A Girl's Best Friend E-Book

K. A. Linde

• Herausgeber: K.A. LINDE
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Serie: Diamond Girls
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Seitenzahl: 571

Beschreibung

"A darkly glamorous joyride through sin, pleasure, and the finer things in life, no matter the cost. A must read!" -- Lauren Blakely, New York Times bestselling author on Diamonds

The prey becomes the predator.

Love. That cursed four-letter word no longer belongs in Bryna’s vocabulary. The only four-letter word she knows now is gold.

…and fuck.

She’s well acquainted with that one. And that’s exactly what she plans to do. She’s no longer the golden girl, and when she meets a businessman who promises everything she could ever want from the arrangement, she intends to get her money’s worth.

Follow the conclusion to Bryna’s gold digging story in this scandalizing, duplicitous second book to the USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde’s All That Glitters series.

Can be read as a standalone!

Leseprobe

A Girl’s Best Friend

Book Two in the Girl’s Best Friend Duet

K.A. Linde

Copyright © 2015 by K.A. Linde

All rights reserved.

Visit my website at

www.kalinde.com

Join my newsletter for free books and exclusive content!

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Cover Designer: Staci Hart, www.quirky-bird.com

Photography: aarrttuurr, depositphotos

Editor: Jovana Shirley, Unforeseen Editing,

www.unforeseenediting.com

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

ISBN-13: 978-1948427296

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

In the Rough

Acknowledgments

Also By K.A. Linde

About the Author

1

“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”

That was the damn truth.

Bryna twirled her Harry Winston B diamond necklace around her finger and parted her pouty lips. She had decided on a gold glitter Chanel dress and hot-as-fuck black Jimmy Choos, and when she walked into Las Vegas State’s local nightclub, Posse, all eyes turned her way—just the way she liked it.

She was still getting used to her new life in college. No annoying cling-ons. No obnoxious stepbrother. No wannabe stepmother. No reminders of what had happened her senior year when her life was shot to hell. No reminders of him.

Just her scarlet letter hanging around her neck and a new crowd to rule.

This was the life.

“Bryna! Over here!” Trihn called from the bar.

Bryna fluttered her fingers at her friend and walked her way. It was strange, in a way, to have friends. In high school, she always had Gates Hartman, her movie star ex-boyfriend, but that had crashed and burned. Otherwise, she usually considered other girls as either followers or competition. With Trihn, there was none of that.

Trihn Hamilton, a name she only used professionally, was model tall and exotic with roots in both Vietnam and Brazil. She had endless brown-to-blonde ombre hair and slightly upturned eyes. Plus, she could dance circles around everyone knew. Not to mention, she was the nicest, most sure-of-herself person Bryna had ever met. They had met in this very club the first week of school. Trihn had confidently commented on Bryna’s next season Christian Louboutins. After a night of shots and dancing, a friendship had blossomed.

“Look at you rocking the Chanel tonight after the big game,” Trihn said. She pulled Bryna in for a hug. “I think glitter is your color.”

Bryna laughed. “Always. Look at you in your rocker grunge.”

“Excuse me. This is designer rocker grunge,” Trihn corrected her.

She wore skintight black leather pants, a ripped white crop, and strappy Gucci high heels she had probably gotten when she modeled for them last year. Bryna normally thought model types were dumb as bricks, so she was constantly surprised that they got along and that Trihn had a real personality.

“Ah!” a girl screamed, barreling into Bryna. “You look fucking hot!”

“I’m surprised you’re not still in uniform,” Bryna said.

Stacia Palmer was on the cheerleading team with Bryna. Her father was the head football coach at their biggest rival, the University of Southern California, and that would have made her the enemy, but she had come to LV State to stay out of her father’s shadow. It also explained her obsession with football players. Her reputation as a jersey-chasing whore really endeared her to Bryna. She appreciated the honesty.

“Oh, please.” Stacia flipped her bleach-blonde bangs out of her eyes. “All the guys here know I’m a cheerleader. Plus, Blaine isn’t even here yet. I just made a circuit to see if I could find him.”

Blaine was the starting quarterback of the LV State Gamblers football team. Stacia was determined to hook up with him. Her real goal though was to marry an NFL quarterback.

“You’re ridiculous. How can you even stand college guys?” Bryna asked.

“Don’t talk to me about older guys. Blaine is a senior, Bri. That’s good enough for me.”

Bryna arched an eyebrow. “Whatever you’re into.”

“Like Eric.” Stacia sighed heavily. “I would be very into him if he were still playing.”

Bryna’s eyes wandered through the crowd of football players to where Eric Wilkins was standing. She had been very into him on her school visit here last semester. Sometimes, she still was when she forgot why they would never hook up. She was pretty sure none of her friends and certainly no one on the football team actually knew the reason.

Eric was gay. That was why he never tried to hook up with her on her visit and why he hadn’t talked to her since.

“I don’t think you’re his type,” Bryna said.

“Whatever. I heard the guys talking about how he dated that psychotic head case last year. What was her name?”

Bryna raised her eyebrows. She hadn’t heard anything about this. Must have been one hell of a cover story.

“Audrey,” Trihn said.

“That’s it.”

“Why did they break up?” Bryna asked.

Stacia shrugged. “Who cares? She was a crazy bitch. But now, he’s on the market. We can all take our chances with him. What do you say, B?”

She laughed and shook her head. “I don’t think I’m his type either.”

“Bri, you’re everyone’s type,” Trihn said.

“I appreciate the sentiment.”

Normally, she wouldn’t disagree with Trihn. Bryna had perfect long blonde hair, an impressive rack, and a killer body to boot. Most guys couldn’t tear their eyes away from her, and she always enjoyed the attention. After her disastrous senior year, she had especially enjoyed that attention this summer while lying on various European beaches and hooking up with gorgeous exotic men whom she couldn’t understand.

“So then, go ask him out.” Trihn nudged Bryna.

Stacia cracked up. “Ask him out? You want Bryna to ask him out?”

Bryna rolled her eyes. “You know that’s not happening. Do you know who I am?”

“The elusive Bryna Turner,” Trihn said with a wink. “Come on. You should be confident enough to be able to ask him out. I’d do it.”

“You do it then and let him turn you down. I’m not interested.”

“Well, I’m interested,” Stacia said.

The girls didn’t get it. Bryna never considered herself a good person. In fact, she normally figured she was a class-A bitch. But she wasn’t about to tell people that Eric was gay. He obviously wasn’t out, and the last thing she wanted was for it to get back that she was the one who had outed him. She admired him too much to spew venom.

After all, as the defensive back, he had led LV State to a national championship before he’d completely blown out his knee, ending his career. Now, he was a student assistant coach for the team, which meant they always hung in the same circles.

She would keep her mouth shut and tolerate her friend’s ridiculous behavior.

“You know what?” Bryna said with a smile. A plan was already formulating in her mind. “I’ll go ask him out.”

“Yes!” Trihn cried, thinking she had won.

“But…when he’s not interested, you’ll get a big, fat I-told-you-so, and you bitches will need to find guys to buy us the next round of shots.”

“Easy for us,” Trihn said. “There’s no way he’s not interested.”

Bryna smirked. This is almost too easy.

She honed in on Eric. Tall and still built like he played ball with short-cropped dark hair and an easy smile, he was easy to spot, even in the crowd of football players. The guys he was hanging out with had a bunch of girls desperately clinging to them, but Eric was without one. He might have told everyone else that it was because of his psycho ex, but she knew the truth. They always said all the hot ones are gay.

“Hey, Eric,” Bryna said, interrupting their conversation. “Can I talk with you a minute?”

She felt the eyes of all the other football players heating her skin, but she kept her focus on Eric. She wet her lips and looked up at him from under her long lashes. One of the other guys murmured something vulgar under his breath, and Eric shoved him.

“Sure, Bryna. What’s up?” he asked nonchalantly.

Bryna pointed her French-manicured finger toward a more private location. “Mind if we talk over there?”

He nodded and then followed her away. The guys immediately catcalled to him.

He flipped them off before returning his attention to her. “What’s going on?”

When she stared up into his honey-hazel eyes, her smile widened. God, he is fucking hot. She always thought so. Too fucking bad.

“Bryna?”

She snapped out of her trance and remembered why the fuck she was here in the first place. “Do you want to go out sometime?”

Eric blankly stared back at her. He looked surprised, but underneath the shock was something else. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

“You’re asking me out?”

“I know. Shocker, right?” She tried to play it off as if it wasn’t a big deal. She had never done this before. Mostly because she didn’t need to. She was hot, and guys flocked to her. She was just proving a point.

“Look, I…I don’t think you’re my type.” He scratched the back of his head. “Nothing against girls like you, but they’re not for me.”

Bryna’s mouth fell open. “Girls like me?”

“You know what I mean.” His eyes fell to the floor.

There it was in his voice again. Is that…disgust?

“No, I don’t think I do. I’ve been here for a month. What exactly is my reputation that makes you say ‘girls like me’?”

Eric sighed, and his eyes found hers once more. “You know what people say about you…about all the cheerleaders,” he clarified quickly. “No offense. I’m not into that.”

“Them now and not just me?”

She had expected him to turn her down. She had expected him to say no, that he didn’t want to go out with her. But she sure as hell hadn’t expected him to basically call her a slut-bag whore.

Girls like me?What the hell did that even mean?

She hadn’t slept with anyone since arriving at LV State. While she had flirted, she had been wary of getting too close to anyone. The last thing she wanted was for feelings to get involved and fuck her up again. She preferred meaningless hot sex. And it was harder to come by with someone who went to her school, knowing she could inevitably run into that person again.

“I don’t want to get into it, Bryna. But it’s…cute that you asked me.”

Cute.

He had said it was cute. This had gone from irritating to humiliating with one word. What an asshole!

“Maybe call up your friend Gates. He seemed into you.”

“We’re not friends anymore, but thanks,” she spat sarcastically.

Bryna turned to walk away, but Eric reached out and grabbed her arm.

“Hey. I didn’t mean to upset you. I didn’t know you two weren’t friends anymore.”

“Let me go,” she growled.

Eric immediately dropped her arm. “Whatever.”

He had that look again, like he was already disgusted with her, and her harsh tone had only made it worse.

Bryna stormed away, back to her friends. She struggled to find composure.

The thought of Gates irritated her to no end. He had been in love with her, and everything had gone straight to shit. She hadn’t even talked to him since he kicked her out of his movie premiere, and now, Eric Wilkins had brought him up.

Ugh!

And that only made her think of one thing. Images flooded her mind. The most prominent of them all was him.

Jude.

She took a deep breath and shut down. She locked away the image of him. She refused to think about the man she had once loved telling her he was married with a son, and then him turning around, following his wife out of the banquet room, and leaving her forever.

She swallowed hard. This wasn’t right. Jude’s name held no power over her. Never again would he hold any power over her.

She shouldn’t let this get to her. Gates was out of her life. Jude was out of her life. And Eric Wilkins didn’t matter.

2

“So, what did he say?” Trihn asked. She planted her hand on her hip and gave Bryna an expectant look, thinking she had the cat in the bag.

“No. He said no,” she said tightly.

“What?” Stacia asked. Her mouth dropped open in her overly dramatic style. “I can’t believe it.”

“Well, believe it.”

“I mean…have you ever been rejected before?” Stacia asked. “I haven’t. What was it like? Did it suck?”

“I’m giving you my big, fat fucking I-told-you-so. I knew he’d say no,” she said as if everything else he had said didn’t bother her in the slightest. “Now, where are my drinks, bitches?”

“Maybe we should verify,” Trihn said.

Bryna shrugged her shoulders. “Confirm if you must, but Eric is going to tell you the same damn thing. I think a better use of our time would be to find some guys in VIP to buy me those drinks.”

Trihn still looked skeptical but acquiesced to Bryna’s suggestion. They walked across the room and to the upstairs VIP lounge. The bouncer checked them out first before allowing them access. In L.A., Bryna wouldn’t have even needed a second glance. If the bouncer didn’t know her, then her promoter friend, Max, would always put her name on the list. The scene was so different here.

Trihn swished her hair to one side and smiled at the bouncer. “Thanks!”

Bryna kept from rolling her eyes. Trihn, the eternally nice one.

“You don’t have to talk to him,” Bryna murmured.

“What?” Trihn asked.

“The bouncer. You don’t have to talk to him.”

“Ignore, Bri,” Stacia said. “You know she’s a bitch.”

“I am,” she conceded. “But I stand by my statement. Your approach to bouncers might be different in Brooklyn, but isn’t everything?”

“Hey now. Brooklyn gets a lot of heat, but it fits my image,” Trihn said with a smile. “Plus, you can’t have a fashion photographer for a father without living in an artsy area. You all should be glad I ended up with the fashion side and not the artsy side.”

“Trihn…you’re a design major. Does that not scream artsy to you?”

“At least I have a major,” she said, pointedly staring at Bryna.

“Whatever. I assume you lived your life like Dan from Gossip Girl.”

“I am not Lonely Boy!” Trihn cried.

Then, all three of them cracked up laughing at the ridiculous turn of their conversation.

“Drinks!” Bryna cried.

She ushered them away from the entrance. Once she reached the bar, she eyed the crowd and focused on her prey. She could see a couple of hot guys who would likely buy drinks for them with no more than a smile from her. The home game had brought in so many prospects.

Leaning forward against the bar, she let her chest pop over the top of her dress, and she winked at the bartender. “Maya!”

Maya fluttered her fingertips at them from the other side of the bar. The girls had quickly become regulars at Posse, and Maya was their favorite bartender. She finished pouring drinks for a group of frat douches and then sauntered all five-foot-ten inches of her luscious African-American caramel-toned body over to them. “Hey, babes. What can I get for you?”

Bryna pursed her lips and looked around the room. “Him and him and maybe him, too.” She pointed out each guy in turn.

“You don’t need help with them. Not if I know you,” Maya said. “How about a dirty martini with three olives?”

“You know me so well,” Bryna crooned.

“Trihni, my love!” Maya leaned across the bar and kissed Trihn on the cheek. “Gin and tonic, and something girlie for the cheer slut?”

“Perfection,” Trihn said. “Just like you.”

“I love when you talk dirty to me,” Stacia said.

A minute later, all three drinks were placed in front of the girls. Before any of them could retrieve their wallets, a guy motioned for Maya to put it on his tab. Bryna raised an eyebrow as Trihn fawned over his generosity. He was good-looking in an LV State button-up and slacks that he had likely worn to the game. His appearance screamed wealthy alumnus, and even though everything in Bryna told her to back away, she couldn’t help but be interested in older guys. Another unfortunate side effect of the Jude catastrophe.

“Why don’t you ladies come sit with me and my friends?” he asked with an easy smile that said he had done this before.

“Oh! We’d love to,” Trihn said.

Bryna’s eyes traveled down to his left hand buried in his pocket, and she wondered if something was lurking on his ring finger.

“Bri,” Stacia snapped, nudging her.

“Yeah. Sure,” she said.

She met his gaze and saw that look she craved. Desire. He wanted her.

She licked her lips and smiled, slow and sultry. “Sounds fun.”

She followed them across the VIP lounge. His friends had a booth right off of the dance floor, and Stacia immediately starting grinding on Trihn.

“Come on, Bri!” Trihn called over her shoulder.

But Bryna didn’t have any interest in dancing at that moment. She shook her head and held up her martini. Trihn and Stacia were almost finished with their drinks already, working toward that state of oblivion. Bryna liked to get there slower. After that one horrendously embarrassing moment when she had gotten shitfaced on her college visit, she didn’t like to let herself go like that. Being out of control didn’t suit her.

“Hey, I’m Thomas,” the guy said, sidling up next to where Bryna stood by the booth.

“Hey yourself,” she said with a smile.

Yes, up close he was even cuter. Strong jawline and extremely dark eyes. She could see the expensive watch on his wrist, and she took that as a good sign.

“What’s your name?”

This was a step in the right direction. “Brihn-uh,” she said, deliberately drawing her name out. People tended not to pronounce it right.

“That’s different. I like it.”

“Me, too. My friends call me Bri though.”

“Your friends seem to be having a good time. Are you guys students?”

Inquisitive one. She wasn’t used to that. Her European hunks hadn’t asked a lot of questions. And before that…well, Jude hadn’t cared to ask or else they might not have ended up in that situation in the first place. At least she was legal this time.

“Yeah. Students. And you’re an alum?” She plucked the Gamblers logo on his shirt with her fingers and leaned in closer.

His eyes landed on her lips, and then he nodded. “Yes. A proud Gambler.”

“I can see that,” she purred.

God, it was all a game. A very, very familiar game. And she wanted to hate herself for playing along…and even worse, for enjoying it. But she didn’t. She couldn’t hate something that made her heart race. She associated the mystery and danger with an unbeatable adrenaline rush and super hot sex. At the same time, she had an uncontrollable urge to watch with a smile as it all burned down in front of her.

He laughed and then offered her a spot at their table. They eyed her appreciatively and seemed impressed with their friend for not only finding one hot girl but three.

Shots appeared out of nowhere, and then they reappeared regularly. The girls were past tipsy and dancing sloppily with Thomas’s friends. Bryna even relented to dance with them. She was sandwiched between Trihn and Stacia, shaking their asses as if there were no tomorrow.

Thomas grabbed her hand and pulled her away from her friends. Grinding their hips together, he leaned into her. She thought he might kiss her or something, but he never did.

The music changed, and they all crashed back into the booth.

Stacia pulled out her cell phone and groaned. “B, we have to go downstairs. Everyone else is here, and they’re doing some kind of cheer thing.”

Thomas’s hand landed on Bryna’s, and his lips grazed her ear. “Don’t go. Stay up here with me.”

She smirked at the attention. She craved it like a life force. “I’ll come down later,” she told Stacia.

Stacia gave her a knowing look. “Are you sure? It’ll be fun.”

“S, go!” Bryna nodded her head toward Thomas and raised her eyebrows. Hello, I’m occupied.

“Fine. Trihn, are you staying?”

Trihn wasn’t even paying attention. She was animatedly talking to one of the other guys about who knew what. She was a happy drunk and suddenly found everyone interesting, not that the guy seemed to mind in the slightest.

“Hopeless,” Stacia said with a shake of her head. She kissed Bryna on the cheek and whispered in her ear, “Be careful.”

Bryna laughed off Stacia’s warning, and then she disappeared through the crowd. Stacia was super cautious and paranoid about everyone, except for herself. The girl seriously knew how to let loose, but when other people did, she’d freak out for them.

“So,” Thomas said, “you’re a cheerleader?”

“Don’t I seem the type?”

He let his eyes drag down her body. “Your friend seemed the type. You seem…different. More mature.”

That was a new one. “I like that.”

“I like you,” he said.

“You barely know me,” she corrected him.

And she was sure he wanted to keep it that way. It would be easier to justify the one-night stand if she was only a beautiful face in his mind.

“You’re gorgeous and an LV State cheerleader. What else should I know?”

She let the hit roll off her shoulders. The fact that she had come into LV State with a 4.0 GPA probably didn’t matter to him.

“Nothing,” she said dryly. “That’s all there is to know about me. What about you? What do you do?”

The question popped out of her mouth before she could stop herself. The way he had acted like anything other than her looks didn’t matter made her want to act like nothing other than his money mattered. It reminded her of last year and made her stomach twist. This was the person he had made her. Damn, Jude.

“I’m a biomedical engineer,” he said with pride. “It’s technical and not interesting.” He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her onto his lap. His lips settled into the crook of her neck. His hand crept up to her upper thigh. All the inhibitions he had been holding on to disappeared in the darkened booth with the help of the booze they had been downing all night.

She tilted her head, so he would have better access, and she reveled in the feeling of being wanted. She craved it like a smoker needed nicotine. And she refused to apologize for it.

As his hand snuck further up her dress, she reached down and grabbed it. She wasn’t going to do anything more than this in the crowded bar. She’d go back to his hotel room before that.

“Aw, come on,” he urged.

She crossed her legs and shifted. She wasn’t an open invitation. He would have to work a little harder for this.

His friends were watching them from the other side of the booth. “Your friends clearly like a show,” she said. It came out sounding like an excuse to stop, but she was more curious about their interest.

“Ignore them.” Regardless, he pulled away from her. “They should mind their own business. Let’s get another drink.”

Suspicion crept into her mind. Why would his friends be this interested in a girl he wanted to take back to the hotel?

“Or we could get out of here,” she purred.

She stood and reached for his left hand. Her hand brushed across his ring finger and found it empty, but she couldn’t ignore the indentation where a ring used to sit. Her stomach turned, and she tried to rationalize that maybe he was divorced.

He hesitated a second longer than she’d expected, and her insides turned to lead.

He followed her to his feet as he made his decision. “You have a place nearby, or should we go to my hotel?”

She gritted her teeth and then forced a smile, wondering how far he was going to take this. “Probably your place.”

“Yeah, my place,” he repeated.

Bryna giggled and leaned into him. “Something wrong? Don’t you want to take me back to your room and fuck me all night?”

Thomas groaned. “Yes. Yes, I do.” He pressed forward into her and let their lips meet. “Fuck, I want you.”

“Then, let’s go,” she encouraged like the devil on his shoulder.

He grabbed her and crushed his lips down on her again. She could tell he desperately wanted her at this point, and they hadn’t even made it out of the bar. Maybe she should have felt bad, but she didn’t. The guy was bringing this on himself.

“Come on,” she urged.

“Wait,” he said.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He met her baby-blues. “Nothing’s wrong.”

Bryna withdrew. This game was over. Thomas bored her.

“It couldn’t be that you’re married?”

His eyes widened. “What?”

“And your friends are looking at us, wondering why you’re a cheating scumbag making out with this whore?”

“What are you talking about?” he stammered.

“Please. An indentation on your ring finger, overly curious friends, and you being fidgety when I told you to fuck me. I should have guessed.” She pushed him away.

“Wait!” he cried before she could turn and leave.

She curiously eyed him. Did I misjudge him?

“I’ve never done anything like this before.”

She rolled her eyes. Nope. “Clearly.”

Thomas was such an amateur. She couldn’t believe how much it irritated her. He hadn’t even made it interesting. If she was going to do this again, he’d need to be better than this, make it worth her while to try to wreck another marriage.

“Stay with me tonight,” Thomas said softly, lacking all the confidence he’d had when he bought their drinks and flirted with her much of the night.

Ugh! Such a waste.

Bryna grabbed a half-empty cocktail off the table and threw it in his face. “You’re disgusting. Go home to your Stepford wife.”

She walked over to where Trihn was sitting with her mouth wide open. “Let’s go.”

Trihn immediately jumped up and followed her out of VIP. “What the hell just happened?”

Bryna sighed. “Jude happened.”

3

“Okay. That’s a wrap, girls. If you have any questions once you leave, send me a text message. See you tomorrow,” the cheer coach said.

Bryna breathed a sigh of relief. Finally. After three hours of grueling rehearsal, they were leaving the practice facility to go home. She’d had class all morning and cheer all night. Her body ached from stunting, and she couldn’t wait to shower, but at least they were ready for their first away game at the University of Oregon on Saturday.

Stacia swept her bangs out of her eyes and nudged Bryna. “Ready?”

Bryna nodded. She grabbed her cheer bag and followed Stacia out of the locker room. “That was one hell of a practice.”

“You looked great. I’d die for your bow and arrow.”

“Ugh! No more cheer talk. I can’t think about it anymore before the game. I’m going to need some serious retail therapy.”

“You need retail therapy for everything,” Stacia said.

“Truth.”

“I just need that.” Stacia nodded her head toward the practice field.

The football team was filing out of the gate, still dressed in pads, about to hit the showers.

“Which one?” Bryna asked.

“All of them,” Stacia sighed.

“Sounds like a porn. Cheerleader gangbanged by the football team.”

Stacia tilted her head as if contemplating it. “Doesn’t sound that bad.”

“I hear they pay good money,” Bryna joked. She couldn’t help but egg Stacia on.

Bryna wouldn’t put it past Stacia to join in on something like that. She wasn’t selective. A small part of her understood where Eric had been coming from in regard to cheerleaders. Stacia was the definition of that girl. Bryna just took offense to him calling her that kind of girl.

“I wouldn’t need the money. I’d be in it for the sex,” Stacia said with a wink.

“Slut.”

“Bitch.”

Bryna raised an eyebrow and smirked at her friend. This was why she and Stacia got along. There were forty other girls on the squad, but most of them drove Bryna nuts or made her want to stab her eye out with a fork. Plus, she and Stacia were the only freshman flyers, and that pissed off enough people, so they had to stick together.

“Look! Blaine!” Stacia said.

Bryna narrowed her eyes and searched for the quarterback. “Where?”

“Right there,” she said, gesturing toward the back of the line.

Stacia must seriously have a radar for the guy because Bryna could hardly tell the players apart in their uniforms. Blaine was exceedingly tall, which helped, but so was most of the team.

“Let’s go say hi.” Stacia dragged Bryna across the pavilion.

“What? They just finished practice,” Bryna said.

She shook off Stacia’s vise grip. The girl was nutso for Blaine.

What the fuck? Bryna had no interest in any of the football players. College guys, she was discovering, weren’t much better than high school guys. She didn’t mind flirting and fucking with the best of them but not right now when she needed a shower.

“Who cares?” Stacia said. She jogged forward and fell into step next to Blaine.

Bryna quickly caught up to her. Her eyes landed on the person walking next to Blaine, and she nearly groaned aloud. Eric. She hadn’t seen him since their encounter at Posse. They uneasily eyed each other, but she made sure that she wasn’t the first person to look away.

“Hey, Blaine! Good practice?” Stacia asked, her voice chipper.

Blaine smiled in an unabashed way that won over crowds. “Yeah. Great practice. We’re ready to stomp some Ducks this weekend!”

“I know you’ll be great,” she crooned.

Bryna tried not to roll her eyes. Jesus. Was this how Stacia got what she wanted—by batting her eyelashes and purring to get attention?

Eric snorted next to Blaine, and Bryna saw that his expression mirrored her own. When they both noticed, they glared at each other and then turned away.

What an ass! She could be disdainful of her friend slutting it up, but he couldn’t.

“Thanks, Stacy,” Blaine said with that same smile. “We have to get to the showers. See you around.”

“Bye!” Stacia cried as he left her in the dust.

Once they were a safe distance away from the practice fields, Stacia let out a heavenly sigh. “He wants me. I know it.”

Bryna’s eyes bugged out. “He didn’t even call you by your real name.”

Stacia shrugged. “I mean, technically, it was my real name, but I had my parents legally change it in high school.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“Anyway,” Stacia said dramatically, “I think I’m going to make a move at the away game this weekend.”

“Good idea,” Bryna said.

There was no convincing her otherwise. She had her eyes set on the quarterback, and she wouldn’t be discouraged just because Bryna knew Blaine wasn’t interested in her. Not only was he not interested, but she knew he was also hooking up with some girl on the basketball dance team. Either way, he was going to the NFL next year and leaving both girls behind.

“You know, I saw that thing between you and Eric,” Stacia said once they reached the parking lot.

“What thing?”

“The eye thing.” Stacia wiggled her eyebrows up and down.

“There was no eye thing.” The only thing that had passed between her and Eric was disgust that they’d shared an even remotely similar thought.

“Okay. Whatever you want to think.”

Bryna rolled her eyes. One day, she was going to lay it on them that Eric was gay, and they were going to be so stunned that they wouldn’t know what to do.

“Seriously, there was something,” Stacia crooned. “I’m not sure I believe that he turned you down. It was a front, right?”

“Wrong,” she said, exasperated. Why do I have to keep defending myself? “Maybe we were both amazed at how much you want to suck Blaine’s dick.”

“Why would anyone be amazed at that?” she deadpanned.

Bryna laughed. “You’re such a slut.”

“I only hope that I’ll be as good at it as you are.” She innocently fluttered her eyelashes.

“Doesn’t everyone?”

“Pretty much. Speaking of,” Stacia cried, “what exactly happened last weekend? I want the goods. Trihn said you threw your drink on that guy you were with.”

Bryna shrugged, unperturbed. “He had it coming.”

And it was true. He hadn’t even had the decency to be honest. Not that Jude had ever been honest. But the whole concept just irritated her. She knew she should just brush it off and roll with the punches, but after the way Jude had played her, she was a changed woman. And not necessarily for the better.

“Hey, B.” Stacia snapped her fingers in Bryna’s face. “Hot guy? Cocktail in the face? What the fuck?”

“He didn’t know how to play the game, so I gave him a lesson.” She winked.

Stacia giggled. She retrieved her car keys from her bag and clicked the unlock button. Her giant SUV beeped across the parking lot, and she leaned on the hood of Bryna’s Aston Martin while they talked. “That doesn’t sound like my idea of a lesson.”

“That’s because you would have banged him.”

Stacia tapped her lips. “True.”

“Anyway,” she said, popping open her door, “he was married.”

“Oh,” Stacia said in understanding.

Bryna wished that had been the real issue. But she had been there, done that before.

4

Bryna valeted her Aston Martin at Caesars Palace on the Vegas Strip and entered the Forum Shops for a last-minute shopping trip. She hated to admit that she was a little nervous about her first away game, but she couldn’t help it. Jitters wracked her stomach, and the only way to calm those nerves—other than sex, which wasn’t exactly accessible at the moment—was a quick shopping trip. She could use a new carry-on anyway.

Meandering through the designer boutiques made her heart happy and calmed the unnecessary nerves. She rounded the corner and entered the beautiful interior of Louis Vuitton.

A clerk immediately approached her. “Hello. Welcome to Louis Vuitton. How can I help you?”

“I’m looking for a new carry-on. Something sleek.”

“I know just the thing,” the woman said with a smile.

Bryna spent a solid hour with the saleslady. It was hard to decide on only one bag, so she ended up with two—a black carry-on with all gold accents and a new gold makeup bag. After swiping her daddy’s credit card, she exited the boutique with every intention of returning to her condo to finish packing.

She pulled out her cell phone and scrolled through the messages she had received while occupied. There was one from Trihn, wishing her good luck at the game this weekend. Attached was a picture of her history homework with a sad face drawn on it. Bryna laughed and clicked over to the next message where Stacia had posed for a picture in her cheer warm-ups with a thumbs-up and added text underneath.

See you in twenty.

Bryna checked the time and realized she had missed that only a couple of minutes ago. She still had some time. Maybe she would peek into one more shop before heading out.

Knowing she only had a short time, she walked through the Forum, back toward the entrance, and scoped out where to make her stop. Her smile brightened at the next entrance where a security guard was posted on the other side of the door. She sighed.

Tiffany’s.

She had a gold bangle with diamonds inlaid in the band from Jude. The smile slipped from her face for a split second, but she forced it back on. Fuck him! She was over that shit. The bracelet was the sort of thing she should be wearing, and it didn’t matter that she had gotten it when he decided to make their arrangement more serious, only to pull the rug out from under her later. Tiffany’s was too perfect to be tainted by him.

She brushed past the guard and into the large Tiffany Blue-and-white room. She marveled at the glass counters and all the sparkling jewels. Her heart fluttered. The diamonds called to her. She breezed past the engagement rings and went straight to The Atlas Collection.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to a pair of gold Atlas hoops with diamonds. She had gotten the ones without diamonds this summer in Paris, but she had been kicking herself for not getting the ones with diamonds, too. She needed them.

“Good choice.”

Bryna startled. She hadn’t realized anyone had walked up to her while she was salivating over the earrings.

She faced the stranger, and her heart stuttered. Oh, yes.So much yes.

“Well, I have impeccable taste,” she drawled.

He smiled. “I can see that.”

He was perfect. Older than even Jude or maybe the same age. Mid to late thirties and utterly delectable. High cheekbones, full lips, chiseled strong jaw, and gleaming light-brown eyes. What she noticed next was just as important—an indulgent custom suit that fit him like a second skin. With that kind of cut and quality, it had to be something straight out of London’s Savile Row. A fine suit had all the same necessary characteristics as a diamond, and both should be worn as often as possible.

She shifted her Louis Vuitton bag to her other arm and faced him head-on. “It appears I’m not the only one with good taste.” She wet her lips.

“You can never go wrong with diamonds.”

She completely agreed. “You think so?” she asked, playing coy.

“Absolutely.”

“And what exactly are you shopping for?” She was mesmerized by his cool exterior.

Their conversation was intense, and they had barely shared more than two-dozen words. He had a commanding presence with such little effort.

The man leaned in slightly. “Just browsing.”

He looked her directly in the eyes, and she got the impression he considered her to be merchandise.

If the Harry Winston diamonds around her neck were any indication, she could be bought.

“I would recommend anything in Tiffany’s,” she managed to get out.

An easy smile crossed his face, and she wondered exactly what he was thinking.

“Thank you. I’m sure I’ll find something that I like.”

Goose bumps broke out on her skin. She needed to get herself under control. This man was too much. She hadn’t even checked if he was married, and it scared her a bit to know that she wouldn’t care.

He had done this to her. It was a slippery slope, and she couldn’t get her footing.

She needed to make up her mind about what to do. She had thrown that drink in Thomas’s face at the bar because he had played the game wrong. Do I want to play at all?

Her only requirement was complete control. She needed it to breathe, to survive. But under the right circumstances, she would let it happen. And this seemed to be the right circumstances so far. She would let the ball roll and see whether or not he picked it up.

“Are you here on business?” she asked none too discreetly.

“What? I don’t strike you as a local?”

“Hardly!” She swished her hair over her shoulder and leaned forward. “You have that out-of-town-businessman vibe down pat.” A vibe she was very much enjoying. That meant he wouldn’t be around all the time, and she could have her fun.

“You certainly don’t look like a Vegas local either,” he admitted, evading her question.

“Transplant from L.A.,” she told him.

“Now, that makes more sense. You have that Cali vibe.”

Bryna looked down at her outfit—skintight black jeans, a black tank, and a gold belt around her waist. Me?

“Please don’t tell me you think I look like a surfer,” she joked.

It was what people always incorrectly associated with California when, in fact, there was so much more to the state than that.

“You look Hollywood or Beverly Hills.”

“That’s more like it.”

“Ma’am,” a clerk said, coming up to stand before them at the counter, “did you want to try on the Atlas earrings?”

Bryna chewed on her bottom lip, debating. She did want them, but she had already wasted her last precious minutes talking with this man—well, not truly wasted, of course. Still, she had to leave already and didn’t have time to get them. Another time perhaps.

“No. Thank you though.”

“Try them on,” the man insisted.

He gestured for the clerk to take them out of the cabinet. She placed them on a black crushed-velvet pad, and they were even more stunning when Bryna could almost reach out and touch them.

She took the earrings from the woman and switched out the ones she had been wearing for the Atlas diamonds. She brushed her hair back to look at them in the mirror and sighed delightfully.

“I think you have to get them,” he said.

“Is that so?”

“They’re perfect for you.”

She was about to agree with him when her phone rang noisily. Fuck! She dug through her purse and silenced the ringer. Stacia. Oops!

“Sorry,” she said to the man and the clerk. “Give me one minute.”

They both nodded, and she walked a short distance away to answer the phone. “Hey, S.”

“Where the eff are you, Bri? I’m at your condo. We’re supposed to leave for the game soon!”

“I know. I got held up. I’ll be there in ten minutes. Let yourself in.”

“Where are you? Why are you not home?” Stacia demanded.

“I’m at the Forum.”

“You’re seriously shopping right now?” Stacia shrieked. “We have to be on an airplane in a couple hours, and you just now realized you’re missing something?”

“I needed a new carry-on,” Bryna said. She was in no hurry to leave before getting the man’s name and number. That was for sure. “I’ll be back soon.”

“A carry-on,” Stacia said dryly. “You have a full closet of bags, and I’ve seen your Louis Vuitton luggage.”

“Well, you can never have too many. Plus, I got sidetracked in Tiffany’s,” she confided. She wasn’t used to having people question and command her like this. She was trying to rein in her inner bitch, so she wouldn’t tell her friend to fuck off.

“Bri!”

“And there’s a cute guy. So, I have to go.”

“B, walk out right now. No cute guys. We have a game to get to.”

“You ruin all my fun,” Bryna said in a pouty voice.

“Blame cheer.”

“Fine. I will,” Bryna said. “You know I’m only doing this because my mom cheered, right?”

“Yes. Sure. Not because you enjoy it,” Stacia said sarcastically. “Your mom was a cheerleader, and your dad was a star football player. Maybe if you didn’t hang out at Tiffany’s with hot strangers, you could meet one of those yourself.”

Bryna glanced over her shoulder at her hot stranger and lowered her voice. “But then, how will I know they can afford my lifestyle?” She was only half-joking. Or maybe she wasn’t at all.

Stacia laughed. “You have a fair point. I hate to concede to it, but it is you. And I do want a wealthy, hot NFL quarterback,” she said dreamily. “We’re not asking for too much, are we?”

“Definitely not. I really have to go. I’ll come back soon.”

“Hurry up,” Stacia said before they disconnected.

Bryna dropped her phone back into her purse and then returned to the counter. Luckily, the guy was still standing there. It seemed he had purchased something while she was on the phone.

She went to take the earrings out of her ears. “Sorry. No time to get these. I have to head out. At least you found what you were looking for.”

“Yes, I did.”

The man held the bag out to her, and she stopped trying to fiddle with the earring clasp.

“What?”

“I told you that you needed them,” he told her.

“I’m confused.”

“I got them for you.”

“You purchased the earrings?” she whispered in surprise. She had said to Stacia that she wanted someone to support her lifestyle, but she hadn’t quite expected this.

“I couldn’t let you leave without them.”

“Wow.” She took the bag from him. “You didn’t have to do that.”

Of course, she was thrilled. She had rolled the ball toward him, and he had picked it up and put it on a pedestal.

“No. But I wanted to.”

It was official. This guy was too perfect. She wished she had more time.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. It was nice meeting you.”

“Bri,” she said automatically.

He took her hand and firmly shook it once. “Nice to meet you, Bri. I’m Hugh.”

He smiled and then left before her. She had no idea what to make of all of that. A guy didn’t buy a girl twenty-two-hundred-dollar diamond earrings and then not ask for her number…or something more in return.

As she exited the store, she opened the blue Tiffany’s bag and peered inside. There was a blue pouch with her other earrings inside and a crisp white business card.

Hugh Westercamp

WC Resorts

On the back, he had scribbled his number. But that wasn’t the only thing that made her stomach tighten with excitement. WC Resorts owned casinos and resorts on the Strip as well as other locations. And the sole owner of the entire conglomerate and resort fortune.

Hugh Westercamp.

5

Bryna and Stacia were going to be perfectly on time for the flight out to Oregon even though Stacia was complaining the whole way about Bryna being late. Her head was up in the clouds though, and she was tuning out Stacia’s comments. No wonder she had thought the situation had all the right characteristics for her to be interested. The man was Hugh Westercamp.

Just the thought made her skin tingle with excitement. She would have to play this right. A man like that wouldn’t accept just anyone. She was shocked he had even given her his number. He must have been so fucking confident that she would call.

Déjà vu hit her something fierce. She remembered leaving her number with Jude, knowing that he must have been interested after the incredible night they had spent together with their intimate deep connection.

She rolled her eyes. What bullshit!

There had been no connection. Just hot sex and a whole lot of deception. At least she could take what had happened in her past and make it work for her here. If Hugh was used to something happening, then she’d need to be unpredictable. The card weighed heavily in her purse, but she vowed to ignore it for as long as she could. Absence made the heart grow fonder. Or at least she hoped it would make his wallet fonder.

“So, tell me about the hot stranger,” Stacia said. She hoisted her cheer bag out of the back of her SUV. “I see you have new bling. Atlas Collection. Obsessed!”

Bryna shrugged. She wasn’t ready to reveal all her secrets yet. The girls knew how she was, but Hugh felt like an investment she would have to take seriously or else it could all slip away.

“It was nothing. He was cute.”

“Older?” she guessed.

“Much. But I like that.”

“I know. I think you want a guy who already has a job and a career, so you can fit into his life.”

Fair assessment. “Nothing wrong with coming to college to get your MRS degree.”

“Don’t let Trihn hear you say that,” Stacia said with a giggle.

They walked into the airport where they were meeting the team.

“We’d both get a lecture on how college is about more than just finding a husband.”

“Of course it is. There are football, parties, drinking, dancing, cheer,” Bryna rattled off.

Stacia giggled in agreement. “So, did you give the guy your number?”

“Nope.” That was true. Stacia hadn’t asked if she had gotten his number. “I told you, it was nothing.”

“Well, you know what is something? Blaine,” she said with a sigh.

Their eyes were drawn to the quarterback, who was laughing and making jokes with his friends.

“You are not hooking up with Blaine this weekend.”

“Maybe. But my options are open. I bet we’ll both find someone sexy to hook up with,” Stacia said confidently.

Bryna’s eye caught on Andrew Holloway, who was standing near Blaine, and he smiled broadly at her attention. Yeah. She was pretty sure she could do that in the meantime while her plans came together.

LV State beat Oregon by a field goal in overtime. Bryna screamed at the top of her lungs and excitedly jumped up and down. Stacia barreled into her and hugged her tightly. Leaving Stacia behind, Bryna threw herself at her base, Daniel.

“We won! We won! We won!” she screamed.

He picked her up and threw her into the air as if she weighed nothing. To him, she supposed she probably did, considering he hoisted her into the air with one arm pretty regularly.

“So fucking awesome,” he said when she landed back in his arms.

The girls cheered on the sidelines toward the LV State fans who had made it out to the away game. The players raced past the cheerleaders and jumping over the barrier into the stands. The crowd clapped them on the back with congratulations. The press was all over it like a field day, snapping pictures and rolling the cameras.

In the mayhem, Bryna felt someone circle an arm around her waist. She looked up to see Andrew smiling down at her.

“Hey, Bri.”

“Andrew! Congratulations! That was an amazing game!”

His hand moved a little lower, and he winked. “Maybe we can make it an amazing after-party?”

She smiled. “Maybe.”

She wished he were someone else—Hugh preferably. But Hugh was a game, and this was just for fun. Stacia was right when she’d said Bryna should hook up with people while she waited for the prize. Some fun wouldn’t hurt anything.

“Find me later.”

And he did.

Even though the team was instructed to remain model examples as they were here representing their school, a raging party broke out at the hotel. Bryna was swept away with the energy from their victory and ended up disappearing back to Andrew’s room.

Her head was fuzzy as she let him drag her into his empty room. The lights were off, and she ran into a chair, falling down, and landing hard on her ass. She broke into a fit of laughter as she tried to right herself. Andrew was there, lifting her easily from the ground and pushing her toward the bed.

His hands were on her body, pushing at the material of her slinky black dress and riding it up to her hips. He groped at her breasts, and she tried to relax into his touch. This was what she wanted. This was what she had done all summer with random strangers in Europe. She was glad she was drunk enough that she might not remember it in the morning.

This wasn’t about love or passion. Just sex. Just fulfilling her needs.

Andrew’s lips were heavy on hers as he forced her mouth open. His tongue was an invasion. He tasted like stale beer and cigarettes. She hadn’t even known he smoked. Whatever. She wasn’t going to think about it. She fisted his shirt in her hands and returned his kiss with enthusiasm.

“God, Bri, you’re fucking hot,” Andrew breathed. He twisted her breast and then grasped her bare thigh. “I knew I’d get inside this all along.”

“You knew?” she asked.

He sat on the bed and yanked her down on top of him. “Yeah, babe. Now, let’s get you out of this dress.”

He pulled the material over her head, rolled her over flat on the bed, and covered her body. His hands were everywhere, drawing a road map on her skin as clumsily as he could. Then, he fiddled with himself, slid on a condom, and reached down to shove her underwear aside.

It had been a while since she had sex, and even though Andrew wasn’t the person she wanted to be on top of her right now, he would have to do. He wasn’t a conquest in the same way. He was more of a plaything, and she wasn’t going to think about the fact that she could do better than him and had done so in the past.

Her body responded as if it had been starving for attention. Europe was a distant memory. When she came, it wasn’t earth-shattering, but it did the job better than masturbating. And it was damn better than waiting around for Mr. Right to never show up. Otherwise, she would never have sex again.

Later, when she returned to the room she shared with Stacia, she wasn’t even surprised to find it empty. Stacia had said she was going to find her own fun even if it wasn’t with Blaine. Bryna changed into her silk slip and crawled under the hotel comforter. She didn’t even crinkle her nose at the lack of quality compared to what she was used to. She rested her head on the pillow and tried to let sleep take her, but her heart constricted.

This was right. This was how life was supposed to be.

Love was an illusion. It didn’t exist in her world.

She shouldn’t expect it. There was no point in searching for it. All it had ever done was weaken her, turn her into an idiot, force her to make bad choices, and completely lose control.

She had the control now.

No matter how empty she felt on the inside.

The next morning, Bryna shrugged off Stacia’s questions about her night. She didn’t want to talk about it. It had been a while since she felt so low. And it made zero sense. After such a victory, she should have been unbelievably happy, yet she had lain awake for far too long, trying to fall asleep and chase the memories away.

She was not broken. Today, she would renew her calm confidence and forget about the momentary slip.

They were transported back to the airport, and she sank heavily into her assigned seat on the airplane. Her head was throbbing. She was in no mood to talk to anyone. It was too early in the morning, and she hadn’t gotten enough sleep. As soon as the plane took off, she was going to put in her headphones and pass out. She wished she were flying private, so she would have a bed to sleep in. That would be ideal.

“Bryna!” Beth said, appearing in front of her.

Beth was a senior on the cheer team and a real pain in the ass.

“Hey, Beth,” she said.

“You’re sitting next to Greg, right?” she asked.

“Uh…yeah, I think so.”

“Can we switch seats?”

Bryna arched an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Why do you think?” She flipped her dark brown ponytail and winked. “Plus, you’ll be at the front of the plane, so first off.”

Bryna wanted to ask what Beth was going to do for her if she switched, but it was a sign of how out of it she was that she didn’t. “Fine. Where are you sitting?”

Beth breathed out a sigh of relief as if she had thought it was going to be more difficult than that. She handed over her plane ticket, and Bryna grabbed her bags and trudged up the aisle. She found her row empty and took the aisle seat even though Beth’s ticket directed her to the window.

Bryna hated window seats. She hated the thought of climbing over people to have to get up. She hated waiting for someone else to get out of the way, so she could get to her bags. In fact, this was why she hated coach, too. If she couldn’t fly private, then it absolutely should be first class.

She hoisted her carry-on into the overhead bin, retrieved her headphones, and placed her purse under the seat in front of her. She was blissfully unaware of her surroundings as soon as she closed her eyes and turned on her music. This was her Zen. As long as no one disturbed her, she might be able to control the über bitchiness that was bubbling right under the surface this morning.

A tap on her shoulder pulled her right out of her happy place. She yanked off her headphones and glared up at the person who had disturbed her.

“You’re in the wrong seat,” Eric grumbled.

Fucking great.

“We meet again,” she said dryly.

“You’re in the wrong seat,” he repeated.

“I switched with Beth. She wanted to sit by Greg. I’m sure if I had known I’d have to sit by you on the way home, I wouldn’t have been so generous.”

“Generous,” he said with a chuckle. “I’ve heard you’re very generous.”

She ignored the jab and rolled her eyes. “Just what I wanted.”

Eric threw his bag up next to hers. “Seemed that way at Posse.”

Bryna hadn’t talked to him since that night, and if she’d had it her way, she wouldn’t be having this conversation at all. Especially after the night she’d had, she was in no mood for this.

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

“Didn’t have to,” he said. He crossed his arms over his muscular chest. “You did that for me, remember?”

Bryna glowered at him. Seriously, what is wrong with him? All this because I’m sitting in Beth’s seat? Fuck off already! “You have no idea what you’re talking about, so I suggest you shut the fuck up,” she said.

At her profanity, the people in the seats surrounding them glanced over, but Eric pointedly smiled at them, and they quickly looked away.

He leaned forward before speaking again, “Why don’t you scoot over?”

“Um…no. I like the aisle. If I have to demean myself by flying coach, I’m staying in the aisle.”

“Wow. Flying coach must be so rough for you,” he said as sarcastically as possible. Then, he stepped over her legs and sank into the seat next to her. He pushed his backpack under the seat and removed his own headphones.

“I prefer to fly private,” she said.

“Why does none of this surprise me?”