Page 103 of Wear Something Red Anthology
Never, to be truthful, but I wasn’t exactly a regular visitor. Since I’d sooner talk about what put her in this ornery mood, I rested my hand on her arm and urged, “Tell us what’s really wrong. Because we all know it’s nothing to do with the zoo.”
She uttered something too low for me to hear.
“Is it Alondra?” I asked, referring to her mother.
Briar exhaled a heavy sigh. “Partially. The annoying woman did an interview where she painted a very pretty picture of herself as a single, dedicated mother who has always been my role model—yes, sheactuallyclaimed that. More, she swore that no award she won beat hearing me say that she was my inspiration. The only thing she ever inspired me to do was put as many miles between us as possible. Worse than all of that, she insinuated that my dads had little to do with me when I was growing up.”
I gaped. “You are joking.” Her dads had practically raised her all on their own.
“I wish I was.”
“God, that woman needs the biggest bitch slap ever.” Her face hard, Inaya drummed her fingers on the table. “I don’t know what would piss me off more in your shoes, Briar—that she’s a shit mom, or that she presents herself to the world as the perfect mom.”
“The latter.” Briar placed her elbows on the table and thrust her hands into her hair. “It’s so offensive to my dads. They pretended that they weren’t all that bothered by it, but I know they were. I ripped her a new one over the phone this morning. It was not a pleasant conversation. Mere moments after I hung up, my phone rang. It was Grover to let me know that he’s met someone. A woman he’s actually serious about.”
I double-blinked. “Oh. Wow.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not jealous or hurting,” said Briar. “I … I was going to say I’m happy for him, but that’s not really true. I don’t feel much one way or the other about it. Which is cold, isn’t it?”
Inaya gave her a soft smile. “It’s not cold. You two simply didn’t click on any level. You might have worked in bed, but that was pretty much it. You weren’t even friends, were you?”
Briar shook her head. “Neither of us were emotionally invested in each other or our arrangement.”
“But you didn’t want it to be over yet,” I guessed.
Briar grimaced. “Well, it’s an inconvenience. That’s literally all I feel. Inconvenienced. I doubt it would have affected my mood at all if it wasn’t a double whammy of himandAlondra.” She sank back in her chair. “My dads will be nothing short of relieved that he’s out of the picture, I’m sure.”
“Maybe you should try dating one of the dudes that your dads keep pushing you toward,” Inaya suggested. “A lot of them are hot so, if nothing else, you’ll have fun objectifying good-looking guys over a meal or something.”
Briar’s nose wrinkled. “I don’t feel the need to date anyone. I don’t mind being single. But, you know, a girl’s gotta eat sometimes.”
“There’s a lot of delicious grub in the basement of the Vault,” said Inaya. “It’s a verifiable feast. Go munch.”
Briar snorted. “I could say the same to you.”
“I’m just waiting for the right snack to come along.”
Knuckles wrapped on my front door, and my entire body immediately brightened because I knew exactly who was here.
Inaya’s mouth curved. “Ooh, speaking of delicious, that’ll be Danton.” She tossed back the last of her drink. “Come on, girls, let’s leave them in peace to do the dirty.”
I tried telling them that they didn’t need to go immediately, but they all gathered their purses and jackets. I walked to the front door and pulled it open. My stomach did an excited little flip at the sinful sight of Danton. Probably always would.
He hadn’t grumbled about me eating with my friends tonight instead of with him. I’d thought he might, given that I’d spent most of my day with themandhe had a habit of monopolizing a lot of my time—though not in an unhealthy way. But he’d told me to enjoy myself and that he’d pick me up later to drive me to his place.
He stalked straight into my personal space, dipped his head, and pressed a kiss to my mouth. “Hey, baby. Hmm, I like the dress.”
I smiled. “You should. You bought it.”
Looking at my friends as they gathered behind me, he inclined his head and greeted, “Ladies.”
“Don’t mind us, we’ll get out of your hair,” Briar told him, slipping on her jacket.
Inaya gave me a quick hug and then slid her gaze to him. “Thanks for letting us borrow Cat for the day.”
Frowning, I said, “Borrow me?” just as Danton told her, “You’re welcome.”
I looked at him. “Did you honestly just say that she’s welcome?” Like I was a car he’d loaned out for a few hours?