Chapter 2 – Sydney
ONE WEEK LATER
SYDNEY
Ashton: Good morning, Babygirl!
I sigh and swipe the notification from my phone screen. Not that it matters. The fact that I haven’t read or responded to any of Ashton’s messages since we last spoke hasn’t stopped him from messaging me multiple times every day.
Or—I’m reminded when I open my door—from sending me gifts.
The moment I step out of my apartment, I stumble over the box of red roses sitting on my doorstep, accidentally trampling half of them in my effort to stay upright.
Shit.
This is the third time this week I’ve stepped on a present he’s left for me.
Yesterday, I almost died tripping over a stuffed dog that meekly said “I WOOF you” before nearly sending me flying down the stairs.
With a frustrated sigh, I kick the box of flowers over the threshold and into my apartment, vowing to deal with them later.
I wish he would stop. Or at least slow down.
I have enough roses filling my apartment now to open a flower shop, and I’m quickly running out of places to put them.
I slam the door to my apartment shut, crushing another rose blossom in the doorjamb, and head downstairs to work.
I hate that I miss him. Hate that, as furious as I am, a part of me wants to message him back, wants to talk to him, wants to hear his side of things.
But I’m not ready for that. Not yet, at least.
The moment I round the corner to the Book Boutique and Bakery, I spot a massive stuffed bumblebee leaning against the entrance and groan.
If I thought today was going to be a flowers-only gift-barrage, I was apparently mistaken.
The two-foot bumblebee proudly wears a T-shirt saying “BEE mine”, and I don’t bother to collect this one as I unlock the door and speed past it into the café. I leave the gift outside, hoping someone else will pick it up and find some joy in it.
I know I won’t.
By the time Jade has made me my morning caramel latte, and I’m leaning against the counter to enjoy it, there are three more messages from him filling up my phone screen.
Ashton: I have a fight coming up.
Ashton: At the Golden Rings casino.
Ashton: There’s a ticket for you at will call. Please tell me you’ll come.
Swipe, swipe, and swipe.
I should have known Ash would have difficulty understanding the concept of needing space. But this is getting a little ridiculous.
“Which one is that?” Jade asks, glancing over from her spot at the register and taking a sip from the coffee mug she’s cradling. Her hair is a fiery red today, with bright orange tips that pair well with her neon yellow nail polish. I wonder how long this look will last before she colors it again.
“Ashton,” I grumble around the rim of my cup.
“Ah.” She chuckles. “The puppy dog.”
Maybe a week ago, I would have agreed with her. Ashton, despite his size and muscles, comes across like a lost little puppy, doesn’t he? So eager and enthusiastic. I’d let that enthusiasm sweep me right off my feet, blind to the fact that he isn’t a puppy at all.
Ashton is an attack dog. Built to fight.
Built to hurt.
My thoughts must be showing on my face, because Jade sets her drink down on the counter, lips folding into a frown.
“How’re you holding up today, Syd?” she asks me gently.
How can I possibly sum up all the feelings swirling inside me after the whirlwind of the last few weeks? How do I come to terms with the fact that the not one, not two, but three men I’ve involved myself with are not at all what they seemed?
That they’re dangerous.
That they’re liars.
That I unknowingly slept with a married man.
I feel a rage sizzling inside me, a live wire ready to set light to everything in its path. All the work I’ve done over the years to keep my temper in check is coming undone, and I feel like I could snap at any moment.
You could hurt them, like they hurt you, a terrible voice inside me says.
I take a deep breath, pushing that voice down as deep as I can.
“Fine,” I tell Jade with a noncommittal shrug. It’s the one word in the women’s lexicon capable of summing it all up. Saying everything while saying nothing at all. “I’m fine.”
My phone chimes again, and I scowl at it.
“Do men not understand what ‘fuck off and leave me alone’ means?” I ask Jade, swiping the notification away in irritation.
“Obviously not these men,” she says, sounding more amused than sympathetic.
“It’s overwhelming! The constant messages, the gifts!
I need a break from it all, I need space to get my head on straight and figure out what I want!
” I snap. “And how am I supposed to do that with him messaging me every three goddamn seconds?” I slam my hand against the counter, jostling my coffee and making Jade’s eyes widen just a fraction in surprise.
Enough to make me realize… I’m throwing a tantrum in the middle of my store.
I am an ocean of calm, I remind myself, squeezing my eyes shut. I count to ten, forcing a wave of calming thoughts to wash over me.
My phone chimes again.
“I’m going to throw it at the fucking wall,” I say in a voice that doesn’t sound calm in the slightest.
Jade laughs.
But this time it isn’t Ash trying to reach me for the hundredth time. Hell, it isn’t even Sebastian, the only one of them respecting my wishes and keeping his distance.
It’s Dorothy, our landlord.
Dorothy: I wanted you to be the first to know. I signed the papers this morning, dear. The new owner will contact you soon. All my best.
Great.
Just fucking great. I’d almost forgotten with everything else going on that our building was being sold. Let’s add that on top of the pile of shit I need to deal with.
I put my head in my hands and groan.
“Cheer up, buttercup,” Jade says, placing a comforting hand on my back. “At least they’re not still coming in here every day, right?”
It’s a small sliver of comfort, but she’s right. After I’d put my foot down with Ash, their presence fully disappeared from our shop. And that is something to be thankful for, even if I do miss the money they spent.
Not that we aren’t doing well financially this month. Even without all three men here buying out our bakery case and Staff Picks book display, we are well on track to have our most profitable quarter ever.
I don’t want to think about how much of that success is because of Ashton sponsoring a social media campaign for our store, generating more online buzz and business than I’d ever thought possible.
Just one more way in which the three of them felt perfectly at ease inserting themselves into my life.
I may not be angry that we’re doing well, but I am angry that my business is now tied to them, however tangentially.
If I didn’t even know Alec was married, how am I supposed to know how their…
illicit activities will affect my store? How this might come back to hurt me?
When I finally drop my hands from my face and look over at her, I catch Jade frowning at the empty table Sebastian used to sit at every day.
“Don’t tell me you’re missing them,” I say with an accusatory tone.
“Oh, please.” She shakes her head. “I miss the big tips, that’s all.” Her smile turns devilish as she turns to me and says, “Maybe you’re missing their big, big tips too, hm?”
“Oh, shut up.” I laugh, rolling my eyes. Only Jade could make such an ill-timed joke and still get a laugh out of me.
“But no, I don’t miss them,” Jade assures me. “I’m team Sydney all the way. And until they’re back in your good graces, they sure as hell aren’t in mine.”
I smile. “Well, that day may never come, but I appreciate the support. Love you,” I tell her. The bell above our shop door chimes as someone enters.
“To the moon and back,” Jade answers with a wink.
“Please don’t tell me you two still say that to each other?” A familiar voice asks with a chuckle. “I thought you stopped that back in high school.”
Jade and I both turn in surprise, and there, standing in the doorway of our shop, holding Ash’s stuffed bee…is Justin.
Jade’s little brother.
I don’t have time to hide my shock at seeing him before Jade is moving, racing out from behind the counter and screeching like a banshee as she barrels into his arms.
“Easy!” His laugh is low and warm as he pivots the stuffed animal away from her, protecting it from being crushed between their bodies. “You’re going to damage the giant carnival gift someone left for you!”
“It’s for Sydney. And trust me, she doesn’t want it,” Jade says, voice muffled against his shoulder as she squeezes him tighter.
“For Sydney, huh?” he asks, looking over at me and grinning. “I should have guessed.”
Justin is only a year younger than us, and even though we practically grew up together, I haven’t seen him in years, not since he left to get his PhD at some fancy Ivy League university on the other side of the country. But now he’s here and…all grown up.
Justin was always lanky and a little awkward, built like a fence pole.
Puberty only made it worse, leaving him a little too tall and a little too thin.
But now he’s filled out. Broad shoulders, sculpted arms, and dark hair that flops across his brow in a way that probably breaks hearts on a daily basis.
He’s handsome, all grown up and in the flesh, but to me, he doesn’t hold a candle to Ashton.
Or Alec…
Stop it, I admonish myself, clenching my fists at my side. Stop thinking about them.
“Wait.” Jade pulls back from their hug, narrowing her eyes at her brother in suspicion. “You only ever show up when something’s wrong.” Her voice lowers, threateningly. “What did you do?”
“What did I do? Is that the kind of welcome your most favorite little brother in the whole world deserves?” Justin asks playfully, twin dimples forming on his cheeks as he smiles down at her.
“You’re my only brother, little or big. And speaking of… Did you hit another growth spurt?” She slaps his arm and scowls. “Unfair. How did I get stuck at 5’1” and you just keep growing? You’re hoarding the height in this family.”
“Can’t help it if I inherited the tall and charming genes,” Justin says with a shrug.
“Tall, sure. Charming? Questionable.” She drags him toward where I’m standing at the counter. “Syd, look who came crawling back from nerd camp! And he brought you a giant stuffed animal to add to your growing collection!”
Justin sets the bumblebee on the countertop, turning his attention to me with a crooked grin. “Hey, Syd. It’s been a while. You look good.”
“And you look…tall,” I answer, fighting to keep a straight face. “You know, for a brat.”
Justin recoils. “No, don’t do that to me. Don’t try to bring that stupid nickname back.”
“Like it ever went away. Come on, if you act like a brat for most of your life, you’re going to earn the nickname.
It’s only fair,” Jade says. He was never that bad, not really.
But it only took him tattling on us one too many times for the name to stick.
“But you’re avoiding my question. What are you doing here?
” Her grin widens, and she pokes his ribcage.
“Did you graduate early, you little brainiac?”
“Close!” Justin says excitedly, matching her smile with one of his own. “I quit!”
The smile slips off my face, and I turn to Jade in shock. It takes a few seconds for her brain to catch up.
“What do you mean you quit? You dropped out of your PhD program?” Jade asks in disbelief. She smacks him on the arm, and when he barely reacts, she smacks him again, punctuating each word with another slap. “After everything? You were so close to finishing!”
“Hey, back off! Mom and Dad already gave me hell for it. I don’t need this from you, too,” Justin says, fending off her punches.
He rubs his arm where she was hitting him, but I know it’s just for show.
There’s no way she was doing any damage with those adorable little slaps.
The physical strength of an infant, my Jade.
“You already told Mom and Dad?” Jade swallows audibly. “Yikes. How’d they take it?”
“Well, let’s just say I would love to crash on your couch,” he says, avoiding her eyes, a blush coloring his cheeks. “Because I am not really welcome at home right now.”
Jade winces. “Fuck. I mean, yeah, of course you can crash at my place, but fuck. At least you’re avoiding the dropout stereotype of living in your mom’s basement.” She says it as a joke, but there’s no disguising the pity in her words.
“Somehow crashing on my sister’s couch doesn’t feel much better.” Justin throws back his head and blows a lock of dark hair out of his eyes. “But thanks. I just need to make a little money and crash somewhere while I figure out what my next steps are. So, if you hear of any place that’s hiring—”
“He could work here,” I say to Jade immediately. “I mean, it’s not a lot of money, but we’re finally turning enough profit to hire someone. And we’ve been talking about needing some part-time help.”
“Yes!” Jade says, clapping her hands together excitedly.
Justin doesn’t look so convinced. “I don’t know. I don’t want to put you out and—”
“Shut up, stop acting like you’re even remotely considerate, you brat. You’ll take the job. In fact, you can start right now,” Jade tells him, picking up a dish rag and chucking it at him.
He catches it, frowning. “Does this mean I have to call you ‘boss’?”
“Absolutely you do!” she says cheerily, with just a hint of evil coloring her smile.