AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jordanshook her head. “Nevermind that.Doyouknow theDJ?”
Ishrugged. “Notreally.Isaw him around earlier, setting up.”
Shenarrowed her eyes. “That’sall?”
“Ofcourse.What’sgotten into you?”Iwas used to the interrogation from my family, notJordan.
“H-he,” she stammered tentatively. “Hewas staring at you so intensely, like really intense.Fuck.Ihave never seen a man look at a woman that way.”Sheglanced at theDJand admitted after a hesitant pause, “Helooked at you… the way all women want to be looked at by a man.”Jordanturned her attention back to me. “Areyou sure you don’t know him?”
Ilaughed, though a thrill of electricity coursed through my spine. “Nope,”Iattested.
Mybest friend wasn’t stupid and probably caught the twinkle in my eyes. “Whateveryou’re thinking, don’t,” she warned. “ForGod’ssake,Piya.You’resmart; you’re beautiful.Youdeserve everything.Whydo you keep chasing men who’ll never be good enough for you?Doyou even remember what happened withMichael?”
Iclosed my eyes.Thiswas the closest to tough loveI’dreceived fromJordan, and it was well deserved.
UntilSean,Ihadn’t dated for a year, and for good reasons.Michaelwas my boyfriend beforeSeanand was equally terrible.Theasshole took my car out for a joyride and crashed it.Ihad been carless since.Myloyal best friend gave him a piece of her mind.Thingsgot heated, andMichaelthrew the car keys atJordan.Theforceful toss of the keys hitJordansquare in the mouth, busting her lips open.Sheended up with stitches.
Ibroke up with the douchebag on the spot and apologized profusely toJordan, plusIdid her laundry for months to make up for it.Itwas dangerous to be associated with me because of the scumbagsIbrought around.AlthoughJordannever displayed animosity over the incident,Icouldn’t blame her for wanting to shake reason into me.
Iopened my eyes. “Yes,Iremember,”Imurmured defeatedly.
“Youpromised there wouldn’t be any more of these guys afterMichael.Thenyou started datingSean.”
Withtattoos, long hair, and an edge,Seanwas aDJwith bad-boy vibes.Itold myself he was different from the rest of my exes.Hewas misunderstood.Anartist.
Atfirst,Seanwas nice and invited me to his place often.Wehad movie nights, and he’d cook for me.Iknew he didn’t come from money, soIpicked up the tab outside the home.Soon, it became an expectation.
Meanwhile,Seangave me just enough to keep me on the hook while keeping his heart at bay.Youcould say there was an addicting thrill in taming an unattainable man.Chalkit up to my mommy and daddy issues.Persuadingsomeone into loving you when they were only mildly interested had a charming allureIcouldn’t shake, andSeanwas just the type.
Thingstook a nosedive when it became clearSeanonly saw me as a walkingATM.Imight be indescribably attracted to a certain type, but terrible taste in men didn’t meanIwas a pushover.Ibroke things off.
Inretaliation,Seanstole from my family and me.
“IthoughtSeanwas different,”Imumbled, my eyes downcast.
“Hewasn’t.”Jordanpointed harshly at theDJ. “Andneither is that guy.Helooks like every boy who broke your heart.Thelast thing you need is to develop an infatuation for a man like him.”
“Infatuation?”Irepeated indignantly, my gaze flipping up. “I’monly staring him down becauseSatan’sspawn over there smiled whenIfell earlier today.”
Jordanbit her lips with a failed attempt to suppress her amusement.Shequickly composed herself. “Seriously,Piya.Stayaway from that guy.Afterwhat happened withMichael, you swore off those kinds of boys.Youtotally went back on your word when you started datingSeanand look what happened.Itwas a total slap in the faceafterIgot stitches for standing up for your ass.”
Mortified,Istared at my interlaced fingers once more.Thissounded like an intervention, and it dawned on me how deeplyI’dhurt my loved ones.
Jordanshook her head. “Babe,Ilove you, butI’mnot picking up the pieces again.I’lltake a punch for you any day, but not a slap in the face.”
Iknew exactly what she meant.Jordanended up in the hospital for having my back.Itwas insulting to her that instead of being scared straight after putting her in a precarious position,Irepeated my patterns by believing the best inSean.Whatthe fuck was wrong with me?
“I’msorry.”
“Theonly apology you can give me is being done with these boys who don’t deserve you,” she reflected the same sentiment asMom.
Momhad hoped my taste in men was a phaseI’doutgrow with age.Aftergraduating college,Ialso thought it was a thing of the past untilImetSeanat a friend’s party.
Itwas the summer following my graduation.Imoved back to my parents and was supposed to find a “respectable” job by the end of summer.Instead,Ispent it writing music for lascivious ads and gallivanting withSean.
Myparents weren’t happy, especially after valuables went missing from their home.AfterIbroke up with him,Seanstole my wallet with myIDcard, five hundred dollars in cash, and various items from my parent’s house.Nodetective work was needed to figure out the “whodunit” mystery.Knowingmy parents disapproved ofSean,Ionly invited him over when they weren’t home and had trusted the bastard with the code to our house.
Tomake matters worse,Milanwas visiting for the weekend, andSeanstole his limited-editionRolex.WhenMilanproposed toDahlia, my brother bought her the biggest engagement ring he could find.ThoughtfulDahliaproposed toMilanin return with an “engagement watch,” aka theRolexin question.Thesweetest effort was tarnished by my lackluster choice of men.ThoughIoffered to buyMilana newRolex,Iknew it didn’t matter because the watch was a sentimental gift and thus irreplaceable.Hence,Milan’scurrent hatred of me.
