Page 25 of The Bluffing Game

“Oh, shit, and you said yes?”

“Not technically.” Izzy sighs. “I told him I wasn’t comfortable with it. I told him it wasn’t a no or a yes and that I had to think about it.”

“And he took that to mean he could fuck around.” Lucia makes a face. “What a jerk face.”

“He says he misunderstood me. He claims he thought I was saying I didn’t know if I wanted to be in a relationship anymore, and that he thought I was thinking about whether I wanted to be with him. So, he went out and found someone to …” Her voice catches. “Well, you know.”

“He’s sleeping with two different women that we know of.”

“I’ve met both of them. They both know I’m his girlfriend. Plus, I’m free to be with other men as well. He wants it to be fair. He wants us to explore together.”

“He’s totally gaslighting her. What a jerk.”

“He’s not all bad,” Izzy protests. “He took me to Napa Valley for a weekend, and we had so much fun. He’s so thoughtful. He even bought me roses and a box of chocolates. He says he wants to marry me one day. He just wants to experience all life has to offer before he settles down.”

“Be real, Izzy.” Lucia looks at me. “Tell me what you think, Sage.”

“If he’s sleeping with other women and you don’t want him to, it sounds like he’s a cheater and not very nice.”

“You should dump him,” Rosie adds. “Life is too short to date losers. And he sounds horrible.” She looks like she wants to say more, but an older man with a shock of red hair suddenly appears with a huge tray filled with glasses and food.

My stomach growls when I spy the chicken tenders and fried mozzarella sticks. I’m way hungrier than I even realized when we arrived.

“Here’s your grub, ladies.” Gary places everything on the table and steps back. “Enjoy.”

We all look at the plates on the table in awkward silence. I feel bad for Izzy, but I understand why Lucia is so annoyed. No one wants to see their friend in a bad relationship. Especially when they seem to be gaslighting themselves.

“Is this guy really someone you would want to marry?” I ask softly. “He’s the man you would want to be the father of your kids?”

“When you put it like that, I don’t know.” She looks sad as she grabs her drink and downs all of it in a few gulps. I’m worried she’s going to start crying again, but instead of bursting into tears, she starts laughing. “I can’t believe this bullshit. I should write my first book based on this crap.”

“You’re an author?” Rosie asks her in surprise. “What genre?”

“Right now, I mainly write short stories and submit them to literary magazines. Never had anything accepted yet though.”

“She’s a great writer.” Lucia grabs a mozzarella stick and dips it into the marinara sauce. “I know she’s going to be a bestseller one day.”

“Aw, thanks, Luce.”

“It’s true. In fact, I think that …” Lucia’s voice trails off when someone to the right of us catches her attention, and then she groans. “What is he doing here?” she mutters, and I turn to see who she’s talking about.

My heart thuds when I see Dalton standing near the pool table with two other men, both of whom are extremely handsome as well. One is tall, with dark hair and a serious expression. He looks like he’s ex-military, in the way that he stands and his eyes keep scoping out the room. The other man has dark golden-blond hair, flashing blue eyes, and a deep tan. He’s laughing at something, and I can tell that, of the three, he’s likely the life of the party. Dalton stands there in black jeans and a blue shirt with the top two buttons undone. He’s looking at something on his phone, and I wonder what it is. I also wonder who’s looking after Toby.

“Hey, Dalton. What are you doing here?” Lucia calls out.

All three men turn to look at her. Dalton looks surprised, but he waves at his sister before turning to look at me and grinning. I try not to interpret his grin to mean anything more than him just being friendly. Dalton and his two friends make their way over to us.

Lucia lets out a long sigh. “My brother is always showing up somewhere.”

“Who’s his friend?” Rosie is practically drooling as she looks at the men.

I know my sister well enough to know she’s got the hots for one of the men. I want to remind her that we’re looking for billionaires, but I can’t say that in front of Lucia and Izzy. It will make us sound like gold diggers if I keep bringing it up. And maybe they’d be right. I don’t even know anymore.

“Which one?” Lucia looks at her with a nervous smile. “The blond guy is Roman. He’s my brother’s best friend, but I⁠—”

“No, the other one. The serious-looking one.” Rosie’s voice is low. “The hot one.”

“The hot one?” Lucia giggles, but her expression changes, and she looks lighter now.