“I told you, it’s fine. It’s just fancier than I expected it to be. I’ll get used to it. I am not living with either one of you,” I tell her.

“Ariel—”

“No!” I argue, cutting Belle off as I set the fish tank down on the carpet next to me before turning to face her again. “Why did you move in with Vincent and refuse to even ask me or Cindy if you could stay with us when your dad kicked you out of his house?”

Belle found herself in kind of the same predicament as me not that long ago, when her dad found out she started a stripping business. He kicked her out of the only home she’d ever lived in and, unbeknownst to me and Cindy, she had been sleeping at the library where she worked until Vincent came in and saved the day, coercing her to stay with him until she figured things out.

“Because I didn’t want to mess up Cindy and PJ’s new relationship, and I knew you were trying to find a roommate so you could make some money. I would have felt bad screwing that up for both of you,” Belle says quietly.

“Exactly. Which is why I’m staying here. It’s not ideal. I miss my house. I miss my things. But you’re right, I have my own place and my own space. Sure, Eric is right next door . . . er, boat . . . but it’s not like I have to see him if I don’t want to. I don’t have to share a bathroom or a kitchen or anything, like you did.”

“Actually, that turned out kind of great for her,” Cindy says with a smile.

“Blah, blah, blah, we know. Belle tamed the Beast and now they’re going to ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. Don’t make me puke,” I grumble.

“If you just give Eric a chance, it could turn out great for you too,” Belle informs me. “Did you know that out of the one thousand two hundred and thirty-five romance books we carry at the library, six hundred and seventy of them are about a romance between neighbors? That’s a startling statistic. You should love thy neighbor, Ariel. It says so in the Bible.”

“It also says Jesus turned water into wine, and I have yet to see a bottle of Fiji turn into Pinot Grigio. Give it a rest,” I sigh.

“I don’t know why you’re so against this. He’s hot. And he’s sweet. And he’s totally into you. And I’m fairly confident you don’t have to worry about Eric telling you he’s gay, like your ex did,” Cindy laughs.

Oh, shit.

“Yeah, definitely not,” Belle adds. “That man is without a doubt hetero. The sexual tension between you two even made me sweat, and I don’t like to sweat. Is that what you’re worried about? That he’s going to do what your ex did? I don’t have the statistics on that exactly, but I’m pretty sure the chances of you finding another man who turned out to be gay would be staggering, and it would never happen.”

Oh, God, why did I tell them such a stupid thing? WHY?

“Siri, what are the statistics on a woman having two relationships where both men turned out to be gay?” Belle says loudly, holding her phone up to her mouth.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t understand your question.”

“I said, what are the statistics on a woman having two relationships where both men turned out to be gay?”

“Searching for gay bars in your area.”

“DAMN IT, SIRI! GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!” Belle shouts. “WHAT ARE THE STATISTICS ON A WOMAN—HEY!”

I smack the phone out of Belle’s hand before she can repeat the question again, and she narrows her eyes at me when the phone goes flying across the carpet.

“You don’t need to look up that stupid fucking statistic. I know Eric isn’t gay; that has nothing to do with why I don’t want anything to do with him,” I tell her, exasperated and a tiny bit panicky.

“Ariel, it’s fine if you’re gun-shy because your ex-husband lied to you your entire marriage about liking dicks instead of chicks. We get it. I’d be freaked out to get back on the horse too, after something like that,” Cindy says in a kind voice that makes me want to shove a fork in my eye.

Not because she’s being kind, but because I am the worst friend ever. The absolute worst.

“I swear to you, that’s not it.”

Just suck it up, Ariel. You can’t keep this from them forever.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s not like you turned him gay or anything. I’m sure—”

“MY EX WASN’T GAY I JUST TOLD YOU GUYS THAT BECAUSE I WAS TOO EMBARASSED TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH AND I KNOW I’M THE WORST FRIEND IN THE WORLD FOR LYING TO YOU BUT I JUST DIDN’T WANT YOU TO KNOW WHAT REALLY HAPPENED!” I shout in one long-winded sentence, to get it all out before I lose my nerve.

Tags: Tara Sivec Naughty Princess Club Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net