AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You remembered,” Flynn says as if remembering the name of his best friend’s sister merits a Fulbright.
“’Course I did, silly.”
Barf.
“I didn’t remember you by name, but when I saw the names on the RSVP, I could put two and two together.” Adelaide’s green eyes zero in on me. “I can’t imagine Colin was too happy to see you move in on his best friend.”
I start to speak, but Flynn takes over. “It was me, actually. I was the one who made the move and… yeah.”
“He had Colin’s blessing,” I add.
“I mean you’ve known each other for years, right? What made you want to make a move after all that time?” Adelaide pushes her fork around her plate, eyeing Flynn carefully.
Flynn pauses. Any sort of emotionality or sense of romance we left out any sort of emotionality or sense of romance when we talked through the “relationship planning”. After all, this is a business transaction more than anything. “Well, she’s a very compassionate person. And you know how hard it can be to find people like that when you’re always in the public eye.”
Zing.
“She doesn’t give a shit about pretense. For better or worse, I guess,” Flynn says with a chuckle. “Grounds me.”
Those were… nice things to say about me. I don’t know if he believes them, but the compliments are appreciated.
“Aw, that’s sweet. Isn’t that sweet Tee?” Adelaide asks, leaning herself onto her future husband’s broad shoulders. “Why did you ask me out?”
I can see Flynn wince out of the corner of my eye.
“Because… I mean, your Instagram. Have you seen yourself?” Theo says, looking to his soccer buddy for support. The two of them laugh.
Adelaide’s face sours. “Well, anyway –”
“Yeah, anyway…” Flynn says. I wouldn’t blame him if he lost his appetite after that.
“How is Colin, by the way?” Adelaide asks me.
I keep the conversation on Colin for a good, long, boring while. I love my brother, but his work sounds hellish compared to getting to hang out with dogs. Lucky for me, I can filibuster like a politician and watch as Adelaide gets bored to tears, wishing she had sat literallyanyoneelse in the two seats beside her.
Dinner goes on, and different conversations spark up around the table like fireworks. I’d love an earful of each one.
I recognize some of the faces. Two women at the end of the table are also models, Brandy Mars and Chiana Baresi. I wouldn’t have been able to name them off the top of my head, but when we were introduced, I recognized the names. Brandy brought her girlfriend, Sloan Baylor, a famous pop musician with a spikey blonde cut whose music I hate (I of course told her it was an honor to meet her). Then there are a couple of Theo’s teammates and their wives who all have the whitest veneers I’ve ever seen.
And then there’s me and Flynn.
A strange amalgamation of people if you ask me.
“Alright, you’re my new star.”
I look across the table at the woman who complimented me earlier. Cash Cole. Not to be forgotten. I knew the name, but always thought Cash was a man. It turns out, Cash Cole is a gorgeous, diminutive Aussie who truly gives off goddess vibes. “Beg your pardon?” I ask.
“Your style. It’s magnificent. Isn’t it, Gregory?”
Gregory, I’ve come to understand, is her assistant. A stocky man with a dangling earring and hair bleached so blond it’s silver. “Magnificent,” he replies. His talent is repeating exactly what she says back to her.
Cushy job.
“Well, thank you,” I say, giving Flynn a smug smile. We had an argument in our cabin earlier over what I should wear. Tension was rife since we realized we were going to have to share a queen bed rather than the king we both expected. I swear if he even so much as nudges me in the middle of the night, I’m filing a lawsuit. “Did you hear that, Flynn?”
“I did,” he says before taking a forkful of cucumber salad.
I glance down at my dress, a green bohemian gown with a lace-up front I got at a Renaissance Faire years ago. I think it makes my tits look amazing. I’d rather wear things that I know will make me feel amazing than all the expensive luxury shit Flynn bought for me. If I’m not confident in it, it’s not going to look good. That’s just my philosophy.
