Chapter 10

After that day, it’d been over a month since we got together. Curiously, she wasn’t causing her usual drama. The jealousy was still there, of course — always asking about every one of my friends, wanting details on conversations that half the time I didn’t even remember myself. Sometimes she’d get all sulky when we’d argue about college stuff. We’d spend hours talking about where we wanted to go and what we wanted to study. I got her frustration; that just wasn’t part of her life right then.

Even with that, things were good. I was chill, almost happy. Lelly stopped being so clingy in public. Before, I’d joke that if she could, she’d piss on my foot just to mark her territory. She’d laugh, but she knew it was true.

My study buddy was Giovana. To make it worse, she’d been a hookup of mine once, but it never went further and just turned into friendship. Bi and a total slut, if I didn’t keep her in check, she’d come at me or Lelly like a runaway train with no brakes.

And damn, talking about Lelly was right up her alley. Total perv, she’d always grill me for intimate details about us — it was endless nagging. I’d shut it down, but Giovana could be pushy sometimes.

Until one day she showed her claws.

“Ey, you and the little brat?”

“What about it, girl? Keep your eyes off my woman!” I shot back, pissed.

“Woman? She’s a kid, Juliana,” she teased, smirking.

“Kid or not, you wanna hook up with her, right?” I fired back, crossing my arms. “Leave my girlfriend alone!”

“I dunno… I was just gonna suggest… something!”

“God, here we go! What something?”

“A little party for the three of us? Think she’d be down?” she asked with that naughty look that made me wanna throw her out the window or onto my bed.

I laughed to hide my nerves. I should’ve been mad, but I wasn’t. I’d never have the guts to drag Lelly into a threesome — not really. I say she was jealous, but I was too, and worse. But honestly, the idea stuck in my head for a good while. My mind wandered, building all these dirty scenes that always ended the same way: everything turned to mush, you know where.

“Girl, she won’t want to. She ain’t mature enough for that shit,” I said, trying to drop it.

Weirdly, I pinned all the blame on her. When really, I should’ve said I didn’t want my girlfriend in on something like that. But no. Without realizing, I’d already bought in. I wanted it too.

It’s fucked up how our minds work, huh?

After that talk, I headed to the square. Lelly was meeting me there, and we’d figure out something to do. She showed up with a bunch of her friends, which she didn’t have when we met. I had to put up with their childish bullshit. The girls were okay, but if they looked at me too much, she’d turn red fast. I think they didn’t even know we were dating or whatever. I told her not to say anything. And once we were alone, the conversation started.

“Babe, can I ask you something?” I remember being nervous. I didn’t know how she’d take it, so I decided to ease in. “Would you have the guts to fuck more than one person?”

“What? You crazy, girl?” Her eyes went wide, totally shocked.

“Nothing big, I was just thinking… Never done it. I dunno, it’s just been on my mind, imagining what it’d be like.”

She narrowed her eyes, suspicious.

“You, me, and who else?” she questioned. “If you’re thinking about it, you already got someone in mind!”

She wasn’t dumb. And she was totally right. I sighed, trying to pick my words better before answering.

“You know Giovana…?”

“Your ex? The clingy one?” Lelly frowned, already annoyed. “She wants to fuck you any way she can, right?”

“Actually… she wants you.” I dropped a bomb and watched…

Lelly turned red right away. But this time, it wasn’t anger. Embarrassment hit her hard, and I caught a smile creeping up uninvited. She tried to play it off, but it was hard to hide.

“Oh, you like the idea, huh, you little slutty tease?” I teased, squeezing her cold thigh.

“This for real, Nani?”

“Nah. But it could be. She mentioned it.”

Lelly, who always had a quick comeback for everything, went quiet. Her gaze drifted off, lost in thought. I tried to read what was going through her head, but her face was a mix of emotions I couldn’t pin down. Sometimes a shy, half-assed smile would pop up, not giving away if she was nervous or excited.

“I think better not, Nani. I don’t know if I got the nerve for that.”

“Huh, but aren’t you the bold one? The badass?” I prodded, knowing that always got to her. “So?”

“You wouldn’t get jealous seeing me with someone else? ‘Cause I’d be jealous as hell watching you hook up with another girl.”

I stayed quiet for a bit, biting my lip.

“I thought about that too… Yeah, I probably would. But being there, I dunno. It’d be new for me. Gave me a little itch to try, that’s why I wanted your take. Not sure if it’s just her twisted idea, really.”

Lelly took a deep breath, hesitant.

“Ah, Nani… Definitely not. I really don’t want to.”

“Alright then. Better drop it.” I shrugged, not pushing.

We hung out in the square a bit longer. For the first time, I gave her some kisses in public, not caring who saw. Then I said bye and headed home alone, like usual.

Halfway there, I grabbed my phone and dialed.

“Giovana…” My voice came out low, full of mischief. “How’s that thing gonna go down? It’s on, okay?”

On the other end, a naughty laugh answered.

I smiled, biting the corner of my lip. I was pure evil.