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Chapter 4
(Taj)
______
I have rotten luck. That much becomes clear when I walk into the mansion and find a party going on in full swing. I hadn’t been expecting that. Aurora had been asking me to bring her to the mansion for a while so I thought I would finally bring her to meet some of the guys. Now, I’m here at the mansion and all the girls are here.
Petal is here.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I smile uneasily.
“Hey, guys,” I say walking into the living room that has been set up for a party.
No one answers me. They’re all staring at the redhead on my arm. The men give me pitying looks while I glimpse a little anger on the women’s faces. I almost grimace. Then I look at Petal’s face and the expression of hurt and betrayal there is like a punch to my gut. I didn’t mean for this to happen.
Alan breaks the tension.
“Let’s keep the party rocking!” he yells, popping a bottle of champagne.
There are some whoops and hollers and everyone turns to him. Which is great, because I hate being the center of attention. Aurora is standing awkwardly beside me. But I don’t dare try to introduce her right now. I lead her to a couch and sit down beside her, which lands me more scathing looks.
“I thought the girls had girls’ night?” I whisper to Alan.
“Yeah, but we convinced them to come here. This your mystery girl?” he asks gesturing at Aurora.
“Aurora, meet Alan. Alan, Aurora,” I introduce. Alan gives her a nod and she smiles back.
“Nice to meet you Aurora,” Roman calls out.
Probably because he feels bad for her. I mean she came to meet them all and they’re all giving her the cold shoulder because of Petal. Although it’s not really Petal’s fault either. It’s mine, all my fault. I’m an idiot.
“Hi, Aurora,” Jessie says. Everyone else greets her and she’s immediately at ease. She’s almost as shy as I am so I know walking in and being glared at couldn’t have been easy for her. I don’t blame the girls for being loyal to Petal though.
“It’s nice to meet you all. Taj has told me all about you,” Aurora says.
There’s only one person not talking and that’s Petal. She avoids my eyes and concentrates on the booze on the table. She has really low tolerance which means she’s going to be extremely drunk real soon.
Finally, she meets my eyes and I gesture for her to go outside.
“We need to talk,” I mouth but she shakes her head stubbornly.
“Please?” I mouth again.
A minute later, she stands and heads to the back of the house. I don’t waste a second before following. She’s standing outside at the back area of the mansion looking pissed. I don’t really like where she’s standing since she could so easily push me into the large pool but I walk forward.
“How could you bring her here?” she bursts out before I can get a word in.
I raise my hands in a placating gesture.
“I swear, I didn’t know you would be here. I wouldn’t have brought her here if I did.”
“What is she to you, Taj? Your girlfriend? Do you have feelings for her?”
Petal is shaking, either from the cold or something else, I’m not sure. But I can hear the pain in her voice, it’s pretty obvious.
“No, she’s not my girlfriend. I promise.”
