My whole head feels like it’s swimming. This is the last chance I’m going to see Cash. If I was a braver girl, I’d tell him that I’d love to go for a ride on his motorcycle, that I think he’s the hunkiest man I’ve ever seen, and that when he was taking photos of me, I’d never felt more beautiful. But the words won’t form on my tongue.
No matter how hard I try, I can’t say a single thing.
Cash gazes at me for a few more moments before pushing off from the side of the car. He scoops up his helmet and flashes me one more gorgeous grin before sliding it onto his head. Just like that, his emerald eyes disappear. That’ll be the last time I ever get to bask in their emerald depths.
“I’ll see you around, okay?” he says.
I bite my lip, only able to come up with two simple words that fall far short of what I wish I could say.
“Goodbye, Cash.”
CHAPTER TEN
My feet drag against the ground as I make my way through the garage and into the beach house. After that abrupt goodbye from Cash, I don’t have the heart to unload my car now that I’m home. I’ll leave everything safely stowed away in the trunk. It can wait until tomorrow. Hopefully, by then, I’ll wake up feeling much better about everything that happened, but right now I’m so blue that the California sky could never even compare. At least I have my fashion launch to distract me from the fact that I’ll never see Cash again.
When I enter the house, I’m startled by a clattering of pots and pans echoing noisily from the kitchen. It sounds like a whole construction zone has opened up right in the middle of the house I share with my two BFFs. The raucous banging is punctuated only by an occasional, loud groan.
Even though it’s noisy as heck, the scent of baking cupcakes is heavenly as I hurry into the kitchen. There, Kali is rushing back and forth between numerous mixing bowls while Sutton slumps in a barstool at the granite island. Neither one of them looks happy. I guess their days have been as rough as mine. At least misery loves company.
“Oh no, oh no, oh no,” Sutton wails, running both hands through her long hair, pushing it back from her face.
Normally, I’d chalk Sutton’s loud whining up to her typical flair for the dramatic, but the fact that Kali is stress baking tells me that a serious situation must’ve arisen while I was at the photo shoot. Plus, Kali isn’t simply making any ordinary cupcakes. She’s whipped up homemade strawberry frosting to go with the vanilla cake, which she only does when she’s really trying not to freak out.
“What’s going on, guys?” I ask worriedly.
Sliding onto one of the kitchen stools beside Sutton, I pat her shoulder comfortingly. This meltdown can’t be anything Glossed & Glammed related, could it? Our latest posts had been uploaded without a hitch. I checked the comments earlier in the day and hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary.
Kali slams down her cupcake tray with a defeated sigh.
“Boone and Grayson surprised Sutton and me with a reservation at an amazing resort in San Francisco,” she explains, tears welling in her bountiful blue eyes.
I arch a brow and glance at Sutton, who lets out another devastated wail.
I turn back to Kali. “I’m…sorry?” I offer uncertainly.
Why in the world would my two gorgeous besties be so upset over something that sounds so fun?
“We’re supposed to leave tomorrow!” Sutton whimpers. Springing back to life, she sits up straight and looks at me with pure devastation etched across her face. “Tomorrow, Liv! That’s when I scheduled a Glossed & Glammed live party across all of our social media platforms. We’re going to be announcing the upcoming launch of Franco’s fashion line. I absolutely can’t reschedule it. I’ve got a bunch of special guests lined up to help boost the post and everything. I can’t cancel on Kristen Bell and Dax Shepherd, Liv! That’s out of the question!”
She gives another dramatic cry and slumps over onto the counter. Kali scoops up a big glob of her strawberry frosting and plucks it between her pink lips.
“Guys, it’s going to be okay,” I say, trying to assure them, but my friends are having none of it.
“It’s not going to be okay. It’s the worst!” Sutton says pitifully. “Kali and I want to go on this little vacay so bad. We need it, even if it’s only a few days!”
My heart gives a little pang of jealousy, but I do my best to squash it down. It’s just that I wish I had someone to go on a getaway with, too. But I understand the reason I’ve been left out this time. Grayson and Boone had planned this as a couples’ retreat. I get invited to all of their couple outings. This has been the only recent exception. Besides, someone has to look after the animals and I’m much more of a homebody than any of them.
“How are we supposed to let the boys down easy? Any ideas, Liv?” Kali asks despondently. “Their deposit is nonrefundable and the resort won’t reschedule. Sutton and I already called the place and begged. We haven’t worked up the courage to tell the guys that we can’t go yet. You know Boone and Grayson. They’ll be understanding, of course, but this really sucks.”
“Well, how about you still go?” I offer without giving myself time to think too much about it. “I’ll host the live party. I’m the one who’s been spearheading this fashion line, so I should be able to handle this. Iwillbe able to handle this,” I amend determinedly.
Both Kali and Sutton go completely still as they stare at me. Kali doesn’t even move when her oven timer starts to loudly beep.
I can understand their shock. This is the first time I’ve willingly suggested that I take over for a video, especially a live one where fans will be interacting with me in real-time. I’ve only ever taken over like this when I was left no choice before, but after totally failing to speak up to Cash about how I feel about him, I can’t disappoint my two besties the same way I’d disappointed myself. I managed not to totally screw up our business deal with Franco, so I think I can somehow manage not to screw this up, too.
I hope.
“Are you serious?” Sutton eventually sputters in surprise as she pushes herself up from the counter. “You really want to do this live, babe? I did mention that you’ll have to chat with the guests, right? And there will be tons of viewers.”
