Page 90 of Wicked Heat

“What about him?” Considering the bullshit I’m currently living with, this probably shouldn’t be something that grabs my attention. But right now, the chance to spend a few minutes feeling like a normal girl talking to her bestie about normal girl things sounds about as perfect as it gets.

“Looks like they broke up.”

Okay, that is not my idea of worthy gossip. Maybe on a day when I’m not being blackmailed, but today? Not so much. And, honestly, after that bullshit interview Kari sprang on me, her dating life doesn’t rate high on my Interesting Gossip list, anyway.

Still, I give Aria an A for effort and try to sound interested when I say, “Well, there’s lots of surfers for her to pick from. I’m sure she’ll find someone else in time.”

“Yeah, well, guess who he’s seeing now….”

“Um, you?”

“Oh, please. Like I want Kari’s cast-offs.” I’m about to guess again, but Aria can’t hold it in and blurts out, “Maggie Fucking Bridge.”

“No. Way.” I am seriously gobsmacked.

“Way,” Aria says.

“And they’re dating dating?”

“Yeah. At least I think so. I saw them all cozy in one of the inside booths.”

“Cozy? Like making out?”

“Whispering. Sitting on the same side of the table, practically all over each other, and whispering.”

“Whoa.” I’m usually not that into gossip, but I just can’t picture Maggie with anyone, much less a sexy surfer dude. I mean, honestly. Who would want her?

“I know, right?” Aria says when I tell her as much.

“Is Kari totally wigging?”

“That’s what makes it even more bizarre,” Aria tells me. “Kari seems totally cool with it.”

“Weird.”

“Totally,” she says. “She’s probably only okay on the surface. I bet she’s seething inside.”

I second that, and we share a few more minutes of chitchat before I tell her that we’ve reached the hotel, and I end the call just as the bellman opens my door.

I grin as Ash takes my elbow and escorts me into the ornate lobby. “And that’s why I have a roommate,” I tell him. “Because Aria can’t survive without someone to talk to.”

“She reminds me of a guy I shared a dorm with my freshman year of college,” he begins, and by the time we’re halfway across the lobby I’ve let loose a very undignified snort of laughter. Which causes him to laugh, which starts me up all over again.

We’re so engaged with amusing ourselves that it isn’t until we’re in the elevator and the doors are closing that I notice that, once again, folks are looking our direction, several pointing. Only this time, it seems to be everyone who’s looking. And more than half of them are holding their phones up and aiming them in our direction. Apropos considering Aria called because she saw a photo just like the ones they’re taking.

As the elevator doors slide shut, I sigh, thinking about how we’ve just run the kind of celebrity gauntlet that I imagine has become second nature to Ash.

And which— in my now-considered opinion— is way up there on the nuisance scale.

Twenty-Seven

I’d put my phone in silent mode after the call from Aria, and the moment we’re back in the suite and I reset it, the thing starts pinging like machine gun fire. A billion notifications, including one from Caleb. I don’t bother listening to his voicemail. Instead, I just hit the button to call him back.

He answers before the first ring has even finished.

“Why did you do it?” he demands. “I offer you the money and you tell Aria you’re turning me down so that you can strike a deal with the devil? It’s a good thing your parents are out of the country. They probably haven’t heard about this bullshit yet.”

It has been a very long time since I’ve talked to Caleb, and I’d forgotten how much of a superior air he always puts on just because he’s two years older than me and Aria.