Page 259 of Just for the Cameras
“No, but that was barely a slap.”
“You’re right. It was a punch.”
“Are you really going to argue right now?”
OC still rubs his arm. “No, because I can be the bigger man and move on without a heartfelt apology.” He turns back to me. “So how did you fuck her on the counter?”
“Jesus…Christ,” Bennett mumbles.
“You know, for a moment, I thought inviting you here might be helpful, but clearly I was wrong.” I shake my head, wishing I had just kept to myself, but it ate away at me this morning until I called them over. I was unable to take it anymore, especially since I haven’t heard from Maple since this morning.
Not that it should matter. I’m distancing myself…right?
“Don’t you dare.” OC sits up taller. “You called on the Gladdy Daddies, and we’re here to serve. So we can skip the kitchen-fucking question fornow, but I would like your technique later. As for the other thing, how do you feel about her saying she loves you?”
“Terrified,” I answer, because even though I want to punch OC in the face for how annoying he is, I need someone to talk to about this. And unlucky for me, they are the best ones at the moment, besides Hutton, who was busy with family in town. “Because I love her too, and she called me out on it.”
“She did?” Bennett asks.
“Yeah, she did. She said she loves me, and she knows I love her too.” I slump enough on the couch that my head leans against the back of it. “I don’t know what the fuck to do. Because yeah, I love her, and hearing her say she loves me, it just about tore me in two. But what am I supposed to do with that? Let her continue to love me while she’s getting torn apart by the public? I can’t let that happen to her.”
“Has it happened, though?” Bennett asks. “Besides yesterday with the fake relationship bullshit.”
“There have been comments about how she’s not right for me.”
“That’s basic trolling that happens to everyone,” OC says. “The other day, I had several people tell me the shorts I wore out to the grocery store were not right for my body. What’s a guy supposed to do who has quads like mine?”
I stare at him, my expression unfazed as I say, “You know, I actually hate you.”
OC shakes his head. “No, you don’t. You love me. Not like you love Maple, but you love me.”
I’m about to shove my foot up his ass to really show him how much I “love” him, but then Bennett says, “So you are willing to give up the relationship you have with her because you’re worried that she can’t handle being with you, right?”
I nod.
“And you won’t let her make that decision because you feel like she knows too much about you, and she would never just leave you, right?”
I nod again.
“Okay, well then, just let her be. If that’s what you want, then keep your distance.”
“And when she doesn’t let me?” I ask.
“Then you’re going to have to test and see how strong you are when it comes to allowing her to protect herself…while she protects you.”
“Whoa.” OC turns to Bennett. “Dude, that was really profound.” Then he looks at me and thumbs toward Bennett. “Listen to that shit, that’s great advice.”
“I don’t even know what it means. How am I supposed—”
My new phone I got myself after Maple left this morning dings with a message, and I lift it up to see a text from Maple.
“Is that from her?” OC asks, craning his neck forward.
“It is.”
“What does it say?”
I swipe on the text and read it to myself.
