was a guy who was cooler, better-looking, and richer—without working!—than he was.
“I thought Nick was hot,” I said, just to make Josh angrier. “All those muscles. And the way he punched you—definitely sexy.”
“Stop it,” Josh said. “I know what you’re doing, Evie. You’re trying to get back at me, and it’s childish. I’m just trying to help you.”
“Helpme?”
“Nick Mason is scum. He’ll take advantage of you. Of your hurt feelings. You’re vulnerable right now.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” I said.
“Evie, come on, you’re smarter than this. You’d never stoop to date a guy like him. He’ll probably hit on you, because he’s that kind of jerk. I’m telling you, don’t do it.”
Josh didn’t know about Old Evie, because I’d never told him. Old Evie was my shameful secret, because Old Evie, in her day, had stooped pretty low. Josh, I realized now, would never have understood Old Evie. Never in a million years.
“You don’t get a say in who I date,” I told Josh. “Not anymore. Maybe I’dlikeNick to come on to me. Maybe I’ll say yes when he does.”If he does.“At least he isn’t a cheater, and he’s hot.”
“Evie, stop acting like a child.”
“Fuck you, Josh. I have to go.” I hung up.
Chew on that, Josh.
I’d implied something would happen between me and Nick, without saying anything outright. It would probably bug him for hours. It was petty, and I liked it. I was allowed to be fucking petty.
But the words kept going through my head as I drove home.
All he does is party.
He’s completely irresponsible.
A loose cannon.
