As soon as my beer is in my hand, I dip my head in appreciation and leave.
Walking back over to the table, my mood immediately takes a sharp right turn. There’s a spread of food fit for a king and the rich aroma is taking over this corner of the bar, making my mouth water and making me forget all about the stupid surprise party.
Now, this is something I can appreciate.
“Did Sarah do this?” I ask no one in particular, zoning in on small white bowls full of what looks like crawfish etouffee. I may not be a local just yet, but I know my Cajun food.
“She sure did. Dig in!” Carys answers.
Sarah is Shaw’s sister who runs the cooking school next door. I’ve had her cooking before and it’s one of my favorite things about this city. Truthfully, you can’t go wrong anywhere you eat down here but Sarah’s food is…special.
There’s a smorgasbord of fried seafood and finger foods and I waste no time piling it all on my plate, along with the crawfish etouffee. I’ll worry about calories and cholesterol tomorrow. This is nothing a little gym time won’t fix. I’m willing to put in a few extra hours for a few minutes of buttery bliss.
“Save some room for the bread pudding,” CeCe warns. I don’t know what shocks me more, the fact there’s bread pudding for dessert or that CeCe actually spoke to me. I look at her then back at my plate before reluctantly putting one of my muffulettas back on its tray. I don’t miss the smirk that crosses her face either.
There are some days when I think it’s a shame CeCe and I have the relationship we do, or don’t have, I guess I should say. We’re different in a lot of ways but, deep down, I think we’re more similar than either of us would like to admit. Other days, I think our time together ended exactly the way it was supposed to. Unfortunately, it causes our forced time together now to be awkward and strained. There’s no getting around it with her being best friends with my best friend’s…person.
Who knows? Maybe now that I’m here permanently, we’ll get over it and forge some sort of friend status. I’ve never been friends with anyone I’ve slept with in the past, but I guess there’s a first time for everything. I’ve also never fucked someone who was a permanent fixture in my life. Probably should’ve thought that one through a little better, but what can I say? My dick doesn’t take those sorts of things into consideration and he wanted her, plain and simple.
If I’m being honest with myself, I don’t regret my weekend with her. It was hands down the most intense sex of my life. We locked ourselves away in my hotel room and didn’t surface until I was forced to leave and fly back to Dallas. Thank God. Because if I’m still being honest with myself, if I hadn’t had business to attend to, I might’ve never left.
Every time I see her, I can hear her moans of pleasure and taste the memory of her on my tongue. And then I want to fucking kick myself in the balls for it, because that’s not me.
But I do wonder if CeCe ever thinks about it. The way her eyes narrow and her smile fades every time she sees me, I’d guess it’s a time she’d rather forget.
As the night moves on, the customers thin out, leaving our small group with a bit more privacy. Shaw has assured us we can stay as long as we’d like and since the drinks are still flowing, we take him up on his generosity.
“How’s your family doing?” Carys asks, catching me off guard. It takes me a second to realize she’s asking about how my family is dealing with their grief over my grandfather dying.
“They’re fine, same as always,” I say, shrugging my shoulders. I can tell my answer isn’t exactly what Carys was expecting by the confused look she gives Maverick. Surely, he’s explained to her the Rhys-Jones’s don’t grieve or experience any other emotions normal people do.
Although, they were quite angry after the reading of the will.
“You know what, that’s incorrect,” I start, feeling the half a dozen beers loosening up my words and making them spill out of my mouth. “When I left Dallas, my parents were experiencing something completely brand new to them: their asses being handed to them.”
Maverick cocks an eyebrow at me, setting his glass on the table. “What the hell happened? I’ve been meaning to ask how everything went after the funeral.”
“It was… fucking awesome,” I tell him truthfully, shaking my head at the absurdity of it all. I still can’t believe how it all went down. “It was almost like one of those dramatic scenes from a movie with everyone hanging on the words of a dead man.” My mind wanders back to that room and the words of my grandfather’s lawyer. Absentmindedly, I tell him, “They received absolutely nothing.”
“You’re shitting me?” Maverick deadpans, pushing back from the table a little as he tilts his head, like he didn’t hear me right.
“Nothing,” I repeat, letting it sink in.
Everyone at our table has expressions that match Mav’s and I can’t help but laugh. It’s not the first time I’ve thought about it since it happened, but it is the first time I’ve said it out loud.
I’ve thought a lot about my inheritance and subsequent demands in order to collect it, but I haven’t truly let it all sink in.
My mother and father were completely left out of the old man’s will.
The alcohol is definitely helping.
“Absolutely nothing,” I repeat, before continuing my story, addressing everyone but Maverick, because he already knows this shit. “My grandfather was rich. I mean, motherfucking rich. The bastard was worth hundreds of millions of dollars and he left it all to two people.”
I’m quite enjoying telling this story in such a dramatic fashion, so I let my audience simmer a bit while I finish my drink.
“Shepard Rhys-Jones, you better finish your story right this second. I feel like I’m watching one of my Bravo shows and we just went to a commercial break!” This comes from Jules, who truly looks distraught but yet ready to soak up any theatrics I let loose.
“He left me one hundred million dollars, with conditions, of course…” I hear a variety of gasps and choking sounds and one very clear “holy shit” from CeCe’s direction. “And the rest is for my grandfather’s lawyer, the executor of his will and trust, and he’s to distribute the remaining millions to various charities, per his specific instructions. It’s quite the scandal, I tell you. Or, it would be if anyone knew, so y’all better keep this among us. I’d hate for rumors about my family to be spread.”
I bust out laughing, not only at what I thought was a hilarious joke but also, at the expressions on everyone’s faces. I understand it’s hard for some people to wrap their heads around that amount of money, but if they really think I care about my family’s reputation, they’re mistaken.
Maverick is the first one to speak. “Wait. Back up. What the fuck did your father do? Did your mother pass out?”
“She very nearly did. She was so distraught, she canceled the dinner she’d had planned with some society skank and her family, which was a huge relief to me. As for my father, he immediately called his lawyers to see about contesting the will but we were all assured it’s very legal and very set in stone. I’m sure he’s still trying to figure out some kind of loophole, though. He’ll never accept this.”