While I don’t regret it, it’s also not something I want to talk about. Katie and I are good now, and we weren’t friends when I slept with JT, but she still makes her digs at me about it when she can.
She can be a really good friend when she wants to be, but she’s got a real mean-girl thing about her too.
Strong sun-kissed arms wrap around my waist from behind.
“Actually, I changed my mind. The winner’s Theo, hands down.” I giggle, turning around to wrap my arms around him. Theo’s a year older than the other boys, but they all grew up together because their dads were in the club when they were kids.
“What’d I win?” he asks.
JT and Gabe groan in unison, rolling their eyes.
“They were arguing who was best in bed.”
He beams.
I brush a stray piece of his mousy hair off his forehead as his beautiful blue eyes meet mine. Theo’s one of my very favorite people; he’s quiet and kind.
When I need distraction and noise, I go to Gabe to take me away from it all. But when I need peace, I go to Theo.
He lost his brother a while back, and he’s just been a little different than the other boys since then. I think he lost a piece of himself. And I don’t have to worry about him wanting anything serious because he’s been hung up on JT’s older sister since they were kids. He hasn’t dated anyone since she moved away, but if he did, he’d make some woman very happy.
He wraps his inked arms around my shoulders. “You’re a lying sack of shit, Darlin’, but I love you anyway.”
His chest rumbles against my cheek as he chuckles.
I rub my hand up and down his back. “You’re the least annoying of the bunch, too.”
“Now, that I believe.” He lets me go, letting me get back to my game.
As I lean over to break, Lil Wayne blares from the speakers and Gabe groans, shooting off the couch. “Who the fuck let my mom pick the song?”
Chapter Three
After I thoroughly kick JT’s ass—he won’t admit that, he’s convinced he was screwed over—Nik stands from Shane’s lap and grabs my arm. “Let’s dance.”
She practically drags me across the room to the middle of the dance floor where a dozen or so girls in short dresses bounce around to the music.
We sway under the lights, and I watch them bounce off Nik’s hair. She turns around before launching herself at me, half toppling us over as she fights a losing battle with a fit of giggles.
My cheeks burn from smiling.
I think this right here might be part of why I don’t want to settle down yet.
I love my life.
I’m sure it’ll get old one day, and I’ll be ready to move on, but not yet.
I don’t think that’s too much to ask. You only get to be young and free while you’re young and free. Once I tie myself down, the party ends.
I should probably just stop dating until that time comes.
That thought crosses my mind at the end of every relationship, but then some other sexy man swoops in, and I temporarily lose my goddamn mind.
It’s not that I don’t want to be in love. On a subconscious level, don’t we all? But I know what the price is, and giving up a piece of myself isn’t worth it right now.
I’ve just about made up my mind when that sneaky internal clock, or what the hell ever it is that tells women their time’s running out, comes alive and fills my head with too many questions and none of the answers.
What’ll happen when Iamready? What if I don’t meet anyone I actually would want to make a life with? What if all the good ones are settled down by then?