Perfect Regret (Bad Rep #2)(30)
Author: A. Meredith Walters

“With Gracie! Can you believe it? Miss ‘I will never hook up with a townie,’” Vivian giggled and bile tickled the back of my throat.

Maysie gasped. “Did they hook up?” she asked. Vivian waggled her eyebrows.

“Well, why else would he accompany a very drunk Gracie home and then disappear into her bedroom. He was still there this morning, his van was out front when I left!” Vivian exclaimed excitedly.

Shit, it had happened. Gracie and I had now both been biblically acquainted with the same penis. The thought was utterly horrible.

“He sure has a thing for drunk girls,” I mumbled under my breath.

“Huh?” Vivian asked, looking at me with confusion. Maysie’s eyes were sympathetic as she watched me hurry through my breakfast so I could get far away from this conversation.

“I’ve got to get to class,” I said in a rush, finishing off my coffee. “I’ll see you guys later.”

“Wait, Riley,” Maysie called out, hurrying after me. I slowed down but didn’t stop. We had been tiptoeing around the Garrett shaped elephant in the room for a while now but I knew that my effective evasiveness was at an end.

“Are we ever going to talk about what happened? With you and Garrett I mean. Jordan has tried to find out but Garrett is pretty tight lipped about the whole thing. I had hoped for a bit more information from my best friend. When did we stop telling each other everything?” she asked and I knew my refusal to confide hurt her. I was doing a bang up job of making the people around me feel like crap lately.

I let out a deep sigh. “What’s there to talk about? We hooked up. It was a huge mistake. I feel like an idiot about it. Let’s just chalk it up to very bad decision making and leave it at that,” I said tiredly. Maysie looked unconvinced.

“That’s it? Really?” she asked incredulously.

“Yep, really,” I said firmly, thankful to see the English building in front of me that promised my sweet escape from this discussion.

“Bullshit. If that’s all there is to it than explain why that chip on your shoulder has grown into a crater. You’re almost bitchier than you were post Damien. What went down between you two after Benny’s? Garrett’s been beyond weird and you’re going apocalyptic every time I leave my shoes in the living room,” she said, eyeing me closely.

“Well, shoes belong in the closet, not in the middle of the floor. It’s a safety issue, Mays,” I remarked dryly. Maysie made a clucking noise that was a clear indicator she was ready to throttle me.

“And it doesn’t bother you that he quite possibly hooked up with our friend? Because if it were me, I’d be seeing red about now,” Maysie pushed. She was being relentless and I guess I deserved it. If the tables were turned I’d chip away until I got the information I wanted. Our friendship was merciless like that.

I drew myself up and squared my shoulders. “Sex does not equal ownership, Maysie. Garrett is not a guy I want in my life. To say we are different is a massive understatement. And yes, it grosses me out that he jumped from me to her, but I can’t stop him. He’s free to do whatever and whomever he wants,” I said harshly.

“Riley,” Maysie started but closed her mouth. Her eyes grew cold as she looked over my shoulder. I felt his presence before he said a word. My body had honed into him in over a year of intimate familiarity.

“Hey girls,” Damien piped up, standing beside us. I smiled at my ex-boyfriend in a manner devoid of my former bitterness. When had I forgiven the heartache? When had he become nothing more than a memory? At some point, I had let him go and it was both freeing and startling.

Because I knew there was only one reason Damien Green had lost his hold on my heart.

“Hey,” I said back. I turned back to my roommate who seemed confused by my civil greeting to the boy I had vowed to never speak to again. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?” I said. Maysie nodded, looking unhappy and I could understand why.

“Thank you for looking out for me,” I told her and then I hugged her. Maysie blinked in surprise when I released her, astounded by my display of affection.

“Always, Ri,” she said sincerely. I walked toward my class feeling just a little bit better.

“Glad to see that smile again,” Damien said as we headed in the same direction. I gave him a sideways look.

“Don’t, Damien. Seriously, it’s not necessary,” I said. Damien chuckled, as if he tickled by my coldness.

“But I think it is necessary. Because one day, Riley, you’ll understand how sorry I am for screwing everything up. You and me, we make sense. We work. I didn’t get that until it was too late. And I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to make you see I’m genuine,” Damien grabbed my hand to stop me.

“And Jaz didn’t make sense, I guess,” I snipped, aware that I sounded like the jealous ex that I wasn’t. Because I wasn’t jealous of whatever he had done with Jaz. I just thought the whole thing a miserable waste of emotional energy.

Damien tensed up. “She was a mistake. I just thought…” he cleared his throat and tried again. “I thought she pretty, okay. I wanted to see if what I felt for her would be more than what I felt for you. Because you and I had gotten to that point where we were just coasting. It was too comfortable. Too routine. Weren’t you bored, Riley?” he asked me and I wanted to yell that no I hadn’t been bored. But I knew that would be a lie.

Because he had been right to dump me. We were boring together. Who wants a relationship based on the fact that we both liked to recycle our plastics? At one time that might have been enough, but I was starting to think that wasn’t an option anymore.

When I didn’t say anything, Damien rushed on. “But Jaz wasn’t you, Riley. And I knew then that I was stupid. Because comfortable isn’t a bad thing. “

Wow, someone give this guy the medal for the most un-romantic sentiment ever!

Even though he meant for his words to be sweet they just made me depressed. Not once did he say that I was beautiful and he couldn’t stay away from me. No, Damien’s idea of romance was to let me know that boring was good enough.

Well it wasn’t for me.

“I have to go,” I said, walking around him.

“I have the hangover from hell! Shoot me now!” Gracie groaned, sinking into the seat beside me. She rubbed her temples and cringed at the noise level in the commons. I took a bite of my hamburger, ketchup squeezing out from the sides and plopping down on my plate. Gracie’s face went a little green.