“Asshole.” I laughed, knowing that what he said was true. “You want to go to the strip-club or not?”

“I’m looking bro, what do you think ‘XXX Girls’ or ‘A Night in Heaven’?”

“Seriously?” I sighed and then groaned as my phone rang. “Hold on, it’s Clementine.” I answered the phone quickly. “What’s good?”

“What’s good?” She drawled lightly, mocking me. “I see Tomas made it there safely.”

“Yeah, haha. What’s up?”

“I was just calling to see what’s going on.” She paused. “Does something have to be up for me to call?”

“No. Tomas and I are just about to head out. Are you coming home now?” I asked hopefully.

“No, Holden and I are going to have a late night.” She sighed and I could hear some music playing in the background.

“Studying with music?” I said lightly, feeling annoyed thinking about Clementine with that schmuck Holden. There was something about him that irritated me. It might be the simple fact that he was spending one-on-one time with my girl, or it might have been my body telling me that there was something off about him. All I knew was that I felt tense about the fact that they were spending so much time together. I did not trust him. He wanted my Clementine and he was using the guise of studying to get closer to her.

“It’s Mozart, Rhett, not Barry White.”

“Do you wish it was Barry White?” I said, knowing I sounded jealous. I could see Tomas staring at me with keen eyes.

“Rhett, I gotta go.” She said in a tired voice. “I’ll see you both later.”

“Shall we wait to have dinner with you?”

“No.” She said quickly. “I told you, it’s going to be a long night. I won’t be back ‘til late. Eat without me.”

“Okay fine.”

“What are you guys going to do?”

I know I shouldn’t have lied, but really how do you tell someone you’re dating that you’re going to a strip-club? Maybe it’s just me. Maybe it’s because I haven’t been in a relationship before, but I couldn’t tell her. Which was sad because I had always told Clementine before. I had no secrets from her. She knew who I’d been with, when I’d been with them, how I’d met them. She knew everything about me and I’d never been scared to tell her anything before. I knew as soon as I said the words that I was crossing a line that I’d never crossed before. “I think we’re going to go bowling.”

“Oh that should be fun.”

“Yeah, I’m hoping to get all strikes.”

“You never get all strikes.” She laughed. “I wish I was going as well, I wish I could show you how it’s done.”

“I’m the one that taught you how to bowl Clemmie.”

“Well the student is now better the master.” She giggled and even though her tone was lighter, I didn’t feel better.

“In all things?” I asked softly, but she pretended she didn’t hear me.

“Have a good time bowling. Tell Tomas I’ll see him in the morning and that I’m sorry to miss his first day in Boston.”

“I will.” I paused. “Have a good time studying, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“Before or after you dated me?” She asked softly and I felt as if I’d been kicked in the gut. Was she joking or being serious?

“Is that a joke, Clementine? Because if it is, it’s in very poor taste.”

“Oh Rhett, relax.” She sounded annoyed. “I’ll see you later.” And then she hung up. I stared at the phone in my hand and frowned. I couldn’t believe that she’d hung up on me already.

“Trouble in paradise?” Tomas looked concerned.

“Dude, what paradise?” I rolled my eyes. “Clementine has become a different girl now that we’re dating.”

“That’s girls bro. She’s got you by the short and curlies and she ain’t going to let go.”

“Short and curlies?” I shook my head at him. “What is that?”

“I got it from some English show I was watching.” He grinned. “Describes your relationship perfectly.”

“You decide on a club yet?”

“A club or a bowling alley?” He raised an eyebrow at me. “You lying already bro?”

“Dude, she doesn’t want to hear about me going to see naked girls.”

“That’s why I don’t date. I can’t deal with these jealous bitches trying to put me on lockdown.”

“Not cool, Tomas.” I frowned. “Don’t call Clementine a bitch.”

“What? I didn’t call her a bitch.”

“Girls aren’t bitches, that’s not cool.”

“Oh shut the fuck up, Rhett.” Tomas gave me a look. “You were down with bitches and hoes this time last year, don’t go getting all holier than thou on my ass now, just ‘cos you’ve been with this chick for a few months. You’re going to be back to the bitches and hoes as soon as you and Clementine break up.”

“Excuse me?” My body stilled at his words.

“Not trying to be rude dude, but c’mon. You’re both in your early twenties. This is your first relationship and you used to be a player. This is her first anything. The likelihood of you both working out is not high.” He shrugged. “I mean she’s already spending late nights with some other guy, listening to music.”