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Sophie grabs the wine bottle and refills both our glasses. “I’ve got to be honest, Cat. I think who you are is pretty awesome too. Don’t lose sight of that.” She clinks her glass against mine. “Let’s go have a home-cooked meal with my mom, okay?”
I nod. “I’ll be right there.” I grab my phone, feeling lighter and more sure of myself than I have in a long time.
A text from Jay sits waiting.
Jay: Tell me it’s not all in my head, Kitten. Tell me you feel this too.
I feel it. I see it. Hell, it’s all I can think about. But I’m not one to give in too easily. And I’m also not 100 percent sure. So I smile as I reply in the only way I know how, and hopefully in a way that will make him smile.
I link the song to the text and hit send.
“Love Song” by Sara Bareilles.
18
WONDERWALL BY OASIS
JAY
With a rueful smile, I soak in the words of the Sara Bareilles song for the third time. Not two seconds after it ends, my phone rings. The ringtone that blares is the one set specifically for Carter. The calm I felt at the thought of Cat picking out a flirty song is gone, and Jonathan Hanson, the man my father has made me, returns. “Hey, Carter, what’s up?”
“Kev and I are on our way to Boston. We’re picking you up and going out. No excuses.”
I roll my neck. I’m so not in the fucking mood for this. In front of them, I have to be a different person. Someone I despise. And for one day, I just want to be myself. “I have a migraine. I’m in bed, ready to sleep this off.”
“Hanson, we haven’t gone out in weeks, and you haven’t been home for longer than that. Come on, I know you’re busy, but you need a break.”
I rub my forehead, trying to ease the inevitable headache that forms each time I have to step into this role. I don’t even dislike Carter. It’s the immense irony of all of this. His family destroyed mine. But he wasn’t involved. Though that doesn’t change the facts or what I have to do.
We’re not really friends. I can easily disappoint him, and it won’t matter to me in the long run.
“I really can’t, man,” I say again.
“Too late. We’re on our way up now. Either let us in, or I’ll use my key.”
Fucking A. The last thing I want is him here. And how the fuck did he get a key? “Fine. I’ll be right down. Give me ten.”
“You have five. See you soon.”
When he clicks off, I throw my phone.
* * *
I’m seatedbetween two blondes in the dark club, with a glass of whiskey in front of me. Carter has a similar drink and one blonde sitting on his lap. Although his whiskey is a James and mine is a Hanson.
In college, fucking idiots that we were, we’d make all our friends do blind taste tests. None of the fools we hung out with knew good whiskey, and we wasted hundred-dollar bottles just to prove a point.
Hanson Whiskey always won.
“Wanna bring the girls back to your place?” Kev asks, leaning over the blonde on my right. Heather, I think her name is. I couldn’t give two fucks. This is all a show at this point.
Kelly, the one on my left, who is someone I’ve taken home from time to time, rubs my leg, her fingers curling against my thigh. “Yeah, let’s get out of here. Heidi and I will make it worth it for you, baby.”
Heidi.That’s her fucking name.
I grimace.
Normally, the idea of two women going at it in front of me, and then letting me do whatever the fuck I want to them, is enough to have me carrying them out of the bar. But it’s only ever about sex.
