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“I’m turning on the TV now,” she said and I could hear her moving through the house. “Oh, my God,” she breathed a moment later.
“Do you think I’ll back down from a dare?” He was talking to someone off-screen. The paparazzi milled around him, his face lighting up with camera flashes. “Bas Conrad never backs down from a dare.” He looked straight at the camera, his pupils dilated, chest rising and falling a little too fast. “Hunting season is open. You heard it, ladies. I’m looking for a wife.”
The image tilted as if someone had tackled the camera man down.
“Can you believe this guy?” I asked.
“Actually, I can’t,” Jess said. “This is going to cause all kinds of trouble for him.”
“Good. He deserves it.”
Jess chuckled. “I think he’s been punished for what he did to you years ago. Karma doesn’t wait this long.”
“I don’t care,” I said. “He’s an asshole. They all are, thinking the world will fall at their feet in worship just because they’re filthy rich.”
“The world kind of does,” Jess said.
“Yeah.” I watched as the news bulletin flipped to the next topic. “His PR team is going to have a field day with this.”
Jess giggled. “Who knows, maybe he’ll get a wife out of all of this.”
“Sure,” I snorted. “A con artist, only dating him to cash in on what he has to offer. Not one single woman after him from this moment on will be sincerely in love with him.”
Jess agreed.
“I’m going to bed,” I finally said.
“Me too, the wine’s worn off,” Jess agreed. “Tomorrow is going to be a long day; I’m working double shifts.”
“Good luck,” I said.
We ended the call and I shook my head, glancing at the switched-off television. Bas Conrad and I had had a steamy night of passion together long ago. Before he had become rich, before I’d grown common sense. He’d never called me back. Asshole. Since then, he’d become a pompous rich man, who cared only about money and the hype around it.
People like me didn’t even exist to him.
I walked to my room, Mittens following closely behind. While I got ready for bed, Mittens sat on the windowsill, looking out over the dark street.
“I despise the guy,” I said to her around my toothbrush. She ignored me. “And no matter how much I tell myself he’s a jerk, I think about him. Is that stupid, or what?”
Mittens turned her head to me and blinked big yellow eyes as an answer.
“Yeah, I thought so too. You’re lucky, you know. Your one-night stands never work out so badly.”
I climbed into bed, switched off the light, and lay back against the pillows. Bas filled my mind. Why the hell did I think about him as much as I did? He sure as shit didn’t deserve it.
He’d used me good and proper back in the day. We’d rubbed shoulders in school, but we hadn’t been that close. We’d been acquaintances—the kind that saw each other at school, but nothing ever happened outside of it.
Until just after we’d graduated.
We’d all gotten our college acceptance letters. I’d been giddy with excitement for the future. I’d had big plans to change the world.
And he’d been at the same house party Jess and I had gone to.
“Are you here alone?” Bas asked, coming to me where I stood in the corner. I was the epitome of a wallflower. Everyone—including Jess—was on the dance floor, drinking, partying, and having fun. I was awkward and uncomfortable.
“I’m here with Jess,” I pointed out.
My sister had a red cup in her hand and moved in ways I’d never seen her move before.
