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“That might be the sexiest photo I’ve ever seen,” Summer continues and fans her face.
“Will you send this to me?”
“Of course.” She taps the screen again, and then my phone dings in my pocket. “There you go. Now, spill it.”
“I will. I promise. I’ll tell you every single detail, and I’ll use all the dirty words?—”
“Because you’re my person.”
“But I need some advice first.”
“Oh.” She blinks and then frowns as she really looks at me. “You’re a little pale. Are you okay?”
“I’m…confused.”
I lean on her new countertop and drop my head in my hands. Tears threaten, and before I can ask, there’s a tissue under my nose.
“Come on, tell me what’s going on. Was he mean to you? I’ll kick his ass. He’s my brother-in-law, and I love him, but that doesn’t mean I won’t kick his ass.”
I laugh through the tears and shake my head. “No, he wasn’t mean at all. The opposite, actually. Summer, he’s just so…generous. I looked up how much it costs to stay in that suite per night, and I know they increase the price during fashion week. That alone was in the six figures. He bought me everything I wanted. If I looked at it, he signaled for the sales associate to put it aside for me.”
“Atta boy, Ryan,” she says smugly, but I shake my head.
“Then I came home just a bit ago, and my entire kitchen renovation is done. Completely finished, and it wasn’t a minor thing, Summer. It was a big project, and he managed to make sure that it was done by the time I got home. It’s even decorated, and there are new dishes and stuff in the cabinets.”
“Wow,” she says, blinking in surprise now. “It took me three months longer than I was contracted for to get this place done.”
“I know! So, how did he do that?”
“Honey, I don’t think you quite understand just how rich Ryan is. I don’t think there’s much out there that he can’t make happen.”
“Isn’t that weird? It’s weird, right?”
I pace away from her now, on a roll.
“He had the AC installed in one day. And then this with my kitchen. And when I got home, all of my luggage and bags and boxes from Paris were in the middle of my living room, waiting for me. Who did that, Summer?”
“Mac has a key to your house,” she reminds me. “Ryan probably texted him and asked him to unlock the house so everything could be delivered. It’s not magic. He’s not some kind of wizard.”
“I think he is.” I let out a deep breath. “And this morning, we hurt Jake’s feelings. We didn’t mean to, but we were having breakfast at the new table, and when Jake walked in, his face was just crestfallen, Summer. That was supposed to be a special thing for the two of them, and there I was, horning in on it. I felt so guilty. They’re just hitting their stride together, and they don’t need me messing it all up for them.”
“Wait, are you telling me that you don’t want to be with Ryan?”
“No.” I shake my head and then sigh, feeling tears coming again. “This jet lag is stupid.”
“Oh, honey.” Summer hurries around the counter to pull me in for a hug. “You’re overwhelmed; that’s what this is. And I get it, that’s a lot, even if it is all good stuff. Except the part about Jake. That sucks.”
“I feel so guilty,” I admit out loud for the first time. “I feel guilty that I’m pulling some of Ryan’s attention away from Jake because that kid deserves every bit of Ryan’s attention, Summer.”
“I know he does.”
“I should have known better.” I pull away from her and dab at my eyes. “I knew that they hadn’t used it yet. I knew. But I was in this haze of hangover from the best trip of my life and all the amazing sexy time and how good I feel when I’m at Ryan’s house, or just with him at all, and I was thoughtless.”
“Uh, Polly? You were simply human. You’d just traveled a long way, it was morning, and you wanted breakfast. Cut yourself some slack.”
“You didn’t see his face.”
“That’s fair. I didn’t. Okay, you need to chat with Jake. What else do you feel guilty about?”
