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“You were always the smart one,” I say to my brother. “You tell me.”
“I think you know what you have to do, Victor.”
“I just need to change my reputation, don’t I? The judges are all so elitist and snobby.”
“So then you might need to change their perception of you,” Spencer says. “What’s the best way of doing that?”
“A girlfriend,” I answer, sighing. “That’s it. I gotta become respectable. I gotta shed that playboy image.”
Spencer nods.
“Mother can always set you up with someone,” he says. “She’s had her eye on it for a while. I’m sure she’d be over the moon if you asked her for help in this endeavor.”
I shake my head.
“No. I insist it’s a no.”
“Well, it’s either Mother or you miraculously find someone, or you never get that award.”
I go quiet. Despite his pomposity, I know my brother is right.
It’s what I have to do...
I stare at my empty plate for a moment.
“I was rejected the other day,” I softly mutter uncharacteristically.
Spencer nearly falls out of his chair in shock.
“Wait... rejected? You?”
“Who was it?” Olivia asks, very curious.
“A barista, of all people,” I answer.
“Here in Crystal River?” Spencer asks.
“Yep. At The Oak coffee shop. Have you heard of it?”
“Who was it?” Olivia asks, clearly knowing exactly where.
“Her name was Josie Gunn.”
Olivia smiles to herself perceptively.
“Ah. She knows Ava.”
Ava. One of our other brother’s girlfriends. Damon and Ava have a long history together. Her father owed him money, but now Ava and Damon are in love. It’s... complicated, to say the least.
“Ava knows her?” I ask.
“Yes, she does,” Olivia says. “They went to high school together. They were sort of friends when they were there. Ava was telling me about Josie.”
“No girl rejects me,” I mutter.
“Well, Josie did,” Olivia fires back quickly. “And, I got to say, I like her. And I’m beginning to like her even more now that I know she rejected you.”
My brother turns to me.
