by Jill Shalvis
right about now.
“Burgers and hot dogs!” a guy yelled walking through the courtyard. It was Jay. He owned the food truck that usually sat out front, but now he had a tray strapped on him and was making sales left and right like he was going up and down the rows at a baseball stadium. “I’ve got beef burgers and six inches of prime sausages here! Get ’em while they’re hot!”
“Six inches would do me just right,” Mrs. Winslow said wistfully. “I wouldn’t know what to do with seven or eight.”
Try nine, Pru thought and clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from saying it out loud.
“Something you want to share with the class?” Haley asked.
Most definitely not, but the vultures had the scent of roadkill and were circling.
“Oh, she’ll talk,” Elle said, staring into Pru’s eyes. “She’ll talk over a loaded pie and a bottle of wine. Girls, let’s hit it.”
And she walked off.
“She’s so badass,” Willa whispered, staring after her. “I mean look at that dress. She’s badass, kickass, and she has a great ass. It’s really not fair.”
“I can hear you,” Elle called out over her shoulder without looking back. She snapped her fingers. “Put it in gear.”
And Pru, Haley, and Willa followed after her like puppies on a leash.
Chapter 24
#SuitUp
Pru had no idea how Elle did it, but by the time they got to the street, there was an Uber ride waiting on them.
“Lefty’s Pizza,” Elle said to the driver.
“I thought you were on a diet,” Haley said, climbing into the car.
“Some days you eat salads and go to the gym,” Elle said. “And some days you eat pizza and wear yoga pants. It’s called balance.”
“I always eat pizza and wear yoga pants,” Willa said. She gasped. “Does that make me unbalanced?”
“No, actually, it makes you smarter than me,” Elle said with a small smile.
Willa sighed. “Or maybe I’ve just given up on men.”
“That’s only because you dated a few frogs,” Elle said.
“That’s an extremely nice way of saying that I’m a loser magnet. And I couldn’t get rid of that one frog either. I still owe Archer for stepping in and pretending to be my boyfriend so he’d back off.”
“That’s not why he backed off,” Elle said. “He backed off because Archer threatened to castrate him if he contacted you again.”
Willa gaped. “He did? I was wondering at how easy he made it look.”
“And you can make it look easy too,” Elle told her. “Next time you want to lose a guy, just tell them ‘I love you, I want to marry you, and I want children right away.’ They’ll run so fast they’ll leave skid marks.”
Willa snorted. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Thirty minutes later they were in a booth, one bottle of wine down, another ready to go, and a large pizza on its way to being demolished. Pru’s stomach hurt, but that hadn’t slowed her down any.
Willa pulled a book from her purse. “Have either of you been to that new used bookstore down the street from our building?”
“I download my books right to my phone,” Elle said. “That way I can read while pretending to listen in on meetings.”
“Your boss doesn’t mind?” Pru asked.
“My boss knows everything,” Elle said. “And one of the things he also knows is that me doing my thing allows him to do his thing.”
Made sense.
“Plus, I know where the bodies are hidden,” she said. Probably she was kidding.
“Well, I like the feel of a book in my hand,” Willa said and looked at Pru.
“I go both ways,” Pru said and then blushed when they all laughed. “You know what I mean.”
“I do,” Willa said and handed her the book. “Which is why I bought this for you.”
Pru eyed the title and choked on a bite of pizza. Willa had to pound her on the back while Pru sucked a bunch of wine down to try and appease her burning throat. No go. “Orgasms For One?” she finally managed.
Willa nodded.
“Um . . . thank you?”
“I bought it after you told us that you hadn’t dated in a while but before I heard about the dumbwaiter, so . . .”
Pru sighed. “So everyone knows about the dumbwaiter.”
“Little bit,” Haley said. “What we don’t know are the deets.”
Elle pointed at Pru. “You. Finn. Go.”
“It’s . . . a long story.”
“I love long stories,” Willa said.
Elle just arched a brow. She didn’t like to be kept waiting.
“Might as well start talking,” Haley told Pru. “She’ll get her way eventually, she always does. I’ve found it’s best to give in earlier than later. Besides, I’m tired.” She accompanied this statement with a wide yawn.
Pru rubbed her aching stomach. She was starting to feel sick. “Maybe we should postpone this for another day. When I haven’t eaten my weight in pizza.”
Elle didn’t break eye contact with her. She didn’t budge a muscle, not even to blink.
Pru sighed. “Fine. Maybe something’s happened between me and Finn, but it’s not going to keep happening.”
Willa grinned. “So you did sleep with him.”
“Past tense,” Pru said, her gaze still held prisoner by Elle’s. “Even if I wish it wasn’t.” Dammit. “Where did you get this super power?” she demanded. “I need it.”
Elle smiled. “I’d tell you but—”
“—But she’d have to kill you,” Willa finished on a laugh. “Love it when you say that.”
“Except you never let me say it,” Elle pointed out.
Pru’s stomach turned over yet again and she put a hand on it. “I really don’t feel so good.”
“Because you’re holding back on your new BFFs,” Willa said.
“I like you for Finn,” Elle said to Pru. “He hasn’t chosen anyone in a long time. I’m glad it’s you.”
“Oh, no. That’s the thing,” she said. “It’s not me. I mean, it was great. He was great. And when I was with him, I felt . . .” She closed her eyes, the memories washing over her. “Really great.” She could still hear his low, sexy voice in her ear telling her what he was going to do to her, and then his even sexier body doing it, taking hers to places it hadn’t been in so long she’d nearly forgotten what it was like to be in a man’s arms and lose herself.
“So why is it over then?” Haley asked. “Do you realize how rare ‘really great’ is? I haven’t had ‘really great’ in so long I don’t even know if I’ll recognize it.”
“You’ll recognize it,” Elle said, looking at Pru, waiting on her answer.
But Pru didn’t answer. Couldn’t. Because she hated the reason why. “It’s . . . complicated.”
“Honey,” Elle said with surprising vulnerability and wistfulness in her voice. “The best things always are.” She paused. “You’d be really good for him.”
Elle wasn’t a woman to say such a thing unless she meant it so Pru felt herself warm a little at that. Even if it wasn’t true. She wasn’t good for Finn. And when he found out the truth about her and who she was, she’d in fact be very bad for him.
“He hasn’t dated since Mellie,” Willa said thoughtfully. “And she turned out to be—”
“Willa,” Elle said quietly. Warningly.
“I’m sorry,” she said, not sounding sorry at all. “But I hated her for what she did to him. To him and Sean.”
“It was a long time ago,” Elle said firmly.
“A year. He liked her, a lot. And he got hurt,” Willa said. “And you hated her for it too, admit it.”
Elle gave a slight head nod. “I would have liked to kill her,” she said casually in the way most people would comment on the weather.
“And it changed him,” Willa said. She turned to Pru. “Mellie had the dressy boutique here in the building for a while before she sold it. She was wild
and fun and gregarious, and she was good for Finn. At first. Until—”
“Willa.” Elle gave her a long look. “You’re telling tales. He’s going to kill you.”
“Only if you tattle,” Willa said. “Pru needs to know what she’s up against.”
“What am I up against?” Pru whispered in spite of herself, needing to know.
“Mellie and Sean got drunk one night. And they . . .” She grimaced.
Pru gasped. “No,” she breathed. “She slept with his brother?”
“Well, apparently when Finn walked in on them they hadn’t quite gotten to home plate but it was close enough.”
“Finn walked in on them?” Pru asked, horrified, trying to imagine. She didn’t have a sibling, but in her fantasies, if she’d had a sister or brother, they would stand at her back, always. “How awful.”
Willa nodded. “It caused a big fight, but they’ve always fought. Sean had had way too much to drink that night, he was really out of it, and later he kept saying he’d never have made a move on her if he’d been in his right mind. But Mellie wasn’t drunk. She knew exactly what she was doing.”
“But why would she do that to Finn?” Pru asked.
“Because she’d been after him for a commitment. At that time, he was still finishing up his business degree. She hated that he went to classes early in the morning, studied after that, then handled the business side of O’Riley’s, and then often had to work the pub all night on top of that. When he wasn’t working his ass off on any of those things, he was dead asleep. He was giving everything one hundred percent, even her, but it wasn’t enough. She was bored and lonely, two things that didn’t agree with her.”
Elle slid Willa a look. “You think he’s going to thank you for airing his dirty laundry when he finds out?”
“No, I think he’ll put out a hit on me,” Willa said. “But he’s not going to find out. I’m doing our girl a service here, explaining some things about her man that he’s certainly not going to explain to her.”
“He’s not my man,” Pru said.
“He’s not going to explain,” Willa said to Elle as if Pru hadn’t spoken, “because he thinks the past should stay in the past.”
“He’s not my man,” Pru repeated, holding her stomach, which was killing her now.
“The past should absolutely stay in the past,” Elle said to Willa, something in her voice saying she believed that to the depths of her very soul.
Willa closed her eyes briefly and covered Elle’s hand with her own, the two of them sharing a moment that Pru didn’t understood. They had history. She got that. They were close friends, and clearly there was a lot about them that she didn’t know. Such as what had happened to Elle to make her want her past to stay buried.
Pru didn’t have many people in her life. Her own fault. She didn’t let many in. It didn’t take a shrink to get why. She’d lost her parents early. Her only other living relative often mistook her for devil spawn. There were some school friends she kept in occasional contact with, and she had her coworkers. And Jake.
But it would be really nice to have Willa and Elle as well.
Her stomach cramped painfully again, which she ignored when Willa took her hand.
“I’m trusting you with this, Pru,” she said. “Do you know why?”
Unable to imagine, Pru shook her head.
“Because you’re one of us now,” she said and looked at Elle. “Right?”
Elle turned her head and met Pru’s gaze, studying her solemnly for a long beat before slowly nodding.
Willa smiled. “Look at that.” She looked at Pru again. “Here’s something you might not know. Elle doesn’t like very many people.”
Elle snorted.
“It’s because she’s scary as shit,” Haley said, drinking the last of her wine.
“Sitting right here,” Elle said calmly, glancing at her nails.
Which were, of course, perfect.
Not appearing scared in the slightest, Willa just smiled. “But one thing about her, she never says anything she doesn’t mean. And once you’re a friend, you’re a friend for life.” She paused and glanced at Elle, brow raised.
Elle shrugged.
Willa gave her a long look.
Elle rolled her eyes but she did smile. “Friends for life,” she said. “Or until you piss me off. Don’t piss me off.”
A new warmth filled Pru and her throat tightened. “Thanks,” she whispered.
Elle narrowed her eyes. “You’re not going to cry, are you? There’s no crying on pizza night.”
“Just got something in my eye,” Pru said with a sniff and swiped under her eyes.
Elle sighed and handed her a napkin. “Look, I know I’m a cold-hearted bitch, but Willa’s right, you’re one of ours now. And we’re yours. This is why we’re trusting you with Finn. Because he’s also one of ours and he means a lot to us.”
“Oh no, you can’t trust me with him,” she said. “I mean—” She shook her head. “It’s just that I’m not—we’re not a real thing.”
“It’s cute you think that.” Willa patted her hand. “But I’ve seen you two together.”
Pru opened her mouth to protest but the dessert they’d ordered arrived—a pan-size homemade cookie topped with ice cream, and then there was no speaking as they stuffed their faces.
When Pru was done, it came up on her suddenly. Her stomach rolled again and this time a queasiness rose up her throat with it.
Uh oh.
The good news was that she recognized the problem. The bad news was that she was about to be sick. She searched her brain for what she might have eaten and gasped.
Sushi for lunch.
Which meant she’d made Eddie sick too. “I’ve got to go,” she said abruptly. The last time she’d had food poisoning she’d laid on her bathroom floor for two straight days. Privacy was required for such things, serious privacy. Standing on wobbly legs, she pulled some money from her purse and dropped it on the table. “I’m sorry—” She clapped a hand to her gurgling stomach and shook her head. “Later.”
She got a cab, but the traffic and the ensuing stop/ start of navigating said traffic just about killed her. She bailed a block early and moved as fast as she could. When she cut through the courtyard of her building, she slid a quick, anxious look at the pub. Please don’t be there, please don’t be there . . .
But fate or destiny or karma, whoever was in charge of such things as looking out for her humility, had taken a break because all the pub doors were still open to the night. Finn stood near the courtyard entrance talking to some customers. And like a beacon in the night, he turned right to her.
She kept moving, her hand over her mouth, as if that would keep her from throwing up in public. If she could have sold her soul to the devil right then to ensure it, she totally would have.
But not even the devil himself had enough power to alter her course in history. She was dying at this point, sharp, shooting pains through her gut combined with an all-over body ache that had her whimpering to herself with each step. Holding back from losing her dinner had her sweating in rivulets.
“Pru,” came Finn’s unbearably familiar voice—from right behind her.
“I’m sorry,” she managed, not slowing down. “I can’t—”
“We need to talk.”
Yep, the only four words in the English language destined to spark terror within her heart. Talk? He wanted to talk? Maybe when