“If she’s hungry, I’ll be the one to feed her.” It was stupid, but the thought of Ian or any other guy doing anything for her, pissed me off.
Ian just rolled his eyes, shaking his head in laughter. “You’re a dumbass, Caleb.”
“She can’t be your girlfriend, Ian. She already has a boyfriend.”
Ian lifted one eyebrow arrogantly. “You mean that douche Seth? Well, let’s just say I’m in the process of convincing her I’d be a much better boyfriend than either of you.”
In my relief, my body relaxed somewhat and I almost smiled. “So, she’s not your girlfriend?”
“Yet,” he enunciated slowly, grinning confidently. And just like that, I was royally pissed off again. The thought of Ian of all people touching her made me sick.
I despised the bastard, had ever since middle school. I didn’t remember exactly what started it, but from the beginning, we’d hated each other. We’d crossed paths at one school or another over the years. We were never at the same one for long, since Ian and I both get expelled often. We’d even messed around with some of the same girls. Hailey, for example. If we ran into each other at a party, it was a coin toss whether or not we’d end up punching it out.
I’d never cared about the other girls. I did care very much about having Gianna in common. It wasn’t gonna happen. I stood there with arms crossed, legs apart, bracing myself for the battle to come.
A few minutes later, it arrived. Gianna walked out of the double doors wearing low rise dark blue jeans, a light blue tank top cut just high enough to show the cute belly button piercing that I lusted after and her white Sketchers.
She halted when she spotted me, as if surprised to see me still there.
Catching Ian glance down at her stomach had me wanting to rips his eyes out of his head.
After that first instance of surprise, Gianna totally ignored my presence, not looking my way. She offered Ian a bright smile. “Ready?”
“Sure, princess.” Ian emphasized the last word, staring straight at me.
“Gianna!” I called out after her as they made their way through the crowd of people. She either pretended not to hear me or she really couldn’t over the pounding music. The club was about to close, but spirits were still high as the DJ played one of the last songs of the night.
I trailed them out the exit and could sense Hailey still on my heels, breathing down my neck. I guess she planned to enjoy the show.
As soon as we were out on the street, I yelled, “Gianna!”
She finally acknowledged me, spinning around impatiently. “What the hell do you want, Caleb?”
I stalked over to where she stood next to an annoyed Ian. “What the hell are you doing with your life?”
The bitter look on her pretty face was all wrong. “Why, don’t you approve? Do you want to help me become happy again? Should I start writing the list now?”
“Gianna-” I began.
Cutting off what I was about to say, she continued her tirade, now using her fingers to accentuate. “One! Don’t ever trust Caleb again. Two! Never have anything to do with Caleb again. Three! Don’t ever let Caleb hurt me again. Four! Find some way to forget about what Caleb did and said. Five! Ignore that Caleb is once again screwing anything with a hole.”
Ian wiped a hand over his mouth, trying to hide his laughter. Hailey wasn’t bothering to muffle her own laughter.
I didn’t want Gianna thinking I’d touch another girl. She was my only girl. Holding up my right hand, forming a hole with my fingers, I asked, “See this?”
Confused, she nodded.
I spoke slowly, so there was no misunderstanding me. “This is the only thing I’ve been screwing.”
Her mouth dropped open in a combination of shock and embarrassment. She practically spit out the word, “Liar.”
Ian had joined Hailey in laughing obnoxiously. “Lame, dumbass.”
“Why, Caleb?” Gianna asked suspiciously. “You said yourself you don’t love me, so why the celibacy?”
I wasn’t about to get into this with an audience, especially not an audience which consisted of my worst enemy before Julie came along and my former friend.
“Can we go somewhere alone to talk?” I pleaded softly.
Gianna seemed unsure, but said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Caleb.”
“Neither do I,” Ian added.
“No one gives a damn what you think, asshole!” He had to know how close I was to losing it. We’d rarely been around each other this long without one of us taking a swing.
He pointed an index finger towards Gianna. “She does.”
My eyes went back Gianna as she said, “Ian has been a good friend, Caleb.”