“I know,” I said. “I don’t really, either. I mean, I shouldn’t. I should really be focusing on my work at school.”
Rebecca gave me an odd look. “You don’t need a boyfriend to have sex, Molly. Maybe that would be good for you.”
“What, exactly?”
Rebecca flushed. “Don’t make me say it out loud, Molly.”
“No, I mean, I don’t understand what you’re talking about. What is it?”
“Have you ever heard of…friends with benefits?”
I flushed hotly. “No.”
“It means friends who have sex, that’s all.”
“So, like a boyfriend.”
“No,” Rebecca said. She leaned in close and lowered her voice – I’d noticed that we’d begun to attract the attention of a guy sitting nearby, with dark scruff on his face
Just as I was about to ask what she meant, the scruffy guy stood up and smirked. He walked closer, standing next to Rebecca.
“Hello, ladies,” he said. “May I join you?”
Rebecca blushed. “I was just talking to my roommate,” she said.
The guy laughed. “Well, you can always talk more at home, without me,” he said. He eyed Rebecca in a way that made my stomach twist with jealousy.
“We always do,” Rebecca said.
“I’m Brian. Can I buy you a drink?”
Rebecca looked at him over the rims of her glasses. “Well, you can ,” she said in a bossy sort of voice that I hadn’t ever heard before. “But I don’t know if I’ll allow you to.”
Brian laughed again. “Whoa, cheeky!” He licked his lips. “Let me guess – English major?”
Rebecca blushed and shook her fair hair. “No,” she said. “MLS in library science.”
“Ah,” Brian said.
I frowned – both Rebecca and Brian had completely forgotten about me.
“Oh, gosh, sorry,” Rebecca said. “This is Molly.”
“Hi, Molly,” Brian said. He gave me a friendly smile – not like how he was leering at Rebecca. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said in a voice barely above a whisper. God, I’m so stupid , I thought angrily. I can’t even talk to a regular guy without going to pieces!
Rebecca eyed me. “Brian, it was nice to meet you, but Molly and I were in the middle of something important,” she said. “Maybe later.”
Brian nodded. I could tell he was surprised – he was suave and handsome, not the kind of guy who’d normally go after Rebecca. I frowned again. What was it with men? Did they just want sex, from anyone who looked even remotely available?
“Sorry about that,” Rebecca said. She rolled her eyes.
“No, it’s okay,” I said slowly. “What were you talking about before? You know? The benefits thing?”
Rebecca drained the last of her wine and set the glass on the bar with more force than necessary. “It’s just…like platonic, you know? Except you have sex, too.”
“Like in Pretty Woman ? You don’t kiss on the mouth?”