I shake my head. "See ya, Rose."

She slaps my ass as I walk past. "Later, stud."

"Don't touch my boyfriend’s ass you whore."

-LUCY-

"I don't get it, Luce." Rose takes a hair tie from my dresser and starts pulling up her short blond hair. "Most girls struggle to reach a climax and you say Cam gives you multiples. How? Please. Tell me. I've been chasing an O for the last two months."

"Maybe you should stop whoring around and settle down."

She scoffs and looks at me like she's going to puke. "Un-fucking-likely."

I laugh at her reaction. "I don't know." I shrug. "I think it's different with us. Some people, like you, get off on being with different people. We've been together since we were fifteen. We were each other's firsts. We kind of worked with each other. Does that sound dumb?"

"No," she says seriously, taking a seat on her bed and crossing her legs. "Please, go on."

"I guess we kind of just taught each other what we liked. We know each other inside out—"

"Literally," she cuts in.

I throw a pillow at her. "You know what I mean. We just know each other's bodies. We know what works and what doesn't. We take care of each other."

She quirks an eyebrow. "I bet you do. Hey!" She sits up a little higher. "You know who I wouldn't mind teaching me how to take care of them?"

I eye her suspiciously. "Who?"

"Jake Andrews."

It's my turn to scoff. "Good luck with that."

"No chance, huh?"

"Nope."

Her shoulders sag, then they lift again and her eyes widen. "Logan Matthews? He'll do reaaaal good."

I shake my head. "Nope. Officially off the market."

"What?" she asks incredulously. "I screwed him twice last year, and he said he didn't do relationships."

I shake my head harder. "Trust me, Rose. He's off limits. Amanda owns his balls."

"Your friend Amanda?"

I nod.

"Wow. Didn't see that coming."

"That's what she said."

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

-CAMERON-

I'm too busy working on my sketch that I don't see who places the cup of coffee next to it. "It's a thank you," a girl says from next to me. I don't need to look up to know it’s Roxy. Her voice has a huskiness that makes it unique.

I lean back and glare at my work. Something's off but I can't pinpoint it. "For what?"

"I got the job."

I turn to her after a few more seconds. "You just found out? You spoke to me about it a week ago."

"They called me this morning. Wait. Did you know before that?"

I nod. "I've known since that day."

Her smile is huge. "So you did put in a good word."

Shrugging, I answer, "Yeah, but you already had it before I mentioned anything."

"Oh." Her smile falters and her gaze drops. "Well, in that case, I didn't buy you that coffee. They made the wrong one and gave me two. I didn't want it to go to waste."

I laugh and shake my head. "Well, thank you anyway."

I lift the coffee to take a sip but her hand settles on my arm and a grimace takes over her face. "It's one of those choca mocha vanilla caramel things. I don't think you'd like it."

Laughing again, I set it back on the table.

"Who drinks that shit," she continues, sticking her tongue out and making a gagging sound.

"My girlfriend, Lucy. She loves that stuff. I don't know why—"

"Let me guess," she cuts in, eyeing me up and down. "I bet you're the kind of guy that's going to say 'I don't know why, she's sweet enough.'"

My mouth clamps shut.

She rolls her eyes and taps her finger on my sketch. "You have two light sources and your rendering's off."

I narrow my eyes, focused on my work. She's right. Sighing, I say, "Too bad I want to be an architect, not an artist."

She raises an eyebrow. "Too bad I want to be an artist, not an architect." She pushes off the table and starts to walk to her station.

"Yo, Roxy."

"Yeah?" she says, continuing to walk away.

"Congrats on getting the job."

She turns now, grinning from ear to ear, and makes a show of dusting off her shoulder. "Thanks C-Money."

***

Logan: Are you alive?

Cameron: Barely.

Logan: Want to hit the cages?

Cameron: I have class till 2, firm from 2:30 to 5:30 and then store from 6-9.

Logan: Fuck man, I don't pity you.

Cameron: No shit. If you see Lucy at some point, tell her I love her.

Logan: She's shopping with Amanda.

Cameron: So you texted me because your girl's busy and you're needy?

Logan: Shut up, asshole.

***

Cameron: I love you babe. I finish at the store at 9.

Lucy: I love you too.

Cameron: I miss you like crazy.

Lucy: I miss you too!

***

I've been listening to Chris, the asshole I work with, talk about porn for the last fifteen minutes. "These two chicks, hot as fuck, are going down on each other..."

I glance around the store and make sure no one's around. I don't want kids to be subjected to the shit he's saying.

"And they're making all these noises. I'm sitting at my desk, rubbing one out. I shut my eyes, so close to exploding... and then this dude’s voice comes through." He makes a disgusted sound. "This dude walks into the room, butt naked, gut out..."

I start to laugh.

"The dude's like eighty. 'Hey babies' he grunts... and I'm staring at the screen, wanting to puke, feeling my dick shrivel in my hands."

My head throws back in laughter.

"It's not funny, asshole." He shoves me lightly. "What would you know? When was the last time you even watched porn? When was the last time you were alone so you could do it?"

I'm about to answer, but Lucy does it for me. "We watch it together," she says from behind me.

I spin quickly, surprised by her presence. I don't even try to hide my excitement. "What are you doing here?"

"Dude," Chris says, "your eyes just lit up like a kid on Christmas."

I ignore him and link my fingers with hers.

"Rose wanted to borrow my car so I asked her to drop me off. Is it okay I'm here? I just missed you, but I didn't know if you were going to be busy tonight."

"No." I shake my head and take her in from head to toe. "I'm glad you're here."

She leans up and kisses me quickly.

"It's dead," I tell her. "I'm just going through some pre-orders." I take her hand and pull her behind the counter.

"I don't think non-employees should be in the exclusive zone," Chris says.

I lift Lucy and sit her on the counter. She crosses her stocking covered legs, exposed by the skirt she's wearing. "Is that skirt new?"

She nods, a smile taking over her. "I got it today."