Release by Louise J

eyes the color
of a turquoise sea. And she’s got a body to die for, tight and petite with
curves in all the right places.
    He definitely works out; his
broad shoulders carry great muscle definition and I’m not imagining the way his
sleeves hug his biceps. What he’s wearing emphasizes a narrow waist and legs
that don’t avoid squats. If only Kayla would un-stick her bloody face from the
glass and look his way.
    ‘Shaun’s’ gaze slides to me,
he catches me inspecting him. Sooo embarrassing.
    My lips awkwardly turn up at
the corners and I home in on the menu displayed on the wall behind the counter.
I hope he doesn’t think I was checking him out.
    “Hello, Kayla,” he suddenly
says, soft, but sure. He knows her?
    Her head swiftly turns in
his direction, as though she recognized his voice. “You are totally not talking
to me, dude,” she says, with a frosty bite to her tone.
    “Actually, I am,” he says,
his voice and expression unchanged. Someone’s clearly cocksure.
    Kayla looks at me. It’s as
though the sea in her eyes has iced over. “Brooklyn, this is Gerard, Dane’s
douche bag of a friend.”
    What the fuck?My jaw
drops and I quickly close my mouth to hide my reaction. I look at him with no
idea what to say. This is Gerard.
    “You know Dane?” he asks me,
curious blue eyes staring into mine.
    I slip my hands into the
pockets of my tracksuit jacket. “Kind of. Only just.” What more can I
say? 
    He simply responds with a
small incline of his head.
    I’d love to know what he’s
thinking. I hate that he probably thinks I’m some random conquest of his
mate’s. I focus on the man serving, he’s waiting. “You can go first, we’re
still deciding,” I say to Gerard. The sooner he goes the better.
    He smiles in thanks and
turns to the counter.
    I really need to find out
what happened between him and Kayla. It’s been clear that he hurt her, and
because of that I haven’t asked how, but now I’ve seen the real life Gerard I
have to know.
    Especially since I’m
supposed to be meeting Dane again tomorrow.
    We take our lunch home and
sit at our yellow, square kitchen table.
    Sipping my sparkling water,
I choose my words. “What happened with Gerard? You don’t have to talk about it,
not if you don’t want to.” Tossing a strand of lettuce in my mouth, I wait for
her response. I can’t believe I was pairing the two of them up like that.
Suddenly San Francisco feels too small.
    Kayla sighs, thoughtfully.
Her eyes are softer now. “I met him in a bar one night, he came and spoke to
me. We talked, I let him buy me a drink, and then I left with my friends. End
of that, I thought. A week later I was in the same bar, and he was there again.
He bought me another drink, and that time I spent longer talking to him. I was
attracted to him. He made me laugh and he was super sweet. So when he asked for
my number, I gave it to him. I didn’t want to get with a guy, I’d just broke up
with Brad and I was still hurting. I told Gerard that and he seemed to
understand, but he didn’t hold back. He wasn’t afraid to show his interest in
me.” She bites into her ham sub and chews.
    I pick at the chicken that’s
fallen from mine. Leona’s silently chewing as she listens.
    Kayla sips some diet coke.
“Weeks later, we spent the night together, fucked like animals. The next night
he was fucking my best friend. He knew it was a big deal for me going with him
and the cold bastard still went with her. He obviously likes the thrill of the
chase, because he wouldn’t have had to try at all with her. The skanky bitch,
she’d have banged him the first night. Obviously he was wise enough to know he
wouldn’t have gotten anywhere with me if they’d been together first. Asshole,
he was the biggest mistake of my life. I had true feelings for him. He doesn’t
know that, but my slut of an ex-best friend did.”
    She bites hard into her sub.
No doubt she’d like that to be Gerard’s cock with the amount of force