“Why’s that?”
“Because I already know what he’s going to say.”
“You do?”
Lauren nodded. Then she leaned forward, as though she was going to tell me a secret. I got slumber party vibes big-time. Suddenly, it felt like we were teenagers all over again, but this time, with the knowledge you only got once you survived your shitty twenties.
“Okay,” I said. “What?”
“He always asks about you,” she said, lowering her voice.
“Why are you whispering?”
“Because I don’t want Felix to know we’re gossiping.”
“I don’t think Felix is going to care.”
“Trust me,” she smiled. “He cares about this.”
“About what?”
“About you and David?”
“There’s no me and David,” I said.
“There could be if you wanted there to be,” Lauren said. She sounded almost eager, and I hated to break her heart, but I couldn’t let this go on. Did I like David? Back in the day, yeah. Had I been guilty of cyberstalking him and checking to see what he looked like these days? Also yes. That wasn’t really my fault, though. My brother was his best friend, so anytime Felix posted pictures of him and David together, I was bound to see those.
And yeah, David was super, completely fuckable.
He was so totally, absolutely fuckable that it made me sick.
I couldn’t let Lauren think that I wanted to date someone like David. Even if I wanted that, deep down I knew that it could never happen. I was too much of a player, and I was too busy. I didn’t have time to carve room in my life for someone like David. Besides, falling for my brother’s best friend would be messy. It would be really, totally, terribly messy. Maybe Lauren did remember my drunken confession after all. It didn’t matter because I needed to crush that idea right now.
“I hate to be the one to tell you this,” I finally said. “But I like sex, like, a lot.”
Lauren blushed.
“I love it, Lauren. Seriously. I’m kind of addicted.”
“Like, you’re a sex addict?”
“Not like that,” I said. “Look, I’m not really sure how to tell you this, so I’m just going to say it. I’m kind of a sex freak. I love sex, and I love having different partners, and I love being with people for exactly one night. Am I going to want to settle down one day? I’m sure that I will. Probably, I will. Everyone does, right? But not just yet. Not for me.”
“What about if you met the right guy?” Lauren asked, pressing me.
“What about it?”
“If you met someone you loved. Would you want to, you know?”
“Get married and have babies?”
She nodded, biting her fingernails. It was a bad habit that she needed to stop. I couldn’t exactly say anything, though. I was the kind of person who twirled my hair when I was nervous. We all had our little tics.
“I don’t know.”
“He’s a good person.”
“David?”