Guilty Pleasure

3. Not All Guys Are Assholes 101

“Oh my God!”

“I know!”

“Oh my God!”

“I know, Annie!”

“Oh. My. God!”

“I know, I know,” I sighed. I’d known it was going to be this way since Annie had texted me at almost two in the morning telling me that she’d just gotten home and promising to fill me in on everything today. It was three-thirty in the afternoon and she was on my bed, practically bouncing with excitement as she recounted her night with a painful amount of detail. I was happy for her, but her excitement about the whole situation had started to become a little bit annoying.

“And he’s such a good kisser.”

“So you’ve said.”

“I mean, it’s not that easy to find a guy that’s so ridiculously hot and who kisses that well. It’s usually one or the other. Or none.”

Lucky you.

“And guess what?”

Enlighten me. “What?”

“He told me we should hang out again some time this week! He texted me already a while ago.”

I grinned at her, my annoyance fading into amusement at the look of sheer excitement on her face. “Wow, Annie. A two-night stand? I’m impressed.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Shut up. You make me sound like such a slut, when you know I’m not. I just like to have fun.”

“I know, I know. I’m just messing with you.” And it was true. Sure, she enjoyed a good hook-up once in a while, but she was nowhere near trashy. She certainly knew how to say no – in fact, she did just that about ninety-eight percent of the time – and it wasn’t like she hooked up with a new guy every week. “I’m happy for you, then.”

She beamed at me. “Thanks. And what about you? Who were you with all night? I didn’t see you at all.”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s because you were too busy sticking your tongue down James’ throat.”

“Shush.”

“I don’t know, I was roaming around mostly. I was with Mark for a while, and I danced with Ben for a little, too.”

I decided to skip over my conversation about good guys with Ben, thinking she’d just laugh. Besides, I hadn’t taken that bet seriously, and I doubted he had, either. Come to think of it, he was probably drunk when he proposed it.

Thankfully, Annie didn’t dwell on that. “Mark was there? I never saw him!”

I couldn’t resist. “Well, that’s because you were too busy –“

“Okay, okay, I get it.” She cut me off.

I laughed. “Sorry. But yeah, he was there with Mae. You might not have seen him, but he certainly saw you.”

She groaned. “Ah, crap. Let me guess: I’m not hearing the end of this anytime soon?”

“Bingo.”

“Darn.”

After another half hour of intense James discussion, Annie left to go do something with her mom. I lounged on my bed for another hour or so, recovering from Annie’s intense visit, until my phone dinged beside me, signaling that I had a new text message.

It was from an unknown number, and it read: So, how about that bet? You free right now?

I frowned in confusion, typing back, Ben?