Page 78 of Brazen Mistakes

Doesn’t mean I haven’t scoped out every guy they’ve talked about over the last few months.

“How worried are we about Trips’ dad?” Jansen asks as we get closer to the ritzy shops.

“Very.”

His sigh is all I get in response.

As I pull into a parking garage, I ask a question that’s been on my mind. “Should we trust Summer with getting Clara ready for this?”

“Dude. I have no idea. That woman is nothing like the girl I knew.”

“How so?”

“She’s just so cold and calculating. Summer before was, I don’t know, fun. Playful and vibrant and up for getting into trouble. She and Austin, they were a perfect set.”

“She dated your cousin?”

“Nah. They were doing the whole, ‘best friends who wish they were more but are too afraid to make the first move,’ thing. It was only a matter of time, but then…” Jansen zips up his coat and steps out once we park.

When he doesn’t continue after I lock up, I fill in, making sure I understand. “Jail ruined it, right?”

“Why wouldn’t it?”

“Do they still talk?”

“I don’t think so. Austin got transferred so many times, we struggled to find him for a couple of years. I only got in contact with him because you found him for me last spring.”

“That had to be lonely for him.” Guilt clouds Jansen’s face, and I remember he blames himself for Austin getting caught. “They should have made it easier for you guys to keep track of him,” I say, trying to fix the darkness that I just put on his face.

“Why would they make it easy for a felon to maintain connections with people outside of prison? How else are they going to build super criminals unless they isolate them from normal people?”

“Jay, I wouldn’t call you or Summer ‘normal people.’“

A chuckle takes a touch of the shadows from his face, and I hope Clara can cure the rest.

“Nah, I guess you’reright about that.”

The cafe comes into view, and Jansen jogs ahead, taking a few backwards steps to shout, “First one there gets lap cuddles!”

I might roll my eyes, but I also sprint after him. Because Clara on my lap sounds like the best kind of torture.

Chapter 29

Clara

At the end of the day, I ended up with a charcoal cashmere coat apparently from three seasons ago, a black purse that looks like any other black purse but cost so much used that my stomach turned, sparkly dark gray heels with ankle straps and pads that are surprisingly comfortable, and after a fight, a pair of pinkish-purple tennis shoes that match the new silk tank top I was talked into for the day after brunch.

There were these amazing gladiator-style heels that made me think of the sexy, see-through dress I vetoed, and while I spent a while looking at them, there was no reason to get them. And the price would have stopped me, even at the consignment shop.

Instead, I stuck to the itinerary, getting black wide-leg pants that reminded me of Jasmine and a gray zip-up sweater for the morning after, both of which were new anddidhaveprices on them, which helped me understand exactly how much Trips spent on this wardrobe upgrade for me.

It’s terrifying.

I would be sweating if I spent that much in one day. Possibly comatose.

Trips just flicked a card across the counter while texting, like it was nothing.

And maybe to him, it is.

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