Chapter 7 #2
“Izzy, Sage and Rosie are trying to move into their horrible apartment tonight, and I told them that we’d help them shop, clean, and get the place ready tonight,” Lucia blurts out immediately as she slides into the booth. “But I have a better idea.”
“What’s your idea?” I ask as I sit next to Rosie.
“Why don’t you both move in with Izzy and me? We have a third bedroom that we don’t use. You guys can share the room, or someone can sleep on the couch and then …” She pauses when she sees the look on my face.
I shake my head vehemently. “I appreciate the offer, Lucia. That is so sweet of you, but there is no way we can accept such an offer. We signed a lease, and I can’t afford to pay two rents.”
“We’ll help you get out of the first lease.” She grins. “I have a way with words and contracts. And you don’t even have to pay rent.” She giggles. “I mean, if you absolutely insist, it will be nominal. Plus, the room is furnished, so you wouldn’t even have to buy anything.”
“That is so generous, but I just don’t feel right accepting such an offer.”
“You’re new to town, our place is great, and like I said, I know my way around a legal document or two.”
“Is your dad an attorney?” Rosie asks.
Lucia bursts out laughing. “Not even close.” She looks over at Izzy. “What do you think?”
“Best idea ever.” She beams, and then her lips start to tremble. Her eyelashes flutter, like a thousand times, and it looks like she’s about to cry. “Sorry,” she says, grabbing a tissue and dabbing her eyes. “I’m so annoyed right now.”
“Oh, shit.” Lucia wraps her arm around Izzy’s shoulders. “Colton?”
“Yes.” Izzy sniffs and looks down at the table.
Rosie and I exchange looks. We’ve been wondering about this Colton for a while now. Ever since the incident in the diner.
“He wants us to go out to Lucky’s Valley on Friday night to barhop.” She presses her hands together. “I don’t know what to do.”
“You say no.” Lucia sounds angry. “And you tell him to go to hell.”
“But I don’t want to … he loves me.” Izzy plays with her hair, and Lucia rolls her eyes as she sits back and makes an exasperated groan.
“He loves you as much as I love picking up dog shit on a rainy day with my bare hands.”
“Lucia!” Izzy glares at her. “That’s not nice.”
“Colton’s not nice. He’s a dick. One that never fully formed either. Small-dick energy.”
“What happened?” I ask because I’m dying to know what’s going on.
“You ever have a friend who dated the worst man on earth, but didn’t seem to realize it?”
“Um, maybe. Or maybe that friend was me. I’ve dated some losers in life. That’s why I’m looking for a billionaire husband now. If he’s going to be a loser, may as well be a rich one.”
“Oh, I love it.” Lucia laughs. “I want to hear more about that, but I need you both to help me convince Izzy to dump that cheating jackass.”
“He’s not cheating,” Izzy protests, but she says it half-heartedly. “He’s a man with needs, and we’re not legally wed, so he’s just fulfilling those needs right now.”
“Huh?” Rosie looks confused as she leans forward. “Can one of you explain?”
“Izzy here is a virgin,” Lucia exclaims. “Which is good for her. She’s saving herself for the right man and marriage.”
“I mean, I’m just waiting for it to be with the man who will be my husband,” Izzy says slowly. “I want it to be special.”
“Uh-huh.” Lucia nods. “She’s been dating Colton, the small dickhead, for six months, and because she won’t have sex with him, he asked if they could open up the relationship so he could have his needs filled.”
“Oh, shit, and you said yes?”
“Not technically.” Izzy sighs. “I told him I wasn’t comfortable with it. I told him it wasn’t a no or a yes and that I had to think about it.”
“And he took that to mean he could fuck around.” Lucia makes a face. “What a jerk face.”
“He says he misunderstood me. He claims he thought I was saying I didn’t know if I wanted to be in a relationship anymore, and that he thought I was thinking about whether I wanted to be with him. So, he went out and found someone to …” Her voice catches. “Well, you know.”
“He’s sleeping with two different women that we know of.”
“I’ve met both of them. They both know I’m his girlfriend. Plus, I’m free to be with other men as well. He wants it to be fair. He wants us to explore together.”
“He’s totally gaslighting her. What a jerk.”
“He’s not all bad,” Izzy protests. “He took me to Napa Valley for a weekend, and we had so much fun. He’s so thoughtful. He even bought me roses and a box of chocolates. He says he wants to marry me one day. He just wants to experience all life has to offer before he settles down.”
“Be real, Izzy.” Lucia looks at me. “Tell me what you think, Sage.”
“If he’s sleeping with other women and you don’t want him to, it sounds like he’s a cheater and not very nice.”
“You should dump him,” Rosie adds. “Life is too short to date losers. And he sounds horrible.” She looks like she wants to say more, but an older man with a shock of red hair suddenly appears with a huge tray filled with glasses and food.
My stomach growls when I spy the chicken tenders and fried mozzarella sticks. I’m way hungrier than I even realized when we arrived.
“Here’s your grub, ladies.” Gary places everything on the table and steps back. “Enjoy.”
We all look at the plates on the table in awkward silence. I feel bad for Izzy, but I understand why Lucia is so annoyed. No one wants to see their friend in a bad relationship. Especially when they seem to be gaslighting themselves.
“Is this guy really someone you would want to marry?” I ask softly. “He’s the man you would want to be the father of your kids?”
“When you put it like that, I don’t know.
” She looks sad as she grabs her drink and downs all of it in a few gulps.
I’m worried she’s going to start crying again, but instead of bursting into tears, she starts laughing.
“I can’t believe this bullshit. I should write my first book based on this crap. ”
“You’re an author?” Rosie asks her in surprise. “What genre?”
“Right now, I mainly write short stories and submit them to literary magazines. Never had anything accepted yet though.”
“She’s a great writer.” Lucia grabs a mozzarella stick and dips it into the marinara sauce. “I know she’s going to be a bestseller one day.”
“Aw, thanks, Luce.”
“It’s true. In fact, I think that …” Lucia’s voice trails off when someone to the right of us catches her attention, and then she groans. “What is he doing here?” she mutters, and I turn to see who she’s talking about.
My heart thuds when I see Dalton standing near the pool table with two other men, both of whom are extremely handsome as well.
One is tall, with dark hair and a serious expression.
He looks like he’s ex-military, in the way that he stands and his eyes keep scoping out the room.
The other man has dark golden-blond hair, flashing blue eyes, and a deep tan.
He’s laughing at something, and I can tell that, of the three, he’s likely the life of the party.
Dalton stands there in black jeans and a blue shirt with the top two buttons undone.
He’s looking at something on his phone, and I wonder what it is. I also wonder who’s looking after Toby.
“Hey, Dalton. What are you doing here?” Lucia calls out.
All three men turn to look at her. Dalton looks surprised, but he waves at his sister before turning to look at me and grinning. I try not to interpret his grin to mean anything more than him just being friendly. Dalton and his two friends make their way over to us.
Lucia lets out a long sigh. “My brother is always showing up somewhere.”
“Who’s his friend?” Rosie is practically drooling as she looks at the men.
I know my sister well enough to know she’s got the hots for one of the men.
I want to remind her that we’re looking for billionaires, but I can’t say that in front of Lucia and Izzy.
It will make us sound like gold diggers if I keep bringing it up.
And maybe they’d be right. I don’t even know anymore.
“Which one?” Lucia looks at her with a nervous smile. “The blond guy is Roman. He’s my brother’s best friend, but I—”
“No, the other one. The serious-looking one.” Rosie’s voice is low. “The hot one.”
“The hot one?” Lucia giggles, but her expression changes, and she looks lighter now.
Interesting.
I wonder if she’s interested in Roman. He’s a handsome man, but he strikes me as a playboy. It’s my opinion that men who are that rugged and classically handsome are usually the biggest jerks because almost every woman wants them. Unlike me. I have zero interest in the frat-boy look.
“That’s Brett. He’s a …” She pauses. “He knows my brother.”
I’m about to ask her more, but the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention, and I suddenly feel warm. I know this means that Dalton has made it to our table.
“Hello, ladies.” There’s a glint in Dalton’s eyes that makes me shiver. “What trouble are you all getting into tonight?”