I Know Better (By Your Side Series Book 1)

by A. P. Watson

  “Oh, Lord! That’s so true!” She collapsed on the bed, laughing.

  “Hey!”

  “You always attract the losers.”

  “I’d almost be offended if I wasn’t so dead inside.”

  Ter and I were best friends, and at times, we were also opposites. She was a bundle of light. I, on the other hand, had moments where I descended into darkness. Having your heart, confidence, and sense of self-worth crushed tended to take it out of you. I recovered, but the scars I bore were permanent reminders of past wounds.

  She pushed on the stem of my wine glass, prompting me to take another sip. “Drink more. It makes everything better.”

  “You only say that because you’ve already found an amazing guy!”

  “True.”

  “There are so many lepers and creepers out there, you have no idea, girl,” I whined.

  “After you called me during your last blind date, I can only imagine.”

  I gagged. “This wine is delicious. Please don’t make me throw it up.”

  “Okay, I’ll never mention him again!”

  “All I’m saying is you’re extremely lucky to have Ryan.”

  “I want you to say that again, but louder and into my phone, so I can record it.” Ryan stood in the doorway. I was surprised he hadn’t cut his shaggy blonde hair, especially considering he was working as an investment banker now, but I guess he would always be a surfer boy at heart.

  Terayn rolled her eyes dramatically. “Don’t do it, Wren. It’ll only make his head even bigger.”

  “I didn’t know that was possible!”

  “Oh sure, you girls get back together and in less than a day you’re already ganging up on me.”

  “You know you like it, babe,” Terayn countered.

  “The pizza is here. Sean and I were going to play some video games in the living room. Do you want me to bring you ladies some pizza and plates in here?”

  “That would be amazing!” I held my empty wine glass out to him. “And could you bring us refills? We need more wine stat.”

  He accepted my wine glass and turned to kiss Terayn before grabbing her drink as well. “I’ll do it, but only because you are my two favorite girls in the whole city.”

  We gorged ourselves on pizza and wine for hours. The guys kept to themselves. I guess they could sense Terayn and I needed some time to catch up. It’d certainly been too long since we’d seen each other, and baring my soul to her about all my recent work and dating mishaps was nothing short of cathartic.

  When we got up to change into our pajamas and grab a glass of water from the kitchen, we found Sean and Ryan passed out on the couch. We laid blankets over them and headed back to my room, trying to be as quiet as possible.

  I crawled into my bed and nestled under the covers.

  I watched as Terayn jumped in beside me. “Oh, I’m staying in here too. I figured we could have a sleepover!”

  “Thanks for letting me move up here. I know I’d be lost without you and Ryan.”

  “I know what you mean. I love my friends up here, but it just isn’t the same, you know?”

  “Oh yeah.”

  chapter two

  all bottled up

  I WOKE UP THE next morning with one heck of a headache. Then again, drinking two bottles of wine will do that to you.

  “Morning!”

  Ryan and Sean stood in the doorway to my room sipping from coffee mugs and looking more chipper than Mary Poppins.

  “Babe, normally I love to wake up to the sound of your voice, but today is not that day.”

  I groaned and pulled the duvet over my face. “Ditto.”

  “Looks like somebody drank too much wine last night.” Sean sat on the edge of my bed and began bouncing up and down.

  I smacked his arm, trying to get him off my bed. “What? Are we in grade school again?”

  Terayn huffed beside me. “Apparently.”

  “Ryan was going to make us all breakfast before I have to head back home,” Sean replied.

  Instantly, I sat up, yanking off the comforter. “Ryan is cooking?”

  “You see? My cooking is legendary. The ladies love it.”

  “One of us in our relationship has to cook, because Lord knows I can’t,” Terayn added, sitting up.

  “Do you remember the time she tried to host Thanksgiving at her dad’s house?” I stared at Ryan, hoping he remembered the mostly raw turkey and burnt sweet potatoes.

  “She nearly gave us Salmonella poisoning that year! How could I forget?”

  “Hey, at least I tried!” Terayn yelled.

  “True, but now I’m living here too, so please leave the cooking to Ryan and me.”

  “Fine.” She rolled her eyes dramatically while pulling her long hair over her shoulder. “Fix us something delicious, babe. I’m going to take a shower.”

  “Since Terayn is best left out of the kitchen, I’ll help you, Ryan.”

  Ryan gave me a high five as we headed to the kitchen. I loved the sleek, modern appliances and granite counters. It was a dream compared to my last kitchen. The mix matched appliances and outdated countertops were homey, but nothing near this nice. Even though the color palette of the living room and kitchen was monochromatic, Terayn still managed to have splashes of color here and there. A vase filled with orange gerbera daisies provided a pop of color on the counter and teal throw pillows brightened the dark leather couch. I pulled my hair into a bun and began cracking eggs into a large bowl, watching as Ryan turned on the stove to cook some bacon. By the time Terayn finished showering, breakfast was ready. The four of us each took a seat at the bar and stuffed our faces.

  An hour and a pot of coffee later, Terayn, Ryan, and I followed Sean outside.

  “If you need anything, I’m just a call away,” Sean said nudging me with his elbow.

  I pulled him into a tight hug. “I know.”

  “Don’t worry. We’ll take good care of her.” Ryan stepped forward to shake Sean’s hand.

  Terayn followed behind Ryan, giving Sean a quick hug. “Yeah, you know she’s in good hands with us.”

  “If you get a break from school this upcoming semester, you should come up for a visit!”

  Sean jumped down the steps and opened the door to his Jeep. “I’d like that. Bye, cuz!”

  “Bye, cuz.”

  The three of us waved, watching as Sean pulled into the street and drove away.

  “So,” Terayn began, excitement saturating her voice, “what’s on the agenda for today?”

  “I was thinking about going to check out a new dance studio. My instructor back home told me to go to The Brass Hoop. She says it has some great teachers and a nice studio space.”

  “Ooh! I’ll go with you! That sounds fun!”

  “Ryan?”

  “You ladies have a good time. I’m meeting Jackson at the gym for a workout in an hour.”

  “Who is Jackson?” I closed the door behind us, following Ryan back into the kitchen.

  “Oh, he’s Ryan’s super-hot friend he also works with.”

  Ryan shot her a glare. “Hey now.”

  “Well, it’s true, but he’s nothing compared to you. You know I like my men with blonde hair and blue eyes,” Terayn said sweetly.

  “Right,” Ryan replied sarcastically.

  “So, Jackson is tall, dark, and handsome, I take it?”

  Terayn winked at me. “Yep!”

  “Just my type.” I leaned on the counter, resting my chin in my hand. “Actually, who am I kidding? The only type I manage to get my hands on aren’t employed, most likely live in their parents’ basement, or cry all the time.”

  “Has it been that bad?” Ryan asked in disbelief.

  Terayn and I stared at him. “Oh yeah,” we said in unison.

  “Geez.”

  “You’re telling me. Maybe you guys should just ship me off to a convent while there is still hope.”

  Ryan burst into a fit of laughter at my suggestion. “With your foul mouth, you
’d be kicked out the first day.”

  “True.”

  Terayn grinned at me, nudging my arm with her elbow. “Not to mention, she’d spend all her time in confession.”

  “Hey!” I said as she shot me one of her signature looks. Terayn had a nose for sniffing out the truth. Most of the time, she knew me better than I knew myself. It’s the artist in her. She can connect to everything surrounding her on an almost spiritual level. Sometimes, I envied her lust for life. If she painted her soul, it’d be a vibrant assortment of yellow, orange, and red, like an amber sunset. Mine, on the other hand, would be a swirling mass of blue and black. “Okay, so you may have a point there.”

  “I know.”

  “Do you ever get tired of her being right all the time?” I asked.

  Ryan laughed slightly. “Sometimes, but then I figure one of us might as well be right. It wouldn’t work if we were both wrong all the time.” He kissed Terayn on the cheek and headed down the hall to their bedroom.

  Terayn spun to face me, smiling wildly. “To the dance studio?”

  “Absolutely! I haven’t danced in almost two weeks, and I’m dying.”

  “We should take a class together today! I know I’ll never be as good as you, but it’s still fun.”

  “You did great last time.”

  “I barely managed to climb up the pole!”

  “Yeah, pole dancing is freaking hard. Climbing up the pole is really good for your first class.”

  She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. “I suppose so.”

  “I know so.” I stepped around her and headed to my room. “Follow me. I’ll let you wear one of my sparkly outfits.”

  “I want all the sparkles!”

  I shook my head at her and laughed. One day in Chicago under my belt and all the negativity from Tennessee was quickly disappearing from my thoughts.

  Ryan shouted a goodbye to us through my bedroom door as Terayn, and I changed. I dressed her in a pair of pink shorts and a matching bra decked out in rhinestones. Meanwhile, I pulled out my favorite blue top, matching shorts, and a pair of chrome heels that were seven inches tall. “Do you want to wear shoes too?”

  “I love the way they look, but I’d break my ankle.”

  “You’ll get there eventually. Baby steps,” I coaxed.

  After an hour of a beginner’s pole class with Terayn and an advanced lesson by myself, I emerged from The Brass Hoop a new woman.

  “Just leave me here! I can’t go any further!” Terayn collapsed on the sidewalk outside the studio. She lay there, spread eagle, ignoring the curious stares from people passing by.

  I smiled at the onlookers, hoping they’d keep on walking. “She’s fine, just off her meds today.” An older woman carrying a large shopping bag bustled past us. I watched in amusement as she crossed the street, practically running into the nearest store. “You’re beginning to scare the locals.”

  “Ha! This is Chicago. Surely they can’t be scared of a little southern belle like me.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure.”

  “Whatever.” She patted the cement beside her, motioning for me to sit. I complied, but only because I could tell she wasn’t going to be peeling herself off the pavement anytime soon. “When do you start your new job?” she asked.

  “Not this upcoming Monday, but the next one. I’m scheduled to work Monday, Tuesday, and then Thursday. They’re giving me a couple of days of orientation classes starting tomorrow so I can learn their charting system and everything.”

  “And then on Monday, you’ll be working in the intensive care unit by yourself?”

  “Well, I’ll be placed with another nurse, probably for another week or two. Then, once I have a feel for how things run, I’ll be taking patients by myself.”

  “Oh, okay. Will you be working the same days every week?”

  “No. I’ll get to self-schedule just like I did at my old job. Basically, I can work whatever days I want.”

  “That’s really nice.”

  “Yeah. I’m a bit nervous, but I figure working in a hospital has to be pretty much the same everywhere.” I shoved my water bottle in her hand and forced her to take a drink. “Have you been painting lately?”

  She sat up, resting her chin on her knees. “I’ve been dabbling. It’s been hard though. I haven’t really felt inspired, but with you moving in and everything, I think that will change.”

  “Well, until you get out of your funk, you can play around and paint me something. I don’t mind being your guinea pig. Besides, I need pictures for my room.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, make it dark and mysterious.”

  “If you wanted me to match it to your soul, all you had to do was ask.”

  I nudged her with my shoulder. “See, you get me.”

  “I try,” she said with a smile.

  “You know, the last time you struggled with painting, Ryan helped you.”

  She smiled, biting her lip. “He was my muse.”

  “Maybe you could try using him again?”

  “He wants me to quit working at the gallery and focus on painting full-time.”

  “Damn.”

  “Yeah,” she said with a nod. “I mean, we can afford it, but I would feel guilty if I didn’t work.

  “Ryan would walk to the ends of the earth for you. He wouldn’t make that kind of suggestion if he didn’t want you to consider it.”

  “True. I just hate the idea of not contributing. I like making my own money.”

  “Girl, you’re preaching to the choir!”

  “I mean I’ll do whatever I want with my money!” Terayn shouted.

  “Dane and Kevin never understood my need to be so independent. Why can’t men understand me the same way you do?”

  “Because they think with their penises?”

  “Ladies and gentlemen, Terayn Andrews just figured out what is wrong with the entire male sex. Terayn for president!”

  She popped to her feet, bowing graciously. “My first order of business as president is to name Wren Williams my vice president. Together, we will kick all men in the balls! All men except our dads, Ryan, and Tom Hardy.”

  “Girl, say ‘Tom Hardy’ again. Just hearing his name does things to me.”

  “You and every other woman with a pulse.” I grabbed Terayn’s outstretched hand, springing forward as she pulled me to my feet. “I’m beat. I don’t know how you go to pole classes multiple times a week.”

  “It’s not so bad. You get used to it.”

  “Used to it? My inner thighs are burning like the fires of Mount Doom!”

  “You just have to toughen up.” We stood on the curb, arms flailing wildly as we tried to hail a cab to drive us home. “When we get home, I’ll make us some lunch, and you can take a bubble bath.”

  “Now we’re talking!”

  After a few minutes, we were finally able to hail a cab. Our driver sped through traffic, zig-zagging in every possible direction. I shoved a wad of cash in his hand and practically dragged Terayn up the steps to our townhouse. Ryan was already home when we stepped inside, and from the sound of it, he was taking a shower.

  “I’m going to rummage through the fridge and see what I can throw together for lunch.”

  “Okay! Use whatever you want. We’ll go to the store tomorrow.”

  I pulled out all the ingredients for a turkey sandwich, quickly littering the counter with food. “How do sandwiches sound?”

  “Good! I’m going to hop in the shower with my beau. Maybe I’ll work up more of an appetite for lunch.”

  “You go, girl!” I rummaged through the cabinets until I found a loaf of bread. “After y’all are done, will you tell me what sex is like? It’s been so long, I’ve forgotten,” I said, pouting. I missed the rush of skin on skin contact, of feeling another’s hands caressing your body. Sex could be a lot of fun, and I was ready for my dry spell to be over.

  Terayn frowned as she looked at me. “How long has it been?”

  I ex
haled deeply, trying my damnedest to push out all the negativity swirling inside my body. “Eleven months,” I whined dramatically, slathering mustard on three different slices of bread. “Not to mention, my last sexual encounter was about as thrilling as watching the PGA tournament.”

  “Yikes.”

  “I’m not looking for love or a lasting relationship. Honestly, at this point, all I want is a single night of unattached sex. I want to be treated like a goddess and worshipped for one night. And when it’s over, I can get back to my chaste existence.”

  “That’s what you want?”

  “I know beggars can’t be choosers, but I’d settle for a man with a non-bumpy penis and a steady job.”

  “You deserve so much better than that.”

  “I used to think so, but here lately, I haven’t been so sure.” I sliced some tomato, adding it to the pile of turkey and lettuce I’d already layered on the bread. “Anyway, go take your shower and get your man! You don’t need to listen to me.”

  “You listened to me pine over Ryan for months before I asked him out. You know I don’t mind listening to you.”

  “I need to stop focusing on the negative. New city, new start, right?”

  “That’s my girl! Besides, after you’ve been here a few weeks, you will meet a great guy! You’ll be dodging so much dick, it’ll be like Neo in the Matrix.”

  “I just had a mental picture of that analogy, and my God, it was frightening.”

  Terayn burst into a fit of laughter. “Sorry!”

  “Go get in the shower while I try to figure out how to bleach my eyelids.”

  “Love you!”

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  I stacked the sandwiches on three separate plates and jumped on top of the counter to sit. I was halfway through a bottle of water when I heard Terayn screaming.

  “Wren! Wren!” She slid, dripping wet, into the kitchen with a towel wrapped around her.

  “What the hell, Ter?”

  “I’ve got it!” A puddle of water quickly formed at her feet, spreading across the tile. “Eleven months is too damn long!”

  “Okay?”

  “What the hell is going on?” Ryan stumbled down the hallway, a towel firmly clutched around his waist. He tiptoed around the trail of water Terayn had left in her wake.