Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
F or the third time this summer, I dashed into my house half naked. This was becoming an annoying habit. The common element always circled back to Cole.
An eerie quietness greeted me, and my first thought went to Dad, but after I called his name, I remembered what day it was. He had therapy, and Sadie would have taken him.
I didn’t stay long. Just long enough to change and leave before my asshole neighbor came looking for me.
Heading to the boardwalk, I texted Frankie, asking her to meet me. I needed a break from spending days with so much testosterone. She never let me down.
Getting to the boardwalk took about fifteen minutes on foot, and I got stuck in my head the whole time, going over what I’d heard. I was so confused about the position I had willingly put myself in. Sure, it was Cole’s master plan, but I agreed without knowing the details. I’d seen dollar signs, my mounting debt, and continuing my education at a college I dreamed of.
I had no problem selling my soul to the devil to get what I wanted, so why did Cole’s secrets bother me? I didn’t care what his family thought of me. We weren’t in a real relationship, and I had no designs thinking this arrangement would lead to something. I didn’t want that.
Cash was all I desired.
But it was the complications that came with it and wormed under my skin, making my brain harp on them. I ticked off what I knew about Cole, trying to make sense of it all and where the hell I fit into the equation. And why?
His family wanted him to marry a rich bitch to secure a business alliance with Gianna’s father. No idea who he was.
Cole obviously rejected this idea.
He had once dated Gianna, and she had hit on his brother. How far did that betrayal go? Had Crew slept with her?
I sat on one of the benches across from the shops lining the edge of the walk. The bustle of people who moseyed in and out of the stores, snacked on treats from the local vendors, and strolled about the boardwalk eased some of my stress. I didn’t love crowds, but something about the ambience gave me a boost of serotonin. It was like studying or working in a café. The background noise reminded you that you weren’t alone in the world without having to actively participate.
A shadow moved over me, blocking my sun, and I peered up through my sunglasses, seeing my best friend.
“Why do you look like someone kicked your kitty?” Frankie asked, the red in her hair looking brighter than the last time I saw her. She wore short cutoff shorts frayed at the ends and a cropped top that showed a flash of her stomach.
“Do you mean the pet I don’t have or the other kitty?” With Frankie, it was hard to tell.
“Does it matter? Trouble in paradise already?” She plopped down beside me. “Here, bitch, drink this before we get into the heavy shit.” Frankie handed me a brown sugar bubble tea from my favorite place.
I took the cup with greedy, grabby hands. “Oh my god. I love you.” I sighed in pure pleasure at the first sip, my eyes rolling back. How could I miss a drink so much?
“I had a feeling you needed it.”
“You have no idea how much,” I mumbled, taking another drink through the straw .
“So, how’s it going living in a mansion with a hot guy? You guys already have your first fight?” She swirled the ice in her cup.
I crossed my legs. “We’ve had plenty. Fighting is not our problem.”
A little boy smiled at us as he walked by with his mom, holding her fingers tightly. “What is?” Frankie asked.
“He has an ex and family drama.”
“Juicy. Tell me more.”
I gave her the gist of what I’d learned, spilling out my soul while sipping my tea. “Do you think it was wrong of me to take the money?”
“You’re feeling guilty? Please. From the sounds of it, old man Riley needs a few lessons in how not to be a dick. Don’t take on Cole’s problems, Arie. You have nothing to feel bad about. I would have been pissed if you hadn’t agreed to take the money. This is an opportunity people like us never get.”
She meant poor people, but I hated that stereotype. We were much more than just the balance of our bank accounts. I wished the rest of the world saw it that way. But she made a solid point.
“And this is why I called you. Missed you, Frankie.”
She bumped her shoulder with mine. “I think we need to have a sleepover like when we were little. A girls’ only get-together. We can raid my mom’s stash.”
So many memories came back. We’d literally alternated houses every weekend. “Before or after I start holding your hair while you puke up a bucket of tequila in the toilet?”
She grimaced, and I swore the color of her skin paled, turning a shade of green as if the thought alone made her stomach churn. “Definitely before. I can’t even think about the T-word. We’ll stick to wines.”
“Thanks for the fix,” I said, holding up the half-empty bubble tea.
Frankie grinned, her dimples flashing. “What are friends for?”
I stood, my heart lighter and feeling better about my decision for about two seconds. That was how long it took before Cole’s drama hit me in the face. Literally. Something cold and thick splattered over my eyes and nose, followed by a thump of something hard before it fell to the ground. The glop ran down my nose and onto my lips.
Fucking ice cream.
Vanilla to be specific .
Someone threw an ice cream cone at me, the evidence melting down my face and the cone sticking to the pavement at my feet.
“What the fuck?” Frankie muttered beside me.
I held my arms out in shock, my brain still processing what the hell happened. After taking a breath, I cleared a blob of ice cream from my eyes and stared at the last person I expected to see on the boardwalk, but she should have been the first person I suspected to be responsible for my sticky state.
I’d never seen her face, but I sure as hell recognized her voice.
“Sorry, I thought you were the trash. Oh, wait. You are. I guess I wasn’t mistaken after all.”
Frankie jumped to my defense as I flung another glob of melting soft serve off my cheek. “Oh, you did not just smash a vanilla cone into my best friend’s face. How very fucking basic, but by the looks of you, I shouldn’t have expected anything original.”
Frankie had no idea who this girl was, but it wouldn’t have mattered when it came to loyalty between friends. She had my back, no questions asked. Frankie was always just there.
Flanked by two girls I didn’t know, the girl who wore the antler mask at the party giggled. I could finally put a face to the threats. Of course, she would be pretty, but it was difficult to tell if her beauty was natural like Frankie’s or bought with her daddy’s money. From the bleached blonde hair to the perfectly perky set of tits, she could have been a Barbie doll. “You look better than the first time I saw you. Still living off my fiancée like the leech you are?” she sneered.
“Do you know her?” Frankie asked, frowning and looking like she wanted to tag in and take this girl down.
My lips formed a thin line. “Gianna, I assume? Yeah, we met the other night.”
“The psycho who wants to trap a Riley?” Frankie put the pieces together from what I had told her.
Gianna’s beautiful face contorted into something ugly and cruel. “I’m. Not. A. Psycho.”
Frankie sniffed the air around Gianna. “Smells like a psycho.”
The shit was stuck in my hair. “Uh, could have fooled me. And dare I remind you I’m his fiancée. Let me guess, all beauty, no bra ins? Or maybe you’re the stalker type,” I mused, shoving my sticky hair out of my face.
Frankie choked beside me but said nothing to counteract my statement.
Gianna’s friends were less vocal. They stood beside her as if it was their place to say nothing, accessories like a pair of earrings meant to make Gianna sparkle. I wondered if she chose to be friends with them because they weren’t as pretty as she was. I bet it boosted her self-esteem. I knew girls like her in high school, and I’d hoped after graduation I wouldn’t have to deal with shallow bitches like her.
“Everyone knows your engagement is a farce. His father would never let him marry someone like you.” Gianna looked at her two friends, polished brows raised in expectation.
They jumped in, nodding in agreement.
“Total farce,” the one with the short brunette bob echoed.
“Uh-huh. You’re a nobody,” the other said, licking the ice cream she clutched possessively in her hand. She didn’t look like she would be wasting it on my face anytime soon.
Frankie snickered, unable to contain herself.
Gianna narrowed her gaze at my best friend, eyeing her with snobbish disdain. She looked like she just stepped out of an overpriced department store dressed in all designer names from her shoes to the bag slung over her shoulder. Who wore heels to the boardwalk? I’d stick to my flip-flops, thank you very much.
Those shifty, cunning eyes dashed to me. “If you know what’s best for you, you’ll break it off before you get hurt.”
I stepped forward so Gianna and I were almost nose to nose. Her heels gave her a slight height advantage, but it wouldn’t stop me from kicking her preppy ass. “Are you threatening me?”
“Welcome to the real world, trailer park.”
“I can see why Cole doesn’t want anything to do with you. Why would he want to marry a shallow bitch like you?”
“Cole?” she blinked and then let out a manic snort-laugh. “I don’t want Cole.”
Frankie and I swapped confused expressions. “What do you mean? Isn’t he the one you’re obsessed over? ”
Gianna flipped her hair over her shoulder. “My father doesn’t care which Riley I choose, and it isn’t Cole. I’ve been down that road.”
I remembered what Cole told me happened between them, how she threw herself at his brother. “You want Crew, not Cole,” I guessed, the pieces starting to fit together. “Except Crew doesn’t want you, does he? Not after the little stunt you pulled while dating his brother.” A hint of smugness sullied my tone.
How quickly Gianna’s demeanor shifted. She gritted her teeth. “You don’t know shit about what happened.”
People were staring, but it didn’t bother me. “Honestly, I couldn’t care less what or who you want. Cole told me I don’t have to behave myself, and I don’t plan on it. You got one free pass, which you’ve already used. Next time you come at me, I’ll show you how we handle threats in the trailer park.”
The two girls framed on either side of Gianna shifted their feet, their expressions growing uncomfortable the angrier Gianna got. “You’re worthless. Less than the ice cream melting on your face,” my newly made nemesis spat.
I pasted on my best fake-ass smile. “Do you feel better? Or are there some other cheap insults you want to sling at me?”
“It’s a little hot out today, don’t you think, Arie?” Frankie commented, her gaze dropping to the drink in my hand.
“Who the fuck gives a shit about the weather,” Gianna snapped at Frankie. “Were you dropped on your head as a baby?”
Picking up on Frankie’s cue, I punched my thumb through the straw hole of my drink, widening the opening as much as I could without drawing Gianna’s focus. She might have started this, but I would damn well finish it and get the last word. “I hope that shirt is expensive as fuck,” I scoffed.
“Did you drop out of high?—”
I threw the contents of my cup in Gianna’s face. She gasped, bringing a smile across my lips. I never realized how satisfying it would be to watch the little round boba pearls bounce off Gianna’s pretty face.
The vindictive side of me beamed. “What a fucking waste of a perfectly good bubble tea,” I said as Gianna’s friends scrambled to deal with their frantic friend .
Frankie bumped my shoulder. “For the show I just watched, I’ll buy you a new one.”
Looping my arm through hers, we started walking down the boardwalk together, leaving Gianna to her minions.
Frankie grinned from ear to ear, a bounce of excitement not just in her step but shimmering in her eyes. “Holy shit, what a lunatic. God, I love a good jealous ex-girlfriend. It makes for such a juicy story. I’m so glad you texted me today.”
I rolled my eyes, not sharing my friend’s enthusiasm over the drama. “My life is not a damn novel.”
“It’s the closest thing either of us will ever get. Think about it. Arie. A rich, hot-ass guy gives you a hundred K to stay with him for the summer. That is literally a romance trope. One of my favorites too. Who doesn’t like a rags-to-riches plot?”
How could I argue with that?
“Is she going to be a problem for you?” my best friend asked.
My chin dipped as I tossed my empty cup into the trash bin. “I’m afraid so.”