Make Me (Sterling Shore Series #10)(28)

"That's Dale," Ruby says with a shrug. "He's either all in or not in at all. I've heard Maverick gripe about the fact he's a horrible wingman, because he doesn't do casual."

A sense of pride and excitement swells inside me. I almost wish I had never done casual so we'd have that in common.

Raya's eyes settle on me, very studiously. "I'm Vivica's cousin," she says with a small wince. "And I'm sorry."

It takes me a few beats to get the meaning, and my eyes flick around the table to see everyone watching me. She's the one who told Dale.

This is suddenly very awkward.



       
         
       
        

I also wonder how much Dale has told them, since it's evident he's close to these people. There's no doubt they all know everything, hence the ever thickening silence around me.

Desperate to get the attention off me, I ignore that comment, and ask, "So how about all of you?"

They take the hint. From there, everyone starts chattering, explaining who they are or what they do. Explaining how they ended up in this group.

"Rye was a dick," Maggie is saying in agreement to whatever Brin just said.

"But he's not anymore," Brin says, smiling as her eyes flick down to an engagement ring.

"Good. Because I hate dicks," Maggie says, grinning as well.

Several people groan, including Carmen.

"Terrible pun, babe," Carmen says before kissing her hand in a chaste show of affection.

Oh, now I get the pun.

They all chatter on, and I sit back quietly, listening, observing. I feel out of place, and I know it shows.

In a room full of tycoons and sharks, I'm usually the most confident, and I control all the negotiations for every business deal I make. At a table full of women, I feel out of sorts.

I also realize just how little of a life I have when I listen to some of their stories. All I have outside of Dale stories, are tales of vicious, cold-hearted revenge, and work tales. Unless they want to hear about my gaming abilities and high scores; then I'm golden.

Someone comes and takes our orders during all this and then slips back out while I sip my water.

"Ethan is determined that we need to get married before the baby comes," Bella says, rolling her eyes. "But I don't want to get married just because I'm pregnant. In fact, I don't want to get married while I'm pregnant. I want to be drunk as hell on my honeymoon so we can have wild, crazy, loud sex."

"You already have wild, crazy, loud sex," Allie grumbles. "That cabin we rented was not big enough for all of us. Angel still wants to know why Aunt Bella was screaming if it wasn't a nightmare."

Bella turns a wonky shade of red before giggling.

"Ethan?" I ask, confused, then suddenly it dawns on me. "Ethan Noles?"

She nods, smiling like she understands why I find that hard to grasp.

Tria is with Kode and I still haven't grasped that. How can I wrap my head around Ethan Noles being with someone like Bella? Someone who isn't a crazy bitch like Star?

Can Bella handle a guy like Ethan? Violent and definitely an asshole? Not that he'd ever hit her. As far as I know, he was more of a fighter with men. But the asshole part refers to how he treated women.

Then I realize Brin is talking about her fiancé being Rye Clanton, and my mind is blown. 

Don't get me wrong, Brin is every form of adorable there is. But Rye was always super shallow, only dating supermodel types. And he was always a dick to them.

"So are all your apps games?" Allie asks in a desperate attempt to include me.

Once more, all the attention settles on me.

"Mostly." I realize my one-word answer isn't enough when they continue to stare. "I have a few other apps for various things, one being a product finder so you can find something in particular without going into every store around you, in case you don't have time to buy whatever you need online. There's also a prank app."

"Prank app?" Brin asks, perking up as her eyes glisten with intrigue.

I'm not sure why everyone at the table is groaning again, but I answer Brin.

"Yeah. It's called the Trojan Horse Phone Prank. You download the app to your phone and someone else's phone. Then you set it up-hunter and prey. The prey app looks like a fitness monitor when they open the app, unless they go into settings and enter the password. As long as they're online, the hunter version actually tells you when they're typing a message so you can reroute it and send it to another phone. It has caused some epically embarrassing moments."

I grin, but all the girls are looking at me with blank eyes.

I guess you have to be fairly juvenile to enjoy the prank.

"What?" Bella finally asks. "You're saying there's an app that actually sends your texts to the wrong person?"

Everyone stares at her now, including Brin, who looks like she's about to burst out laughing.

"Yeah," I say with a shrug.

She's cursing as she quickly juggles her phone out of her purse, and she thrusts it over the table, handing it to me. Confused, I take it.

"See if it's on my phone."

My eyebrows go up, but I swipe her phone. No password. That's not smart.

Quickly, my eyes land on an app that would cause problems. "Actually, you have the knock-off version. It's not as good, because it doesn't alert you to a text. And the app doesn't even hide its intentions."

I look up to see her nostrils flare and her lips press to a thin line.

"If you had my version on here, it would actually be much more efficient and-"

"I'm the prey," she growls, and my mouth forms a silent "O" in understanding.

I also try really hard not to laugh when her cheeks darken and her eyes burn with fury.

"Make it stop," she goes on evenly.

I simply delete the app and hand her back her phone.

She cuts her eyes toward Rain.

"You do a lot of research for your books," Bella tells her. "Find out if pregnant women get a pass on mass murder because of hormones or something."

Again, my eyebrows hit my hairline.

"Sure," Rain says, grinning. "But you have to admit, that's pretty brilliant."

"Maverick will die first," Bella says, practically seething. "If Ethan knew about this, then I'm going to be a single mother."

No one seems to take her threats seriously, so I try not to as well. In fact, everyone is working really hard on not laughing at her.

Food comes, but they continue talking between bites. I'm finished before all of them, since I don't speak another word.

They try to involve me in on the conversation, but I just politely nod or shake my head. Not one person has said something snide or rude to anyone at the table. It seems like they've been best friends all their lives.

Midway through their meal-again, I'm done-I feign glancing at my phone.



       
         
       
        

"Sorry. I have a meeting. I should go," I lie with a soft smile, idly wondering why Britt isn't here.

"Well, I hate you missed Britt," Rain says, as though she's reading my mind. "She has a paper due for her psychology class on Monday. Maybe she'll be here next time."

Next time? I have to do this more?

I nod-again-and wave and tell them all bye before paying for my tab and meeting George outside. He opens the back door for me promptly.

"Where to, Ms. Hayden?"

"The pier," I say without thinking.

We drive for a while as my mind endlessly runs over all my accomplishments. So many things I've done for myself. So many things I've tried to achieve. And I've been nothing but successful.

Why does it feel hollow all of the sudden?

Just as we near the pier, I look up at the back of George's head.

"I changed my mind," I tell him, a small smile playing on my lips. "Take me to my office."

He nods, turning around, and I lift my phone, calling Britt.

"Ms. Hayden?" she asks, confused.

"Call me Harley. I know you're busy with a paper, but I need you to help me with something as soon as you're able."

"I'm just a few paragraphs shy of finishing my rough draft. All it needs is one quick read-through and an edit after that. Shouldn't be more than an hour."

"Take your time. Make sure it's perfect. Then meet me at the office."

"Yes, ma'am," she says, still a little confused, but not asking questions.

I hang up with her and dial my assistant.

"Ms. Hayden?"

Why does everyone sound confused when I call them?

"I need Frank and the creative team called in."

"Today?"

"Now," I tell her, my tone a little more demanding than necessary, but I'm excited.

I spent hours working on something special, but then didn't know where to go when the idea stalled. Now I know what was missing.

It needed a real touch.

It needed to be more than a game to have the substance I wanted it to have.

It needed to become a small movement inside the real world instead of pretend.

And Britt is perfect to make it work.





Chapter 26



DALE



I glance at the time, wondering where Harley is. After showing up at her empty house, I decide to go to her office. Then change my mind. It's Saturday. She said she never works on Saturdays, except for last week since the building was being opened and she needed to get all the wrinkles ironed out.