Breaking Even(35)

Something crashes to the ground in my room, and a series of muttered curses and yelps of pain ring out in sequence. Then I hear the window in my room opening and slamming within seconds apart. Did he just call someone or something a vile bastard?

“What was that?” Ash asks, recoiling in alarm.

“That would be my very annoying neighbor trying to carry out some nefarious plan of revenge. Apparently things went awry. Pun intended.”

I grin as they all chuckle, and Ash says, “Come on out, Rye. We could use advice from a man right now.”

“No thank you. I’ll just stay in here until you all leave,” he calls back, and I stifle a laugh.

“Does he sneak into your room often?” Tria asks. I don’t like her teasing smile right now, because she’s giving me way too much credit if she thinks Rye is into me.

I grin while joking, “Usually he waits until after I go to sleep, and then he breaks in and breathes heavily in my ear.”

“That’s bullshit! I never breathe heavily. I’m afraid it’ll wake you up,” he says, playing along instead of being defensive, and everyone laughs again.

“I’ve never heard him joke before,” Rain says, her eyes on Tria.

“Me neither,” Tria says, grinning.

They apparently don’t know him very well, because that’s all the man knows how to do.

“Come have a beer,” I say to him as I stand and head to the fridge. I return to the table with two beers and a pitcher of margaritas.

With a reluctant sigh, he comes out, eyeing the table full of women. His arms have spots of blood on them, and so do his hands. What the hell has he been doing? He looks like he got into a fight with a thorn bush.

“What happened to you?” Tria gasps, staring at the same red flakes of blood that I am.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he mumbles, sulking.

“Did you know I was pregnant?” Ash asks Rye, ambushing him.

He doesn’t even act affected by that question.

“I knew about the condom breaking. Shit happens. He didn’t know if you were pregnant,” Rye says with a shrug. “It’s not like he can pee on a stick for you.”

“But he knew I could be pregnant,” she growls, taking her anger out on the only man in view.

He comes to sit as close to me as he can get and as far away from Ash as he can manage. I’d laugh, but now is not the time.

He picks up his beer just as I take a sip of mine, and then he swaps the bottles and takes my beer instead. I’d ask why, but I already know the answer. Instead of reacting at all, I just start drinking the new beer.

“Someone else talk,” Ash mumbles, burying her head in the crook of her arm as she rests it on the table. “I’m tired of being the only one with issues.”

Raya sighs hard while staring at her engagement ring, twisting it absently while remaining lost in thought. “Kade won’t let me in. He refuses to let me help him through anything, and since Thomas died... He just keeps pushing me away. He won’t even look at me right now. I’ve tried to be patient—give him time to grieve—but I think he’s only growing farther away from me with every passing day.

“I left the vineyard three days ago, turned off my phone, and I’ve been staying in a hotel. We’ve already moved back the wedding date twice—even though we’re weren’t even planning the wedding until spring. I’m starting to think he regrets proposing. It’s hard to love someone if you can’t let them in. And he just keeps shutting me out.”

“Have you tried talking to him?” Rye asks, and he’s met with a glare I didn’t know Raya was capable of.

“No. Why didn’t I think about talking to him?” she asks, sarcasm dripping from her tone. “I love the jackass, but he’s... Well, I’m pissed.”

“Why are men so damn stupid?” Tria growls.

“Men suck,” Rain says for the hundredth time.

“I can’t believe he didn’t tell me I was pregnant,” Ash groans.

Tria decides to take her turn after a long, deep breath. “Kode has gotten a little more aggressive lately than usual. He punched a guy last night because the guy’s hand might have groped my ass. But I had warned him the guy was a sleaze-ball photographer, and had asked him to keep his cool since he insisted on joining me at my meeting. I needed that guy to use Beauty Graffiti on his shoots. He sure as hell won’t now.”

“He grabbed your ass in front of Kode?” Rain asks in shock. “I’m surprised Kode let him walk away.”

“I love Kode for who he is, but there’s a line. My business is the line. The guy was inappropriate, but I was handling it. Kode can’t just swoop and give me that reputation. No one will work with me otherwise. I can handle things myself from time to time.”