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I sucked in a breath while both Tim and Max shared a baffled look. But I knew what she meant. She was calling me a slut. Shaming me about what I’d thought had been an intimate moment between two people had become public. My so-called best friend went there.
“You know what, Kate, I think it’s clear our friendship has run its course. You want to think it’s because I’m a bad friend, you go on and believe that. I’m done.” I brushed by her and left before I could say more.
My tears were hot and angry as I strode toward the elevator. I swiped at them, frustrated by their existence. There had been an edge to Kate for months, and especially this weekend, but never could I have imagined she’d attack me the way she had.
Max was on my heels. In the elevator, he took my hand but didn’t say a word. Once we were in the hotel room, he dragged out my suitcase and his bag and placed them both on the bed.
“We’re leaving.”
All my adrenaline had left the building. In its place was sheer exhaustion mixed with sadness. For a moment I considered the breakfast tomorrow but then realized I no longer had a best friend who wanted me there. Yeah, leaving sounded like the best option.
While I finished putting everything in my suitcase, Max called down to the front desk.
“We’re all checked out.”
I nodded, unable to find my voice.
He strode over, cupping my chin with his hand and kissing me swiftly. “Come on, let’s go.”
It wasn’t until I was in his vehicle that I realized I was still wearing my bridesmaid gown. “I should’ve changed,” I whispered in the dark as Max turned onto the main road.
“I’m sorry I rushed you. I can pull over and bring your clothes up here.”
“No, no, it’s fine.”
He glanced over. “Oakley, this is all my fault. I’m so sorry.”
I faced him in the darkened cab. “How is any of this your fault?”
“Me being here this weekend was the catalyst for everything.”
“No, it wasn’t. Shawn dumped me on the side of the highway. You had nothing to do with his road rage or how he treated me. Kate has been angry with me since I decided to stay in New York City and live a different life from her. And she told Shawn about my video. You had nothing to do with any of that, either.”
“I can’t believe Kate said those things to you.”
In some way, deep down, I wasn’t surprised. We’d been growing apart for a while. “She never forgave me for staying away after college. It’s like she saw my not wanting to move home as a rejection of her and our friendship. We want different futures, and she’s angry about it. This was the last straw.”
He turned to stare at me. “Different futures how?”
“Different in every way.”
He appeared to want to ask more questions, but I had a few of my own. “You own a sex club?”
He winced. “I should’ve told you.”
“Can you tell me now? How did it come about?”
He sighed. “Eleven years ago, my best friend Shane and I met a woman in New York City. She had a club. It was smaller back then, and Shane and I became regulars. Then when she wanted to sell, Shane and I bought it. We remodeled and recreated it to be more upscale. We’ve been operating it ever since the grand reopening.”
“How did your parents find out?” Owning a sex club didn’t seem like the thing you’d bring up over Thanksgiving dinner.
Another sigh. “I dropped out of law school and went home to tell them. After getting the lecture about throwing my life away, I told them I was investing in a club. I didn’t say what kind, but it didn’t matter. There was no pleasing my father once I quit law school. I underestimated his sleuthing skills, though. He found out what Club Travesty really was, and well, then he had all the ammunition he needed to call me a disgrace and tell me I would no longer be part of the family if I continued on that path.”
“He issued an ultimatum.”
“Yeah, and I’m finally coming to realize that unless the result is me crawling back to him for a big ‘I told you so,’ he’ll never be happy. Sex club, nightclub, curing cancer—my dad’s love was always conditional on the premise I follow in his footsteps and become just like him.”
“He was way out of line tonight. Whether he agreed with your choices or not, he had no right to speak to you the way he did. I was glad to see your mother’d had enough too.”
