Meadow frowned at her. “This isn’t about me putting him in timeout for bad behavior. It’s about me being able to trust him. I thought you understood that.”
“I do,” Jess insisted. “Trust me, I’m not excusing what he did. I mean, I’m the same chick who was ready to cut off my boyfriend’s balls for going to a party behind my back. You of all people know how furious I was when I saw that picture of him with those hobags. There would have been bloodshed if I’d actually walked in on him with some skank on his lap. Both of them woulda gotten their asses kicked!”
Nadia frowned at Jess. “It’s easy to say what you would have done in the same situation. But the truth is, you don’t know how you would have reacted if you were in Meadow’s shoes, seeing what she saw. It must have been a horrible shock, the kind that paralyzes you before other emotions kick in.” She looked around the table. “You guys remember how devastated I was when that gossip blog published a photo of that Canadian woman sitting on Reid’s lap. I was heartbroken and humiliated, and I definitely jumped to the worst conclusion. I broke up with him over a picture. Just imagine how much worse I would have felt if I’d seen them together in person.”
Grim murmurs went around the table.
Scarlett sighed. “If it’s any consolation, Meadow, Viggo says Logan has been a changed man ever since you came back into his life. He doesn’t go out clubbing when they’re on the road, not even in Miami. Their first night in Winnipeg, they were having drinks at the hotel bar when a couple of puck bunnies hit on them. Logan totally rejected the bunny who tried to sit on his lap. He told her he was in a serious relationship—”
“Is this the same night he went to that party?” Meadow challenged.
Scarlett shut up.
Nadia and Bianca stared down at their plates.
Jess noisily slurped her drink. “Like I said before, Logan doesn’t get a pass for letting his stepmother kiss him, even for just a few seconds. That was a dick move. But at least he copped to it. Most guys wouldn’t have. And it’s not his fault the horny bitch tried to fuck him. That’s on her, not him. And something tells me if you and his father had arrived ten seconds later than you did, you would have seen Logan shoving her off him.”
The others nodded in agreement.
Meadow glared at them. “Traitors.”
They laughed sheepishly.
She scowled and stabbed her fork into her salad.
Jess grinned around the table. “I wonder what’s gonna happen between Logan’s father and stepmother? I mean, the man caught his wife trying to seduce his son. It would totally serve her right if he sent her packing!”
“I know, right?” the others agreed.
Bianca snickered. “What if there’s a fidelity clause in their prenup? If he divorced her, she’d get nothing.”
The others cackled, relishing the possibility.
“I didn’t see her the morning after the party,” Meadow said sardonically. “When Lucien escorted me off the yacht, he apologized for his wife’s appalling behavior. He couldn’t quite hide his embarrassment and disgust, so I figured she was still in hot water.”
“Or cold water,” Jess joked. “He probably tossed that ho overboard!”
Laughter swept around the table. Meadow just shook her head.
Jess waved her fork at her. “At the risk of sounding like my mother, you’d be hella crazy to walk away from a man who’s worth that much moolah. I mean, Logan was already hella rich on his own. And now he’s an heir to billions? Girl, you better stop playing and secure the bag!”
Meadow frowned at her. “Didn’t you say you don’t care about that stuff anymore?”
“Yeah, and where’d that get me? Dumped, that’s where.” Jess’s mouth tightened into a bitter smile. “If I’m gonna be called a gold digger, I might as well embrace it and go for mine.”
The others shared a glance. Dubinski had officially broken up with Jess last week. She was pretending to be over it. No one believed her, but she’d resisted their attempts to comfort her.
Nadia reached across the table and squeezed Meadow’s hand. “I know you’re in a lot of pain right now. I’ve been where you are, and I know how heartbreaking it is to think you’ve been betrayed by the man you love. We all have our opinions, but at the end of the day, no one can tell you how to feel or what you should do. You have to listen to your heart and make the right choice for you and nobody else. Whatever you decide to do about Logan, just know we’re here for you.”
“Absolutely,” the others concurred. “We got your back.”
Meadow’s throat tightened with gratitude. “Thank you, everyone. I really appreciate your support.”
They blew her kisses and took turns squeezing her hand.
Jess sighed. “My takeaway from all this? The boys should stay out of Canada. Seriously. Bad things happen when they go there. Instead of ‘O Canada,’ it should be ‘Nooo, Canada!’”
Everyone burst into laughter. Even Meadow had to smile.