Page 41 of Try Me
“I don’t believe you,” he replied, equally deadpan. “Bar Twenty Two has a Long Island that’ll knock a sumo wrestler on his ass, though, if you’re feeling up for a challenge.”
“Great. I’ll buy the first round and we’ll see what’s what after that.”
“Bold. I like it.” He tapped the top of my outline. “If you get stuck on any of this, I’ll be here late tonight. Always available to help. Or, if you finish early, feel free to come get more. Got plenty of that in supply, too.” He winked before strolling out.
It wasn’t until I’d finished off the slides and was straightening the conference room that John’s phrasing twisted through my mind.You should come with me. He’d meant that in a friendly way, right? Not as in…withhim. A fizzy sensation in my stomach had me second-guessing, though. I immediately thought back to what Chet had said at the trust retreat.
No. I shook my head at myself. That was definitely not what he meant.
* * *
Groaning,I dropped my controller in my lap as Jesse took me down for a third time in a row in Red Dead Redemption II. I reached for another slice of pizza to soothe my bruised ego and cracked open a soda while Jesse queued up another game.
“Can’t quit now,” he said.
“Not quitting, just need to bolster myself with sustenance before I kick your ass. Hey, is there any of that buffalo dip left?”
“Nope. Sam killed it.”
“Fucking heathen.” It’d been the first thing I’d looked for in the fridge when I’d gotten home.
“I swear, we need to consider tacking on extra rent for him because he eats like a fucking hog. I’ve started hiding my Pop-Tarts.”
I stared at him. “You don’t eat Pop-Tarts.” Jesse was notorious for turning his nose up at stuff like Froot Loops and anything else he considered chemical-laden crap. I honestly wasn’t sure why he wasn’t in culinary school. The upside was our fridge was regularly stocked with restaurant-quality food. Or had been until Sam had moved in and started decimating it.
“I eat the chocolate ones. I’m not a total snob.”
“That’s the equivalent of saying…I enjoy a Grey Goose martini, but on occasion I’ll smoke some crack. Because I’m not a total snob.”
He laughed and shoved me. I picked up my controller and nudged my chin toward the screen. “Let’s do this, then I have to crash. This summer’s trying to kick my ass.”
“You’re the idiot taking classes along with an internship, Les Miserables.”
“And partnered with Chet Pynchon on top of it.”
Jesse made an odd face. “Really?”
“Yeah, I thought I mentioned that.”
“You said he was working at the firm, but not that he was your partner. And I mean…don’t you hate him? Didn’t you two throw down like a month ago? I’m so depressed I was too hammered to enjoy a real live display of male aggression. They seem so rare these days. Everyone’s all PC, talking about their feelings, solving things rationally.”
“He said you two used to hang out.”
“Oh.” Jesse shrugged. “Yeah, a while back, but not recently. He’s cool. I mean, kind of an asshole, really, but…” He waved a hand. “Anyway.”
“No, finish what you were gonna say. Can’t dangle shit like that.”
Jesse chuckled. “Just remember you asked. So, early sophomore year, he was hooking up with one of my drama friends, Marin, and every time we hung out together, Marin would fill me in on all the shit they did together. He loved talking about it. How he’d pound the hell out of Chet and how much Chet fucking wanted it, how much he loved sucking Chet’s dick. It was torture.”
I put up my hand to stop him, my stomach in knots.
“Please refer back to the part where I said you should remember you asked. But yeah, it was annoying. Especially since I wasn’t getting any at the time. And still am not—” Jesse muttered under his breath. “I was actually kind of relieved when they stopped hooking up, so I wouldn’t be left uncomfortably hard after all our conversations. Because Chet might be a dick, but he’s hot. I’d go a round with him.”
“Who dropped who?”
Jesse gave me that same odd look, which I determined was suspicion, but I was burning with curiosity now and maybe a little, very tiny bit of jealousy. “Chet did, I’m pretty sure. He started hooking up with someone else. Cam, actually, but I didn’t know Cam back then. Or you, really.”
“Huh.” I grunted.