Page 52 of The Other Side of Paradise

Oscar sighed. “Like I said, it’s been obvious to anyone looking. They’ve been flirting nonstop.”

“I thought you two were just, like, really good friends.” I laughed again, shaking my head. “This is my favorite thing ever. Your ex tried to cheat on you with this girl soyouwent and slept with her instead.”

Ryan cleared her throat hard. “It’s not like I was doing it to make a point,” she mumbled. “She was just… well, she was really supportive and gave me a place to crash—”

“Oh, I’ll bet she did,” I said, voice dripping with innuendo, and she withered.

“And she’s very nice to be around,” she said, very polite, very measured. I laughed.

“I’ll say. Oh my god. Okay, so I was underestimating you. You beat me to the hooking-up game and now I’m pissed off.”

“I’m… sorry for that, then?” she said, hands up awkwardly.

“So?” I rested my elbows on my knees, leaning in and dropping my voice. “She’s better in bed than he was, right?”

Oscar stood up with an exasperated groan. “I think I don’t feel like being part of this conversation. I’ll go climb some more.”

I waved him off impatiently. “Yeah, yeah,” I said, not looking away from Ryan. “Answer the question.”

She cleared her throat, not looking at me. “Ah… yes. A lot.”

I just about scream-laughed. “Oh my god, I love that,” I said, a hand over my mouth as I kept laughing. “I would be rubbing it in Shane’s face if it were me.”

She picked at her fingernails. “I… have.”

“Stop,” I shouted, muffled into my hands, laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe. “Are you serious?”

“He did not like it,” she said, in that kind ofmeasured-understatementvoice.

“What did yousay?”

“That’s between me and Shane. And between me and Brooklyn.”

“Literally tell me right now,” I said, and she relented, hands up.

“I told him I could see why he’d want to trade me in for her, and that I was very much enjoying trading him in for her.”

That was great and all, but I pouted. “But you didn’t mention how the sex is better with her?”

“I…” She looked away. “I did that later.”

Oh my god, this was the best day of my life. I was going to treasure this memory forever. “God, I wish I could have seen his face,” I laughed, and I looked across the gym to Brooklyn. Tall and athletic, kinda ripped, very cool. Huh. “So that’s your type, huh?”

“Very much, categorically, yes. I’m finding this out now too,” she said, doing that thing where she was dripping embarrassment from every word and trying to bundle it up inside professionalism to hide it badly.

“I mean, I can see it,” I laughed. “She’s seriously hot. I’m a little jealous.”

She gave me a wild-eyed look. “What, you want to find a hot girl to hook up with too?”

“What? No. No, I’m… no.” I frowned. I didn’t like how uncomfortable that made me for a second. “I just mean, I wish I had a hookup that hot. God, that would really make this vacation.”

“I’m sure… I’m sure Jacob would be happy to be that hot hookup for you if you’re willing to get over all the gender roles enough to ask him out,” she said, and I sighed wearily.

“I don’t know. I just want it to happen organically.”

She looked at me skeptically. “You want it to happen without you having to do anything.”

“Look, it’s just weird!” I said, elbowing her. “Maybe it’s different with a girl, I don’t know.”