Page 68 of The Other Half

Groaning, she moved away from the window.

“Better cover your groin, Jake. We all know bachelorettes love you.”

Rolling his eyes, he curled back up into that same hunched ball he’d been in when I first saw him. I was happy to know he had no intentions of flirting with the women who would be filling the bar with their Beyoncé, off-key singing, and copious number of RumChata shots I’d learned accompanied every bachelorette party.

The door opened, and I saw the eyes of every person widen when the newcomers drifted to the door. Curious what these girls were wearing to cause such a reaction, I finally pulled myself away from Jake. When I saw what they were looking at, my heart plummeted to my feet. Two women in scandalous dresses stood preening in the doorway. Two women I knew well. Liza in her skin-tight glittering gold mini-dress and Jessica in a Versace gown with a plunging neckline were causing all the fuss.

“It must be wrong. This can’t be the place.” Liza said to Jessica while she stared at her phone, then scoffed at her surroundings. “No way Cassandra is here.”

Before I could dive under the bar to avoid their searching eyes, Liza’s locked with mine.

“No way! It worked! Hey biyatch! We found you!” Liza shouted and hoisted her bottle of champagne triumphantly in the air.

Fumbling for words, or the ability to disappear, I froze behind the bar.

“Cassandra! She’s here, guys! It worked!” Jessica called out the door.

My eyes slowly moved to the door, and I saw James and Richie step inside. Dripping in designer clothes with their perfectly styled hair, they smiled when they saw me. And right behind them was Donovan. When he appeared, the song Jake had played for me came to an end, and now I worried we would too.

This can’t be happening.

“Baby! We found you!” Donovan shouted, waving at me where I stood glued to the floor. My eyes moved to Jake’s and after he took them all in, his brow furrowed while he looked back to me.

“You know them?” he asked.

My mouth wouldn’t respond. I stared at him, struggling to find the words, any words, to say.

They moved through the bar, each staring in shock at their new surroundings. “What is this place?” Richie said while he touched Captain Bailey as he passed by. Donovan took no time examining his surroundings. He and Liza came around to the entrance of the bar, and he stepped behind it like he owned the place.

“Are you bartending?” Liza asked when she realized I was actually behind the bar. “Like working? No way! We need a selfie! A Cassandra’s working selfie!”

She launched to my side and leaned in with Donovan, snapping a shot while they smiled, smooshing my face between theirs as I tried to push the phone away.

“Insta!” she said while she clicked away at her phone.

“Don’t. Please don’t post it.” My eyes darted between them and Jake.

“We’ve been looking for you everywhere!” Donovan said while he stepped up and slipped an arm around my waist. I was too shocked to fight him. “Your old gramps wouldn’t say a thing, and you wouldn’t respond to us, so we thought you were in rehab. But then James was telling the story about that time in Ibiza when you got so hammered we couldn’t find you, so you had us put that tracking app on your phone so the next time you blacked out and woke up somewhere weird we could find you. Sure as shit, we opened it up and there you were! In Wisconsin! We thought it was a glitch, but we took the jet anyway, because well, why the fuck not? So here we are and sure enough, you’re right where it said you’d be! What are you doing here, baby? You’re not really working, are you?”

All I could do was stare at Jake. There were no words to explain away the lies I knew he would put together in seconds. The lies I had hoped to clear up tomorrow, so he didn’t find out this way. The lies I knew would rip him away from me.

“Holy shit!” Jo breathed. “You guys are ‘The Six-Pack’. That’s where I know you all from. I’ve seen you on the internet before and you...” Her eyes widened when she looked at me. “That’s where I know you from. I knew you looked familiar. You’re Cassandra Davenport.”

It felt like the world Jake had turned right side up flipped upside down again. Everything spun around me while my eyes moved from Jo, to Donovan, then Liza, and finally back to Jake.

“What?” he asked, confusion furrowing his brow. “What’s going on?”

“Jake,” I whispered. “I can explain.”

“She’s not Cassie Sinclair, Jake.” Jo growled. “She’s Cassandra Davenport. A fucking billionaire socialite playgirl.” Her penetrating gaze moved through me while her eyes narrowed. “What is this? Is this some reality show and you’ve got cameras in here? Some rich chick hacking it in the real world and making fun of us local-yocals?” Jo looked around for cameras, but then her eyes locked back on with mine. “What the fuck is Cassandra Davenport doing here? And why the fuck did you lie to us?”

“Jo, I can explain.”

“Wait. Your name isn’t Cassie Sinclair?” Jake asked, shaking his head.

“Cassie Sinclair?” Donovan chimed in, laughing. “Who the fuck is Cassie Sinclair, and who the fuck is this guy, Cassandra?”

“I’m Jake Alton. Who the fuck are you?” He growled, rising from his stool.