“Wearenottalkingabout it,” I hiss at Carter across the long table at Wild Bluffs Country Club the next morning.
He adds a dash of hot sauce to his eggs as he replies, “I’m just giving you a heads-up that everyone knows.”
“Because you can’t keep your mouth shut,” Kelsey says, inserting herself into our conversation as she joins the table with her plate of food from the buffet.
The whole party met for brunch this morning after sleeping in late following the shenanigans of the night before. I would normally appreciate the extra time to sleep, but I’d been up early, my body overflowing with nervous energy.
I told Jaxon I’d meet with him today. That he could bring over food, and we’d set the ground rules for our fake dating. But now I’m worried the awkwardness is going to be too much. I can already feel it crawling over my skin like a colony of ants swarming toward the puddle of sugar that used to be my brain.
“We are officially fighting, Carter,” I tell my brother-in-law. “I forgave you after you told Jaxon where I live because I’ve seen you without coffee before, and because I’m a forgiving person and all-around great human being.”
My sister snorts at that last comment, so I casually scratch the tip of my nose with my middle finger.
“But, telling the whole party that I texted Jaxon…not cool. Not cool at all.”
The last thing I need is my family to know about my deal with Jaxon. My sisters are great, but I need everyone to believe the Jaxon thing is real if I’m going to get any relief about my relationship status—a complication intoxicated Izzy and Becca did not think about last night.
“Why does it matter?” Kelsey asks.
Bryn pulls out the seat next to me. “Why does what matter?”
Of course it had to be Bryn. Why would the universe give me time to sort out my lie when it can fuck with me instead?
“Us knowing that she texted Jaxon,” Kelsey replies for me as Becca sits down beside her.
“Oh yeah,” Bryn says. “I forgot about Carter announcing that last night. What’s going on?”
I shoot Carter a glare just for good measure before saying, “Nothing. It wasn’t a big deal.”
“Then why did Jaxon ask me if it was you instead of just asking you?”
Another great question that I should have an answer to. There’s some quote about weaving and deceiving that I feel would really sum this whole situation up if I could just remember it.
“He…” I start, wondering where my mouth is going to take this. “…probably didn’t want to come across as a dumbass for not knowing it was me.”
Ha. There we go. Make Jaxon look bad.
I dip the slice of my chocolate chip pancake in the puddle of syrup on my plate before pointing my fork at Carter. “You know, he’s probably going to be annoyed with you for ruining that for him.”
“Ugh,” Carter groans. “I’m never answering my phone again.”
Bryn nods. “Super good life plan, bud. I think it’s going to work out well for you and your business.”
“I blame you for agreeing to marry a professional golfer and then making me play a golf-based game against him,” Carter says before turning his attention to me. “Thank goodness you’re a normal person—I don’t think I could handle it if I was the only one who wasn’t some big shot businessperson running a multimillion-dollar company or a literal professional athlete.”
“Hey!” I say at the same time Becca says, “We’re big shot businesspeople.”
“And you’ve been just as integral in KH Security being a multimillion-dollar business as I have,” Kelsey adds.
Bryn shrugs. “If I land this new deal, the portfolio I manage will be over a billion dollars, soIcan’t help the poor guy out. Iamimpressive. Some might even say more impressive than Jameo.”
“I’ve always said that,” Jameson replies, apparently also a part of this fun conversation where we talk about how awesome everyone is—or everyone but me and Becca and maybe Carter, I guess.
Jameo punctuates his reply by leaning over and gently kissing Bryn’s forehead. My insides twist, a feeling I don’t want to define tangling up my insides. Definitely not jealousy, but maybe a bit of loneliness.
“So why did you text Jaxon?” Kelsey asks. You can always count on my older sister to stay focused on getting the answer she really wants.
“Tipsy Izzy thought it was a good idea to say hi. Check in. See how he’s doing. I was super busy last week and didn’t get to see him. And he’s here, and he’s all alone, and his dad is dead, which is really sad—” I abruptly stop my ramble when I notice Becca subtly waving her hand at her throat, telling me to cut. Right. People who are telling the truth about a normal life decision don’t give wandering monologues. “So anyway, just a brief check-in.”
