Page 8 of Infatuated as They Come
“I got her a gift.”
“What’d you get her?”
“It’s a secret.”
“I thought we agreed on no secrets?”
“This is just a small one.”
“Do you want to know what I bought for her?”
“I’m sure you’ll be happy to tell me.”
“Five Birkins, four Kellys, three Constances, and all the new additions to Van Cleef & Arpels’s Frivole collection. All shipped right in from Paris.”
I didn’t know what the fuck any of that meant, so all I said was, “I’m glad you got Holly a nice gift.”
“Gifts. Plural.”
“She deserves it.”
“Add them up together and they’re probably all worth more than thatlittle trailer of yours.” Blue eyes flashing with fake sincerity, he held a hand to his chest. “Sorry, home. That’s your home. My apologies.”
My tongue clicked. It was the dumbest, most pointless dick measuring contest of all time. It was also bait. Very obvious bait. Maybe he thought I was dumb enough to take it. It would have been everything he had been hoping for since me and Holly got together. He had been waiting for me to fuck up from the get-go. For me to make some unforgivable mistake that would have Holly walking away from me without a second thought. And what bigger and better fuck up would there be than me losing my shit in front of just about every one of Holly’s family members on her birthday?
“I bet Holly will love it,” I said.
“I know she will. What’d you buy her?” he asked, voice low.
“Why do you care?”
“I’d just like to know if you made an effort.”
“Define effort.”
“I’m starting to think you didn’t get her anything at all.”
“I got her a gift.”
“Which is…?”
“Is it really that important to you?”
“I was just curious what you got for her.”
“I’m sure she’ll show you later.”
“I’m sure she will. And I’m sure it cost a lot.”
For me, it did. I just wanted to give her something good. Something special that she’d always want to wear and keep. My fingers tightened some more against the box.
“It’s just still hard for me to wrap my head around it all,” he said. “I mean, she goes from five-star hotels and luxury resorts to… spending her summer at a trailer park.”
“Trust me, I’m just as shocked as you are.”
“What the hell do you two even do down there all day, anyway?” He held up a finger suddenly. “Don’t answer that question.”
From across the room, I could see Holly’s mom’s eyes find mine. Then they moved a little over to the right to her husband, and with her handson her hips, she gave her head a shake. It was probably easy for her to understand what kind of conversation was taking place.
