Chasing Him (Dark Love 4)

“No, but I’m not completely off the market,” he tells us.

I place my drink down fast. “Wait.” I lift my hand to stop him talking. “You’re telling me that you and Tristan have an open relationship?”

“I wouldn’t say open, but you know…”

“Does Tristan know?” Charlie is using her interrogation voice, obviously just as shocked as I am about Eric’s relationship status.

“We have an understanding,” he says flatly.

Both of us wait for his response, and when the tumbleweed drifts past us, I nudge him along. “And that is…”

“Look, we’re both young. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? We both agreed that if either of us doesn’t feel the same way, it’s time to move on. Besides, he got a second callback for a lead in this big Hollywood flick, and well, you know, fame can change him.”

“But don’t you think that sometimes you need to work on a relationship? It’s not always rosy. Okay, I’m the wrong person to be giving relationship advice right now,” I admit with a heavy heart.

“How you been feeling?” Eric asks in a quieter tone.

“Honestly? I feel like this is an out-of-body experience. I don’t know what happened to me that night. Jealousy possessed me.”

Charlie is nodding her head while sipping on her Long Island iced tea.

“Okay, so very awkward, but here goes…” She takes a deep breath, keeping her gaze on me.

“Is this about comparing technique?” Eric’s eyes widened. “I just don’t think—”

“Will you shut up and let me continue?” Charlie berates him. “And no… what’s wrong with you, E? As I was saying, when I was with him, women were like drooling hounds wherever we went, but you know as well as I do that Julian is so kind natured. He’d never intentionally hurt someone he loves.”

She takes a long sip of her drink and continues, “Now, Lex, on the other hand, is the same in that respect. The women are throwing thongs at his face half the time. The difference is that he is an arrogant ass, and women tend to back off unless you’re into that whole alpha male bullshit.”

“Oh, yes, I understand.” Eric points his index finger at his mouth while thinking. “But don’t you think they are alike in many ways?”

“Don’t look at me. You’re asking me to compare my brother and ex-boyfriend.”

“Oh, not you, I mean Charlie, but then again… okay, don’t shoot me, but aren’t you guys the least bit curious to talk about your um… shared experience?”

“Oh, I’ll shoot you, Eric. Sometimes I wonder what planet you came from?” Charlie scolds.

“Uranus, like duh?”

“Okay, Eric, you may ask only three questions to both Charlie and me, then we’re never having this conversation again. Locking it in the vault, burying it ten feet under the ground, and throwing the key into the bottom of the Marina Trench.”

“What’s the Marina Trench?” he asks.

“The deepest part of the Pacific Ocean which is the deepest ocean in the world. Question two.”

“What? No fair! That wasn’t a question!”

“I think it was, Eric,” Charlie agrees.

He mumbles under his breath, and then his face lights up like a light bulb went off in his head. “Who’s bigger, Lex or Julian?”

I spit out my drink across the table spraying Eric. He immediately tells me off, wiping his suit down with napkins. “Eric, what kind of a question is that? I don’t want to hear this.”

“On par, the same, maybe just a different color,” Charlie blurts out. “I’m sorry, Adriana, blame the rum inside this drink.”

“OMG, totally a spit-roast fantasy of mine.”

I shake my head in disbelief. “The both of you are very lucky that I’ve had two Long Island iced teas because I’m this close to grabbing that old man sitting over there and getting him to turkey slap the crap out of you two.”