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“Bartholomew is a bloody mouthful, mate,” Raz commented.
“Yep, those poor drunk gladiators are making a mess of it,” Rowen remarked with eyes glued to his phone as the raucous hum of Jude’s gladiators slurring the hell out of the name hung in the air.
“I still have questions,” Charlotte said, sizing them up. “How do you go from attending a piano teacher conference to marrying Landon?”
The lie.
Her stomach dropped. Bye-bye, butterflies.
“You might as well tell them,” Landon said gently.
Dammit, he was right.
She twisted the hem of the T-shirt. “As you know, Landon and I ran into each other in Las Vegas, but I wasn’t there for a piano teacher conference.”
Libby raised her hands and closed her eyes like she was receiving an incoming message from the great beyond. “Were you on a balcony with flashing lights?” She opened her eyes. “I know that sounds silly, but that night after Penn, Char, and I called you, that’s what I kept picturing.”
“Wow,” Landon breathed.
Yeah, wow.
“You must be getting a vibe from the Luxe Grandiose,” she answered.
“I thought you said you weren’t at that hotel?” Penny pressed.
“I…I lied to you,” she confessed. “I didn’t want you guys to worry. I was at the Luxe for a contest.”
Penny frowned. “A piano contest?”
She would have been absolutely fine with a bolt of lightning striking her right about now.
“It was a contest to become the internet’s next hot online performer.”
“Are you singing again?” Char asked.
Only while screwing Landon.
She couldn’t say that.
“It wasn’t like that.” She shifted nervously, feeling Landon’s smoldering gaze. “It’s because of this,” she replied and pulled the feathered mask from her tote.
Penny frowned. “You’re dressing up like a bird?”
“It’s part of a costume.” She stared at the feathery array of browns and black before returning the mask to her bag. “I quit teaching in-person piano lessons a while back and started doing lessons online to help neurodivergent people learn how to read music. I wear this mask to keep my identity hidden, and I call myself Bonbon Barbie.”
“Bonbons for your grandad and Barbie after Babs?” Char asked gently.
Her friends knew her well.
“Yeah, I thought I could quickly make a boatload of cash to help Babs. She got duped into taking out a sketchy loan to pay for repairs to her house and owes quite a bit of money.” She left out the part about it being nearly fifty thousand dollars, as well as the part about being on the brink of eviction. Her pride wouldn’t allow her to divulge the info.
“H, if you need anything, we’re here for you,” Libby offered.
“Always,” Char echoed. “If you need cash, you only have to ask.”
No way.
Heat rose to her cheeks. “I love you guys. I do. But I won’t accept a dime. That’s not how I’m built. I’ll work it out. I always do. That’s why I was in Vegas. I figured, if I won the contest, it wouldn’t be long before I started making real money, and then I could pay off the loan. But the competition was for a different kind of online performer.”
