Page 117 of Filthy Beautiful
“Ugh. I guess… And by the way,” I asked Angie, “when have you ever seen my nipples?”
Angie shrugged, sipping her vodka lemonade. “I haven’t. But you’ve got great boobs. They go together.”
That had me laughing again, like a hyena. There was a terrible stitch in the side of my gut. “Oh my God.” I mopped my tears off my face with my sleeve. “Okay. How do I show him the nips if he’s not even here? For all I know I’ll never see him again.”
“Here’s what you do,” Shay said. “You send him a naked selfie.”
I sobered up a bit. “I’m not doing that.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. It’s… slutty.”
“Exactly.” Shay came and stood over me. “You need him to stop seeing you as his friend’s kid sister—Little Miss Cupcake the blessed virgin. And start seeing you as a dead sexy bitch he’s gonna die if he doesn’t get to fuck. Send him a pic and tell him exactly what you want in like five words or less. Problem solved. If he doesn’t respond to that… the man is a lost cause.”
I looked over at Angie and Larissa.
“She’s right,” Larissa said. “You can’t chase him forever.”
“He’s either gonna get with you…” Angie said, gazing at me with sympathy, “or just keep breaking your heart.”
“He’s not breaking my heart,” I said, looking away.
None of my friends said anything.
I found the cupcake on the chain around my neck and squeezed it in my hand as I lay there, looking up at the dark sky. I lay there for a long time as everything got kinda bleary and the music thumped, and my girlfriends danced around above me.
At some point, Angie tried to make me join them, but I just stayed where I was. When she left for her date, she kissed me and hugged me goodbye right where I lay.
“Have fun,” I said.
“And don’t forget to show him the nips!” Shay called after her.
I giggled, and held up my cup for more blueberry port.
* * *
“I’m going in,” Shay said, and her words pulled me from my daze.
“No, no, no,” Larissa said.
By the time I dragged myself up to a sitting position, Larissa was standing alone by the path in the trees, the one that led to the house, and Shayla was gone.
“What happened?” I said.
Larissa turned to me. “Um. Shayla just went in the house.”
I stared at her blankly.
“To look for your brother.”
I was on my feet in an instant, though I stumbled a little finding my way through the lounge chairs. I whacked my knee on one of them. “Ouch!Fuck!Where did she go?”
“Um. Just… in the house,” Larissa repeated.
I tore past her, up the little path through the trees and in through the French doors to the living room.
“Shayla!” I hissed, but there was no sign of her as I hurried through the room.
