Rhett (Rhett #1)(5)
Author: J.S. Cooper

"Nothing, I gotta go. See you at 7."

"Okay."

"Oh, and Rhett?"

"Yes?"

"Bring a t-shirt if you plan on staying over tonight. You stretched out my last one."

"Well if you insist on buying girly-sized t-shirts, that’s going to happen. I’m a man, you know."

"No need to worry too much. You’ll be able to fit into my fat t-shirts quite soon."

"Clementine you’re silly." I laughed and jumped up feeling excited. "I’ll start training you at the gym if you want!"

"I don’t want." She made a noise that made me think of sex.

"Don’t make that noise." I groaned.

"What noise?"

"That grunting moaning noise."

"Are you going crazy? What grunting moaning noise?" She groaned again.

"You just did it again." I frowned, not wanting to think of her in that way. Clementine was the only girl that I had as a friend. She was the only girl I hadn’t tried to sleep with and I wanted it to remain that way.

"Rhett, you have sex on the brain. I’m surprised you want to hang out with me tonight."

"I got cancelled on." I said lightly and waited for her to say something.

"Wow, don’t I feel special! I’m back-up girl number two."

"Number five." I laughed. "The four other girls I wanted to take out were busy."

"Rhett, did you really have to tell me that?"

"No, but I value honesty." I laughed easily even though it was a lie. I hadn’t asked any other girls out for the night.

"If we hadn’t met as kids there is no way that we’d be friends right now." Clementine’s voice sounded a bit annoyed.

"I can’t help being hot."

"I know. Just like you can’t help being rich or smart or cocky."

"Hey, hey now." I frowned. "You okay?"

"I’m fine." She sighed. "Be at my place at 6:30. I don’t want you chatting away once my shows start."

"We wouldn’t want those maids to feel like they’re being ignored now, would we?" I joked and she groaned.

“I gotta go, Jake’s giving me a look ‘cause I keep throwing the Frisbee to the side.” She huffed out and then hung up the phone. I threw the phone onto the bed and then I checked my appearance in the mirror before leaving my room. I stared at my handsome face and frowned. Sometimes I wondered what life would be like if I wasn’t so handsome. Would girls react differently if my eyes weren’t so blue and sparkly? Would they still want to tousle my silky hair if it was ginger and coarse? Would they still longingly stare at me if I was average-looking? I took a deep breath and walked out of the room and wondered how much I took for granted in my life. My grandma had always told me that I was lucky I had such beautiful baby blue eyes. I had learned from a young age that all I needed to do to get out of trouble was to give a wide smile and a quick look of sorrow. I’d gotten away with almost everything with my mom and grandma. Until everything changed, of course.

It had been different with my dad and Clementine. Clementine seemed to be immune to my looks. She’d never flirted with me or expressed any sort of interest. We’d been friends since we were little kids and we’d stayed friends all the way through college. There’d never been one time that she’d ever expressed a romantic interest in me. Not even in high school, when all the girls had started flirting with me hardcore. We’d even been assigned as lab partners in chemistry and she’d spent more time staring at labels than she had staring at me. It had been disconcerting at first. I’d assumed that she’d eventually be like every other girl once I’d hit puberty. I had even daydreamed of her begging me to kiss her and be her boyfriend once we became teens, but she’d never treated me as more than her best friend. Of course I’d blamed her lack of interest on her being a lesbian for a couple of months, but then she’d started gushing about some junior called Tony and I’d realized that she was as into men as most of the other girls in school. She just wasn’t into me. It had stung at first, but then I’d liked the idea. She would be my first real female friend that was really only interested in being friends. I wouldn’t have to worry about her falling in love with me and I didn’t worry about falling in love with her. It was high school that cemented our forever friendship. She was the one stable person in my life. The one constant. She cared for me above my looks and my money. She wanted nothing more than to be my best friend. She didn’t demand emotions and promises from me that I couldn’t give. She understood that I didn’t do love and never would.

***

"Move over." I pushed Clementine over on the bed. "Bed hog."

"Sit on the chair." She stuck her tongue out at me.

"Your chair’s not comfortable. I want to sit on the bed."

"You’re annoying." She shook her head and her long brown hair went flying as she moved over. "Come on, then." She patted the mattress next to her.

I promptly plopped down on the bed next to her and lifted my feet up.

"Rhett, take your shoes off." She hit me in the arm and I laughed.

"Okay, okay." I leaned down and undid my laces and dropped my shoes on the floor and lay back. "So is Catty Maids about to come on?"

"It’s called Devious Maids, and yes." She looked over at me. "You better not fall asleep."

"I’m not promising anything." I laughed and pushed my head back in her pillow. "Your bed is so comfortable."

"So why no date tonight?" She peered at me with a curious expression on her face. I didn’t want her to know that I hadn’t asked anyone out.

"I guess they’re all busy because of finals."

"Finals are not until next week." She made a face. "I don’t think the girls you date are studying this early."

"You’ve been studying."

"You don’t date girls like me." She laughed and I reached out and grabbed her.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that you don’t date smart girls." She shrugged and her brown eyes flashed at me.

"Some of the girls I date are smart." My hand rested on her arm for a few more seconds. "Maybe not as smart as you, but they’re smart."

"Uh huh." She rolled her eyes. "You don’t do smart girls."

"I do all girls." I grinned and she groaned. "What?" I laughed. "It’s true."

"You need to fall in love."

"Ugh, don’t mention love to me." I shuddered.