Chapter 4 – Brinley
brINLEY
I turn my phone face down on the Copper Cup counter. Thank god there’s a lull in customers, because if I had to plaster on a fake smile and make someone a macchiato, my face might crack from the effort.
God, I never should have published that interview.
Even at the time, it felt more than a little icky, especially after I figured out that the woman I was interviewing was mostly interested in petty revenge.
Luke never hurt her or pushed her boundaries— the only real sin he committed was not being interested in her.
It wasn’t fair for me to put his kinks on blast for the world to read.
Back then though, I was angrier. The pain from what Luke and his friends did to me was fresher and more bitter. I wanted my brother to feel even a fraction of the humiliation I did, and I was willing to platform an opportunistic liar to do it.
I’m not just the antagonist—I’m the fucking villain in the story.
Taking a breath, I dare to turn my phone over again. It tells me that 3,500 more people just read the humiliating interview. The viral moment has shown no sign of slowing down. Soon, 1 million people will have read about my brother tying up girls for fun.
My stomach churns, and the grilled cheese sandwich I scarfed down for lunch threatens to make a reappearance.
I open my texts, half-expecting a furious missive from Luke, eviscerating me for betraying his trust and ruining his life. Of course, that text isn’t coming. My brother has no idea that I’m Peppermint. I’ve been careful about getting caught, even if I haven’t been careful about other things.
Like Luke’s reputation.
Like the way Peppermint’s writing affects my friends.
I wrote all my worst articles when the House of Cards guys were just a faceless group of assholes who destroyed my life.
That was before I got to know Pippa, Cat, and Maura.
Having friends who truly back me up went a long way toward healing my old wounds.
Being with Beau for all these years—even if it’s not a real relationship, it’s made me second guess whether his friends could really be all that bad.
Honestly, I’ve been pulling back from writing as Peppermint for a while. As much as I wish I could unpublish the post, I know it wouldn’t do any good. The internet remembers everything, and it doesn’t care about your character arc.
Meanwhile, my chat with the girls is blowing up. I’m sure by now, they’ve seen the Peppermint post too. I brace myself for hurt and disbelieving reactions, and let out a sigh of relief when I don’t see any.
Cat
Anyone know any good restaurants? Nate and I are going for our first post-wedding date, and I want to do something fun.
Pippa
Ryan and I just went to a great Ethiopian place.
Cat
Absolutely not.
Maura
Not a fan of Ethiopian?
Cat
I love it! But you have to eat with your hands, and can you imagine the fit Nate would throw if he got sauce all over his nice suits?
Pippa
Nate can leave the fancy suits at home for once. In fact, I just saw an outfit that would look great on him.
She attaches a picture of a guy on the sidewalk wearing head to toe Cookie Monster pajamas, complete with fuzzy blue slippers.
Maura
Oh, yeah. Totally someone’s boyfriend’s style…just not Nate’s.
Pippa
Sigh. Yeah, Ryan would wear this unironically.
I find myself smiling despite myself. I’ll never stop being grateful for these girls taking me into their little group. I send a laughing emoji to Pippa.
Brinley
If you want classic Italian, a new little place just opened across the street from the Copper Cup. It’s got a real pretty garden in the back.
Cat
Sounds perfect, you’re a lifesaver. I’ll stop by and pick up the menu when I get there.
When I close the text, my chest feels tight. The girls all promised to stop by this morning to meet Eden. I should be excited at my oldest friend meeting my newest. Instead, I’m all wrapped up in anxiety and the knowledge that I’m betraying them. That’s no one’s fault but my own.
“What’s a five-letter word for ‘liar?’” Eden asks, interrupting my train of thought. She’s sitting across the counter, drinking a massive mug of coffee she has me refill every fifteen minutes.
I lean forward to glance at her laptop screen. “Aren’t you supposed to be applying for jobs, not doing crossword puzzles?”
“I spent all morning on LinkedIn, and I’ve run out of jobs I’m qualified for. What I have not run out of is crossword puzzles. So that’s my plan for the next hour. So, liar? Five letters, starts with p, ends with y .”
I think for a second. “Phony.”
Eden grins. “Damn, you’re good at this.”
Another synonym for liar: B-R-I-N-L-E-Y.
Luke hasn’t texted, and neither has Beau.
Of course, why would Beau text me, either?
It’s not like he knows my secret identity.
No one on earth knows, not even Eden, not even my editor.
Beau used to complain about Peppermint posts, but in the past year or so, he stopped mentioning them.
I guess he decided they weren’t worth worrying about.
But I know my brother. Luke will be freaking out about the interview going viral, and like the good friend he is, Beau is probably helping him through it.
The cost of being Peppermint has gotten higher and higher these past few years.
Somehow, the fallout always reaches me, through Beau, through the girls, through Luke.
A hand waves in front of my face. “Helloooo, earth to Brinley,” Eden says. “Are you in there?”
“Uh, yeah,” I stammer. “What’s up?”
“Six letter word for earthquake. First two letters, TR. Come on, Brin, I’m relying on you.”
“To do the entire crossword puzzle for you?” I mutter.
She crosses her arms. “What are you being all Sassy Brinley for? You love doing my crosswords for me. It makes you feel smart.”
“Sorry,” I sigh. “I guess busy season at the café just has me a little grumpy.”
“Right, it has absolutely nothing to do with a certain secret Beau or your brother…”
Back at camp, the other girls used to tease Eden and me for being able to communicate silently. The truth is, Eden is just so expressive, it's easy to know what she's thinking just from the look at her face. For example, right now, her face says, I know you're lying but I'll let it go for now.
We've been reading each other since we were ten, the summer Eden's parents shipped her to me for two weeks while they fought about something.
Luke was thirteen and bored and decided his life's purpose that summer was to tie us up like hostages with an old rope and leave us in my bedroom to figure our way out. Eden could pick a knot in seconds—I’d seen her do it—but for some reason, every single time it was Luke doing the tying, she took a curiously long time to escape.
I throw away the thought.
There wasn’t a single girl in our school that wasn’t crushing on Luke back then. Of course, Eden wouldn’t be the exception. And maybe it’s my own guilt making me project, but I’m so glad nothing ever happened between them.
I don’t think I could’ve stomached it. And Eden deserves better. Much better.
I smile back at her gratefully. She turns back to her crossword puzzle while I wipe down the counters and let my anxiety cloud around my head.
Sometime after lunch, the bell above the door rings as three gorgeous women burst inside. The tallest one, Maura, takes off her elegant designer jacket and hangs it on the coat rack. Cat has her arm linked in Pippa’s as they giggle about something.
Eden lifts her head and grins. “Oh, no. It’s the invasion you warned me about!”
“Don’t worry.” Pippa laughs. “Give us muffins and we’ll leave in peace.”
“Everyone, this is Eden,” I say. “And that’s Pippa, Maura, and Cat.”
“Hey, y’all. Brinley’s told me so much about you,” Eden says.
Cat immediately folds Eden into a hug, her curly blonde hair flying. “Welcome to Toronto! We’re so glad to have you.”
“Hope you like hugs,” Pippa says dryly.
“I love them. We’re big huggers in my family,” Eden says.
“Wait a minute,” Pippa says. “Does that mean you actually have a happy, healthy relationship with your family?”
She snorts. “I don’t know if you’d call having three overprotective brothers who won’t let you do anything a ‘normal’ kind of vibe.”
“Still, I’d trade my shitty brother for one of your overprotective ones any day,” I say.
“Aw, Luke’s not so bad,” Cat says.
“Speaking of, did you see what happened with Luke?” Pippa says.
My stomach drops. Just when I was distracted from the whole Peppermint situation, here it comes again, haunting me.
“What happened?” Eden asks.
“He’s so upset,” Cat says. “Some old blog post went viral and cost him this huge deal. The guys are losing their minds trying to figure out who writes it.”
Eden frowns. “Wait, how do they not know?”
“It’s an anonymous blog,” Pippa explains. “This person, Peppermint, has been writing about our friends for years. She published some shitty interview with a girl Luke hooked up with, spilling details about his whole kinky sex life.”
Eden’s face turns pink. “His what ?”
“You can spare us the details,” Maura says drily.
“All I’ll say is, take Fifty Shades and multiply it,” Pippa says. “Anyway, there was this whole morality clause mix-up and Luke lost a big deal over it. It’s so puritanical. Like, so what? The guy likes sex. It’s not a crime.”
Eden glances at me. “I’m sure Brinley doesn’t want to talk about all that.”
I sure don’t. Eden has no idea how much I wish someone would change the subject. I just know that it can’t be me. Long ago, I figured out the safest way to keep people from connecting me and Peppermint was to talk about her and the Toronto Tea as little as possible.
“I feel bad for Luke,” Maura says. “James told me he’s pretty shook up about it.”
“Of course he is!” Pippa nods. “But can I say something controversial?”
“Would saying no stop you?” Cat jokes.
Pippa laughs. “I have to admit, whoever writes the Toronto Tea is kind of funny sometimes, even if this one went too far.”
“I thought you hated them for writing about you and Ryan,” Cat says.
“Of course I do. But before I ended up in their crosshairs, I’d read it for fun. The writing’s good, especially Peppermint’s. She’s got the whole furious feminist thing that can be really refreshing.”
Any other day, I’d be thrilled to hear Pippa praise Peppermint’s writing. Now, though, my stomach churns. All I can do is sip my coffee and pray for the conversation to be over fast.
“Do you have any idea who it could be?” Eden asks.
“No. The guys are thinking maybe a coworker, or a journalist operating off tips,” Cat says.
“Honestly, whoever writes it clearly knows them personally. The details are too specific,” Pippa muses.
My hand tightens around my coffee mug. Shit. What she’s saying is unnervingly close to the truth. What if she tells Ryan? What if the guys have already realized that?
My phone buzzes in my pocket and I pull it out. Some of the tension eases from my stomach when I see that it’s Beau—or rather, it’s Kathy, the fake name I put on Beau’s contact. The last thing I need is for someone to see his name on my phone and wonder why Beau would text me.
Beau
Can I come over tonight? Is it okay with Eden there?
A new knot forms in my chest. We’ve always met at my place, with Luke living in Beau’s building.
Now that Eden’s my roommate, it changes things.
Tonight will be the first time we’ve been a couple in front of someone we actually know.
Before this, our relationship existed in a vacuum. No witnesses, no one watching us.
“Hey, Eden,” I murmur quietly. “Wanna go to the biography section with me? There’s a book I wanted to show you.”
Her eyes widen with curiosity, but she nods and follows me to the other side of the shop. I hand her Julia Fox’s autobiography and lean in close.
“Is it cool if Beau comes over tonight?”
“Really?” she squeaks, way too loudly. “Finally, I get to meet this mystery man and judge if he’s worth all this secrecy.”
My eyes narrow. “You have to be nice to him, Eden.”
“I’ll be good,” she says, waving a dismissive hand in a way that tells me she has no intention of following through. It was probably too much to expect, anyway.
“At least be cool about it around the girls, okay?” I mutter. “Seriously, Eden. This isn’t a game. If you slip up in front of anyone—a look, a comment, anything—it’s all over.”
Her expression softens. “Fine. I promise, I’ll keep my mouth shut. I know that’s what you want, even if I’m not completely on board. And thanks for the book—I really did want to read this.”
She heads back to our table, book in hand, and I send Beau a text back.
Brinley
Of course! Eden’s totally cool with it.
Beau
Great. I’ll be there in an hour.
Sighing, I shove my phone back in my pocket.
I feel an extra twinge of anxiety thinking about tonight.
It’s not that I think Eden will really be rude to Beau.
I just wonder how our relationship will look to someone else.
Whether what we have looks as real from the outside as it feels from the inside, or whether it looks like exactly what it is: two people hiding.