Page 21 of The Other Side of Paradise
“Shane’s the one who ruined it.” She grinned at me when we spoke over each other, and I felt like I’d gotten hit in the gut seeing thatsmile.Jesus, she was… uh… something. “See?” Stella said, looking back at Ryan. “Even your paid lackey agrees.”
Ryan laughed. “Well, if even the paid lackey says so. You really can go watch the show, though. Although… what’s this about a lifeguard?”
Stella bit her lip through a little laugh, her gaze drifting back to the windows. “We were all at the beach last night, and I was just admiring the scenery a little bit,” she said. “And by that I mean this lifeguard on duty. Tall guy with dark skin and total dreamboat eyes. I got to talking to him a little bit, his name’s Jacob, he’s vegan and loves this vegan sushi place here, so I washopingmaybe I could take him there today.”
Oh, god. I wanted to crawl into a hole and die. I didn’t want to stand here and listen to Stella talk about the hot people she wanted to hook up with. People who were specifically as unlike me as possible. I stiffened, and Ryan gave me a dry smile, clearly not understanding my existential crisis.
“Ah… I should have known,” Ryan said. “Looks like Allison and I both are just pieces on your board.”
Stella laughed it off. “That’s a later thing anyway,” she said. “I want to meet your friend.”
Oh, that’d be rich. Ryan looked at me questioningly, and I shrugged, not even sure what to say. “Oh, uh…” she started, looking back at Stella with a forced smile. Poor girl didn’t want to have to figure out how to tell her sister thisfriendwas fucking her brains out. “Brooklyn and I were going to get lunch withAllison and go to the beach together once Allison’s done with her shift… I guess you could come? Your hunky lifeguard might be there again today.”
Jesus, I hoped he wouldn’t. If I went to the beach with Stella Valerie Bell and watched her flirt with someone else, I’d wade into the ocean never to return. But Stella lit up, and she said, “Yeah, that’s a plan,” and she turned to me, and even despite everything—Stella Valerie Bell looking at me with her eyes sparkling, inviting me to go to the beach with her, suddenly I was useless to do anything other than nod. “What about you, Allison?” she said. “Do you have a boyfriend, or are you going to be talking to lifeguards too?”
Oh, god. She wasnotgoing to try to set me up with someone. I’d die first. I hunched my shoulders. “I’m a lesbian,” I said, and she gave me a look like I was dodging the question.
“Okay…” she said. “Do you have a girlfriend, or are you going to be talking tolady lifeguards?”
“Uh.” I felt like I’d pass out. I was not talking about my love life with Stella. Oh, god.
Ryan cut in with a muttered, “Allison’s terminally single,” and I shot her a horrified look.
“Oh my god! I’m working on it!” I blurted before I could think it through, and Stella lit up.
“Okay, great,” she said. “Then we can divvy up the cute people between the two of us and talk to everyone on the beach.”
Oh my god. I was going to die. If Stella tried to set me up with a girl, I’d…diewasn’t a strong enough word. I’d do something beyond die. I’d die so hard I’d reincarnate and instantly die again in the next life. Oblivious to my breakdown, Ryan narrowed her eyes at Stella.
“What, forgot about Jacob already?”
Stella put her hands up. “I don’tknowit’ll work out with Jacob. Talking to other cute boys is, like… insurance. I’m tryingto make sure I findsomebodynice while I’m here. You should, too. Try to bounce back from Shane.”
I snorted. Stella shot me a look.
“What? Bouncing back is a real thing!”
Oh, Ibelieved it.It took everything I had not to laugh out loud. “No, just, uh…” I laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of my head. “Uh, it’s just… I’d actually just been saying the same thing to her.”
I wasn’t a good liar. Ryan folded her arms, pursing her lips at me, but I could see the faint flush in her cheeks. “I will let you know if I decide to,” she said, delicately measuring out each word. “But for rightnow, I would just like to be in peace.”
Stella laughed, eyes sparkling. “All right, so am I going to meet your friend or am I keeping Allison company?”
I put my hand up to back out, excuse myself, free Stella from the obligation, but Ryan put a knife between my ribs with a dangerous smile my way and said, “You’re going to keep Allison company. She’s looking for all the advice she can get on how to score a date.”
Jesus—was shetryingto kill me? I put my hands up pleadingly. “Ryan. Why?”
Stella grinned at me so brightly it put the sun to shame, and I felt my heart miss a beat, my chest tighter and tighter. She was seriously the prettiest person I’d ever seen. The way her eyes lit up like the first flush of sunset with she smiled… I was so done for. “Yeah?” Stella said. “I can do that.”
Ryan gave me a saccharine smile as she headed for the door. “Have fun, Allison,” she said, and I felt dizzy. I didn’t know how to talk to Stella.Stella Valerie Bellwas going to talk to me? And I was expected to form responses? My mouth felt dry, and I slumped against the desk, hanging my head.
“You too,” I mumbled. “You and BB go have a much better time.”
It was just a second later that Stella leaned over the counter and shattered my brain with the force of an atomic bomb, because she said, “So, you want a date?”
“Huh—what?” Shit, was this whole thing a dream? Some kind of vision of paradise as I was dying? Stella laughed.
“I hear you’re after a date. My boring sister just told me to help you get one. What kind of stuff are you into?”
