by K. A. Linde
“Of course. It’s going to be fun.”
“Thanks for coming with me.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” she said with a wink.
His laugh was one of complete ease, as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “I’ve missed your crazy ass.”
“You just missed me keeping your crazy ass in line. Everyone else feeds into your impulsiveness.”
He gave her an are-you-fucking-kidding-me look. “My impulsiveness? Weren’t you away at Christmas with some other guy? Not sure how much more impulsive you can get.”
“If this is you fishing again, it’s really not going to work,” Bryna told him.
“So, is it the same guy?”
“We’re not talking about this tonight. I’m here to get drunk with my friend and ring in the New Year. If you’re not providing that, maybe I’ll make new friends.”
He tugged her closer. “Babe, making friends isn’t your strong suit.”
“Whatever. Let’s just go get drinks.”
Gates took her hand and walked her through the crowd inside the connected darkened ballrooms. There were dozens of A-list celebrities at this event. Even though she was used to seeing stars who her father had worked with, the sheer quantity was enough to make her head turn.
Then, she saw someone that really did make her head turn.
She caught a glimpse of the back of his suit—a black Hugo Boss, if she had to guess, tailored to fit. It was the same dark brown hair she had run her fingers through this week. She craned her neck to see if she could see his face or profile, but Gates was moving her away from the man, and she never got a good look.
Her mind whirred to life. Was that Jude? Fuck!
He wasn’t supposed to be here. He’d said that he was going to be out of town on business. But didn’t I hear him say the exact same thing to his wife over Christmas?
She wanted to march back over there and see if it was him, but she didn’t want Gates to know she was doing it. Not to mention, if it really was Jude, she didn’t want him to see her with Gates. Even though she and Gates were just friends, Jude wouldn’t want to see her with another guy. And if he recognized Gates, then he might be able to piece together who she was…and how old she was. It was all one big headache.
She glanced over her shoulder and searched the crowd for the man. It couldn’t have been Jude. How many men in incredible suits with dark hair are here? She had Jude on the brain. After all, she was missing him tonight. She had been missing him since she kissed him good-bye and left his apartment.
It was probably a trick of her imagination. She wanted him here with her, so she had conjured him up out of thin air.
But still, she kept looking for him, even when a few hours had passed, and she realized that her hope was futile. Hope was just a dull ache in her chest from missing him.
Bryna and Gates danced the night away, talking and laughing like old times. It felt nice to unwind with him. She had been spending all her free time with Jude, and she hadn’t even realized that she missed hanging out with Gates until now.
“I’m having such a good time,” she said as they moved off the dance floor and into a corner of the ballroom.
The clock was counting down to midnight, and everyone was cheering around them.
“Me, too. Do you remember last year, we were doing this at a Harmony party? Now, we’re at Chateau Marmont.”
Bryna tossed her head back and laughed at the thought. She was giddy from the alcohol, and her head felt heavy. But the thought of being at a Harmony party only a year ago was somehow hysterical.
She stumbled forward, catching herself on Gates’s suit. When she righted herself, she rested her hand on his chest. He grabbed her arm and steadied her. Suddenly, she was lost in a sea of blue as he stared at her in a way she’d never seen before.
Then the crowd cheered for the New Year, and Gates was kissing her. His mouth was hot and familiar against hers. His fingers clung to the material of her dress and pressed herself against him. It only lasted a second before she ripped herself free of him and smacked him across the face.
“You said we were just friends!” she cried.
She stormed away from him. She couldn’t believe this. It was such a bad idea for her to be here with him. She didn’t know why she thought they could be friends. They obviously couldn’t. It was time to get out of here.
Gates ran after her. “Bri,” he called.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the ballroom and into a private sitting room. She wrenched her arm away from him.
“Bri, I know you said we were just friends,” he pleaded.
“Yet you’re not sorry about kissing me,” she said accusingly.
“No, I’m not.” He gestured for her to take a seat, and he sat next to her.
“You promised, Gates.”
“I promised that I wouldn’t fucking tell anyone that you were with some stranger over Christmas instead of with me,” he cried. “I never promised that I would come here as friends. That was all you.”
“Well, I wasn’t lying to you! We’re not together anymore. You can’t go around kissing me.”
“Who is this guy?” he demanded. He searched her eyes as if they told the source of his distress. “Why is the whole thing such a secret?”
“Because he is! What does it matter, Gates? I’m with him and not you.”
“So where is he then? Not here with you in public,” he said cruelly. “Just hidden away so no one can see you with him.”
“He has a business trip for your information, and anyway I don’t need to explain myself to you,” she said, standing in a hurry. “I said we were just friends and you took advantage of that.”
“I took advantage of you? Please! This guy is taking advantage of you. Why are you even with him?”
“Because unlike you, he understands me!”
Gates snorted, standing to face her. “You barely know him. How could he understand you? I don’t even completely get your crazy.”
“Exactly. He gets me and he cares about me and he takes care of me.”
“He takes care of you?” Gates asked in confusion. “Your father is a fucking director, Bri. No one needs to take care of you.”
“Well, maybe I like that he does anyway.”
“Is that what this necklace is?” he asked, flicking the B around her neck.
“Christ, don’t touch it! It’s Harry Winston.”
Gates’s eyes turned round as saucers. “The guy is buying you Harry Winston? What does he do?”
Bryna glanced away from him. She didn’t know the answer to that question. She had some ludicrous theories. The way Jude talked about his job made it seem like he was a pimp or a drug dealer or a male escort. But there was no way. She was sure that Jude was just in investments or something.
“What does it matter?” she asked.
“That’s a Bryna sidestep. Queen bee doesn’t know the answer.”
“I do,” she lied.
He stared her straight in the eyes and shook his head. “What do you even know about this guy? He could be anyone.”
“Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.”
“Hey,” he said. “I know I kissed you, but I do want to be here for you as a friend. I don’t want to see you get hurt. So…be careful.”
She smiled at Gates with a confidence she didn’t feel. “I don’t need to be. I know exactly what I’m doing.” When she turned to leave, she wondered if she knew what she was doing at all.
Gates caught up with her again and gave her an apologetic look. “I’m really sorry. I don’t want you to be mad at me. I only ask because I care about you.”
Bryna looked off into the distance. “I know you do, but you have to trust me when I say we’re just friends.”
“I get it. Can I still take you home?”
After a minute, she nodded. “Yeah.”
They walked out of the hotel together and into his limo. They were silent on the ride home. Their friendshi
p was intact, and she felt better knowing that he wasn’t going to try anything. It was also kind of nice that someone knew about Jude even if Gates didn’t have any of the details. It was like a weight off of her chest.
When they were more than halfway to her house, her phone buzzed in her clutch. She peeked at the name, and her heart skipped. “Gates, you don’t mind if I take this call, do you?”
“Is it him?”
She couldn’t keep from smiling at the thought of Jude calling her, so she just nodded.
“Go for it.” Gates turned toward the window to give her a semblance of privacy.
She answered the phone. “Hey! Happy New Year!”
“Happy New Year,” Jude said.
The phone was scratchy, as if there was loud music somewhere in the background.
“Where are you? I can barely hear you.”
“Oh, sorry,” he said. After a couple of seconds, the music died down to a soft buzz. “Didn’t realize it was that loud. I’m at a party for work.”
“I didn’t know that’s what you meant by work.” She tried not to sound like she was pouting, but wasn’t sure how well she pulled it off.
“I’m sure it’s not half as much fun as what you’re doing.”
She glanced out the window, lamenting a New Year’s without him. “I mostly miss you.”
“I miss you, too. I think I’m seeing things because I swore, I saw a girl who looked just like you.”
Bryna laughed. “Same thing happened to me. But you’re not even in L.A., so it must have been someone else.”
“Must have been,” he agreed. “Where did you end up tonight anyway?”
“Oh, Chateau Marmont.”
There was a pause before he asked, “By yourself?”
“No. I was with a friend of mine.”
“A guy friend?”
“Yeah, but you have nothing to worry about. We’re just friends. Where did you fly out to anyway? You’re full of questions. I think you can answer one yourself.”
There was silence on the other end for long enough that she shifted awkwardly in her seat.
“Are you still there?” she asked.
“I didn’t go out of town.”
“You didn’t?” she asked, confused. “Why did you tell me that you did?”
“I was at Chateau Marmont tonight. I didn’t know you’d be there, but I saw you kiss someone else, Bri.”
Her stomach dropped, and she gripped the seat. “No. You have it all wrong. I wasn’t…it wasn’t what it looked like.”
“We weren’t playing a game. I wasn’t coming to snatch you away. You were just with him,” he accused
“Jude, I swear, that is not what happened. He’s a friend. It meant nothing to me.”
Gates snapped his head in her direction, and she waved him away.
This could not be happening. She couldn’t be dealing with this. Why the fuck is Jude in town? And why was he at the same hotel as me? He was supposed to be somewhere at work where it wouldn’t matter that she was out with a friend. And he had seen Gates kiss her but obviously not the slap afterward.
Fuck!
She was shaking, literally trembling in her seat.
“I have to get back to the party. Let’s talk about this tomorrow.”
“Jude,” she whispered.
“Good night, Bri.”
The line went dead, and she dropped her phone into her lap in disbelief.
“Are you okay?” Gates asked, reaching for her.
She swallowed hard and tried to hold in her pain. She wouldn’t unravel. She was strong, confident, and independent. She didn’t need a guy. She didn’t need…
Tears silently pooled in her eyes, and she turned into Gates’s shoulder.
He held her against him. “Tell me what happened.”
“He saw you kiss me.”
“He was there?” Gates asked in surprise.
“I didn’t know he’d be there.”
“So…did you guys break up?” He sounded cautious and uncertain.
He wasn’t used to comforting her. She didn’t normally need comforting. This was all new territory for her.
“He said he wants to talk tomorrow.”
“I’m sorry, Bri. I never would have done that if I’d known. I would never want to upset you.”
She put her head in her hands and leaned forward. “What am I going to do?”
“Blame it on me. He’s just angry right now. It’ll be okay.”
“I hope you’re right.”
JUDE DIDN’T CALL THE NEXT DAY.
Or the day after that.
On the third day, Bryna couldn’t hold it in any more, and she dialed his phone number. It rang forever before clicking over to voice mail. She tried one more time. When it went to voice mail again, she left a quick message asking him to call her. She couldn’t bring herself to call again. She wasn’t going to act fucking desperate.
Clearly, it didn’t matter that he had said they would talk on New Year’s Day. He had lied about leaving Los Angeles. Why wouldn’t he lie about him calling too?
She still couldn’t believe that he had actually been at Chateau Marmont on New Year’s. She had been safe and secure in the knowledge that things with Gates were platonic and that nothing could go wrong. Then, she had been smacked in the face with this.
Her feelings for Jude were the same as when they had spent a week together in St. Barts. She didn’t know how he could feel differently in such a short period of time. Nor did she know how he could go this long without talking to her and getting clarification on what had really transpired. If she had seen him with someone else, she would have wanted a goddamn explanation.
Bryna tried to go about her normal life, but everything felt surreal with school starting again. It was as if the entire Christmas break had been a dream…and then a nightmare.
She was glad she had so much to occupy her time and keep her mind off of what had happened.
Competition season was coming up for cheer, so they were doubling practices. And Felicity wanted to start weekly meetings to discuss the charity benefit. Bryna selected three assistants—Avery, Tara, and Jemma—to ease the load. Though Avery and Tara were being weird and distant. Bryna didn’t know what that was about, but she couldn’t even bother with it.
College applications had to be turned in by this weekend, and she was trying to focus on planning out her campus visit schedule. She had already turned in her LV State application, but she still had to finish up UCLA, Stanford, Berkeley, and NYU. She kept trying to tell herself that there were more important things to do than stress about Jude, her friends, and cheer.
Later that week, after practice, she drove home from school with her mind full of everything she needed to accomplish. She parked her car in the garage and took the stairs two at a time. Just as she entered her bedroom, she saw Pace peek out from his room.
“Leave me alone,” she called before slamming the door.
As she expected, two seconds later, he was opening the door.
She plopped down at her desk, turning her back to him. “I said, leave me alone.”
“Have a good practice?”
“I don’t want to make small talk with you. I want you to get out of my room,” she commanded. Pace was the last person she wanted to deal with when her temper was on a short fuse.
Pace continued to ignore her and lounged on her bed. “You’ve been a mega bitch lately, more so than normal. Trouble in paradise?”
Bryna closed her eyes and counted to five before responding, “No. I’m just busy.”
“Well,” he said, smiling mischievously, “I came by to tell you something.”
“What?” she snapped.
“The president’s assistant at LV State called twice. She was asking for you, about some campus recruitment weekend. I told them you were considering other options and to try back another time.”
“What?” she asked, standing abruptly.
“Have a nice afternoon.”
> He started to stride out of the room with confidence when she burst out laughing.
He turned and glared at her. “What’s so funny?”
“Is this your idea of sabotage?” She shook her head. “You’re going to have to do better than that. Don’t you know that my father is a fucking booster at LV State? If they hear that I’m considering other schools, they’ll be clamoring for me to come visit. Don’t want their money to dry up.”
Pace pursed his lips as he seemed to realize his mistake. He looked pissed that whatever he had planned wasn’t going to work. It was cute that he had thought he could destroy her chance at LV State, but really, that wasn’t happening.
“So, thanks for that.” She smirked and waggled her fingers at him. “You can go now.”
He seemed to consider her for a moment. His eyes bore into hers. “Well, I was going to wait for your friends to tell you, but I slept with Avery and Tara over New Year’s.”
Bryna’s mouth dropped open before she could stop herself. She quickly covered her look of disbelief. “They wouldn’t touch you.”
The laughter in his eyes made her reconsider. Her friends were kind of dumb, but surely, they had known what this would mean for them. They both knew what she thought about Pace and how it had looked for her to have him at Harmony. She didn’t exactly confide in them, but they still knew. Fuck, everyone did.
“You wouldn’t,” he said. “But they did. Both of them. At the same time.”
Just the thought of that made her want to lose her lunch.
Bryna gagged.
“Tara did some of that. Avery doesn’t have a gag reflex though. It’s amazing.”
“I don’t believe you. Just get out of my room. Now.”
She jumped out of her desk chair, charged at him, and shoved against him, trying to throw him out of her room, but he was solid. He barely moved more than a few inches.
“I will beat you at your own game, Bri. This is only the beginning.”
He backed out of her room, and she slammed the door again.
Her heart was racing. Could it be true that Avery and Tara slept with my fucking stepbrother? Ugh! It was too disgusting to think about. Maybe Pace was only planting a seed in her mind to try to freak her out, or maybe they had really gone through with it. Either way, she had to know the truth.