the flaw in being perfect - rini au

thirty one

"How'd the blind date go?" Red wiggles his eyebrows across the coffee shop table.

"You set me up with Kourtney," Ashlyn deadpans.

"Yeah, I thought you would be cute together. Was it bad?" Red asks, concerned.

Ashlyn groans, burying her head in her arms as she slumps onto the table. "No, Red, it was good. That's the problem."

"I'm not following."

Ashlyn looks up. "Kourtney is Nini's best friend."

Red's mouth drops into the shape of an 'O'. "I now see how that can be problematic."

Ashlyn rolls her eyes. "Tell me about it. Kourtney is amazing! What are the chances that the first good date I've had in a year was with my ex best friend's childhood best friend?"

"Is there an easier way to say that? My brain hurts."

Ashlyn shoves his arm from across the table. "Shut it, Red. I don't need your sass right now."

Red holds his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. I'll keep it down about that if I can try your double espresso."

"Redonovich, the last thing you need is more energy." Ashlyn pulls her drink closer to her.

"Oh come on! Think about how much more fun I'll be!" Red reasons.

"No." Ashlyn raises an eyebrow, daring him to challenge her.

Red sighs, leaning back in his chair. "You're no fun. Ricky would have let me try his coffee."

"I'm not a pushover like Ricky seems to be." Ashlyn crosses her arms. "Speaking of Ricky, has he been hanging out with Nini?"

"Yeah, I think he's already whipped. One time we were walking through the mall and he asked me if I thought Nini would like a pair of socks he saw." Red rolls his eyes in amusement.

Ashlyn snorts. "No fucking way. What a dork. If she knew about that, I promise you she'd produce the world's biggest smile." Ashlyn thinks for a moment. "Or, at least, that's what she would have done when I knew her."

"You and Nini used to be super close, huh?"

Ashlyn shrugs. "Yeah. It's not really a big deal anymore. She's changed a lot since then. For good reason, but... I do miss her."

"How do you know she's changed if you haven't tried talking to her?" Red asks.

"She's a cheerleader, Red. Her best friend is Gina Porter," Ashlyn reminds him. "I don't want to be friends with the new Nini."

"She's not as close with Gina as you think she is." Red casually stirs his sweet tea.

Ashlyn furrows her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Gina's a total bitch to her. Ricky and I saw them here one time and Gina was really mean to Nini when she wanted to talk to Ricky and I because of something Ricky said to Gina to defend Nini at the car wash fundraiser. Nini really didn't seem to want to hang out with her. I'm pretty sure she only does so Gina won't make her life hell."

"What the hell? Nini is way better than that. Why is she hanging out with that bitch?"

Red shrugs. "I don't know, but if you 'don't want to be friends with the new Nini', why do you care?"

"Just— Whatever, Red." Ashlyn huffs.

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i love writing this redlyn dynamic so much ,,

what are we thinking?? 🤭🤭

-jenna