We both looked over at Cora and she shook her head. "Nu uh, I'm not rich, either. My parents are." She pointed to herself. "This girl lives on a limited allowance, so let's not put me into that category, please and thank you. Plus, we're not douchebag-rich. We're cool-rich, as in my parents would never pimp me out for a business deal. Big difference," she added, her face serious.
"So, what are you going to do?" Daisy asked.
I sighed. "I really have no idea."
"I'll tell you what she's going to do. She's going to march into that asshole's office, kick him in the balls and then quit the ridiculous job," Cora proclaimed.
"I can't quit my job," I replied. There were two reasons I wasn't going to quit, even though my brain pleaded with me to. The first one was that I wasn't a quitter; the second was that I knew that's what they wanted. They wanted to see me weak and quit. That wasn't happening. I'd look Wilson in his ugly face every day at that office before I'd let him know he broke me down.
"Boo, you suck," Cora groaned. "We need more time together. But whatever you do, don't cave to that jackass."
"He was so charming, though," Daisy sighed.
"Exactly, you don't trust guys who are charming. A boy who’s charming and knows the right things to say means he's had practice, and you don't want someone who’s had a lot of practice with other girls. You want to be a new experience."
"What if he leaves her? What if he decides not to get married?" Daisy was still in what I liked to refer to as the honeymoon stage.
"Either way, he lied to me and then let me find out in front of a crowded room of people I can't stand." I had a small feeling in the back of my head that made me wonder if the entire thing was planned to get me out of there. I couldn't see Dalton doing that, but then again, I didn't see him smashing my heart into a million pieces three hours ago, either. "He should've been up front with me. Then when I confronted him, he basically asked me to be his mistress." I pursed my lips and clinched a pillow into my hand. "I am no one's mistress." Cora scooted closer and wrapped her arms around me; she knew how sensitive that topic was for me.
"He's a jackass," she said, rubbing my back. "You deserve someone better, girl. You deserve someone who will be open and honest with you. I want you to find happiness so bad, you have no idea."
The tears started and I shook my head. "That will never happen." I sniffled.
"Get rid of that curse bullshit, seriously. You've had a couple fails at love, but so has everyone else," Cora responded. "I mean, look at Daisy; she was in love and her boyfriend died."
Daisy smacked her arm. "Uh, hello! Sensitive topic."
Cora tapped her thigh. "Sorry, girl, but I had to make a point. If you can get past the death of a boyfriend, Gabby can get past this asshole.”
She gave her a smile but groaned at the same time. "Fine, I guess I'll be made into an example."
"Promise me you won't give up, Gabs. I will find you the perfect guy if it's the last damn thing I do," Cora added.
"I probably need to hand over my rights to pick a boyfriend. I obviously don't know what the fuck I'm doing."
Daisy grabbed my hand in hers and squeezed it. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, babe."
I scoffed. "What doesn't kill you fucks you up mentally." I leaned back against the headboard and moaned. I was done talking about my disastrous love life. "I need to get my mind on something else.”
Cora jumped up from her bed and smiled brightly. "Guess what I've got recorded?"
"Tell me it's not True Blood," I muttered.
"You let him ruin it for you, didn't you?" Cora accused, raising a brow. "You know better than that! You do not share shows unless it's turned serious.”
"It's his fault!" I said, throwing my hands down on the bed. Every time I watched True Blood now, I'd be reminded of the philandering jackass who played me.
"I'll give you time, but I know you'll cave eventually," Cora said, flipping through the DVR menu. "Good thing for you, we've got plenty of other options. I'm thinking we need some John Tucker Must Die."
"Oh yeah, I think that's exactly what we need," I replied, grabbing a pillow and getting comfortable. I knew the day would come when my heart would get broken, I just wasn't expecting it to hurt so damn bad.
"I told you this shit would blow back in your face, dumbass." I winced at the loud voice as sunlight beamed through my bedroom window as my curtains were pulled back. I groaned, covering my eyes with my arm. My head felt like it was full of scotch and anger, which couldn't be any more correct for what I'd been going through last night; glasses of scotch and lashes of anger.
"Go fuck yourself," I growled, grabbing the pillow underneath my head and shoving it over my face. I needed more time to soak in my self-pity before discussing my fuck-up with him. "And while you're at it, get the hell out of my house."
Leo chuckled. God, was his laugh always that damn annoying? I instantly regretted giving him a key. "It's hard for me to fuck myself and walk at the same time, asshole. I was never that great at multi-tasking."
"Practice makes perfect," I moaned against the pillow, my head feeling like an overused kickball.
"Don't get pissed at me because you got your ass busted. I warned you. You were too fucking delusional trying to play two girls to know you were about to get burned."
"I don't need to hear ‘I told you so.’" I'd slept with Gabby's name on my lips, hoping I'd wake up in the morning and everything was all just one big nightmare. Gabby hadn't left my lying ass, and my dad didn't deliberately fuck me over. But it wasn't; the nightmare was my real fucking life.
"You should've warned me Eva was coming." If Eva never showed, none of that shit would've happened. Instead of Leo being the first goddamn face I saw in the morning, it would've been Gabby's with my mouth between her legs.
"I didn't know your fiancée was coming, or I would've given you a heads up while you were hanging out with your girlfriend."
"Shut the curtain and get the fuck out!" My stomach grumbled. Fuck, I shouldn't have drank that much. When I realized Gabby was done with my lying ass, I drank myself into oblivion. I wasn't sure how I landed in my own bed, but the only person I know who would drag my sloppy ass to bed was my brother. He was always there to save my ass. He was also always there to be the one to say "I told you so."
He slapped his palm down on my bed. "No can do, brother. You have to get your ass up. It's Claire's birthday and you promised her you'd be there." Fuck. The last thing my head needed was little runts running around screaming and being surrounded by my family.
"Tell Claire I'll take her wherever she wants to go for her birthday next weekend." I paused. "Tell her I'll take her shopping." My baby niece was only turning seven, but the girl already had a handbag collection to make a grown woman jealous. She'd take me up on that offer and clean out my wallet while doing it.
"She doesn't want to do something next weekend. She wants you at her party. So you'll be there."
"Today's obviously not a good day."
"Look, drunk-ass, you knew this shit was bound to happen. I told you so, but you never seem to listen to anyone. Now you made a commitment to my daughter and she's expecting you. Get your ass in the shower, or I'm going to start my own rock concert in here with your pots and pans." That was the one thing about Leo: his kids were his everything. You disappointed his kids, he'd kick your ass.
I threw the pillow off my face and squinted his way. "Fine, but you need to tell Dad not to say shit to me."
"I'll talk to him," he assured, blinking. It was nine in the morning, and my brother looked like he'd been up for hours, which didn't surprise me. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a black, button-down dress shirt. He'd never go all casual; the jeans were the best you'd get. I was certain he was also the one who'd done all the planning for Claire's party while Kelly didn't do shit. "Be there at one," he reminded, slapping my leg before walking toward the doorway and turning around. "And you got her something, right?"
"Purse." I�
�d had Gabby pick out a birthday present for Claire.
He snapped his fingers. "Good job, baby brother."
When I heard the front door shut, I stumbled out of bed and fell down on the floor. Jesus, was I still drunk? I practically crawled to my bathroom, lifted up to turn the shower on and hopped in when the water was still cold. I deserved the torture.
I shivered as the cold water began to warm up and hit my body in splatters. I lifted my head up, letting the water pour straight down onto my face as I let my regrets sink in.
I slapped my hands against the crisp-tiled wall, my head falling limp, and internally screamed at myself. I was questioning everything I thought I wanted in life; the perfect job, money and to make my dad proud of me. None of that shit mattered without Gabby. What I thought I’d wanted turned out to be the thing that ruined me.
After showering, I dried off my body and grabbed my phone, scrolling through the outgoing calls list. I'd called Gabby twenty-one times; I think I'd officially become a stalker when I hit the double digits. I tapped my finger against the screen, calling her again. I was a dumbass. What made me think she was going to answer my calls when I couldn't even go after her? My call went straight to voicemail. She'd probably blocked me for my excessive calling.
Claire's birthday party was being thrown in the backyard at my brother's house. I walked into a travesty of balloons, screaming children and castle jump-houses. I dodged a few kids' aim with water guns and spotted four grown women dressed up as princesses. I headed over to the patio tables where the people over seven were sitting and grabbed a bottle of water.
"Look who sobered up.” I twisted around to find my dad's eyes fastened on me. He was sitting at a table alone with a pink cup covered with flowers in his hand. Even though the cup was juvenile, I was sure there was most likely alcohol in it. The man would be the one to patronize me for drinking at an adult party when he was drinking at his own granddaughter’s damn princess party.
"Not here, Dad," I said, pushing my Raybans farther up my nose. Those things were staying on all day, or my eyes would burn out of their sockets.
He scoffed, shaking his head at me in disgust. "Now is not the time to rehash how you drunkenly called me a heartless bastard in front of a crowd of people." Fuck. I'd forgotten about my outburst last night. Instead of chasing after Gabby, I'd decided to take my frustration out on my dad. I'd taken a couple shots and confronted him in a not-so-subtle way.
I pulled out a chair with balloons attached to the backrest and sat down across from him. "How about we rehash how you set me up to ruin what I had with Gabby?"
"You shouldn't have had anything with that girl. You should feel lucky I didn't cut your ass off after that debacle, but I understand people make mistakes, especially when they're in lust." I rolled my eyes at his sideways insult. "As a Douglas you shouldn't make amateur mistakes like that, don't let it happen again."
"How very noble of you," I sneered; well aware he was going to throw that party in my face for the rest of my life.
He took a swig of his drink. "How's everything going with the governor’s case? I've noticed you've been slacking."
My eyes deadpanned on him. "I haven't been slacking; Ivy's been staying with her parents, so it's been complicated getting in touch with her." Gabby and I had attempted to visit her for days, but her dad would come out threatening us with a shotgun to get off his property.
His fingertips tapped against the table. "How's that so hard? Do a stake-out and wait until her parents leave."
"Tried it. They don't leave her home alone."
"Then you need to sneak into her bedroom and be certain she listens to what you have to say. Those petty little threats you made about her naked pictures and alcoholic problems are minimal compared to what will come if she doesn't start working with us."
"He threatened us with a gun," I explained, rubbing my brow in an attempt to ward off the excruciating headache still pounding against my brain.
"Did he shoot you?"
I pointed to my unwounded chest. "Obviously not."
"Exactly. You played right into his games like a pussy. He was never going to shoot you."
I leaned into his space. "You know him well enough personally to be sure he wouldn't put a bullet in my head?"
He picked a peanut out of a bowl in the center of the table and tossed it into his mouth. "He knows who you are. Any man would be stupid to fuck with me."
I snorted loudly. "Newsflash, Dad, not everyone is terrified of you."
He growled deep in this throat. "They should be if they know what I'm capable of."
I looked back as I felt a heavy slap on my back. "Let's not talk about that shit at my daughter's birthday party. People are going to think we're in the mob or some shit," Leo said, jumping into the conversation and taking the seat next to me.
"We practically are," I muttered.
"You look like dog shit," he said, grinning.
"I feel like dog shit." The stagnant smell of cheeseburgers on the grill next to us began to waft through the air, causing my stomach to tremble. I hadn't eaten anything all day in fear I'd vomit it up, and that smell wasn't helping my cause.
"You need to tell your brother to stay away from that whore's daughter," my dad snarled to my brother.
"Dad," Leo warned. My dad had more patience with my brother than he did me.
"You told me to talk about something else," he threw back, knotting his hands together.
"Let me clarify myself since you children don't understand: any talk about guns, threats and whores is off-limits, okay?"
"Fine," my dad grumbled. "Just talk some sense into your brother." His face pinched together and he pointed a thumb my brother's way while looking at me. "Why couldn't you be more like him? He's always done what he's told, never rebelled against me like you and your sister have."
"Because I have a set of balls," I replied, cursing as Leo's finger came out and flipped me in the ear.
"Funny, asshole," he muttered.
"Having the balls to act out like an imbecile doesn't make you intelligent, Son. Stay away from the girl, and I'm not going to tell you again."
My fists clenched into tight balls as I counted to ten in my head, hoping that would calm me down. "Trust me; she hates my ass now, thanks to you."
"Then my work paid off," he grinned, clearly proud of himself for fucking up my life. I rolled my eyes, exhausted and no longer wanting to waste my energy arguing with him. I'd let him think he'd won but I wasn't going to let him determine my happiness. I was planning on explaining everything to Gabby Monday morning.
"Look who finally decided to show up," a squawking voice shrilled, causing me to wince. She sounded like a squirrel getting strangled while sucking on helium. My eyes narrowed on Leo’s wife, Kelly, as she walked up to my brother’s side with my mom behind her. The two wicked witches were there to cause havoc on the princess party; I was just waiting to see which one would cast the spell first.
I lifted my water bottle up her way. "I've been here for a while, Kelly; you've just been too busy complaining about lifting a finger to notice there are other people here." We had never gotten along since day one. The moment I met her, I knew what kind of woman she was, and I despised those types of women.
She scrunched her make-up-packed face up. "Whatever, Dalton. Just don't get wasted and embarrass my daughter like you did your parents last night."
"The only person embarrassing your daughter is you," I snapped back, gesturing to her outfit of choice. It was a children's party outside, and she was dressed in a tight, black cocktail dress with six-inch heels. Claire had confided in me, asking me why her mommy wasn't like her friends'; caring, nice and present at her ballet recitals. I'd told her that her mom was just too busy and my brother liked to have her all to herself. I'd grown up with invisible parents my entire life; it sucked ass. I was glad that Claire had my brother. He was doing the job of the mom and the dad.
She rolled her eyes. "Screw you, Dalton. Go disa
ppoint your parents some more."
"Go disappoint your husband some more," I fired back. We could go back and forth for days. She thought I was a raging asshole, and I thought she was a raging bitch.
Leo slapped my arm. "Cut it out," he said, his eyes pleading with me to quit provoking her. My mouth slammed shut for the sake of my brother. Kelly stomped away when she realized I was done with our game, and my mom sat down next to me.
"We need to talk about your wedding," she commented and I slammed my head down onto the table. This day was going to be worse than I thought.
"Did you know?" I snarled, standing at the edge of our pool when Asher emerged from the water. He was leaving tonight, and we'd planned to spend the day together before he left.
He shook his head, water flying toward me, and rubbed his eyes with his knuckles. "Fuck," he groaned, grabbing onto the edge of the pool and holding himself up while looking at me.
"You knew," I said, his reaction telling me the answer I was dreading. "How could you not tell me?" I yelled, stomping my foot onto the concrete and clapping my hands against my hips.
"I tried warning you! You wouldn't listen to me, damn it." His muscles flexed as he pulled himself out of the pool and grabbed a towel from the edge. My eyes widened, watching the water droplets trickle down the hard ripples on his chest. My mouth watered as my eyes traveled down until the drops smacked into the cement below him. I might've been pissed off at him, but I couldn't stop myself from eye-fucking him.
"You said he was bad news," I replied when I regained control of myself. If he noticed I was staring, he didn't mention it. "You failed to mention the fact that he was getting married!"
He snapped his fingers before throwing the towel over his shoulder. "Next time, I'll know to be more descriptive in my warnings." He bunched the towel in his hands and ruffled it through his hair. "It's not like it would've mattered anyways, babe. You were so fucking obsessed with him it was ridiculous."
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