Page 18 of The Other Side of Paradise
“Uh…” She wrung her hands, fumbling like an awkward middle schooler, before she gave in, hanging her head. “Just don’t… tell anybody.”
“I won’t, jeez,” I laughed. “Congrats. I could tell you two weresointo each other. So does this mean BB’s going to stop trying to push me into someone’s bed, now that you two are going to spend the week being all cutesy holding hands together?” I tried to say it casually—would rather die than admit I actually wanted every bit of help I could get with getting into someone’s… at least into a date with someone. I don’t think I did a good job playing it cool, but luckily, Ryan did a worse job.
“Uh… Allison, it’s not—” She cleared her throat hard. “We aren’t dating, you know, just, er…”
I laughed. “Okay, but it’s not just sex, either, is it?” I put my hands on my hips. “Something between a serious relationship and no-strings casual sex. That’s what BB usually does anyway.You know—a fling. All the intimacy and tender things without trying to make it a commitment. Don’t pretend that’s not what you’re after. I see through you.”
She huffed. “You think I know what I’m after?”
I gave her a look. If she thoughtshewas a mess, I didn’t want to know what she thought I was. “Honestly, kinda, yeah,” I said. “You seem like you’ve got your ducks in a row.”
She scowled. “I am laying low on vacation because my family is spending time with my ex-boyfriend instead of me, having a fling with the girl my ex tried to cheat with. What part of that looks likeducks in a rowto you, ma’am?”
I laughed, but a sudden movement from across the lobby cut me off, and I got a stab of anxious worry in my gut when I saw the door swing open and a woman I recognized as Ryan’s mother swept into the lobby, and then—to make matters worse, the two I’d realized were her grandparents, including the woman who still hadn’t forgiven me for not accepting Hilton rewards points. I stepped back, my throat tight. “Oh—yikes,” I said, briefly weighing whether I was supposed to say something to save Ryan from the situation. I doubted there was much I could do, though. Maybe start talking about Hilton reward points. I grimaced. “Good luck.”
Ryan’s mother, a shorter woman with a curvy figure, swept across the room to Ryan and pulled her into a hug that Ryan clearly didn’t want, and she gushed to her, “Ryan—my god, where have you been? Do you realize how much we’ve been worried about you?”
Ryan patted her awkwardly on the arm, the least interest in a hug I’d seen in some time. “I told you I was just fine,” she said lightly, and the mother stepped back from the hug, putting her hands up.
“You sent one text while you disappeared without a word!Just fineisn’t enough for us not to worry.”
Ryan drew her lips into a tight line, and I could see the resolution setting in on her features—she straightened her posture, and she said coolly, “I’ve been with a friend here. And I’ll probably continue to stay with her for the rest of the trip.”
A friend. Yeah. I doubted Ryan’s mom could handle the details at this point. The mother shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. This is a family vacation.”
And that was where the grandmother decided her input was needed, because she said, “Now, Ryan, you know, your mother put a lot of work into this. I know she didn’t raise you to be disrespectful.”
Ryan’s posture tightened, and then—I saw her relax into a kind of acceptance, folding her arms, and she spoke with a steely, level voice. “No, if we’re talking about disrespect, then it all comes from a very different place. Mom,” she said, turning to her, “I’m extremely disappointed in your reaction yesterday, to put it lightly. I’m your daughter, and you believed Shane over me without even hearing me out, and you tried to bring my career change into it, which makes me feel like you’re always going to take Shane’s side because you’re disappointed in my career change.”
It dropped like a grenade, Ryan’s mom looking sick and her grandparents going rigid, and I got a heavy feeling in my stomach when the door swung open formorepeople coming into the clown show this was turning into—
Including, specifically, Stella Valerie Bell. I froze on the spot, my hands tensing up on the surface of the desk, trying to keep my reaction cool as I saw—this—Jesus, she was prettier than I remembered. She swept in wearing an expensive-looking silky top tucked into jean shorts, her hair up in a loose bun, long silver jewelry around her neck that managed to look casual and expensive at the same time, and she moved like a blaze of fire across the room to where her gaze was solely on Ryan. Herbrother, too—walked into the room behind her—it took me a second to realize he was there.
“Jesus, Ryan, everyone’s been freaking out about you,” Stella said, and she turned to give a wild look at everyone there. “What’s going on? Don’t tell me we’re having another fight right now.”
The brother, who as far as I could tell liked to be quiet and stay out of things, sighed, his shoulders slumping. “I’m sure you’d like that,” he said.
The mom hunched her posture defensively, a sour look Ryan’s way. “Well,” she said, “Ryan was just telling me how she’d rather spend this trip with herfriendinstead.”
Ryan let out a frustrated sigh. “Mom. I’m not trying to start a fight. I’m trying to let you know how I feel.”
I froze up when the grandmother turned to give me a severe look, and she said, “Miss, tell me what room Ryan’s been staying in.”
“Uh—” I blanked. Shit, did she have to address meafterStella had come into the room? Stella wasn’t even looking at me, but her presence was the only thing I could feel. Ryan cut in between the two of us.
“Don’t drag her into this,” she said. “I booked a room at a different hotel altogether.”
The grandmother shook her head frustratedly. “You’re being ridiculous,” she said, and she moved around Ryan to face me again. “Have her room canceled and bring her things back to her own room.”
Jesus, this woman did not understand how hotels worked. Ryan shot her an incredulous look. “Grandma, it’s at adifferent hotel.”
Stella stepped up to the desk too, and I got a dry mouth. Especially because she was even hotter when she was yelling, where she turned to her grandmother and said, “You literallywant her to get pushed back in with her cheating ex-boyfriend? Force her to go share a room with him?”
The grandmother scowled, looking between them, and she said, “What are you talking about? I’m trying to keep this family together, Stella. This is ridiculous.”
At this point, even the mom seemed to want no part in this, and she cut in awkwardly. “Mom, please, it’s all right,” she said. “It’s not the 19th century. We’re not forcing Ryan to share a bed with the man we’ve picked out for her.”
The grandmother shot her a look. “She’s ruining this family vacation, Elizabeth. And after all the work you put in!”
