“Is Braden still taking Liv?”
“Yeah. Why wouldn’t he?”
“Oh, I don’t know, because I saw him an hour ago with his tongue down some girl’s throat.”
Zander sighs. “Yeah, that.”
“He left with her, didn’t he?”
He won’t look me in the eye. “You know how Braden is.”
I put a hand to his jaw and turn his face to mine. “You mean, not much different from you?”
He blinks at me, confused.
“Lara?”
It’s one of the few times I’ve seen Zander ever go red. He shifts his weight and averts his gaze. If Lara could see the genuine regret on his face, she’d die. “She got me in a weak moment.” He begs me with his eyes not to judge. And I don’t, considering what I did last week.
“So you don’t want to take her to the masquerade?”
“Fuck no.” He squeezes me. “I want to take you. We have fun together. You know we do.”
Sure, sometimes. Even though it’s more his kind of fun. I ignore Leo’s pleas ringing in my head.Whatever you do, whatever happens with you and me, don’t go back to him.
Screw that. With Zander, what you see is what you get. He never hurt me like Leo did.
“I’ll think about it,” I tell him, and when he smiles, I warn, “But just as friends.”
He nods. “Just as friends.”
An idea strikes me. “And maybe you could do something for me, too?”
His eyes light up. Like he’s grateful for a chance to prove his devotion. “Sure. What?”
“What ever happened to Sweetheart?”
He squints at me for a beat before the recollection dawns on his face. “Oh, you mean you and Liv?”
“Yes.”
He shrugs. “Well, with you and me splitting up,” he gazes down at the floor with that phrase, “I guess we sorta forgot about it. Why? Have you changed your mind?”
“No,” I respond quickly, not wanting him to get his hopes up. “But Liv still wants to be Sweetheart, in the worst way.”
“Well, it’s Braden who’s the problem.”
Go figure.
“All the other guys are fine with Liv, and Jenna and Mia really like her, but?—”
“But?”
Zander grimaces. “B’s worried it’ll send her the wrong message. He doesn’t want to feel tied down.”
In other words, he wants to be free to take home any bleach blond who strikes his fancy.
“But he’s the one who first proposed it.”
