“Don’t look at me like that. I’m fine. I mean it.”
“Lila, you’ve lived with him for two years, shared your life with him, your achievements. We’ve all been waiting for him to propose. You’re allowed to be not-fine.”
A flash of emotion shot through my ribs, gone as soon as I felt it, scared off by sheer force of will. “I know,” I answered gently. “I’m fucking furious and embarrassed and …” I took a breath, unsteady, then steady again. “I am upset, I’ll admit that. But I’d rather think about all the ways Brock lost out. I’d rather recount all the things I just won by him nailing a Femme in my hallway.”
“Like what?”
“Like I get to come stay with my sister and help with her baby, if I can crash for a little while.”
“As long as you need,” she said softly, reaching for my hand.
I smiled, squeezing it. “I get to take all that money I’ve saved and buy my own place, one where I don’t have to deal with Brock’s Sunday work calls or piles of sweaty gym clothes in the entry. I don’t have to share a shower with a guy who has more hair products than me or clips his beard in the sink without rinsing it out. I don’t have to cook for a vegetarian anymore. I’m going to eat all the meat straight off the bone with meat juice all over my face and imagine him gagging.”
She laughed.
“It’s true,” I admitted, my voice losing its edge. “I thought … I thought this was it. I feel like a fool, Ivy. I trusted him. I accepted what he showed me as truth. Me.”
“You don’t trust anyone.”
“Except you. And this is why. People lie. They have their own agendas, and we can’t trust them not to manipulate us.”
“Not everyone, Lila. Not everyone.”
I gave her a look. “Everyone in my world.”
“Then maybe your world is the problem.”
I frowned. “This is everything I’ve wanted. I fought my way into this world. My career, my social life, all of it. Brock is just an asshole.”
Her eyes flicked to the ceiling. “He really is. I’ve never heard someone bitch about a wine list like he can. Remember when he made the waitress cry at Delmonico’s?”
“Entitled prick. I hope he and Natasha are happy together. They deserve each other.”
“The entire planet knows she’s a homewrecker. She’s practically built her brand around her knack for stealing boyfriends out from under people. I suppose we should have seen it coming.”
I ignored the sting of that truth. “But she always goes after famous people. What the hell does she want with Brock?”
“I can’t imagine. He’s hot and rich, but he’s definitely not famous. And he hasn’t even given you an orgasm in months.”
I groaned. “It’s tragic. Really and truly tragic.”
“I mean, could anyone really consider him a catch?”
“I did,” I answered quietly. “But now, I can’t help but think that I was only settling. It’s only been an hour, and I’m already struggling to remember one reason I was with him.”
“You loved him. It’s a marvel how much we can overlook for the sake of love.” She sighed. “Lila, when this really hits you, I’m here, okay? Get mad. Cry. Come crawl in bed with me, and we’ll talk shit about the preemptive hair plugs he got last year and his calf implants.”
An unladylike laugh snorted out of me. “To be fair, I didn’t know about the implants until we’d lived together for a year, and he swore me to secrecy.” I paused. “I should tweet it.”
“Hey, no need to defend. I’m not judging your choices in partner.”
I gave her a look.
“Anymore,” she clarified. “But I mean it, Lila. I’m here for you. Okay?” she insisted, making sure I understood the invitation was open and waiting.
“Okay,” I answered just as Dean strode in, smile on his face.
Ivy’s boyfriend—and baby daddy—was six and a half feet of muscle swathed in ochre skin. “Heya, Lila. What are you doing here?”
Ivy looked over her shoulder. “She’s going to be staying with us for a minute.”
“If it’s no trouble,” I added.
He rolled one massive shoulder and sat next to my sister, his smile fading. “Sure. I mean, the baby will sleep in our room for a while, so her room is free. What happened?”
Coolly, I answered, “I just walked in on Brock and Natasha Felix.”
His eyes widened, the dark irises ringed with white. “You’re kidding.”
“Fortunately, I’m not.”
That earned me a frown. “You mean, unfortunately?”
“No, fortunately. I feel like somebody just ripped open the veil. Maybe he’s been cheating on me all along. Maybe I never knew him at all. He was a stranger in a familiar mask, and when the mask slipped, I saw the monster underneath. I’ve never run so fast in my life. Figuratively. I’m not running anywhere in these.” I wiggled the crossed Louboutin.
“Wait, there wasn’t a camera crew there or anything, was there?” Dean leaned in, brows drawn.
Surprise shook me. I hadn’t even considered that possibility. “No, thank God. I … I can’t even imagine what I would have done. As it stands, I chucked a candlestick. Lucky for them, my aim sucks.”
“What are you going to do about Natasha?” Ivy asked carefully, noting the unfortunate fact that I’d be seeing Natasha almost daily for the next eight weeks.
Another flash, this one hot with rage. It didn’t die so easily as the last. “Nothing.”
“Nothing?” she echoed in disbelief.
“Nothing,” I insisted. “She’s not worth my job, and the Felix wedding is the biggest event I’ve ever handled. If Addison wasn’t slammed with a Hilton wedding of her own, she never would have given me so much responsibility. And I’m not going to waste a shot at impressing my boss just because Brock can’t keep his pants on.”
Ivy chuckled.
“I mean it. Without a belt, I think his pants would slip right off that tiny ass of his and hit the ground. Why didn’t anyone tell me his ass was so small? It looks like the end of a hot dog bun. Maybe he should have opted for butt implants instead.”
Another laugh, this one hard enough for Ivy to rest her hand on her drum-tight belly.
“You don’t think Natasha came onto him, do you?” Dean asked.
“Oh, I’m sure she did,” I said on a tight, humorless laugh. “She’s taken home somebody from every meeting we’ve had. Angelika brings her sisters—and the Felix Femmes camera crew—everywhere with her. But it’s not her fault Brock is a shitbag. If he’d loved me like I thought he did, he would have walked away from Natasha without a second thought. Like you two. I’m guessing you don’t even have a Hall Pass list, do you?”
“Hall Pass?” Dean’s brows quirked.
Ivy smiled sideways. “You know, a list of celebrities you could sleep with without consequences.”
“That’s weird,” he said, lip curling. He turned to Ivy. “You’re not allowed to sleep with anybody else. Even Zac Efron.”