50. Vivienne
Vivienne
The Hendrix is full, which isn’t unusual for a Saturday night, but after spending the past six weeks at Belgrave, the city continues to be a shock to my system.
I debated staying in the country for the weekend, but after Cass left, loneliness crept through the walls and wormed its way into my heart.
Maybe I’m not as much of a loner as I thought I was.
Besides, we’re celebrating Bash’s and my birthday tonight, and there’s no way I would’ve been allowed to bail. I’m just glad we’re only doing a simple dinner. If Marlowe had gotten her way, we’d be at a villa on the beach with a hundred other people, and Florence + The Machine would be performing.
The table is littered with gifts and discarded wrapping paper.
I received a framed photograph of Rhya from Briar, a diamond choker from Marlowe, a signed first edition of Mrs. Dalloway from Shep, dark chocolate from Cassian, a hand-crafted chess set from Sutton, and a slip of paper from Bash with the words “good for one instance of diverting Mum and/or Dad’s attention.
” For as long as I can remember, it’s been our birthday tradition to give each other coupons, and this one might be the best yet.
My eyes flit to Cass on the other side of the table, and when I find the courage to look at his face, I see he’s studiously ignoring me. That might hurt more than the fact that he left. Even when he’s mad at me, he meets my gaze.
I take another sip of my vodka cranberry, hoping alcohol will numb some of the pain in my chest. I don’t know how I’m meant to go on after this. It already feels like I’m living in a fog.
Bash shifts in the chair beside me. “What’s going on with you and Cass?” he whispers.
My gaze involuntarily lands on Cass again, and as soon as our eyes meet, he looks away. “Nothing,” I mumble.
“Don’t shit with me, Viv. He told me he’s back in town for good.”
Bash is practically breathing down my neck, and I shrug him off. “I figured that would thrill you.”
“I’d be more thrilled if the two of you would go back to acting normal instead of like dogs in heat,” he hisses.
I jab my elbow into his ribs. “You’re an asshole.”
He chuckles, but it sounds hard. “I’m just looking out for my baby sister.”
“I’m older than you, dipshit.”
“Technicalities.”
“What are we doing tomorrow night?” Sutton asks, glancing around the table. “There’s a really good restaurant that just opened on Twenty-Ninth. They have these crab rolls that—”
“I can’t,” I say before she can get lost in a food haze. “I’m going to visit my grandma.”
Bash glances over. “You didn’t tell me that.”
I shrug and take another sip of my drink, knowing he’ll never ask to accompany me. He says old people are terrifying. “Surprise.”
Sutton pouts. “It won’t be any fun without you.”
“Sorry.” Giving her an apologetic wince, my gaze once again snags on Cass, who is looking at me for the first time all night, a knowing gleam in his eyes. I quickly glance away and stand up. “Excuse me. I need to use the restroom.”
When I’m nearly there, I glance over my shoulder as hurried footsteps grow closer behind me. Briar squeezes past two men in suits and reaches my side with a breathless smile.
“I wasn’t sure where the bathrooms were, so I’m following you.”
I give her the warmest smile I can muster with only fragments of my heart left in my chest. We both enter the restroom, and I fix my lipstick in the mirror while she disappears into a stall. When she’s done, she joins me at the sinks.
“To be honest, I was hoping to get a chance to talk to you tonight,” she says, washing her hands.
I meet her eyes in the mirror. Something in her tone makes me wary.
Grabbing a wad of paper towels to dry off, she checks under each stall to make sure we’re alone. Satisfied, she turns back to me. “Do you remember our conversation over brunch several months ago?”
Nodding, I toss my lipstick back into my purse. “We discussed my brother’s sex life”—I shoot her a warning look—“a conversation I hoped never to revisit.”
Briar turns a beautiful shade of pink, matching the tiny flowers on her dress. “Can we pretend we’re just friends and that I’m not dating your brother?”
I sigh. “Fine.”
“We finally . . . you know.” She tosses the towels in the rubbish bin. “Had sex.”
My hand stills on the blush compact in my purse. “I see.”
Several beats of silence pass, then she says, “Please say something, Vivienne.”
“Congratulations?” I pull out the blush and focus on brushing it onto my cheekbones, even though everything I applied before leaving home is still in place. I need something to do with my hands if I’m going to listen to this.
She props a hip against the vanity and crosses her arms, watching me. “You’re upset.”
I shut the compact and place it back in my bag. “Why would I be upset that you lost your virginity to my brother?”
“Because you told me to be careful.”
“Briar, listen.” I turn to face her, struggling to say the words I know she needs to hear from me. “You have to make your own choices. I can’t make them for you.”
Her lip trembles. “So you don’t think I made the wrong decision?”
“Do you think you did?”
She shakes her head. “I love him more than I thought possible. It’s like he’s gotten into my blood somehow. I can’t imagine my life without him in it.”
I know that feeling all too well. “Then I hope for your sake he feels the same way,” I tell her.
“He does,” she says simply. “He’s been struggling recently, but I know we can get through this.”
I study her for a few seconds, wondering if now is the time to warn her that Sebastian has many gifts, but his silver tongue might be his biggest one.
He’s always been able to charm his way into and out of any situation he desires.
Telling a girl she means the world to him is as easy for him as breathing.
And now that he won his bet with Marlowe, there isn’t anything tying him to Briar any more.
But I don’t have it in me to bring her world crashing to the ground tonight, so I give her a sweet smile. “I’m happy for you both.”
“Thanks, Vivienne.” She wraps her arms around me, and I catch a faint whiff of lilac before she releases me. She heads to the door, and just as her fingers wrap around the handle, the urge to say one more thing overtakes me.
“Wait, Briar,” I call. She glances back at me, and I move closer. “If anything happens between you and Bash, just know that we’re still friends, okay?”
She blinks in surprise, then a radiant smile spreads across her face. “Thank you, Viv. That means the world.”
The two of us walk back to our table, and I start to hope a tiger can change his stripes after all. Maybe Briar really is more than a conquest for Bash. For once, I’d love to be wrong about something.
Briar and I are approaching the others when Marlowe’s voice rings out. “So, did you do it?”
Bash laughs carelessly. “Yep. Two nights ago at the Carlton.”
Beside me, Briar stiffens and comes to a stop.
“Gross.” Sutton gags. “We do not need details.”
“Looks like you owe me ten grand,” Bash says, winking at Marlowe.
She tosses back her martini. “Do you have proof?”
“Hey,” Cass says, jerking his head up. “That’s not happening, Mar.”
“Come on,” I whisper in Briar’s ear, trying to drag her back to the restrooms, but she doesn’t move. “You don’t want to hear this.”
“I think maybe I should,” she says.
No one at the table can see us from this angle, but I wish someone would glance our way and stop this conversation from happening. I have a feeling I know exactly how it’s going to end.
“Proof wasn’t part of the deal,” Bash says, sipping his old-fashioned.
Marlowe’s laugh is tinged with a cruelty that makes me wince. She’s still reeling from the Finn situation, which means everyone has become a target for her. “Fine. I’ll wire the money in the morning.”
Briar slips from my grip and marches to the table before I can stop her.
Bash jolts upright in his chair, the grin on his face doing a shitty job of hiding his guilt.
His eyes meet mine as he tries to figure out how much we heard.
I glare at him in return, and he looks back at Briar, who has yet to sit down.
“Is it true?” she asks, staring down at him with a murderous expression I didn’t know she was capable of.
“Is what true?” he says, because he’s an idiot and doesn’t know the first thing about handling a woman after his charm wears off.
“I was a bet?” Briar’s eyes brim with unshed tears, but her voice sounds surprisingly strong.
Bash opens his mouth, then hesitates.
Her glare intensifies. “Don’t lie to me, Sebastian.”
He sags in his chair. “Yes,” he mutters, shooting daggers at Marlowe with his eyes, but she simply shrugs and sips her cocktail. Her mantra is when the house is already on fire, what’s a little more fuel?
“You made a bet that I would sleep with you?” Briar asks, her tone rising in pitch.
Bash gets to his feet and places both hands on her arms. “Briar, please. It wasn’t like that.”
“Then what was it like? Because your sister warned me this might happen.”
He looks at me over his shoulder, betrayal in his eyes. Our gazes hold.
How could you? he asks.
I’m sorry. I was just trying to protect her.
Why am I such a fuckup, Viv?
His shoulders slump as if they’re carrying the weight of the world, and I see the resolution cross his face a split second before he turns back to Briar. “You’re right,” he says quietly. “It was all a game. I’m sorry.”
She sucks in a breath and clutches her midsection. “No,” she whispers. “You don’t mean that.”
“I do,” Bash says, nodding, his voice a flat monotone.
“You told me you loved me.” The pain in her voice breaks my heart.
Sutton is shredding a napkin into pieces, Shep pretends to be engrossed in his phone, and Cass is staring at the table with his arms crossed. Even Marlowe looks uncomfortable as she spins her martini glass around and around.
“Bash.” I reach out a hand to him. If he’s saying these things because he thinks it’s the only way, I might be able to stop him before he ruins this for good.
He shrugs me off without looking at me. “You should go,” he tells Briar.
“Did you ever love me?” Her words are like broken glass.
He stares at the floor and doesn’t say a thing.
Clapping a hand over her mouth, she lets out a tiny whimper. “You promised me forever. You said I was the best thing to ever happen to you. You said—”
“I say a lot of things,” Bash mumbles, not lifting his gaze. “Most of the time it doesn’t mean anything.”
“No.” Briar shakes her head. “I don’t believe you. We talked about the future. We talked about getting a cat. We talked about marriage, Sebastian Wilson!”
Shep and Sutton both lift their heads, and the three of us stare at Bash in shock.
Cass and Marlowe don’t look up, but I have no doubt they’re as surprised as the rest of us.
Bash has made it clear he has no plans of ever settling down.
If he promised Briar a future, he was either lying through his teeth or things between the two of them were a lot more serious than any of us knew.
“You deserve so much better, Briar.” Bash’s voice cracks. “I’m sorry that I can’t be what you want me to be.”
“Please don’t do this,” she says, wringing her hands. “Please, Bash. Please don’t do this.”
“I’m sorry” is all he says, and I wish they’d chosen a better place to do this than in the middle of a packed restaurant with dozens of curious patrons looking on, not to mention the rest of us.
Briar gulps back a sob. “I gave you everything. Everything.”
“For the record, I never meant to hurt you.” Bash looks down at his black Vans. “It wasn’t supposed to get so complicated.”
“So I was just a complication.” Tears stream down her face as she watches the boy she loves dismantle her entire future. When he doesn’t say anything else, she sniffs and nods. “Goodbye, Sebastian.”
She walks to the door with her head held high, and I know what kind of inner strength that takes. I push back my chair and run after her, winding through clusters of people.
“Briar,” I call as she pushes outside. Rain runs down the awning and onto the sidewalk. Neither of us has an umbrella. I call her name again, and this time she turns.
“I should have listened to you,” she says, coming to a stop. “But to be honest, I’m not sure it would have made a difference. I fell so hard and so fast.”
“I know.” I tug her into a hug, and she lets out several shuddering sobs. “He has that effect on people. You can’t blame yourself.”
Pulling back, she sniffs and wipes her eyes. “What am I going to do, Vivienne? He’s my whole world. I don’t know how to . . .” She gestures at the street, where cars are slowly creeping from stoplight to stoplight. “I don’t know how to go on without him.”
“You’ll figure it out,” I say. “You’re strong. Too strong to be taken down by a man.”
Her eyes tell me she doesn’t believe me. “It hurts. It hurts so fucking bad.” She presses a hand to her chest.
“I know. Trust me, I know.” Wrapping my arms around her, I pull her against me once more. I know exactly what that kind of pain feels like, and as much as I might wish otherwise, I’ve yet to find the cure.