Anyone But Rich (Anyone But..., #1)(38)

“There wasn’t one,” I said.

“Exactly.” Miranda paced around my classroom. She looked amazing, as usual. She was wearing some kind of outfit that looked like it was too many layers to be practical this time of year, but she’d also been blessed with the superhuman ability to never sweat or get the dreaded oily forehead syndrome. Miranda was basically a superhero, and if she wasn’t my friend, I probably would’ve hated her on principle alone. It wasn’t fair for one person to get so many of the good genes while the rest of us had to make do with second toes that were longer than our big toes and other little misfortunes.

“You proved you can’t be trusted, and this is the consequence,” Miranda said.

“What, you guys are just going to supervise every time I’m with Rich from now on?”

“If that’s what it takes,” Iris said. “I’ll get a wire from the undercover guys and strap you up. We’ll listen to everything. I’ll even bug your phones.”

“I have one phone. And I’m not wearing a wire. That’s ridiculous.”

Iris crossed her arms. “You’re not in a position to decide what’s ridiculous. Traitor.”

“I’m seriously sorry,” I said. “I don’t know how many different ways I can say it. I got carried away, and for a few minutes, he really didn’t seem that bad. Besides, you guys are the ones who told me to go to the party in the first place.” I closed my mouth before I dug the hole any deeper. I’d been about to ask if we really should be clinging to a promise we made when we were kids. It had been a long time since then, and Rich seemed like he’d changed.

Miranda scoffed. “Even if a woman tells her husband he can go to a strip club, I think it’s assumed that she doesn’t want him to sleep with any strippers.”

“Seriously, though,” Iris said. “Women who give their men permission to go to strip clubs are asking for trouble. I’m not going to let a dog loose in a sausage factory and then get mad when he ends up gobbling down an eight-incher.”

“You would somehow manage to turn that sexual,” Miranda said with a sigh, but there was a glint of amusement in her eyes.

“What was sexual about that?” Iris asked. “Was it just because I said eight inches? Would it be better if I used the metric system? What would that be, eighty . . . inchimeters?”

I pressed my palm to my forehead and laughed, but the sound of the door opening distracted all of us.

Rich took half a step in before he paused, eyes darting between Iris and Miranda. “Oh,” he said, “I can wait outside until you two are finished.”

“You can come right in, sleazeball,” Iris said. “We’re not going anywhere until you slime your way out of here.” She sauntered over to Rich with exaggerated confidence and whipped out her nightstick. She prodded at his pockets and his chest, making him jump back and look at her like she was crazy. “Got any goodies in there? Maybe some drugs to soften our girl up again? A slutty grandma, even?”

Rich looked past her to me. “I take it you told them about the other night?”

I winced. “Kind of. Yeah.”

“So,” he said slowly, looking back between Iris and Miranda. “What happens now? You two tie me up and beat me until I agree to stay away from Kira?”

Miranda narrowed her eyes. “Tie you up and beat you? What is that, some kind of thinly veiled euphemism? You think you’re going to turn this into a wild sex party?”

Rich laughed. “That’s a stretch. No. Poor choice of words was all. I’m just trying to figure out if you expect me to have a conversation with Kira while Officer Iris is over here ready to whack me with that nightstick.”

“What you do is your choice, scumbag,” Iris said through her teeth.

I could’ve almost laughed. They were trying so hard to be intimidating that it was bordering on cringeworthy. “Guys, come on,” I said.

Iris pointed her nightstick at me and bulged her eyes. “Coming to his rescue, are we? It’s just like I thought.”

Miranda leaned against a desk and gave me a long, searching look. “I think it’s time you decide, Kira. Him or us. What’s it going to be?”

“What?” I asked. I almost couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I expected Iris and Miranda to be resistant—angry, even. But ultimatums?

She shrugged. “We made a promise. If that doesn’t mean anything to you, I think we deserve to know about it.”

“You agree with this, Iris?” I asked.

Iris hesitated, but she nodded. “It’s time to choose. The dick or the chicks?”

Rich cleared his throat. “Kira. It’s fine. I already fucked up once. I’m not about to talk you into screwing up your friendships on my behalf either.”

“Dicks or the chicks, huh?” I asked. “I think the ones being dicks here are the chicks. I choose the one who isn’t trying to manipulate and bully me. I choose him.”

“Come on,” Miranda said quietly. She stood and pulled on Iris’s sleeve.

Iris was watching me in stunned silence. Miranda tugged at her, but she still wasn’t moving. “You’re serious?” she asked.

I couldn’t look them in the eyes right now. I stared at my feet and let my thoughts churn. I’d spoken impulsively. I knew that. But as much as I tried to second-guess myself, I couldn’t find a reason to change my mind. Whatever they might think about Rich, one thing was true: He wouldn’t put me in a situation like they had. He wouldn’t have ignored the fact that I’d changed and grown and that maybe I’d grown into somebody who could forgive a man for what he’d done seven years ago.