Breaking Even(65)

“Shit,” Ethan groans. “How the hell did we miss that?”

I just laugh as I make my way over to Brin, but her smile has lost its depth. It seems forced now. Brittle even. I hate that smile.

“Did you slap her?” Ethan asks, whining almost.

Brin smirks while sipping her drink, and then she says, “Just a little tap. The drink in her face came from Ash.”

Ash walks up, moving away from the door where Leah was just hauled out. “I’ve really wanted to do that since she started calling Tag,” she gloats, smiling as she hands her cup to the bartender for some fresh water.

“Damn,” Wren says, joining us. “What’d I miss?”

We all pout, but Ash is the only one to laugh. Brin seems a thousand miles away. This is the sort of drama that I like to avoid. She’s upset but not talking about it. I didn’t invite Leah, but I didn’t tell her that Leah was still trying to get me to see her either.

“Why was she even here?” Wren asks, looking at Ash.

“Hell if I know. I certainly didn’t invite her. She must have heard us talking about it a couple of nights ago when Tag set her up with Rye.”

Brin’s lips tighten as she stares down at her drink. I wish I could see inside her head right now. I can’t tell if she’s pissed at me or just upset about what Leah said.

“Oh, so you two are newly together?” Ethan muses, looking between Brin and me.

She sighs while taking a napkin and wiping her lips, trying to get rid of that terrible shit I’ve hated all night.

“Dear God. We’re not together,” she growls, walking away from all of us.

“What the hell was that about?” Wren asks, glaring at me like it’s my fault.

Drama. Drama. Drama.

“Hell if I know.”

“This is the part where you go find out,” he prompts, giving me a shove in the direction that Brin went.

“You heard her. We’re not together. That’s boyfriend shit.”

He continues to glare at me like I’m an idiot, but I return the glower. “You’re making her feel like she’s not good enough,” Ash says, interrupting the stare down.

Fuck. “All I did was invite her here with me. She said yes. I’ve done nothing but—”

“Exactly,” she interrupts, looking so damn smug. “You’ve done nothing. You probably haven’t even told her what you expect from all of this. If you fuck someone you’re friends with, you have to talk to them. That’s how it works. Now go talk to her.”

***

BRIN

I would cry if it wouldn’t give me away. Why do I want to cry? I never cry—unless big, stupid, confusing idiots fix my car. Why won’t everyone just butt out of our business?

I contemplate calling a cab, and I even pull out my phone as I stare out at the ocean. My face is mostly clean now. I just spent ten minutes trying to scrub off the pounds of makeup I put on.

What was I thinking?

I know exactly what I was thinking. I tried to convince myself that I could get the Sterling sparkle through makeup, hair, and clothes. It doesn’t work that way. I looked exactly the same, only I looked like the girl playing dress-up, and Leah called me out on it.

I still can’t believe I slapped her. But when she chased me, yelling over the music that Rye had no standards, that he was a horny dumbass with no brains, I couldn’t help myself. I could deal with her slamming me, but my temper exploded when she started badmouthing him. I deserved what she said about me, because I stopped being me tonight.

I’m trying to convince the world that it’s okay for Rye—a guy who couldn’t be sexier if he tried—to want me. Why am I doing this to myself? What am I doing with him? This isn’t me.

“You going to keep hiding? If so, can I hide, too?” Rye asks from behind me, and I laugh humorlessly while dropping to the sand. I waited too long to call a cab. Just my luck.

“It’s a public beach,” I say through a sigh. “It’s hard to hide out here.”

He smiles tightly while coming to drop down beside me. “The new will wear off and they’ll start talking about something other than us. They’re just excited right now.”

This isn’t the conversation I expected. It’s actually completely different, and I almost kiss him to thank him. But then he opens his mouth again.

“Brin, I want to be honest.” Bubble is popping, reality is coming, and humiliation is waiting to pounce. “I don’t want a relationship. I really like this thing between us and how great yesterday was, but I keep things simple. I don’t think you want something simple. You deserve a hell of a lot more than that.”