Page 68 of Pretty Wild

“Nothing but sex,” Hallie mutters behind the rim of her glass.

Everyone laughs, including Jillian. “Oh my God, stop it! That didnothappen!”

“But you want it to. Admit it.”

There’s no missing the blush on Jillian’s face.

“We’re just…friendly. Two business owners helping each other out when needed. That’s all,” she insists.

“Fine, but he made this massive Mexican spread for hisfriend.Let’s eat, and then we can grill Ryan about Marcus,” Hallie states, grabbing a plate and starting to make a taco.

“Hey! What’d I do?” I ask, taking another drink of my strawberry margarita. I consider sipping it slowly, but Marcus said he’d pick me up, so I suppose it wouldn’t hurt.

“Nothing, but we’re dying to hear all the dirty details,” Blair chimes in, stepping aside while everyone moves to the island to make plates of food.

My eyes widen, though I shouldn’t be surprised. This group seems like one who shares—everything—even if you don’t want to.

I step over to the island and get in line behind Ellie. When it’s my turn, I make a soft-taco with chicken and add all my favorite toppings. This isn’t a basic lettuce, tomato, and tacocheese set-up either, though those are on the counter. I spot cilantro, onions, pico de gallo, peppers, and what appears to be homemade salsa. It looks and smells amazing, and I can’t wait to dive in. I also add a few tortilla chips and some queso to my plate before grabbing my margarita and joining the ladies at the table.

“I can’t believe Kameron made all this, but I’m not surprised at all,” Ava says between bites. “Everything I’ve had at the steakhouse is amazing.”

“He should add this to his menu,” Ellie chimes in.

“I doubt he would though. His place is too classy for Taco Tuesdays,” Jillian says, dipping a chip in salsa.

Hallie nods. “True, but I’m sure it would bring in new customers.”

We chat about jobs and children, but I mostly stay quiet. It’s when our glasses are being refilled with more of the sweet frozen tequila mixture that all eyes finally turn my way.

“Can I ask you something personal?” Ellie asks, visibly hesitant.

“Okay,” I say, taking a longer sip of my margarita.

“I watched the finale show Hallie was talking about. Did you really not know? About Vaughn?” There’s nothing but sympathy reflecting in her eyes. She’s not judging or accusing me of anything. She’s genuinely curious, and I can respect that.

I’ve been waiting for this conversation to come up, ever since Hallie realized exactly who I was at their Memorial Day cookout. In fact, I’ve been expecting it with Marcus too, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned in the last two weeks, he doesn’t care about gossip, and he rarely watches TV.

“Had no idea,” I confess. “I really did find out when the rest of the world did.”

“That’s…wild!” Hallie says and then bursts out laughing. “Or I guess I should say that’s so wild?”

I can’t help but roll my eyes as I laugh. “I said that one time, and it just…stuck.”

“I love it,” Jillian announces. “It’s a fun catchphrase.”

“It’s so overused,” I insist. “I was told to incorporate it into everything when we were filming. Fortunately, half of them didn’t make the final cut, because otherwise, it would be all viewers would think I could say.”

“That’s so wild,” Hallie sings, doing her best impression of me.

We all laugh as Blair gets up to make another pitcher of margaritas.

“So? What happened? After you found out what he said?”

I sigh, finishing off the liquid in my glass. “I called him, but he didn’t answer. He just got the hero lead in my dad’s next action movie, so he was supposedly running lines by himself and had his phone off. I didn’t get to talk to him until the next day, and he completely tried to play it off as something he just said for ratings. I called his bullshit. I could see it in his eyes. Everything he said was fact and exactly how he felt. He was using me. So, I broke up with him and walked away.”

“Good for you,” Jillian proclaims, raising her glass to toast.

“Absolutely. What an asshole,” Blair declares.

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