Page 71 of Rich Girl
Hayden’s eyebrows go up in surprise. “Brandon does? How interesting.”
Alex does some more tapping on his phone before turning it back to show Hayden. She squints at the screen in the most adorable way.
“Oh, he looks a lot like Jon. But that says Brandon Karlsberg. Are you sure this is Abigail’s brother?”
“Yes, I’m sure,” Alex snaps at her in annoyance and takes his phone away.
I give him my biggest grin and a two thumbs up when he stares at me, aggravated by the entire exchange he’s just had with Hayden. I find it funny how he’s suspecting her of just searching for people’s names to come up with a good story about her life. Meanwhile, he can’t do a basic search of her name to find out how wrong he is about her.
“I’m gonna go get another beer. Anyone need anything?”
None of us do, so he stands up, ready to march to the bar area. He takes a couple of steps forward before turning around to stare at Hayden again.
“I know someone else in Boston,” he points at her right before giving her a condescending smile. “There is no way you would know him.”
I’m not sure why he’s turning this into some sort of a contest of who knows more people in Boston, but Hayden is gracious enough to play along.
“I don’t know every single person in the city of Boston,” she chuckles softly. “So I’m sure you are correct.”
“His name is Chase Hawthorne,” Alex speaks like she never said a word.
The smile falls off her face, and she is not as amused as she was only seconds ago.
“He moves in high circles,” Alex adds. “Old money right there.”
“I know who Chase Hawthorne is.” Her voice sounds cold enough to freeze a lake.
“I’m sure you do,” Alex smirks at her. “His name is always in the social news.”
Hayden returns the smirk. “We dated for a while.”
That finally renders Alex speechless. He looks at her like she fell from the sky, then turns to look at me. I just shrug at him, but I’m not liking this conversation anymore. I don’t want to know about anything or anyone that Hayden did before me. Jealousy is an unpredictable thing that is now biting at me with the force of a thousand snakes.
“Go get your drink, man,” I lift my chin at Alex, hoping he’ll leave us alone already.
Muttering things under his breath, he turns around and walks away. That leaves me alone with Hayden.
“I’m sorry about him,” I apologize for my friend. “He has the wrong idea about you.”
Hayden, with her knees together, ankles crossed and hands in her lap, gives me an elegant smile. It looks practiced, and like this is what she does. It has never been clearer that we would be a terrible match should we try to take this any further.
Sadness squeezes at my insides, refusing to let go. It invades my heart and my brain, my entire being. This is the first time that I feel love like this. I am not ready to let it go, and I’m sure I’ll carry it with me for a long time.
“Your friends are very nice,” she tells me, sounding more posh than ever. “They care about you, which is why they’re asking questions. My friends would do the same. And they will,” she chuckles, “when you attend the wedding with me.”
I cuss the day I agreed to this whole thing because now I am locked in an agreement I don’t want to abide by. Going to Boston to meet her friends and attend the wedding only means spending more time with her. It will be sweetest kind of torture.
I stand up from my chair before offering her my hand to stand up. She takes it with no hesitation, her hands resting on my chest while mine are on her waist. When she looks up at me, I hate that I can see an impossible future with her.
“What do you say we leave here?” I suggest. Her eyes sparkle in the bright lights of the yard, and she nods at me.
We say our goodbyes to the hosts, then to my friends, avoiding Alex, because he’s done enough damage, but unable to shake Kyle off. He is three sheets into the wind by now, and his words are slurred when he speaks. I’m not sure where he found a mariachi hat that’s five sizes too big and keeps on falling over his eyes.
“You, young lady,” he points at Hayden, “cost me a lot of money tonight. You are too beautiful for this fucker.”
“Okay, that’s enough.”
I pull Hayden around him so that we could get to the car.
