My phone taunts me from my peripheral vision.
I can’t concentrate.
It’s a lost cause.
I snatch up my phone.
Jessica
Handled? What does that mean?
To my humiliation, I stare at the screen, not breathing, my heart pounding.
I wait five agonizing minutes.
Charlie
There were questions, and I handled it. Your secrets are safe.
I contemplate playing it cool for three seconds.
Jessica
Did you tell my brother you want to fuck me? Or not?
Charlie
Is fucking me all you think about? I’m wondering since you can’t stop bringing it up.
It is all I think about, but I can’t let his ego slide.
Jessica
You think you’re the first friend of Ryder’s to be hot for me?
Charlie
Just admit you’re desperate for me to objectify you.
My thighs clench as I read his words. He has a special gift. He’s the perfect combination of taunting challenge and praise. No other man has even come close to pulling it off. But that doesn’t mean I’m about to give him the upper hand.
Especially when I’m the one who has it.
Charlie
Another text from Jessica arrives in my phone.
Cruising down the highway on the way to the hospital, I angle away from Ryder in the passenger seat. He seems to have concluded he’s not going to get to the bottom of why Jessica and I were standing on the side of the road, and he has left me alone under the pretense of needing to answer emails while he drives.
Which is what I’m doing.
Just in between texting his sister and swearing this message will be my last.
Jessica
I can’t wait to make you suffer.
I feel a smile tug at my mouth. She’s incorrigible.