Chapter 24 #2
A forever piece of her and her husband. That sounds marvelous. An eternal memento of something so special. Like the bauble on our tree, only more permanent and lasting, and…
“I can’t wait to feel the baby kick and move.” Summer stuffs her mouth full of seaweed with a savoring hum, using her chopsticks to gesture for me to eat.
“I swear, you’re turning into a feeder,” Alice groans when the server returns with mine and Christina’s drinks and another tray with a variety of sharing dishes.
“If I didn’t order food, there would only be alcohol at this table,” Summer groans, leveling Alice with a faux glare while she fills her plate and then proceeds to fill mine. “Eat.”
“Maybe Finley doesn’t want to eat,” Alice tells her. “Maybe she wants some sake, too.”
I want to drink sake as much as I want to be a fire-breathing dragon.
Of course I don’t tell Alice that; I let her pour me a small cup while I dig into the food on my plate. When I see that Christina has finished her drink, I sneakily swap my cup with hers. I’ll stick with my lychee juice.
“So…” Alice starts, side-eyeing Christina before she continues, “We saw the article in The Chronicle and on that online showbiz rag yesterday…”
“We wanted to make sure you were okay, but we didn’t want to invade your privacy, either.” Alice gives me an apologetic grimace. “Are you okay?”
“I’m good. It was a misunderstanding, you know…” I tell them, unsure of what I can and can’t say.
“The media sure likes to talk a lot about those guys,” Summer tells me while focusing back on her food. “Actually, it likes to talk about anyone they can make a quick buck from.”
“It was an old picture taken out of context.” I shrug, stuffing my mouth with a gyoza so I have an excuse not to talk.
Suddenly, I don’t feel so hungry, and the prospect of going home empty-handed is looking appealing.
“So, like… lover boy isn’t gay… bi… into dudes?” Alice asks, looking so nonchalant that I’m not sure she’s registering what she’s asking. Or maybe the alcohol is finally going to her head. Either way, she sounds genuinely nonplussed by whatever reply I might give her.
Christina gives me a smile while she pours Alice another small cup of sake. “Stop fishing for mental image porn, hoe bag. There are websites for that.”
“Oh my God, speaking of risqué websites, did you hear about that new auction app? Loverly?” Alice places her phone down on the table and taps the app open. “I’ve heard there are girls auctioning off their virginity for megabucks and—”
“Who knew they still exist?” Christina chuffs, making a point of slurping on a long string of seaweed. “Literally no one at this table has had their hymen intact for years.”
“Fact,” Summer laughs. “It might be pregnancy brain, but I can’t even remember what being a virgin is.”
“Yeah, because you’re a slut and—”
“My husband appreciates it,” Summer croons, sticking her tongue out at Alice.
“Do you call him Daddy?” Alice throws back, letting Summer take a long inhale of the dragon-fruit daiquiri the server brings with the rest of our food.
“All the time. The same way I call you bitch, in the literal sense, doofus.”
Just like that, the awkward tension fades as we all burst out laughing at Summer’s remark.
I wasn’t wrong when I met them—they really are great friend personas.
Even though we’re still building our acquaintance into friendship, I already feel so at ease with them.
Like I could tell them all about my life without being judged.
We’re getting ready to leave when Summer pulls a white envelope with The Imperial’s logo foiled in the corner from her purse. Alice and Christina have gone to the bathroom to freshen up, and it’s just the two of us.
“I didn’t want to have this looming over dinner.
” She opens the envelope and places some black-and-white images on the table in front of me.
“These are from the security footage at the studio and also from the bar at the hotel. I figured that maybe this would help with the restraining order situation.”
“Thank you,” I say, focusing on the images.
An invisible bucket of ice-cold water douses me. There he is. Ryker-freaking-Hallman.
“One of Parker’s acquaintances works for the sports column at The Chronicle, and he managed to get this blowup of the photo in the article.”
“It’s so fuzzy.” Running my fingers over the murky printout, I look between the two pages in front of me as though I’m playing Spot the Difference.
“Yeah, Parker thinks the photo must’ve already been zoomed in because of how bad the quality of it is here.
” Summer pulls out another printout—this time a Word document.
“I wasn’t sure what you need or want, but I figured you might want to know who he is in any case.
If it were my husband with another woman in that photo, I would want to know everything. ”
“Oh…”
“Obviously you can do what you want with it. Use it, burn it… whatever. Regardless, at least you have a name and—” She pauses, lips twisting as though she’s debating whether she should share her thoughts.
“It was weird that the two of you were at the same bar on the same night the article was released. But him showing up at the Coffee Shack… I don’t care how close he lives or works to the place; he’s never been there before.
It’s suspect, and nobody can tell me otherwise. ”
“Yeah.”
“It’s so fucking weird. I can’t get over him buying you a drink and being all over you.
That’s beyond icky. Thinking about it is giving me the heebie-jeebies.
Eww…” Summer shudders, shuffling the pages together before slipping them back into the envelope.
As I stare down at the black wood tabletop, she rocks closer, nudging my shoulder with hers.
“I don’t care what we have to do, we’re going to get to the bottom of this. ”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. I know what it’s like to be harassed and intimidated by someone in a significant other’s past. Parker’s ex, Easton’s birth mom, was like that guy.
So you have to be careful and watch your back.
Whatever that guy’s agenda is, it’s not good.
” Summer gives me a soft, sympathetic smile.
Christina and Alice return from the bathroom, ready to go explore more stores.
While Summer and I meander behind them, I take in all the decorations.
Everything is decked in festive colors with large hot-air-balloon-shaped ornaments hanging from the ceiling, elves in miniature sleighs, and lit-up presents dangling like they’re tumbling out.
It’s gorgeous, and the more festivities and traditions I experience, the deeper I begrudge all the time I missed out on them.
“Hey,” Summer links her arm with mine while I peruse a jewelry concession. “Anything grab your attention?”
“I want to get them something special, but—” I pause at the curious pinch of her brows. With tentative trepidation, I ask, “We’re friends, right?”
“Of course. You won’t shake me off now,” she replies, beaming up at me.
“I want to get Elijah and Jayden something special because I want them to know that I really do love them and that I appreciate them and everything they’ve done for me, all that they’ve given me…”
Summer beams at me with a sigh. Leaning over the glass case, she studies the display I’m looking at as she asks, “So, how did it happen? How did you fall for two guys?”
“Honestly, a lot more easily than I can explain. It’s not like it even happened, it’s more like it simply was… is.”
“I get that feeling. The first time I walked into Parker’s office and he interviewed me for a job at the hotel, something clicked,” she says fondly, her fingers twisting her rings.
“It was hard at first, because we had a lot of hurdles and reasons not to be together… he was my boss, his family is mega wealthy and wary of outsiders, he had a son and an ex who put him through so much heartache…”
“Sounds like you had a lot to work through.”
Summer gives me a teary smile. “Parker showed me I could be more than my fears and scars stipulated. He completes me in a way where I’m not only myself, I’m always more. I am everything and can be anything.”
“Yeah, I know that feeling. It’s how Elijah and Jayden make me feel. Complete, and at the same time, like I can be more than I ever envisioned myself being.”
“Not everybody gets that, and not everyone is brave enough to fight for it, no matter the cost, either. However it comes, it’s special, and it should be embraced.” Even though she’s subtle in her delivery, I appreciate what she’s telling me—and that she’s not judging me.
I know not everyone will be like Summer and Christina, but it makes me hopeful. It makes the weight of the world knowing lighten a tad.
Maybe Lex is right on the money. Perhaps the best way to go forward with everything is with open honesty.
Because we are worth fighting for.