Chapter 19
SAGE
“Girls, I want to thank you so much for coming with me this evening,” Izzy says in a soft voice as we stand outside of the bar. “I know this might be kind of crazy, but I really need to see for myself what’s going on.”
I look over at Rosie, who offers me a warm smile, and Lucia grabs Izzy’s hand.
“Hey, we’re here for you, girl. I hope that whatever you find out tonight, you make the right decision.”
Izzy nods. “I can’t believe I’ve gone to this new low of spying on my boyfriend, but if he’s still seeing Kendra, that’s it. It’s over. He knows I’m not okay with this open relationship. He knows I don’t want him to see other people. He can’t have his cake and eat it too.”
“Yeah,” I say. “It was messed up when he told you he didn’t want you on the dating app. I mean, you guys are either monogamous or you’re not. If he’s continuing to see people while telling you that you can’t, well, that’s not cool.”
Izzy swallows hard and takes a deep breath. “I’m scared of what I’m going to see.”
“We got you, girl,” Rosie says. “I’ve never spied on a man before though. This should be interesting.”
“Oh my gosh, I’m horrible, aren’t I? I’m spying on my boyfriend. Should we leave?”
Lucia raises her voice. “Girl, we all look amazing tonight. We’re going to go in there, and we’re going to have fun, no matter what.”
Izzy nods. “You’re right. I’m going to be strong. I can do this.”
“Plus, I have my own news to tell you guys,” I say, swallowing hard, looking guiltily at all of them.
I don’t really want to tell them about the kiss that Dalton and I shared, but I can no longer keep it to myself.
I’m so confused and conflicted, and even though Lucia is his sister and Rosie knows I’m looking for a billionaire, I need to tell someone.
And these are my friends. I know I can trust them.
“Oh my gosh, what’s going on?” Izzy asks, her eyes widening.
“Not yet. Let’s go inside and grab some drinks, and then I’ll tell you everything.”
We walk into the bar, and immediately, I notice it’s crowded and dark and very loud. Lucia and Izzy look around, and then Lucia finds a booth in the corner.
“This is a good spot,” she says as we head over to the back booth. “We’ll be able to see people as they come in and check out the room, and unless someone’s looking at the back, they’re not going to notice us.”
“You mean, if Colton checks out the back?” Izzy says, swallowing.
“Yeah, I don’t care if he sees us,” Lucia says. “In fact, I hope he sees us because if he’s here with Kendra, I will—”
“No, you won’t,” Izzy cuts her off. “If he’s here with Kendra, trust me, I’m going to say something to him.”
“Really?” I question her.
All of us look at her in surprise.
“I know I’ve been acting like a bit of a fool, like one of those women who puts up with shit just because she’s desperate to be in a relationship.
But trust me, after the last conversation I had with him, I’m over his bullshit.
He has been gaslighting me long enough, and seeing you girls being so strong and putting yourselves out there …
well, why am I going to stay with a loser? Plus, he sucks.”
“Yeah, he does,” Rosie says.
We take a seat, and Lucia grabs the menu.
“Okay, they do have waitresses here and servers, but it’s going to be a lot faster if I just go up to the bar and grab the drinks.”
“I’ll come with you.” I jump up. “Do you guys know what you want?”
“Surprise us,” Izzy says, and Rosie nods.
“And get some food as well.” Rosie rubs her stomach. “I’m kind of hungry.”
“Sounds good.”
Lucia and I make our way to the bar and stand next to two men wearing football jerseys.
“How are you doing?” The taller of the men looks over at Lucia. “Having a good evening?”
“We’re having a girls’ night,” Lucia says with a shrug. “Sorry.”
“Hey, we like girls.”
“Yeah, but tonight, we don’t like men so much.” She turns to me. “What drinks should we get?”
“I don’t know. What are you thinking?”
I love Lucia. She is such a badass, and I don’t know if I would’ve been able to speak to those men in the way that she did, particularly because they are very good-looking.
“I think we should get martinis tonight. Class it up a little bit. Plus, I think we’re going to have to get really drunk.”
“Oh, why is that?”
“Because I’m almost positive that Colton is still seeing Kendra.
” She lowers her voice. “So, I created a fake Facebook profile a couple of months ago, and I befriended Kendra. She posted a couple of hours ago that she’s got a hot date tonight.
And, well, I’ve got a feeling that’s with Colton.
I told Izzy about the date. I did it because I don’t trust him, and I don’t like how he was treating her. ”
“Wow, good for you. I suppose nothing is black and white, and you had your reasons for the fake profile. Why do you think Kendra is after Colton for more than sex?”
“Because Kendra has wanted Colton for a million years—and not even because she’s super into him, but because he has a lot of money. I think she thinks that if she gets with a guy with a lot of money …” She pauses. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to sort of …” Her voice trails off, and I laugh.
“It’s okay. I mean, yeah, I’m looking for a man with money, but not just because he has money. I would never be with a non-monogamous guy who was cheating on his girlfriend. I have some standards. Also, you should never feel embarrassed to say what you truly think. I will not take offense.”
“I know. I just thought that was rude of me to bring up the fact that she was a gold digger. Not that I think you’re a gold digger,” she says, grinning. “In fact, I would love a man with money myself. It’s weird, having grown up with money and now not really having any.”
“What happened?” I ask, curious to know why they no longer have money.
Lucia lets out a long sigh. “I promise I’m going to tell you one of these days. Tonight is just not the night. There’s already going to be a lot of drama going on if Colton and Kendra end up here.”
“True. Plus, I’ve got my information to give, which might be a little dramatic.” I grin.
I am dying to know Dalton and Lucia’s story, but I’m willing to be a little more patient.
“Oh my gosh, tell me now.”
“I think I’d like to tell you all at the same time.”
“Okay.” She places the order for the drinks and some appetizers, and then we head back to the booth.
Izzy looks around the bar, a hopeful expression on her face. “Maybe he does love me. Maybe he has decided that—”
The door opens, and we hear a loud, obnoxious giggle.
Immediately, we know what it is. All our eyes travel toward the door, and there stands Kendra in a very short, tight white dress with a low V-neck.
Her boobs are practically popping out. Colton stands behind her, looking like the cat that got the milk and treats.
His hand is on her ass, and she leans up and gives him a big kiss on the lips.
Izzy gasps, and Rosie and I exchange nervous looks.
I wait to see what’s going to happen next, but Izzy doesn’t say anything or get up. Colton and Kendra make their way toward the side of the room, and before I know what’s happening, they’re making out, and it’s like they can’t keep their hands off of each other.
Lucia reaches over and grabs Izzy’s hand and squeezes. “I’m so sorry. This must be so hard to see.”
Izzy nods, and a solitary tear rolls down her cheek. “Excuse me,” she says.
Lucia slides out of the booth, and Izzy gets out.
“That fucking asshole,” she shouts. “He thinks I’m just going to sit at home, waiting around for him and not date anyone, while he’s seeing that skank.” Izzy’s voice is loud, and she’s mad.
I’ve never seen her like this before. We all watch as she stalks over to the other side of the room and taps Colton on the shoulder.
Initially, he doesn’t seem to feel the tap because he’s still got his tongue down Kendra’s throat, but then Izzy must say something as she taps him on the shoulder again, and he quickly pushes Kendra back, looking very much like someone has just been caught with his fingers in the cookie jar.
I can hear Kendra saying something, but I can’t quite decipher the words.
Colton shakes his head and tries to grab her hand, but she pulls it back away from him.
At first, Kendra has a self-satisfied look on her face, but it turns into a frown as Colton takes a step back from her.
Izzy shakes her head vehemently, then points at him in the face and screams something. He looks shocked.
Next thing I know, Izzy has turned around, and she’s walking back to the booth, a huge smile on her face.
“Slide over, Lucia,” she says, sitting down, panting. “I cannot believe I just did that.” She takes a deep breath. “It’s over. It’s officially over. I’m done with Colton.”
“You okay? Do you—”
“I don’t want to talk about it right now,” she says. “Let’s just say that the jerk was still trying to pretend that he and Kendra were not together, even though they were literally just kissing.”
“I hate liars,” Lucia says. “What a jackass.” She lets out a long sigh. “I felt guilty for creating that FB profile, but now I’m glad I did.”
“I know. I am as well.” Izzy nods. “I suppose all deception isn’t always bad.”
“I’m so proud of you though,” I say to Izzy.
“So, tell us your news,” Izzy says, looking at me. “I need to distract myself before I burst into tears or something.”
“Well, you guys are going to be in shock, but Dalton and I kissed last night.”
“No way,” Izzy screams and grabs my hands for a few seconds.
All of them look like they can’t believe what I’ve just said.
“You and my brother did it?” Lucia gasps.
“No, no, of course not. We kissed—that’s it.
It was intense though,” I say as I run my fingers nervously through my hair.
“I was babysitting Toby, and I had a date, and I guess Dalton’s meeting with Brett went too late.
It was intense or whatever, and he couldn’t text me.
So, we argued a little bit, and then he apologized for making me miss my date, and then he said he’d give me a good night kiss to make up for the night.
And, girls”—I touch my lips gingerly—“it was magical.”
“Oh my gosh, does that mean you like Dalton?” Izzy’s eyes are wide. And then she looks over at Lucia.
Lucia smiles awkwardly. “He’s my brother, and I love him, but word of warning: He doesn’t really do long-term relationships.”
“And it’s okay,” I say, holding my hand up. “He’d already said that to me, and while I enjoyed the kiss, it was nothing more than that. I know he’s not looking for a commitment. It was just really cool and nice and …”
“Wow.” Rosie stares at me. “I knew you had a thing for him, and I knew he had a thing for you.”
“We don’t have a thing for each other. It’s probably just sexual attraction. There’s chemistry there, and that’s okay. Just because you feel chemistry with someone doesn’t mean that it means anything.”
Izzy nods. “Yeah, I can see that. I had an attraction to Colton, and he turned out to be a dickhead.”
“Yeah, he did,” Lucia says. And then she looks over at me. “So, are you and my brother going to go on a date or—”
“No, no, no. He knows I’m on the app. Actually, there’s a very rich and good-looking guy who messaged me this morning, and I’m going to schedule a date with him. His name is Parker, and he seems really nice. I just …” My voice trails off, and I sigh.
So far, Parker seems like a perfect match for me. Gorgeous, wealthy, great sense of humor, and genuinely interested, but I still can’t stop thinking about Dalton.
“Okay, girls, don’t judge me, but Dalton is so cute and so charismatic. Maybe it’s because I see him a lot at work and all that, but I can’t stop thinking about him. But I know,” I add, “he’s not the one. He doesn’t fit what I’m looking for, not to be rude or anything.”
I look over at Lucia.
“Don’t worry; no offense taken.” She laughs. “Dalton is the ultimate bachelor.”
“I just think he can kiss really well.”
“Oh my gosh, I don’t want to hear about you kissing my brother.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She pretends to puke. “I guess he has to kiss someone.”
“Yeah.”
Rosie whispers to me, “So, you’re going to kiss him again?”
“I don’t know,” I answer honestly.
The smart part of me knows I shouldn’t, that I’m making my life complicated.
But the other part of me doesn’t care about being smart.
It cares about having fun and seeing what would happen with Dalton.
It isn’t like I am stopping myself from dating anyone else.
I’m not. And Dalton knows I am dating, so it isn’t like I am fooling him.
I just need to be wise about what I am doing.
I can’t allow myself to fall for him because that would be the absolute worst thing.
I feel like I am playing with fire, and it is only a matter of time before I am going to get burned.
I know I can’t have Dalton and Parker, but I’m just not ready to let go of whatever flirtation Dalton and I have been engaging in just yet.
He is truly the only man I’ve ever met in my life who can make me feel the way he does, and annoy me, and still make me want to kiss him senseless. I need to get him out of my system.