Page 80 of Secret Submission

“Oh, really?” Q asked, raising his eyebrows. “Does that mean you’re going to try that in more than one way?”

“That’s not what he’s saying,” Law said immediately, though his focus was on the cards on the table. Speaking of competitive… she was pretty sure he was looking at everyone’s cards and trying to count up the current points in his head, which was a mind-boggling amount of work. “Stop pressuring him.”

Julie’s lips twitched. Poor Law. She was definitely rooting for Q to win the bet, though. Whether or not Iris would actually want to try pegging Law, she didn’t know, but just having to offer was going to pain him. Then again, if he hadn’t been open to it being a possibility, he wouldn’t have made the bet.

“Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it,” she said mildly. She wasn’t sure if Connor had told them that he’d told her about the bet. Law shot her a suspicious look, so she was pretty sure he hadn’t. She smiled innocently at him.

“Ah, shit,” Iris said in a disgusted voice, making all of them look over at her. There was something more than disgust in her voice, though Julie couldn’t pinpoint the exact emotion. It wasn’t a good one.

“What’s wrong?” Law asked immediately, going from competitive board gamer to protective boyfriend in a heartbeat.

“I got a text from Noelle.”

“I thought you blocked her.”

“I did, but I just connected my computer and my phone, and it linked my texts, and one came through from her. Maybe the block doesn’t work on the computer.”

“What’s it say?” Sam asked tensely, an unhappy expression on her face.

Julie didn’t know what was going on with Sam’s other group of friends, which included Noelle, but it seemed like it was a bit of a hot mess. Not helped by the fact that they were all bridesmaids in an upcoming wedding.

“I’m not opening it, so I can only see the preview.” Iris was scowling, but she kept her voice even, as though she was trying not to show too much emotion. “Something about how she hopes I’m happy, and she’s glad she knows now that she always cared more about me than I did about her.”

That was some preview.

Law was already on his feet, game forgotten, holding out his hand to Iris.

“Give it to me. You aren’t reading any more of those. I’ll get them deleted.”

Sighing, Iris handed her laptop over, leaning back against the couch and rubbing her hand over her face.

“Thank you.” Dropping her hands down into her lap, she looked over at Sam and Morgan, who both looked uncomfortable. “I promise I did really care about her. I’m not trying to bully her or make people hate her or anything like that. I’m honestly glad she found new friends. I don’t want her miserable or anything, I just can’t be her friend anymore. I just wish she would leave me alone.”

“She should. I’m really sorry, we keep telling her that… but she’s really sensitive. Like, if we’re not agreeing with everything she says, then she freaks out.” Sam sighed, glancing over at Morgan. “She keeps accusing us of taking your side, and it doesn’t matter how many times I’ve tried to explain that I’m not, it doesn’t seem to matter.”

“It’s not your fault.” Iris waved her hand. “Trust me, I know how it is. There was a reason I ended up with very few friends other than her… Shit, that sounds bad. I don’t mean to talk badly about her in front of you.”

“No, no, you’re right.” Sam sighed and looked over at Morgan, who shrugged.

“I don’t think I’m going to be friends with her after Amy’s wedding is over,” Morgan said baldly, which was her way. “She tries really hard to be my friend, but it doesn’t feel right.”

“She’s good at putting on a show,” Sam agreed. “Honestly, I’m not sure Amy is going to be friends with her after the wedding is over, but I think right now, she feels like she can’t kick Noelle out of the bridal party. She always wants to give her another chance. At some point, though, her chances have to run out. She has to accept that someone not wanting to talk to her after a fight is not the same as being bullied. And I have never heard you badmouth her to anyone, ever. I can’t say the same about her, although she always does it in a way where she says something shitty, then acts like she either didn’t mean it that way or like she’s super apologetic, but she’s just so hurt, she couldn’t help herself.” Sam shook her head.

“Well, I have said some things about her, but only to people who aren’t also friends with her. I would never complain about her to you guys. That wouldn’t be fair.”

“That’s appreciated,” Sam replied. “I wish she would act more like you.”

Julie raised her eyebrows. It sounded like things with Noelle were seriously escalating. Then again, Sam wasn’t the type to put up with the kind of hypocrisy and drama that Noelle seemed to thrive on, so maybe she shouldn’t be surprised.

“There, all done,” Law said, handing the laptop back to Iris.

She beamed up at him. “Thanks, honey.”

“You’re welcome.” Leaning down, he gave her a very thorough kiss on the lips. Damn, they were cute together.

Julie was glad they’d found their way to each other. Iris needed the support. Especially after having to deal with Noelle.

The fact she’d wormed her way into the club and into making friends with people, and even getting them on her side against Iris, still made Julie want to go around smacking people upside the head. She could see so clearly how Noelle manipulated everyone around her; it was hard to understand why those being manipulated couldn’t see it. Yeah, she was good at playing the victim, but why hadn’t people noticed that she was somehow always the victim and that she never took real accountability for her actions?

---