Page 108 of One Wealthy Wedding

“So do it.” Jonah shrugs. “You want him to find out you’re lying?”

“Fuck no.” I pour and quickly drain the whiskey, even though it’s too expensive to be treated like swill. “But I’m cleaning up my act, remember?”

“So take Cat out shopping. Make out all over Monaco. Get noticed by the tabloids,” Miles says.

“She’s a terrible actress.” I run a hand over my jaw. “Things are…a little tense between us.”

“Tense?” Miles asks. “You look pretty cozy in the photos I’ve seen.”

“That was before we almost slept together. No, don’t smile.” I glare at Miles. “He’s going to make this a thing, isn’t he?” I ask Jonah, who nods. “It was a moment of indiscretion.”

“You slept with her?” Miles asks.

“We fooled around. It didn’t mean anything.” I’m not going to tell them about the back of the bucket list. That’s not my secret to share.

“So what’s the problem?” Jonah asks in that cutting way of his. Straight to the heart of the matter.

“The problem,” says Miles, “is that he shouldn’t have done it.”

“I shouldn’t have,” I agree. “I got a nude text while Cat was in my bed. She saw it.”

“Ah.” This from Jonah, and there’s a world of meaning in the sound.

“Exactly.” I run my hand through my hair. “I’m pretty sure she hates me now. It’s fine.” I force my shoulders down. My friends are scrutinizing me, and I hate it. I’ll always come up lacking.

“Is it fine? Weren’t you friends?” Miles asks.

“Yeah. I was half in love with her at twenty-one. Like an idiot. She didn’t feel the same way.” I was a fool at twenty-one, and I don’t particularly care to revisit this.

“Ah,” Miles says. I give him a black look.

“Spit it out,” Jonah says.

“She’s the one who got away.” Miles shrugs.

“She is not,” I retort. She’s not. She can’t be. Because that means my judgment is even worse than I thought. People don’t change like that. I walked away, and I’d do it again. I will do it again after this year is up.

“Or maybe she’s the one,” Miles says.

“I swear he does this just to annoy us,” Jonah mutters. I have to agree.

“The one.” I snort. “I’m not looking for the one. If I found the one, I don’t know that she’d want to be with me anyway.” I wince. “Ignore me. I’m just stressed.”

“No.” Miles leans forward. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

I press my head back against the booth. Miles is like a dog with a bone, and he always wants his friends to be happy. “I’m not built like that. I don’t know the first thing about love. I think that piece is missing. I mean, look at all the women I’ve been with over the years. They saw something in me, right? But it has always fizzled. Every time.” There’s something wrong with me, I don’t say. They left because this is all I am. Surface level. “I like my life the way it is.”

Miles grimaces. Even I can taste the lie in those words.

“There’s more to life than partying,” Miles says. I know he means well, but the words are like acid in my chest.

“Don’t push him,” Jonah says shortly. “He wants it to be fake. Let it be fake. He’s going to make us a fuck-ton of money from this expansion and his fake marriage, anyway.”

Finally. Comfortable territory. I shoot Jonah a grateful look, and he nods.

“All right.” Miles holds up his hands. “When do we leave?”

“Tomorrow? The events start Thursday. I just have to convince Cat to take her shifts off. You know I had to negotiate nights of the week for her to be free?”

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