Diary of a Bad Boy(27)

“It’s a girl,” Rath says, causing Bram to practically jump out of his seat and do a kickball chain right in front of us.

“A girl?” he gushes. “Not Roark McCool, permanent bachelor. My fucking heart can’t take it.”

You know when people say payback’s a bitch? This is my payback. I might not have been the best of friends when Bram was going through lady problems with Julia. Yeah, I helped him, but I was a dick about it most of the time.

I can feel him rearing back and letting me have it now, especially with that evil glint in his eyes.

But to be fair, this isn’t the same thing, not even close. I’m not in love with the girl, nor do I want to date her. Yeah, she’s gorgeous and has amazing tits, but it doesn’t mean I’ll make a move.

Okay . . . and yeah, she’s fun to drive crazy, but that’s not the same thing as what Bram has with Julia or the struggle he went through.

“It’s not what Rath is making it out to be.”

“He held her phone hostage for days and she slept over last night.”

“What?” Bram’s eyes nearly fall out of their sockets. “A reoccurring interaction? What’s this nonsense? Roark McCool doesn’t have reoccurring interactions with women.”

Christ.

Thankfully the waitress brings our drinks at that moment so I have a second to compose myself and not lash out, bringing unwanted questioning from my friends.

“You already slept with her?” Bram asks, sipping his drink then puckering his lips. Being in a relationship has really softened the bastard. Once the most popular guy on campus, he now spends his Friday nights curled up with his girl. I can’t remember the last time he went out with us. It’s been a really long time.

“I didn’t sleep with her.”

“You didn’t?” Rath asks, surprised. “When you said she stayed the night, I thought you had sex with her.”

“How come you know about this girl and I don’t?” Bram complains. “Dude, you know I’m the romantic. Rath over here has a brick for a heart, you need to discuss these things with me.”

“I don’t have a brick for a heart,” Rath says.

“No, you’re just hung up on your ex,” I say with a smirk.

He shifts in his chair but doesn’t say anything. His silence is all I need. Now to get Bram to shut up. I turn toward him, and he folds his arms across his chest in challenge, as if to say you have nothing on me. And it’s true, I don’t. I used to when he was pining after Julia, but now it’s like he’s an open book for everyone.

“So . . . who is the girl?”

For fuck’s sake. Might as well get it over with.

“I’m going to preface this with I’m not interested in her, so before your little heart starts beating wildly for a potential coupling, it’s not going to happen.”

In a snarky tone, Bram replies, “Never say never.”

He’s so fucking annoying.

“We ran into each other at Gray’s Papaya right before I got in that fight. I dropped my phone and so did she. They were mixed up and Rath grabbed the wrong one. Naturally curious, I looked through her phone, which wasn’t locked, and started going through all her crap.”

Bram elbows Rath and says, “I would have done the same. I love snooping.”

“And I might have taken my time delivering the phone back.” I shrug. “I don’t know, it gave my asshole personality something to do. That was until I found out she’s the daughter of Foster Green.”

“What? Seriously?” Bram asks. “What are the odds?”

I pull on the back of my neck. “Tell me about it. She then followed me around all day yesterday until two in the morning when I finally took her back to my place to give her the phone back. At that point it was too late, the streets were covered with snow, and she was too nervous to travel back to Brooklyn. She slept in the guest bedroom. That’s it. End of story.”

“Besides having to work with her now,” Rath adds, finding his voice again.

Bram claps his hands in amusement. “What a twist; I didn’t see that coming.” He takes a sip of his drink and says, “Let me guess, you have to work for her dad’s foundation to fulfill your community service?”

I scratch the side of my jaw. “Something like that.”

“Fucking perfect. You two are going to fall in love.”

“We’re not going to fall in love. Not only is she my client’s daughter, she’s only twenty-four.”

“So?” Bram shrugs. “Eight years isn’t that big a deal when you think about it. And Julia is younger than I am.”

“Julia is only two years younger than you,” I point out, kind of agreeing that age doesn’t matter all too much. She just seems younger to me because I work with her dad. And she’s so na?ve and prim . . . and fucking adorable. No. Scratch that. Client’s daughter . . .

“Two years, eight years.” He weighs his hands. “Same thing.” He’s so delusional. “Tell me this, do you find her attractive?”

“I’d be blind if I didn’t. But she’s not my type. Way too innocent. She has that whole good girl vibe going with the big eyes and the inability to swear. I would feel like I was robbing her of her innocence if I attempted to do anything with her.”