Page 68 of Say Yes to the Nemesis

I shrug, not seeing any reason to defend myself against that one. It’s true.

Raven butts in. “What about hookups? Has he had a lot?”

To his credit, Jay falters here. Clearly, he doesn’t want to outright make fun of me. But he and I definitely got up to no good together in college. And out of college, really, until right up until the moment Jay met his wife.

We were man sluts together. A proud tradition.

I don’t really know how I want him to answer that question.

“I’m going to say more than a few and leave it at that,” Jay says. “Bro code says that you don’t rat out your fellow bro.”

All the girls start laughing. I grimace. I am dying inside.

Jay swings his gaze over to Wren. “How about you, little sister? You got any dirt you wanna dig up on your boy Ryan?”

She’s quiet at first. Then she shrugs. “I already know him, I guess.”

JacqLyn purses her lips. “Come on. You must have some questions about the man.”

Wren nips her bottom lip with her top teeth. “Okay… well, what kind of girl does he usually go for?”

My heart fucking stops. She’s looking at Jay, but I can feel the question burning through me. What is she really asking? What does she want the answer to be?

Jay smirks, spreads his hands wide, and leans back. “Honestly? He likes hot messes. Pretty girls with bad boundaries.”

Wren turns bright pink. I nearly choke on the bottle of water I was sipping.

Goddamn it, Jay. I want to reach across the space between us and take it back. Reassure her. Tell her that she’s not a mess.

She’s the opposite. She’s… everything.

Jay doesn’t notice. He just keeps going. “Usually, the girls he likes are clingy and dramatic. They’re fun for, like, a week. Then Ryan just ghosts them. Hard.”

Wren’s eyes go wide. I can see her doing some kind of mental math, recalculating everything she’s ever thought about me. Goddamn it.

This is the most horrible experience of the show so far.

After a few more questions and answers, the director calls it a day. The girls head toward the house. For a second, I think about catching up with Wren. Making sure she understands that I only ghosted girls who couldn’t understand that I just wasn’t interested anymore. But I can’t exactly follow her right now. Not with Jay lingering nearby.

“Beer?” I offer. “I have a nice little private patio.”

“Totally,” he says.

We head inside my room. I open the mini fridge that I keep stocked. Mostly bottles of water, but a few Modelos. I pop two and step out onto the deck.

We’re only on the first floor, so the courtyard isn’t impressive by any means. But we settle down in the two chairs sitting there and sip our beers.

Jay looks over at me. “You doing all right, man?”

No. Absolutely not. I am sweating bullets, drowning in secrets, and trying not to spiral. The one girl I shouldn’t touch is the only one I can’t stop thinking about. She happens to be Jay’s innocent little sister.

I automatically nod, even though it’s more like a shrug if I’m honest. “Yeah, totally. I’m just ready to be done with this whole TV show. I’m doing it because they offered me a lot of cash, but it’s a drag on my summer.”

Jay nods. “I got you. It’s a little wild to me that Wren ended up on the same show you did.”

“It was totally by accident. Just… coincidence.”

“Right.” Jay pauses for a long moment. “Listen. I think Wren still has a crush on you.”