Always Have: A Bad Boy Romance(14)

But I don’t want to argue with my dad. We did enough of that years ago. So I change the subject and ask about his favorite sports teams. It’s a surefire way to keep him talking, and away from sensitive subjects.

We finish our meal, and I clean up. I can tell he’s worn out, so I say my goodbyes and leave him to get some rest.

I check my phone on my way out to my car, and find a text from Selene. It simply says, Carrot cake.

I text her back. I’m there.

I head over to Selene’s house. She has a cake sitting out on a plate on the kitchen counter. It’s covered in cream cheese frosting with little icing carrots all around the edge.

“Did you bake?” I ask with disbelief.

She laughs. “No, I just put it on a plate so it would look pretty. I got it from Metro Market.”

“Ooh, they have the best bakery,” I say. “Have you been alone all day?”

“No.” There’s a wickedness to her tone.

“Selene,” I say. “What’s up?”

She cuts two thick slices of cake and plates them. “Okay, I have a confession, which is mostly why I bought you cake.”

“A confession?”

She pushes the plate toward me and hands me a fork. “I’ve been seeing someone for the last month and I didn’t tell you.”

My jaw drops. “What the f*ck?”

“I know.” She takes my fork from my hand and cuts a bite. “Here, eat. Yes, I kept it from you, but it’s not because I didn’t want to tell you. I just … I wanted to see if it was going somewhere first.”

I narrow my eyes at her, but put the bite of cake in my mouth. Oh my god, it’s divine. “Okay, I’m kind of forgiving you right now.” I finish the bite, closing my eyes in ecstasy as the cream cheese frosting melts in my mouth. “So, you’re telling me. Does that mean it is going somewhere?”

“I think so,” she says. “At least, enough that you’ll meet him soon.”

I take another bite. “That’s awesome, babe. I’m excited. Who is he? What’s he like?”

“His name is Matthew. Isn’t that a great name? He’s tall, of course, because that’s a must for me, and he played college basketball.”

“Where did you meet this guy? At work?”

“No,” she says, her voice emphatic. “You know I don’t date people I work with. I met him online, if you can believe it.”

“I can believe it,” I say. “I’m happy for you.”

“Are you?”

“Yeah, why?” I narrow my eyes at her. “Is there something wrong with him you haven’t told me yet?”

“No, nothing like that,” she says. “I was just worried you’d be pissed that I didn’t tell you about every date.”

I wave my hand at her as I take another bite. “No, that’s silly. It makes sense. Now I can be excited for you because you’ve already been through the whole do we have chemistry and is there going to be a third date stuff.”

“Exactly,” she says. “And Ky, we have chemistry. Fuckloads of it.”

Is it weird that hearing her say that, with her voice lowered and kind of breathy, makes me a little tingly? I shift on the barstool, trying to get rid of the feeling. Just because Selene has a guy to give her orgasms and I don’t, does not mean I need to be jealous.

“I mean, holy shit, we spent today together and, damn,” she says. “He is hot, and he is good.”

Okay, I’m a little jealous. “You get him, tiger,” I say, and assuage my envy with more cake.

“So how’s the vow to be different plan coming?” she asks.

I drop my fork. “I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m not dating the wrong guy, but I’m not dating anyone. I’m not even trying. I have no idea where to even start.”

“You could try online.”

“I guess,” I say. “I’m just not sure what I’m looking for anymore. It’s like my radar is broken or something. But whatever, I don’t want to talk about my desolate love life. Where’s Braxton? He would love this cake.”

Selene licks some frosting off her fork. “I don’t know. Probably with Aubrey.”

My back stiffens. I haven’t heard this name in connection with Brax before. “Uh, who’s Aubrey?”

“You haven’t met Aubrey?” she asks. “Right, I guess you’ve been in seclusion. They’ve been dating for, I don’t know, a month? She’s pretty nice. Different than the girls he usually dates.”

Different. We both toasted to it. My tummy does a little tumble, and suddenly the cake doesn’t taste like anything.

Why do I care? Braxton dates lots of girls. I shouldn’t ask more questions about her, but I can’t help it. “What’s so different about her?”

“She’s not a blonde, for one,” Selene says. “And, I don’t know … she’s nice, and please don’t hit me for saying this, but she’s not slutty. Because let’s be honest, a lot of Braxton’s girlfriends are kind of slutty.”

A not-slutty non-blonde? I take another tasteless bite of cake to cover the fact that I feel like I got punched in the gut. But that’s stupid, because I have no reason to feel this way.