Page 48 of Crew Girl

“Is your dress going to be okay?”

She threw the sponge she’d been trying to dab the sauce away with in the sink. “It’s going to be a replacement situation.” She beamed a familiar smile at him—cheery, and laced with poison. “You know dresses. They’re kind of like boyfriends.”

“I knew you were still mad about that.”

She arched an eyebrow at him, clearly surprised he had the gall to think she wouldn’t be.

He’d screwed up before with Brit. He’d do it again. But she was right, he owed her an apology. “I’m sorry I ditched you. The after-party wasn’t planned, it just kind of spontaneously happened.”

“Oh, I see.” She tipped her head to the side, nodding like one of those bobblehead things people put on their dashboards. “The whole crew just ‘spontaneously’ showed up at the boathouse. Every one of them. Even Teagan, who, if I’m not mistaken, should have been serving hors d’oeuvres alongside her mother at your real birthday party. Maybe she’s why your dad fired her mom right there and then.”

Josh took a beat. That was a lot to register. He didn’t know his dad had done that. Teagan hadn’t said a word about it, and things had been good between them ever since he’d heroically saved her life, then bared his soul to her. Not really A-plus boyfriend behavior, though. When you looked at it through Britney’s lens. But she didn’t know the whole picture. No one did. Not even Teagan.

“I’m sorry. Truly. You have every right to be mad. But that whole party-at-the-boathouse thing was genuinely not planned.”

He could practically see the wheels turning in Britney’s head as she stared at him, weighing up the pros and cons of accepting his apology. “What’s going on with you?”

It was a good question. A couple of months ago he thought he knew everything. Past, present, future. It gave him plenty of free time to mess with other people. It had not been time well spent. “I don’t know,” he admitted truthfully. “Sometimes I wonder…” He looked up at her. “I wonder what would happen if my life just blew up.”

Britney clucked her tongue, as if the idea was too ridiculous to entertain. “Your life isn’t going to blow up.”

It could. It might. “What if it did? Would it be so bad to clear the slate, figure out something new? Forge my own path instead of following the Regis one?”

Britney looked at him like he’d grown another head, then flicked the switch in her brain that turned on her campaign manager mode. “There’s no need to forge your own path, babe.” She ran her hand down his arm, threaded her fingers through his. “Don’t let your grandfather’s curveballs get to you. It might feel like you’re in competition with Ryder, but there isn’t one.” She kissed his cheek and gave him a perky smile. The one that said she’d decided what her future looked like and it wasn’t up to Josh to mess it up. “You’ve been my boyfriend for over two years when I could have my pick of the crop. Do you know why I picked you?”

Because he was hot and rich?

She booped his nose. “Because I pick winners.”

He managed to keep the smile on his face, but he heard what she was really saying. If he hadn’t been the crown prince of the Regis family, she wouldn’t have been interested. It wasn’t him she’d fallen for, it was all the trappings that came with him.

Amber came rushing in babbling about how hilarious Ryder was for turning Westvale into West-fail.

Josh needed to get out of there. He squeezed Brit’s hand, then untangled his fingers from hers. “I’m going to go get you a drink, okay, babe?”

He’d already lost her attention. If he’d ever had it in the first place.

TEAGAN

Teagan wheeled her overnight bag into the hotel reception, waiting until Britney had finished giving Baloo instructions about how and where she wanted her massive pile of luggage to be placed in their suite.

They were only going to be there for two nights, but from what little she knew about Britney, she was a girl who didn’t leave anything to chance. Sun, snow, wind, rain? She’d probably packed to cover all bases.

Britney caught Teagan’s eye and gave her a conspiratorial wink. “I’m just going to check out the spa. Make sure everything’s set for our girls’ night.”

“Great!” Hopefully she’d sounded enthusiastic instead of scared. She waved her off, then headed over to the check-in line where her mom was.

“Everything okay, Teags?”

She was still puzzling over why Britney had invited her to spend a girls’ night together—just the two of them—the night before the regatta. Her first instinct had been to say no and run for the hills. She valued her life. Up until she offered the invitation, Britney hadn’t been shy about sharing her feelings about Teagan. She didn’t like her.

But, Teagan had allowed, maybe, like Josh, there were things she didn’t know about Britney. A side to her she didn’t like to show in public. Surely some of her brother’s kindness had rubbed off on her. She tried to imagine Britney giving someone one of Baloo’s reassuring bear hugs. Gave up.

She nodded at the desk. “All good, Mom. We’re up.”

They stepped up to the clerk. When Ella handed him her credit card, Teagan crossed her fingers, hoping it would work.

The clerk smiled. “Happy anniversary, Mrs. Tao! I see you and your husband are platinum-level guests, which”—he paused for effect—“makes you eligible for a free upgrade!”