The Game That Breaks Us (Us 3)

“Grace,” she whines. “What do I do? I’m not good at this kind of thing. I mean, you saw what happened at the party—the kinds o

f guys I tend to go after. Ryland is … He’s sweet and he makes me laugh. I like him.”

I lift my hands at my sides. “I don’t know what to tell you other than to just be yourself.”

She rolls her eyes. “You sound like a damn fortune cookie.”

I sigh. “It’s the truth, though. You are your own most unique quality about yourself. Embrace it.”

She heads over to the sink, gripping the white porcelain between her fingers. “That’s hard for me,” she says softly.

“It’s hard for everybody,” I agree. “We think if we can’t love ourselves for who we are that nobody else can. We rarely see the beauty in who we are and just the ugliness. We all focus too much on what’s wrong and not what’s right. I promise you, even if you can’t see it, you’re pretty amazing.”

“Really?” she asks with wide puppy dog eyes.

“Really,” I concur.

“How can you even say that, though? I was such a bitch to you that first day.”

“And that’s not who you really are, is it?” I counter. “Just like I’m not the uppity rich girl you thought I was.” Well, technically, I am rich but I certainly am not uppity. In fact, in high school, I was noted for letting people walk all over me. I just wanted to be liked, but something I learned is you can’t roll over and expect people to love you—they’ll only use you.

The girl in the stall comes out, washes her hands, and leaves all without sparing us a single glance.

Elle inhales a deep breath, looking at her reflection in the mirror. “I’m overthinking this, aren’t I? I’ve only known the guy a week.”

“Yeah, you are. Just let things play out.”

“Okay.” She nods and takes a step back. “Now I really do have to pee.”

I laugh as she scurries into the stall. I figure since I’m in the bathroom, I might as well do the same.

When we head back to the table, Bennett looks at us with a knowing smile. Ryland stands, and I slide back into my original spot. Bennett now has his arm stretched along the back of the booth and his fingers dangle dangerously close my shoulder when I settle.

“It doesn’t really take girls that long to pee.” His lips graze my ear when he speaks, and I can’t stop the shiver that runs down my spine. He notices and grins, his hazel eyes twinkling.

“Sure it does,” I say. I hate how breathless I sound, like he’s stolen all the air from my body. Our drinks now sit on the table, and I reach for my water, stick the straw in, and slurp down half of it. My throat feels as dry as the Sahara with him staring at me like that.

“Mmhmm,” he hums, and I swear his eyes flick down to my lips.

I feel like I’m in the same predicament as Elle—liking a guy I just met. It seems wrong to like someone so quickly, but I think sometimes there are people you meet and there’s just this immediate connection. Good or bad.

“Cheese fries and nachos,” the waitress announces loudly above the din in the bar. I have to admit both look delicious and my stomach rumbles. I’ve barely eaten anything all day. All I had was a muffin for breakfast, and I didn’t have time for lunch so I’m running on fumes. “I’ll be right back with some plates for you guys,” she says, speaking only to Bennett.

“Bring some napkins too,” he tells her, already picking up a nacho and shoving it in his mouth. I guess I should feel sorry for her, since he’s paying more attention to the nachos than her.

“Anything else?”

He lifts his empty beer glass. “Of course.” She curtsies.

I’m the only one that notices and I snort. She realizes what she’s done and her whole face turns as red as a tomato.

“Day made,” I whisper under my breath.

“What’s that?” Bennett asks, grabbing another nacho.

“Nothing,” I say quickly. I might’ve not liked the waitress checking him out, but I wouldn’t make fun of her for making a bluff. That just wasn’t me.

As my mom likes to say, I am nice to a fault.