17. Chapter 16 Katrina
M arch 2024
“Did you want to go shopping with Mia and me tomorrow?” Josie asks as Bryce locks the door behind us. “It’s shopping for fun, nothing for the pool, or the house.”
“But I find that kind of shopping fun,” I tease, earning a laugh from Josie. “I’d love to, but I can’t. I’m going home this weekend. My boyfriend needs me to accompany him to some charitable gathering for the hospital.”
Bryce gives me a look of pure disgust. “That sounds boring as hell.”
Josie swats his chest. “Don’t pretend you didn’t attend charity auctions and other events when you were swimming.” She turns to look at me with a pout. “I was never invited because we were just friends.” The who slept together was heavily implied by the way she put air quotes over the last two words.
“You would have been bored out of your mind,” Bryce protests. I’m willing to bet money they’ve had this argument before.
“Probably, but I would have gotten to see you in a different kind of suit,” she muses, pressing a thoughtful finger to her chin. I see the way her eyes rake over his form and suddenly become a bit uncomfortable. “Which would have made it worth it.”
“You had three months of seeing me in a suit like that every day. I think I made up for the ten charity events you didn’t attend with me.”
Josie makes a face at the memory of Bryce’s corporate job. I’ve yet to see any photographic proof of this job.
“Katrina!”
The deep, firm voice calling my name startles all of us. I’m shocked when I see Will’s red, sleek sports car sitting at the curb. My boyfriend is striding toward us in dark jeans and a button-down, like he hadn’t just driven two hours to get here.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Bryce’s tone is low. I’m not sure he meant for anyone to hear him, but there’s a darkness in it, too.
I don’t have the chance to question what he means before Will is greeting me with an exaggerated kiss on my cheek. I turn my focus to him. “What are you doing here?”
“Picking you up, of course,” he replies breezily, like it’s obvious.
It’s not, though. This wasn’t part of the plan and Will always sticks to the plan. He doesn’t even like it when I change a side dish for a planned dinner without talking to him. “I thought I was driving home to meet you.”
He shrugs in such a casual way that I want to scream. Who is this man? Why is he acting like this? “Does it really matter? I thought I’d surprise you.”
My suspicions are raised. Will doesn’t do surprises, and he doesn’t do romantic gestures. Most of the time, I’m lucky if I can get him to call me his girlfriend. He’s up to something, or at least has a reason to be here.
Thankfully, I don’t have to wait long for my answer.
“Bryce Clark!” Will pushes me away slightly as he puts on his best charming smile to shake Bryce’s hand. Bryce looks down at the outstretched hand but doesn’t shake it. Will drops it, undeterred. “It’s great to see you, man.”
Bryce glowers at my boyfriend. “Jacobson. Can’t say the same about you.” His gaze moves to me. “You’re dating Will Jacobson?”
Something about his tone makes me want to say no and assure him I would never do something so utterly ridiculous, but it wouldn’t do any good now. I’ve spent two months complaining about my crappy boyfriend, and now he’s standing here. Even worse, I feel a prickling sensation up my spine that says I’ve been lied to. The way Bryce is watching his every move—the way his shoulders tense—indicates that there’s more than just a casual rivalry between them.
“We’ve been together for two years!” Will brags, slinging his arm around my shoulder to wrench me into his side. “We make a wonderful team.”
We’re not a team. We’re barely even a couple. There’s also nothing all that wonderful about us.
Josie has her hand in Bryce’s, trying to pull him away from the situation, but he remains firmly in place, glaring at Will, and then at me. I try to squirm away from Will’s hold, but he just tightens it. A silent demand that I stay by his side and make him look good.
I don’t know why, and I can be mad at myself later, but I cave.
“How long has this been going on?” He motions between Josie and Bryce. My brows arch at the realization that he doesn’t just know Bryce, he knows them both. Which means he has to know about the blog she used to have with Mia. Their circles were more closely linked than he’d ever let on. Even when I flat out asked him. “Can’t say I ever saw it coming. She doesn’t seem like your type, man.”
Bryce’s lip curls with a snarl, but Josie is the one who speaks up. “Our relationship is none of your business. We don’t really give a shit what you think.”
Will’s grin is amused as he looks her up and down, sizing her up. “Good. I don’t want your opinion of mine, either.”
“Kat’s an adult, Jacobson,” Bryce sneers. “She can speak for herself.”
I stare at Bryce, stunned, not sure what to say. I know what that is meant to be. He’s protecting me. Reminding me I don’t have to let this man walk all over me. There’s no way I’ll get the upper hand now, though.
“Of course she can,” Will jovially replies. This is nothing but a big game to him, a game to see who can piss the other off first. “Still, I don’t want to hear whatever opinions you’ve formed about me from what she’s said. It’s been years and our relationship is our own business.”
Does he know that I’m on the verge of ending things with him? Is he sensing that my being around them is some kind of threat to him? Of course, they’ve helped me see the truth, that I deserve better, but that’s been something I’ve been thinking for months. It’s not their fault.
“Time doesn’t mean change,” Bryce challenges, looking over at me. “You guys should go. You wouldn’t want to hit traffic.”
I look over at Josie, whose gaze tells me to listen to him. I’m not sure what issue they have with each other, but it must run deep, and is something Josie can see turning ugly. She’s telling me to get him out of here before it gets that far, and she’ll do the same with Bryce.
“Will,” I say, slipping out from under his arm but keeping a grip on his hand to tug him toward the car, “let’s go. I’ll see you guys on Monday.”
Josie’s already leading Bryce away from us, toward her Jeep across the lot. At this point, there’s nothing I can do with my car except leave it here. We have security drive through all night to keep people from stealing materials or breaking into the property. Still, I’ll need to get my bag, but I’ll wait for them to be gone before I do.
“Hey, Clark!” I can see the way Bryce stiffens at his name, but he doesn’t turn toward Will. “Be sure to say hey to Abrams for me.”
Bryce turns, like he’s going to say something, but Josie is pulling him away. I quickly do the same, telling Will to get in the car while I grab my bag from mine. I’m hoping to have a moment with either Josie or Bryce to figure out what all this is about, but they’re already in Josie’s Jeep, pulling out of the parking lot.
With a sigh, I grab my bag from my trunk and head back to Will’s car. He didn’t bother to pull it up to where I was parked, despite doing so would give him a straight shot out of the lot. I wait until I’m buckled in and he’s leaving the lot before I turn on him. “What the hell was that about?”
“It was nothing.” He waves me off. “Just two friends catching up.”
“Don’t lie to me, Will.” I glare at the side of his head, knowing full well trying to have this conversation with him is going to be pointless. “I saw the way Bryce looked at you. He never would have expected you to be the one standing there. What happened between you guys?”
“I’m surprised Clark didn’t know I’m your boyfriend.” Of course, he’s going to blame this on me. I should have seen that coming. “Why didn’t you tell him? I told you we knew each other.”
“You told me you swam against one another and that’s it,” I argued. “Do not blame this on me. I didn’t think I needed to bring up the fact that I was dating someone they occasionally swam against in college. I didn’t even know if they’d remember you!”
Something flashes in his eyes, and I instantly recognize it as anger. What could he possibly be angry about? He’d told me countless times they swam against one another. Why would Bryce and Carter remember someone who quit after college? It’s not like they were best friends with every person who had a lane in each race. That would be ridiculous. Unless there’s more to Will’s story than he’s told me.
Which wouldn’t be surprising, since he seems to enjoy lying about everything.
“Why does he hate you so much?” I ask, trying to get the answers I need.
Fiddling with the radio, Will shrugs. “Don’t know, ask him.”
The car fills with some medical podcast that I can’t focus on, but it’s enough of a sign from Will that I need to shut up. Instead, I take the opportunity to pull my phone out and start doing some research to find out just who I’m dating. If he lied about how well he knew Bryce and Carter, what else could he be lying about?