“We should make a day out of it. I can make reservations for this weekend if you don’t have any plans,” she says, reading my mind.
“It’s a date. My treat,” I tell her because I know her. She will insist on paying.
We argue back and forth as we leisurely walk back to my apartment. Cabs and town cars fill the street. A large group of people wait for the crosswalk. As we crossing the street, I get a brilliant idea. I’ll force her to spend time with Connor. She told me she doesn’t feel worthy, not in so many words, but I know that’s how she feels. I want her to know she is worthy, of anything and anybody. I’m going to give her a push in the right direction.
“Fine, I’ll let you buy.” I wait to see the smile that she saves for when she’s won. She is so wrong. “One condition. You have to go somewhere with me, no questions asked, and wear what I put you in.”
She pretends to contemplate the deal, but I know I already have her. She isn’t one to back down to anything. She’s not that type of girl, if she were, we wouldn’t get along as well as we do. If only she knew what I was planning. This is going to be fun. I hate that my part of our-soon-to-be-deal won’t happen for a few more weeks. I hate waiting.
“Deal!” she sings as she holds her hand out for me to shake.
“Deal!” I say just as enthusiastically.
I control myself and only dance in my head. I can’t let her think there’s more to my master plan. I can’t wait for her to find out the truth. Hopefully she doesn’t dump water on me, I know that’s her go-to move. Water will not go well with the couture dress I will be wearing.
“How do you know that the two of them are sleeping together?” Harper asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.
At first I’m startled, thinking she was reading my mind again. Then it clicks, Jax and the troll. That’s what she meant. Not what I was planning. Which is good since I don’t plan on her sleeping with her date. I just want her to know that it is an option, that she can have whoever she wants.
“Jax doesn’t have any women friends he doesn’t sleep with.”
“I think there’s more to the story. Maybe you should ask him.”
I gawk at her like she’s lost her mind. I mean come on, Jax is a man, if it’s there in front of him, he’s going to take it. With a woman like that, I have no doubt that she shows Jax exactly what she has to offer him.
“I saw the way he kept staring at you at brunch. I’m not blind, anyone with eyes can tell he wants you, Addie, and that he hates whenever Kohen touches you. Maybe he’s sleeping around because he thinks he can’t have you.”
“Jax knows he can have me if he wants to. That’s not the problem. You’re reading into something that isn’t there. Trust me.”
“He kept sneaking glances at you the entire time. He needs to work on his stealth moves if he doesn’t want to be so noticeable.”
My mouth falls open a little. She’s crazy. There’s people everywhere in New York City and I befriended one of the crazies. Of course I did.
“You’re the only one that doesn’t see it then,” Harper says.
I shake my head and sigh. “Trust me, I’m not wrong about this. As much as I wish I was. I’m not. He doesn’t want me. He’s made that fact crystal clear.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?” I ask, not believing she has given up so easily.
“One of us is right. Hopefully I don’t have to wait too long to be proven right.”
“Don’t count on it,” I mutter.
As we wait for the elevator to arrive, I hear her mutter something about Romeo and Juliet.
“Please tell me you didn’t just compare my love life to Romeo and Juliet. You do realize that isn’t even a love story, right? It’s a tragedy that could have been easily avoidable.”
She shrugs. “You can’t deny that your love life has similar qualities from the story.”
“Jax chooses to not be with me because . . .” I can’t tell her about his abusive father, it’s not my story to tell. I shake my head. “It’s not because our families hate each other. Besides, where would Kohen fit in to all this?”
“Okay, I didn’t say it was exactly like your love life. Just similar.”
As I fetch my key I ask, “Did you get dropped on your head when you were a child? You do realize you pretty much said Jax and I are Romeo and Juliet, everyone wants us together, but we die. Are you planning our deaths in the near future?”
She ignores me and tramps straight to my living room and collapses onto the couch. I follow her lead and sprawl in the chair beside the couch. Unable to get comfy, I struggle out of my jacket. After lying around for five minutes, Harper, rises and stretches. She could put the Energizer Bunny to shame.
“It’s late, I’m gonna head home.”
“Okay.” I help her collect her things. “Let me know what time to meet you for our spa date.”
“OH MY GOD! WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?” Harper yells as she grips both my arms.
I’m so startled from her outburst it takes a second to register what’s happening. She stares wide-eyed at the dark bruises that appear worse than they did this morning. How is that even possible? Shouldn’t they be getting better? I yank back my arms, and cross them, in hopes of covering the bruises.
“Nothing happened, it’s fine.”
“Nothing happened? NOTHING HAPPENED!” She grabs my arms again and turns them this way and that way, inspecting the damage. “There’s fingerprints on your arms! NOTHING HAPPENED! WHO DID THIS TO YOU?”
I need to find a way to calm her down fast. She is about to explode. I have to extinguish this situation. If she thinks it’s a big deal, she will tell someone. Then, it will definitely become a big deal.
“If you calm down, I will tell you everything, okay? Just relax and remember I’m fine.”
She releases her hold on my arms, but gently touches the bruises with her index finger. A tear trickles down her cheek as if she can actually feel these herself.
“Did Kohen do this to you?” she asks quietly.
“It was an accident, I didn’t even feel them. I still don’t feel them. It looks worse than it is. It doesn’t even hurt.”
“A lot of women say ‘it was an accident’ until they can’t say anything anymore.”
“This is not one of those times. I promise. If he was actually hurting me, do you really think I would be okay with this? That I wouldn’t immediately go to my brother?”
She leans against the wall. I follow suit. She doesn’t say anything at first. Her eyes keep bouncing back from my forearms to my face. I can tell she’s trying to determine if I’m lying or not. She kicks off the wall and stands in front of me.
“I’ll believe you, this time. I don’t know what happened and it won’t make a difference if you tell me. I won’t say anything to anyone because it’s not my place, and if you say this isn’t a big deal, fine, I’ll believe you.”
I sigh in relief, but she’s not done.
“If he EVER lays a finger on you again, I don’t care what you try to make me believe, I will make a big deal out of it and I will tell someone. I won’t just stand by while your boyfriend uses you as a punching bag, Addie.”
I know what she’s saying is fair, but at the same time, it’s not. It’s not like Kohen hit me. He didn’t even hurt me. I have been hurt a lot worse than this.
“Kohen isn’t the type to hit a woman.” I slip back into the jacket. “It isn’t what it looks like.”
“Every woman says that, you don’t know what you’ll do until you’re in that situation.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I’m not in that situation,” I snap at her.
I immediately feel like crap. I just lashed out at a friend. A friend that wants to be here for me and make sure I’m okay. I won’t be getting the best friend of the week award.
“I’m sorry. I know you’re just trying to help, but I promise you nothing happened.” I engulf her into a huge bear hug. “Thank you for showing me how much you care, but I promise you, it’s not what it looks like. Kohen is a good guy.”