Page 17 of Just What She Needed

"Not bullshit. You want to know what he said to me? He said it was his lucky night after all because I look so much like you. Yeah, he's had a thing for you for a while now, but he hasn't had a chance to ask you out because he can't catch you between boyfriends."

Clutching a plate to her chest, Mel did a slow turn to face Rhett again. "He said that?"

"Yeah." Some of Rhett's anger drained away at the stricken look on her sister's face. "You'd better watch out for that guy, Mel. He actually said that if he couldn't be with you then at least I was the next best thing. Those greedy little pig eyes kept looking me up and down like he was a hungry wolf and I was an unattended meat wagon. It was the first time since I moved here that I felt like I was back in Claiborne."

"Claiborne?" A puzzled frown pulled Mel's brows together. "I don't understand."

"Because in Claiborne I was the next best thing." She repressed a sigh as Mel's look of bewilderment deepened. "When I started high school, the guys in the Junior and Senior classes were overjoyed. Mel Vandergriff might have graduated and moved away, but hey! Here came her sister who looked like her. They might not get to nail you, but they could try for the next best thing."

Sorrow replaced bewilderment as Mel absorbed what Rhett said. "I had no idea," she all but whispered. "I mean, I knew everyone looked down on us because Dad ran off and left us, but I never dreamed they'd expect you to behave the way I chose to."

"Seriously?" It was Rhett's turn to be astounded. "You lived there for eighteen years and you seriously had no idea how they'd treat me? Come on, Mel. Small towns are like...You remember that movie Mean Girls?"

A corner of Mel's mouth twitched with amusement. "Are you saying you were personally victimized?"

"The whole damn town was Regina George," Rhett yelled. "You know as well as I do that once they form an opinion of you then it's set in stone. I was the fatherless kid with the hard-as-nails mother and the sister who was..." She bit her lip. As worked up as she was, she knew that was going too far.

"The sister who was the town slut," Mel finished for her.

Remorse tightened Rhett's chest. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt her sister. "Mel, I didn't mean..."

"It's okay. I mean it." No condemnation showed in Mel's gentle smile. "I was the town slut, and I liked it. After all, it's what I set out to do, right? But I honestly never thought people would just assume you'd make the same choices I did." She looked at Rhett, her expression wary. "You didn't, did you?"

"Not really, no." Rhett turned to push down the button on the toaster again. "I didn't run through the high school attendance roster like you did. But you know as well as I do that Todd wasn't my first." She paused. "Or my second."

"Third?" Mel asked.

"Fourth." Rhett popped the again-warm toast from the machine and reached for the plate Mel still held. "Plate?"

Mel handed the plate over. "I'm not going to pry much but was it your choice to sleep with those guys?"

"If you're asking if I felt like I was supposed to, then I guess I'd have to say yes." Rhett put the toast on the plate and handed it back to her sister. "But I never slept with anyone I didn't want to, okay? And honestly, it didn't matter if I'd kept my legs welded shut, because every boy I turned down just went ahead and lied about it to his friends. To hear it, you'd think I beat your record."

"Well, you're out of that stinking little cesspool of a town now, so fuck 'em. Figuratively, I mean." Mel cast a glance over her shoulder as she went about adding butter and jam to the toast. "I am sorry about Carl, though."

"Not your fault," Rhett reassured her. "You didn't know."

"Well, I know now. But it doesn't look like you need me to set you up with anyone. You managed to end up at Taco Bell with Rhys James all on your own."

They sat down at the small round table set in the sunny bay window. Rhett munched on her toast as she watched the Saturday morning traffic snake past so far below. "You know, I think I really ended up at Taco Bell with Rhys Collinsworth."

"Who?" Mel asked with her mouth full.

"Collinsworth. That's his real last name. James is his middle name."

"Oh." Mel swallowed but still looked confused. "I'm not sure I get you, though."

"What I mean is that I didn't feel like I was out with a famous person." Rhett tore the crusts from the bread as she tried to find the words to explain. "He was just a regular guy. In fact, I kind of forgot he was the lead singer for Illicit until some guy came up to him and asked to take his picture. We talked about our kids, and what we thought about living in apartments versus houses, and whether we liked mild or hot sauce. Things like that."

"That sounds nice." Mel's tone was neutral.

"It was. He was." A corner of Rhett's mouth tugged up at the memory of her evening. "We laughed and just had a good time."

A sly look came into Mel's eyes. "Did you tell him you lost your virginity while he sang on the radio?"

"No, I didn't." Rhett stared hard at her sister. "And you're not going to, either. If I want him to know I'll tell him myself."

"Hm." Mel appeared to direct her attention toward what was left of her breakfast, but Rhett still detected an air of mischief. "Did he sing to you last night? Serenade you with songs that got your motor running?"