“You talking about the prom, or your recent date where he not only paid, he kissed you senseless afterward?” Riley asked, overly polite.
“Shut up. At least I have a reason to be wary around Dex. You can’t even find a real reason to dislike Anson.”
“Other than that he’s a dick,” Riley said.
“Well, yeah, there is that,” Maya admitted, wishing she didn’t sound so pathetic. If only Dex would be more of an asshole, then she’d be able to be firmer in her stance to reject and hate him. The sexy jerk made it difficult to hold onto her grudge, and Maya had a reputation as a champion grudge-holder.
She ran a hand through her hair, feeling the need to pull it out strand by strand. “Why are we talking about Riley and Anson anyway? You guys are supposed to be helpingme.”
Riley scowled. “Look, dumbass,you’rethe one who brought up Anson. Not me.”
“It’s called avoidance,” Ann said. “Maya doesn’t want to admit that she actually likes Dex and always has.” She turned to Maya. “Let’s be honest. Of the three of us, you’ve got the easygoing adversary. I had a real beef with Jack. Hello? Pregnancy scare? He dumped me in public? And Riley has always been competing with Anson. We all agree he’s conceited.”
“Yeah.” Riley planted her hands on her hips, nodding.
Maya took another bite of her sandwich, never too emotionally compromised to eat. After chewing and swallowing—to satisfy the prissy Miss Manners—she said, “I don’t know that I’d call Dex easy, but I agree with you about Jack and Anson.”
“Dex is such a nice guy. I always liked him.”
“I don’t do nice.”
Riley smirked. “Funny. Seems to me youwantto.”
After giving her friend the finger, which Riley happily returned, Maya groaned. “Look, you two, I have nine more dates with the guy. Yeah, I want to have sex with him. He didn’t take me up on my first offer, but I think he wants me. I mean, Iknowhe wants me.” As much as she wanted him? Damn it. She wished she knew him better.
“He did kiss you in the truck.” Riley looked thoughtful. “Maybe he ended the kiss so suddenly so he wouldn’t jump your bones. You know he’s always liked you. It follows if he wants to date and not sleep with you right away that he’s a sincere kind of guy. I think it’s sweet.”
Maya hated sweet. “That’s the problem. I don’t like niceorsweet. And don’t even describe the guy as kind.” She shuddered. Give her a bad boy any day.
“But you want him.” Ann narrowed her eyes. “I say go after him. Don’t make this about trying to get even or making him apologize for prom night. You want him? Be your take-charge self and grab him. You and Dex get some hot sex, you have some fun, and maybe you part as friends. Everybody’s happy. What’s not to like about that?”
Riley agreed. “And if you’re too stubborn to take on that hunk of man, let me know. Because he is right up my alley. I love nice.”
Maya glared. “You’re so full of it.” The idea of Riley going after Dex bothered Maya. A lot. They’d never poached on one another’s guys before. Not that Dex belonged to Maya or anything, but—
“You see that, Ann?”
“Yep.”
Maya didn’t know what they were talking about. “What?”
“You get that line between your brows when you’re really annoyed.” Riley’s smug smile aggravated Maya all over again. “You don’t like the thought of me anywhere near Dex. You don’t just lust after him. Youlikehim. Admit it.”
“What is this, second grade?” She sneered at Riley, then Ann—a second grade teacher.
“Oh yeah.” Ann laughed at her. “You pegged it, Riley. Maya has the hots for Dex. Lighten up, Maya. Follow my advice. I did what you told me to do with Jack, and look at me now. I’m inlooovvee.”
“Ew.” Maya tried to be angry but couldn’t hold out against Ann’s dopey smile. “Yeah, but if you remember, my advice was to be mean. To bump and dump him.” She heard an echo of Dex’s deep voice in her memory. “Your advice is for me to play nice with the enemy.”
Riley took the cookies out of the oven and gave Maya a look—the one that said,you’re so full of it. “Dex isn’t anyone’s enemy. He’s a great guy with a terrific sense of humor. If you’d stop being so stubborn, you’d realize you liked him back then, and you like him even more now.”
Maya stared at her best friends, struggling with her inner bitch as well as her inner artiste. Angst made for a hell of a creative bent, but it was exhausting. Trying to hate Dex took too much energy, and lying to herself about how she felt was harder than it should have been.
She sighed. “Hell. I do like him.” It galled her to say, but she couldn’t ignore the truth. “So what? Fuck him and then we go our separate ways?”
“Crass, but why not?” Ann shrugged. “You’re both consenting adults. Dex wants to date you, so he obviously likes you. Why not enjoy time with the man, have some killer sex—because just looking at Dex makes you think the man is a god in bed—and still be friends? Not all guys are out to shaft you, Maya.”
Riley snickered. “To hear Maya tell it, they’reallabout shafting her.”
