Everyone's a Winner with a Heart That Small

"Gigi? Are you in there? Come on, let me in"

Gigi rolled her eyes and got off her bed to unlock the door to her room. "What?"

Ezra frowned at her obviously still pissed off glare. "I wanted to apologize"

She walked away from the door and went back to her previous position lying on her back on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Ezra followed her into the room and laid down beside her, also looking at the ceiling.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?"

She didn't respond. Instead, she waited for him to continue because she knew that he'd give her a reason. She even knew the exact reason he would give. So she just waited for it.

"I just don't want you to get hurt again, you know? You're my cousin and I love you"

There it was. She knew it was coming.

"You know, sometimes I feel like it's my fault you ever got hurt in the first place"

Her eyebrows furrowed and she looked over at him. "Why would you ever think that?"

"Graham was my friend. I'm the one who introduced you to him. I encouraged you to go out with him. He asked my permission and I gave it to him"

"Ezra, what he did is not your fault. You could never have predicted that he would do that"

"That's what worries me about you and John"

"John is nothing like Graham. You know that"

"It still makes me nervous"

"I'm not going to make the same stupid mistakes I did when I was 18, Ezra"

"You never did anything wrong!"

"I know that. I'm just saying I'm not getting close to him because I'm smarter than that this time"

"See that's another thing. I hate the thought of you getting hurt again. But I really hate the fact that you're never going to let anyone get close to you because of it"

"It's one or the other, Ez. I can't do both"

"Have you told John about Graham?"

"Hell no"

He chuckled. "You forgive me, right?"

"One one condition"

"What's that?"

"Fucking give me my best friend back!"

As if on cue, Cora appeared in the doorway. "G?"

Gigi picked her head up off the pillow and grinned at her. She ran and jumped onto the bed in the empty space between Ezra and Gigi. She grabbed Gigi's hand and squeezed it tightly. "Love you, Georgie"

"Love you too, Cor. Hey, Ezra?"

"Yeah?"

"Get out"

"What?"

"I want to spend time with my best friend so you need to go away"

He rolled his eyes and got up from the bed, leaving them alone.

"So!" Cora said excitedly, turing on her side. "Tell me about John!"

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything! What happened yesterday after you stormed out?"

Gigi rolled her eyes at Cora. "Nothing, really. He bought me a pair of flip flops at Dollar General, we went to eat, we talked"

"Have you kissed him yet?"

"Nope"

"Why the fuck not?!"

She shrugged. "I haven't had the right moment"

"Do you want to kiss him?" Cora asked, moving her eyebrows up and down suggestively.

Gigi ignored her question. "So what's going on at home?"

"Absolutely nothing"

"Why am I not surprised?"

"I think your mom misses you like crazy but she doesn't want to call and bother you while you're on vacation"

"I need to call her later"

"You never answered my question, Georgianna Fairfax"

Gigi groaned. "Yes, okay? And that's not all but blame that on the sexual frustration I've been having for five years"

"I still can't believe you haven't had sex in five years"

"It's just....the only person I've ever been with is Graham"

"That is so hard to believe. You're fucking gorgeous, G. You should use that to your advantage and go get some"

"Can we stop talking about this now?"

"For now"

"Good. Now let's go do something"

"Can we ask Ezra if there's a party somewhere tonight? Because I haven't gone to any parties since you left home"

"We can ask, but I doubt it"

Ezra's response to that was "Fuck yeah! There's a party every night around here we could go to!"

"Whose party is tonight?"

"I don't know the guy. He's a friend of a friend of Tim"

"You go to all these parties, not even knowing whose they are?"

"All the time, baby cousin"

"YES!" Cora cheered excitedly. "I'm in need of a good party. You too, G. Maybe you can get some"

"Cora, shut the fuck up"

Ezra made a face and shook his head. "Gonna pretend I didn't hear that"

"Please do," Gigi begged.

Cora just shrugged her shoulders and grabbed Gigi's arm. "Come on! We have to get ready!"

Cora dragged Gigi back to her room and made sure she picked out something to wear that was to Cora's satisfaction. As she got ready, Gigi wondered if John would be there.

But of course he would be.