Friends

Chapter 56

A/N: The Book is FINISHED! Read the entirety of it on my Patreon along with other exclusive content if you want to check those out!

Marc's POV:

I'm sitting across the table from Nya, and this is not what I was expecting whatsoever. I don't know why I pictured her taller. She once said her ideal guy is 6'4 or taller, so I guess I assumed she was on the taller side herself. But she's no taller than 5'4. Maybe 5'3. Very light-skinned—any lighter, and she'd barely pass as Black. Light brown eyes, full lips, wide nose, humongous forehead. I mean, you could land a plane on that thing. Curly hair. Petite frame—borderline underweight. I understand the jokes she and Jasmine make about forming one woman: Jasmine is all ass and no boobs. Nya is all boobs and no ass. From a personality standpoint she's basically the woman version of me. From her sense of humor, even her perspective on certain topics, she's literally me.

Her voice is nasally. And just from the way she's dressed and how her hair is styled, I can tell her dad is Black and her mom is white.

"I like you better than Kendrick," she says suddenly, flashing a mischievous grin after five minutes of nonstop talking.

I blink, startled. I don't think I've met someone in real life who just says the first thing that pops into their head like that. But maybe I can use this to my advantage. Get some insight into Jasmine. Figure out what's made her the way she is. Maybe learn something she's too hesitant to share.

"And why is that?" I ask, keeping my tone curious but light.

"You're not a dick," she says bluntly, folding her arms like it's the most obvious answer in the world.

Alright, I'm going to need a little more than that. Let's play devil's advocate and see if that can get her to talk more.

"I mean, he always seemed like a pretty straightforward guy," I say, tilting my head like I'm trying to be fair. "Every time he came over to visit Jasmine, they'd hook up and he'd leave. Doesn't sound that deep. Casual sex, right? That's what Jasmine made it seem like. She never really told me much. I don't even know how they met, to be honest."

And there it is—the look on her face. Eyes wide, mouth parted like I just asked her the million-dollar question. In reality, any question that gives her permission to talk is a jackpot.

"She never told you how they met?" she gasps, sitting up straighter with genuine disbelief.

Bingo.

"Nope. Isn't that wild?" I say, matching her energy with a slight smirk.

"Okay, first things first," she says, diving in fast, eyes lighting up. "They met in high school. Jasmine doesn't like people. Never did. Like, at all. Kendrick was the only guy she's ever liked. It took her until junior year to find a guy she was even remotely interested in. And by that time, he was a senior and all the other girls liked him, too, so that kind of validated it for her. But you know how high school is—word gets around. People were saying he had a big dick, good in bed. So he was basically the hot guy who slept around."

She pauses for emphasis, then leans in like she's about to deliver a scandalous secret.

"But Jasmine? She was a virgin. Hadn't even kissed anyone before Kendrick. And he liked that. They dated for two months."

Two months? She told me it was eight. Why would she lie about that?

"But he'd already decided after the first month that he was going to break up with her," Nya continues, her voice now tinged with disgust. "I think it was because she wasn't putting out. And like the asshole he is, he told everyone that he was going to dump her before he even told her."