Her lips curled up. “Lila, it’s always time for wine, and we’re celebrating today.”
Riley loved to drink – wine and margaritas in particular. She had been obsessing over red wine lately. It was her favorite and now my favorite as well. We were besties for a reason, right?
Riley swallowed a bite of her dinner and then gave me an inquiring look. “How’s it going with Landon?”
My heart stuttered. Landon, my boyfriend of five weeks.
“Good,” I said, moving a piece of my ravioli around in my plate.
Riley sighed, carefully placing her spoon on her plate, before leveling me with a look. “Lila, don’t give me that shit.”
I chewed on a piece of ravioli before swallowing it down with red wine. I drank half of my glass before slamming it back on the table. “He’s not replying to my text.”
Riley let out a curse. “Did you call him?”
“I’m not that desperate,” I snapped.
“Lila,” she sighed. I refused to look at her because I didn’t want to see the sympathy on her face.
Landon pursued me for three months before I finally gave in. He was a good guy: smart, sweet and nice. At first, I refused to give in since I thought I was his rebound. Landon had broken off with his long-term girlfriend four months before he turned his attention to me. But he courted me, flowers and all, and he was different than the other guys.
Maddox was hellbent on keeping us apart because he believed Landon was no good.
But then again, that was his excuse for every guy I dated over the years.
Granted, none of them really lasted for long – four months maximum.
Sex wasn’t some sacred thing to me. I wasn’t a virgin; I had a few hook-ups here and there, but I never had a one-night stand. I needed the intimacy before and after sex, and one-night stands didn’t give me any of that. I’ve had a few boyfriends over the years, but Landon was the one I felt… comfortable with, enough for me to give in and have sex so soon into our relationship.
That was three days ago. And he was acting weird since then.
Leo was the first guy to turn away with disgust when he saw my scars. Since then, I either had sex while half-dressed or when we were in the dark–dark enough they couldn’t see the jagged, pink lines between my breasts – just so I could spare them the disgust or shock they’d feel if they saw it. I didn’t need or want their sympathy either.
My scars never bothered me, and I wasn’t really embarrassed of it.
But maybe I was lying to myself.
Landon… he saw my scars. He didn’t really flinch away, but I noticed the way he kept his gaze averted during sex. He didn’t look at my boobs and kept his eyes on my taunt stomach or the spot between my legs instead.
I’d be flattered… if I thought he was focusing on my pussy, but I knew he was just trying to avoid looking at the marks on my chest.
He didn’t act weird afterward, so I believed everything was okay.
Until yesterday.
Landon wasn’t replying to my texts, which was unusual. He had always been very attentive… until now.
“Damn it,” I growled and poured more wine in my glass. “Maybe he’s just busy.”
“Too busy to send you a single text?” Riley stabbed her ravioli with too much aggression. She was a tad bit overprotective of me. Maddox was probably rubbing off on her. “It’d take him two seconds,” she added.
I cleared my throat and took a slow sip of my wine. Drinking too much and too fast would have me tipsy in less than an hour. “It doesn’t matter.”
She made a face at me. “He’s an asshole.”
I shrugged and continued with my dinner, shoving a spoonful into my mouth.
“You don’t care… if he breaks up with you?” she asked slowly.
“I’m not in love with him if that’s what you’re asking,” I said around a mouthful.
It was true, I didn’t love Landon. He was nice, and I liked him.
But that was it.
“Maddox–”
I cut her off. “He doesn’t know and you won’t tell him.” I leveled Riley with a hard look, and she leaned back against her chair, looking only a bit intimidated. “If he finds out Landon is ghosting me or if he thinks I’m hurt over this, which I’m not honestly, he’s going to kill Landon.”
Riley cocked her head to the side, thoughtfully. “Didn’t you… um, spend the night over at Maddox’s last night?”
“We fell asleep while binge watching Friends,” I amended. I woke up in his bed in the morning; he carried me to bed after I had fallen sleep, and I had been all cozy against his pillows and his blankets while Maddox slept on the couch.
“Do you think maybe the issue is Maddox? Not that I’m saying he is, but you know how all your exes were sensitive about him. Maybe Landon is too?”
She raised a good point.
Maddox loathed every guy I dated.
Consequently, they hated him, too. And none of them were too happy of my relationship with Maddox. They didn’t like that we were that close. They didn’t approve of Maddox having access to my apartment. He could come and go freely and vice versa. They didn’t like that I attended all of Maddox’s football games and some of his practices.
It was a lot to juggle, and granted, yes, it made sense why they didn’t approve of Maddox’s relationship with me.
But none of them came close to what or who Maddox was to me.
I wasn’t going to fix what I had with Maddox to suit these guys. Maybe that was the issue in all my past relationships, but I wasn’t willing to change anything between Maddox and I.
My stomach twisted at the thought of losing Maddox. The mere idea of being without him made me sick.
We were best friends; no one and nothing was going to change that.
Not Landon… and none of those girls Maddox messed around with.
“Lila!” Maddox called out from the bathroom.
I settled back into the couch and stuffed a handful of sweet caramelized popcorn into my mouth.
“What?” I responded, before taking a sip of my energy drink. I was a bit tipsy from all the red wine I had tonight with Riley. She was passed out in our apartment, and I had come over to our neighbors’ place to bring him dinner.
Colton and his new conquest had disappeared when Maddox came home.
Maddox walked out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped low around his waist, bare chest and his v-line teasing me. You see, I’ve seen Maddox half naked many times over the years. But each time, my mouth watered at the sight of his wide, muscled chest and washboard abs and that nipple piercing. He had gotten it one night when he was out partying with his football team. They had been pissed drunk and they went into a tattoo and piercing shop. The rest was history.
I never considered a nipple piercing sexy, but on Maddox? Puuurfect. Yes, I just purred.
I was his best friend, but I wasn’t blind, and I had a pussy, which meant that I appreciated the male species. A lot. Including my best friend.
Was I drooling? I wiped the corner of my mouth just in case.
Maddox huffed and gave me a look that bordered between comical and exasperation. “Did you get in my phone and change your name to My Main Chick?”
Oh.