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“In fairness, it’ll probably boost his cred,” I warn her. “Look at the numbers on that reel! He’s going to get what he wants in the end.”
“I don’t care. It’s just—it’s perfect.” She’s laughing again.
When Alana pockets her phone and steps away, Ivy takes a sip of her Sex on a Spire. “Oh God. Anthony in jail for being a public nuisance. That made my day.” She looks over at me. Her cheeks are pink, her eyes bright. She’s almost too pretty too look at, like gazing straight into the sun. “I guess it might be time for me to tell you my Anthony story,” she says.
I smile at her. “Are you drunk enough?”
She considers a moment. “Probably not. But I’ll tell you anyway. If you want to know.”
“Yeah,” I say. Understatement of the year.
I want to know everything about her.
31
Ivy
His hand curls around mine, big and strong and reassuring, and I discover that I actively want to tell him.
I want to tell him whatever he wants to know. And I need not to think about that too hard.
“It was my second season on Bridge. Anthony came up to me at a party. This hot guy?—”
“Not hotter than me, of course.”
“Your last name is literally Hott. No one is Hotter than you.”
He rolls his eyes.
“Are you actually fishing for a compliment?” I tease him.
“Nah,” he says. “I know I’m hot.”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah. With two Ts.”
“In all the ways.”
“Are you going to let me tell this story?”
But I appreciate that he’s teasing me, making me laugh—because Anthony has occupied such a dark place in my head, and Shane’s offering to let in light and air.
I run my fingers through the condensation on my glass, a slow curling script. “It turns out he already knew who I was. He knew I’d be at that party. But at the time it just felt like fate. I was at a party feeling alone, and then there he was, telling me he’d noticed my smile from across the room.”
Shane scowls. “It’s a beautiful smile,” he says. “And I hate that he used it to tell you a lie.”
“Thanks,” I say. “Me, too.”
He’s watching me. His eyes are dark brown but with flecks of much lighter brown, almost amber, throughout. They’re warm, too. He’s absorbing me, and that makes it easier to keep talking.
“We hung out for most of that party, and then he asked me out. We started dating. It got serious fast. He was everything I’d been looking for—almost like he knew exactly what would appeal to me.”
“He’d done his research.” Shane’s voice is tight.
“Yeah.”
It feels good to have him on my side. By the time I knew I’d been played, my coworkers were already Anthony’s friends. Anthony was one of those guys, the kind who’s easy to like. Charming, funny, smart as a whip. I was more reserved. It wasn’t that the cast didn’t love me. It was just…they loved Anthony more.
“He cooked for me. Cleaned for me. Gave me foot massages, brought me breakfast in bed. Took me out and treated me like a queen.”
