I shrugged. “Everybody sees what you get.”

I was practically naked in some of those swimsuit shots. But I didn’t mind it. It was my body to show off, and if they wanted me naked, then so be it, as long as it was a straight magazine. I didn’t go the other way. That was about my only limit. I didn’t need any extra bullshit coming my way on account of a few thousand dollars. I made enough money not to have to bend.

“Anyway, so what do you want me to say to him?”

We were back at square one, talking about her ring and marriage proposal from another man.

“Look, if you don’t like this guy like that, then tell him no. You’re not ready to get married. You got a whole life in front of you. You’re not even legal to drink yet,” I told her.

I was only telling her the truth.

She said, “I know.”

“There’s no more to talk about then.”

The shit was obvious to me. This numbers cruncher was crazy. He was really getting under my skin. I swear, he was doing it all for spite, just to get to me. I even asked her about it.

“Does he still talk about me all the time?”

She smiled. “Of course he does. He said your pretty ass needs to get a real job. He said you probably can’t keep a real job because you’re too much of a faggot for real work.”

Shit like that made me want to kick Jayson Walker’s ass. I knew he couldn’t beat me. That skinny motherfucker looked like the type who would pay someone else to fight for him. But allowing that asshole to talk about me like that made me pissed off at her as well.

“And what do you say when he talks about me like that?” I asked her.

She still thought it all was a joke and had a locked smile on her face.

“He knows you’re not gay. He’s just jealous of you.”

“But how do you just let him talk about me like that?”

She shook her head. “It means nothing to me. I know when a man is jealous of another man.”

I said, “Yeah, but it means something to me. You let this guy continue to disrespect me like that, and you think it’s all a game. Looks to me like you still got a lot of growing up to do,” I told her.

“You still got a lot of growing up to do,” she snapped at me. “I mean, here I am all the way the fuck out in Mexico, trying to get you to see that I still love you, and all you can think about is these beach bitches walking around, and how you don’t want him to have me, but then you won’t lock me down.”

Then she snatched the ring case away from me.

I asked her, “Why should I lock you down? If you say you love me, then you lock yourself down.”