Chapter 1
CHAPTER 1
Los Angeles
Sunday, May 6
Hayes
“Hey, shortcake.” I wink at my best friend as she opens the door to her stamp-size studio apartment, wearing a white, gauzy, hippy-dippy-trippy halter top and matching shorts with hanging tassels and crocheted lace. Whoa. I’ve never seen her bare that much skin—shoulders, midriff, and thighs—but the style is definitely her vibe. The outfit, like the light brown waves she’s swept from her face in a casual tangle of braids, must be how she’s coping with the strong, hot spring suddenly gripping LA.
But I shouldn’t be surprised by anything Echo Hope says or does. I learned long ago to expect the unexpected from my bestie.
“Hey, string bean.” She steps back to let me in, the strains of some chick ballad playing from the speaker on her counter. It sounds like Sara Bareilles singing something maudlin about “1000 Times.”
Echo likes offbeat music.
“Are you ever going to stop calling me that?” I glare at her. She nicknamed me that at fifteen when I shot straight up, and it stuck. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve filled out since then.”
I’ve spent a lot of time in the gym and playing sports to make sure of that.
“Yeah, but you’ll always be my string bean…” She sends me a cheesy smile as I follow her inside. The scents of coffee, sugar, cinnamon, and something else delicious I can’t put my finger on go straight to my nose and make my mouth water as she lifts a champagne bottle from the nearby counter. “Mimosa? Juice? Beer? Hair of the dog?”
I wince. “No hair of the dog. Jayci and I opened a bottle of gin last night. It was a bad idea. She left this morning hung over as hell. I wasn’t much better off before coffee.” Then I flash Echo a grin. “It was crazy, though. We drunk-fucked on my front porch. I’m pretty sure the neighbors heard.”
Pressing her lips in a flat line, she turns for the sink. No snort? No eye roll? No quip? That’s not like Echo.
I follow, frowning. “You okay?”
“Fine.” She opens the fridge and grabs a bottle of water, shoving it against my chest. “Here.”
I take it. “You’re not fine. What did I say?”
Echo is quiet for a long moment. “Jayci is nice, but she isn’t right for you.”
“So? We’re just having fun.”
Though lately, I’ve been wondering whether I should try doing something more with my love life than fucking my way through it. It’s feeling…stale. But what else is there besides sex?
“Sure. Okay. FYI, it will just be the two of us today.”
Our group has been doing Sunday movies and munchies since our early days of high school. Not everyone makes it every weekend, but it’s unusual for two-thirds of the group to no-show. “Seriously? I know Kella said last Sunday that she wouldn’t be able to make it, but…”
“Graham had to pull a last-minute shift. Maryam texted to say she has the flu and feels like death warmed over. I DoorDashed her some soup. And Xavian…” Echo tucks a stray curl behind her ear and…is she blushing? “Um, he called a bit ago. He’s got a paper to finish.”
“Professor Akbar’s financial theories project, right?” At her nod, I shudder. “I scrambled to finish that sucker last year before graduation. That essay is no joke. And everyone knows what an asshole he is when it comes to grading.” Then Echo’s words hit me… “Wait. X called you?” Not texted. “Like, he dialed your digits and?—”
“Talked to me, yeah.” She shrugs. “What’s the big deal?”
“Nothing.” Except it’s out of character for my buddy. And Echo is acting…flustered. “I didn’t know you and X were that close.” The kind of close that would warrant his extra effort.
“Since we both got stuck in that Spanish class with the Russian professor this semester, we’ve been talking more.” Again, Echo doesn’t quite meet my stare.
That makes me scowl. “How much more?”
“I don’t know. More.” She pours herself a mimosa heavy on the champagne and takes a healthy sip. “Want eggs with your French toast?”
I should get to the bottom of this thing with Xavian, but she said the magic words. “You made French toast? For me?”
She nods. “When I figured out the party would be just the two of us, I decided to make your favorite.”
“No wonder it smells so good in here.” I grab her around the waist and pull her close. “Thanks, shortcake.”
“Don’t thank me yet. It’s my way of buttering you up.”
“For what?”
“It’s my turn to pick the movie…”
Probably another reason everyone bailed today. The guys usually pick action flicks. Kella likes mysteries and psychological thrillers with the occasional anime film. Maryam chooses blockbusters everyone has seen a hundred times. But Echo is a hopeless romantic. She always picks the mushy movies. And they always make me groan.
Everlasting, til-death-do-us part love is a greeting-card fantasy. Businesses use it as an emotional tool to sell everything from books to flowers to honeymoon destinations. Echo is never going to agree with me, and that’s fine. Her eternal optimism is part of her charm. But my family history makes me fairly sure I’m incapable of her notion of love. And I don’t know if I can handle ninety minutes of mind-numbing sap this morning.
I grab my phone. “Gosh, would you look at the time? I just remembered that I have a thing this afternoon and?—”
“A thing?”
“Yeah, an appointment.”
“For what?”
“A haircut.”
“You had one last week.”
She’s right, damn it. I grapple for another plausible answer—and draw a blank. “I mean a doctor’s appointment.”
“On a Sunday?” she asks dubiously.
“It’s a really important appointment. I’m having a lobotomy.”
“Right. Well, let’s sneak in one last feel-good film before you have half your cynical brain ripped out. It might help you…”
“No, the doctor says I’ve watched too many of your schmaltzy flicks over the years, so I should see something else before the operation. The more violence, the better.”
“You know…” She bustles to the oven and withdraws her famous French toast casserole that nearly brings me to my knees. It’s a candy-coated indulgence I don’t partake of often, but every time she makes it, I think I’ve died and gone to heaven. “Maybe you should go home and rest up before your big procedure. I’ll eat all this gooey, cinnamony goodness on my own.”
It looks amazing, and it smells even better. And damn if Echo doesn’t have me right where she wants me. “I could probably move my procedure out long enough to eat that.”
“Nope. I’m only serving this during the movie. But it’s fine. I’ll make it again…someday. Well, maybe I won’t. After you’ve had your lobotomy, you won’t appreciate all this yumminess anymore. So I’ll probably stop forever. Sad that today is the last time I’ll ever bake it, and I made it for you, but…oh, well.”
When she drizzles the buttery syrup on top and extracts a plate of crispy, thick-sliced bacon keeping warm in the microwave, I give in. Even the most cloyingly sentimental film is worth the watch if I get to eat that. “All right. You win. Hand me a plate. I’ll cancel the lobotomy and stay for the movie.”
“I thought you might see things my way.” She grins as she hands me a dish.
Despite the dimple in her left cheek, I take it with a growl. “You’re punishing me, Hope.”
“I’m not, Elliot. After seven weeks of action heroes, twisted relationships, and sophomoric comedies, it’s time for something nice. ”
Echo might have a point. She’s the only one who ever introduces movies meant to leave people happy. “All right.”
I refill her mimosa while she finishes setting the food on the coffee table in front of the “big screen.” The gang makes fun of Echo’s TV because it’s an old console set from at least twenty years ago. In fact, her whole place is full of half-patched, well-loved hand-me-downs from her older sisters and flea markets. It’s nothing like my super-sleek bachelor pad, but I’ve spent so much time here this place feels like home.
“So what’s the name of your torturous flick today?” I ask as I drop to the floor and position myself in front of the table.
Echo is right beside me, bumping elbows and brushing thighs as we settle in. With my next breath, I smell not just our brunch…but that elusive something else sweet that’s turning my head and driving me crazy. What is that?
“ Pride and Prejudice. ”
Is she for real? “Didn’t I have to read that in, like, tenth-grade English?”
“You had Mrs. Hanover for sophomore lit, right?”
“Yeah.” I haven’t thought of that woman in years. After the end of that semester, I blocked her out.
“Then you did. It was the best thing we read in class.”
“ Lord of the Flies was way better.”
Echo pins me with a withering stare. “You might be a man, but you’re such a boy.”
“What does that mean? I?—”
“Eat, so I can start my movie.” She wags her finger at me.
I really would rather not watch this classic chick-flick, even if Kiera Knightly is on the screen. She’s hot, despite the billowing dress and any absence of cleavage. But Echo’s words bug me.
“Hang on.” I shift to face her. “How am I a boy?”
“You don’t think much about tomorrow.”
“Exactly.” I just turned twenty-four. I have the rest of my life to obsess about that shit. I’m not in the market for a wife. After watching my parents, I doubt I ever will be. But I’ve got a great six-figure job working for an up-and-coming financial services company here in LA. No, it’s not Wall Street. I’ll be there eventually, once I pay my dues.
Echo sighs. She doesn’t like my answer. Funny, we’re not together at all…but I hate it when we fight. I hate it even more when I disappoint her. And I clearly have.
“And you just made my point.” She shakes her head as she grabs the remote.
“There’s no sex in this movie, is there?” I grumble.
“Nope.” She rolls her eyes. “Not everything is about sex.”
“Sure it is.” But she doesn’t know that because she’s still a virgin at twenty-two. I respect her choice to wait for someone who means something to her, even if I don’t share it.
“It’s easy to feel your nether regions. Feeling your heart is a lot more complicated. And a lot more significant.”
I scowl. Echo almost sounds like… No. She can’t possibly speak from experience. Who the hell would she be in love with that I don’t know about?
Then I remember she’s “talking” with Xavian.
I freeze.
Anyone who called me a player would label Xavian Costa a man whore. She can’t have real feelings for him.
Can she?
If I confront Echo head-on about how stupid falling for Xavian is, she’ll bristle. So I try to be sneaky. “I haven’t talked to X much lately. What’s up with him?”
“Besides finals, nothing new. But he’s stoked that we’ll all be boarding the plane for Maui on Saturday. He was thrilled that, despite being an intern, he was included in the bonus trip for top performers.”
Xavian is killing it in the office. He’s got a natural gift for making money, so I’m not surprised. But she sounds almost proud of him, like a girlfriend.
“And thanks again for taking me along as your plus one. I’m so excited I bought two new bikinis!”
For Xavian to look at? The thought makes me frown even more. But I act casual.
“Of course. Hey…” I bump shoulders with her. “You’re my bestie. I had to give you a graduation trip worth remembering.”
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. The plane ticket alone must have cost a fortune. But I promise, I won’t keep you awake at night snoring.” She winks.
“You don’t snore, shortcake.” I’ve been camping with her about a million times, so I know. But by now, she’s usually found half a dozen activities for us to appreciate the scenery and make memories—a nature reserve, a challenging hike, a sunrise picnic on the beach—something. But we’re six days away from the biggest vacation of our lives, and not a word. “Tell me what you have planned for paradise.”
“Sun and water!” She closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath, like she can already smell the ocean.
“I meant for us.”
Echo turns to me with a shrug. “I thought we’d chill. Besides, I wasn’t sure how much you’d have to work.”
“I only have two mixers all week. We’ll have tons of time for other stuff.”
“Oh. Good.”
But her voice suggests that isn’t good at all. What the hell is up? Does she have some surprise for me and doesn’t want me guessing, like Christmas before last?
“So we’ll think of some things,” I prod her. “Right?”
“Sure.”
Her easy reply should make me feel better. Instead, I’m wondering if she’s planning to enjoy paradise with someone else.
Like Xavian.
Fuck, I know I’ve been busy lately and spending a lot of my free time with Jayci—mostly because she’ll try anything in bed and could suck the brass off a doorknob—but the thought of Echo and me drifting apart fills me with something like panic.
“What do you say we have a pre-trip graduation party on Friday night? We don’t leave until two in the afternoon on Saturday, so?—”
“I can’t.” Echo tears her gaze away. “I’ve got…something else.”
Like? Her vague refusal fills me with dread. “A date?”
“Not exactly.”
Shifting closer, I take her chin in my hand. “Then what? Talk to me. Tell me what’s bothering you.”
“Nothing. I just need to, um…take care of something before we go.”
Something? If it’s really nothing, why won’t she look at me? “I’m getting that you don’t want me to pry, but I’m your best friend. Is something wrong? Are your sisters all right?”
“They’re fantastic,” she assures quickly. “Ella and Carson bought a new house, and they’re trying to have a baby.”
“Good for them.” They seem happy together—at least for now. Hopefully, when Ella has spit out a couple of kids in a few years, Carson won’t be tempted by some hot new thing in the office. My dad always was…
“And Eryn is finishing her first semester of college next week. Then she swears she’s going to spend the summer redoing the penthouse West bought in Vegas.”
“That place was sweet.” When Echo asked me to come with her to her middle sister’s wedding last fall and we crashed at West’s giant-ass bachelor pad at the top of a casino, I never wanted to leave.
But while I’m glad my bestie isn’t worried about her older sisters, I’m seriously concerned about her. “Great. Maybe we can visit again when they’re done.”
“Yeah.” She gives me a half-smile. “Sure.”
I sigh. “C’mon, shortcake. What’s going on Friday night?”
“Just something I need to do.” She tries to brighten her smile…but it falls short. “It’ll be fine. And once it’s done, I’ll be ready to spend a week in paradise.”
“Hey,” Xavian calls out to me the next morning as we head for the conference room at the end of the hall with steaming mugs of java.
“I want to talk to you after this meeting,” I snarl.
Yeah, I’m in a shitty mood. I didn’t sleep much last night. Too much on my mind. Echo’s refusal to confide in me chafes. The last time she didn’t want to tell me what was bugging her she’d just gotten her first period and was too embarrassed to talk about it. I have no clue what’s troubling her now…but I’ll bet it has something to do with Xavian.
Does she think she’s in love with him?
Yesterday’s movie bugged me, too. It was about rethinking preconceived notions of the people you know. Was Echo sending me some message? While the credits were rolling, she tried to talk to me, since we usually discuss the film we’ve just seen. The movie was better than expected, but I didn’t say much else. I was pretty focused on figuring out what she’s up to Friday night…and having seconds of her French toast.
Jayci called about nine, wanting a repeat of the previous night. Yeah, she’s hot, but I was too preoccupied by Echo and her strangely secretive behavior to have another drunken fuckfest.
And now I’m just annoyed.
Xavian, the good-looking, green-eyed bastard, blinks at me as he takes his seat. “Sure. You all right, man?”
My boss starts the meeting before I can lay into him, so I have a couple of hours to stew. And for my mood to sour. But as soon as the talk about new financial products and market projections are done, I motion to Xavian to follow me to the stairwell. Thankfully, he falls in line, empty coffee cup in hand.
“What’s going on?” he asks once we’re behind closed doors. “You look pissed.”
“What do you have going on with Echo?”
“Nothing.” His denial comes too fast. His expression looks too blank.
“Bullshit. She says you two have been talking.”
He shrugs. “Some.”
Since Xavian never talks to a woman unless he wants something more, I growl. “Why? You’d better not be trying to get with her.”
“She’s just a friend.”
“Then what’s with the phone calls? I know you two have something planned this Friday night.”
“Shit. She told you?” Xavian frowns.
“She hinted.” I stretch the truth a little. Okay, a lot.
“And you guessed the rest…” He sighs. “Look, I was surprised when she asked me instead of you. Maybe it’s because you two are so close, and she doesn’t want to mess with your friendship? Or maybe she just doesn’t see you that way. I don’t know. But it will be fine. I’ve done virgins before. I swear I’ll give Echo a good time.”
His words buzz in my brain. Echo asked him to take her virginity on Friday night?
What the fuck?
“You agreed to do it?”
“Yeah,” he says like it’s a no-brainer.
“Seriously? You never do any girl unless she’s the hottest in the room. Echo is…Echo.”
X rears back. “Dude, what are you talking about? She’s smokin’.”
Sure, if you like baggy shirts, ankle-length skirts, and clunky footwear. I don’t. She’s adorable…in her way. She’s got a cute face. Admittedly, her eyes are killer. Her outfit yesterday was attention-getting. But overall? I don’t see it.
“Besides, I think she’ll be an adventurous fuck.” He shoots me a sly grin. “I’m looking forward to popping her cherry.”
The way he talks about her, like she’s just any piece of ass, charges fury through my veins. I lunge at Xavian, teeth gritted. “You will not touch her. Ever. Not one finger. Or you will lose them all. Do we understand each other?”
X frowns. “What the hell? I’m not going to hurt her, just give her the ‘vitamin D’ she asked for.”
Fury turns to lava and nearly oozes from my pores. “Echo did not ask you for dick.”
“Not in those exact words. But…you know. She’s finally ready to get laid. Who can blame her?”
I can. She’s said for years that she’s waiting for someone special to make her first time memorable. Xavian isn’t that guy. She should be too smart to fall for his well-used charm. So why did she pick him?
Seriously, is there any way she’s in love with him?
“Don’t be pissed, dude. Why does it matter?” He cocks his head. “Are you put out that she didn’t choose you?”
Kind of. Yeah. I’m her best friend. No one is closer to her. And she didn’t confide in me. She knows I’d do anything in my power to make her happy.
What if she asked you to take her to bed?
I don’t know.
“What exactly did she say?” I demand.
Maybe X misunderstood. Maybe he heard what he wanted to and ran off with some half-cocked idea. Maybe he’s even yanking my chain.
Xavian shrugs. “Just that she’d promised her sisters she’d never let guys or partying derail her education. But by graduation Friday morning, she will have officially kept her word. Then…I don’t know. I guess she’s curious about sex.”
The promise is true enough, but the curiosity? That’s not Echo.
Why is she suddenly throwing away her V-card? Is she embarrassed? Is she trying to keep up with Kella, who will proposition any fellow K-Pop, anime-loving metrosexual dude who makes her vagina twitch? Which is great—for Kella. She’s happy with variety and never gets attached to any guy she fucks.
Echo isn’t built like that. If she got naked with Xavian, she would regret it. And she would cry. I would have to pick up the pieces. Then I would have to kill him.
This has shit show written all over it. I need to stop it.
Luckily, I’m both motivated and devious. “Maybe you’re right. It’s cool of you to do her a favor and all, but have you thought about…after?”
“No. I’ve slept with a bunch of girls I still call friends. It’s only weird if someone makes it weird.”
“Sure. I’m in the same boat with Jayci, Lindsay, and a few others. You’re totally right.” Except when it comes to my best friend. “But how will Echo be once the deed is done? Look at the movies she picks. Beauty and the Beast. Fifty First Dates. While You Were Sleeping. Pretty Woman. When Harry Met Sally. Sixteen Candles. And what does she refuse to watch? Titanic. The Notebook. Ghost. The Bodyguard. La La Land. All movies where the two main characters don’t end up together. Think about that.”
“You saying she’d turn into a clinging vine?”
“Like ivy growing on the sunny side of a house, pal.” I clap him on the back with a nod.
Honestly, I have no idea if it’s true, but I’m not going to stand by and watch this debacle to find out.
Xavian pales. “I didn’t think about that. It will make the whole group weird if she can’t separate a favor from death-do-us-part.”
“Yep.”
“Is that why you’ve never gone there?”
In all honesty, I never gave hooking up with her a thought. We met as kids. Sure, I noticed when Echo grew boobs and her hips filled out. She’s female, and I’m not blind. But she’s always just been…there. She’s my kind, outdoorsy best friend whom I taught to drive because her workaholic parents were too busy. She’s my soft-spoken hippie-chick sidekick who makes the best French toast on the planet—which is why I can forgive her for puking after too much wine, her Boho-chic vibe, and her love of sappy movies. But she wants the sort of happily-ever-after her sisters both seemingly have. I’m no one’s forever…but I won’t let Xavian rip off her rose-colored glasses.
“More or less,” I reply. “And I’d never want to hurt her.”
“One hundred percent.” X nods like he’s rethinking everything. “You’re right. I hate to disappoint her, but…”
“I’m telling you, man, what’s going to happen if you agree to this.” I shrug with a nonchalance I don’t feel. “But do what’s right for you.”
And I’ll do what’s right for Echo—even if she doesn’t know it.
I already have a plan to ensure Xavian is so busy Friday night, he doesn’t have two minutes to piss, much less pluck my best friend’s V-card.
Echo will be furious if she ever finds out, but I stand by my decision. And I know how to deal with her. Besides, she’s always quick to understand and even quicker to forgive. How bad could it be?