Page 106 of Playing Flirty

“I don’t care what you do,” William huffed. “We had a deal.”

“You can’t make me choose.”

“You can’t make me face him either.” William’s tone was furious. “He won’t want me there.”

“This has nothing to do with what he wants. It’s not fair. You’re punishing me because I want our fatherandmy brother—who, let me remind you, is my best man—to both be at my wedding?” Shaun’s voice was so loud that we had no difficulty making out every word from our position at the top of the first staircase.

Neema and I froze, partially from shock and—if I was being honest—out of curiosity.

“I’m not making you choose,” William said, both calm and vicious. “I can’t be there. Besides, he’syourfather. It’s not like he was ever there for me. I don’t want to see him.”

“You’re my best man!”

“I don’t care.”

“You’re such a jerk,” Shaun snapped. “Maybe that’s why you don’t get along with him, because you have the same foul temper.”

Quick footsteps thumped on the wood floor. “You know nothing about his temper,” William growled, his voice cracking as he reached the end of his sentence.

Shaun’s tone twisted and mimicked William’s. “I know he was only ever angry around you. The only time there was ever any conflict at home was when you were there.”

A dry laugh escaped William. “I know. Nothing he hasn’t told me before. I ruined his life. And you were his perfect boy. The son he wanted. The one I was constantly compared to and could never live up to. I’ll bet he’s paying for this place.”

Shaun was silent for the longest time before finally responding. “So? What’s wrong with that, huh? Why don’t you get all your resentment out and hit me like you hit my boss? Rose’s boss! She’s gone through such trouble because of it—because of you—and now she doesn’t even have a job. Do you care about that? Do you care about anything?”

Shaun paused but William said nothing.

He then continued, his voice lower and more threatening. “You think I haven’t figured out that you’re hooking up? And I know you met Stacey in the parking garage the other night too. This isn’t a game, William. You don’t get to play around with Rose. She’s my best friend and the only person I ever asked you to stay away from. You couldn’t even do that for me.”

The air was sucked out of me in the seconds of silence that followed. Neema’s hand shot out to cover her mouth.

“Look at what it’s resulted in,” Shaun said.

“She lost her job?” William asked with much less bite.

“I asked for one thing. One thing. I told you, Rose is good. She’s too…”

“Too good for me,” William interrupted.

“That’s not what I said.”

“That’s what I’m hearing.” William’s voice shook as he spoke. Nearly as much as I was shaking.

There was a brief silence followed by heavy footsteps stomping toward us. Neema and I flew up the next stairwell and hurried to our room.

Shutting the door behind us, we stared at each other in silence.

Neema rubbed her hands across her face, her breath coming out in quick bursts, much like my own.

My heart pounded against my chest, and Neema found her words before I could. “Shaun told me William and their dad don’t get along, but what was that? I mean, that’s—that’s not simply not getting along. Am I being too sensitive?” she asked. She was rarely anxious, but with the upcoming wedding, her emotions had been on show and emphasized—all of them.

I tried to find the right words to say, but my mind had caught on something Shaun said, and Neema picked it up instantly.

“And Stacey? Rose, did you know?”

This was not part of our game. I didn’t know how to play this round. I knew we weren’t exclusive. We hadn’t discussed it. We didn’t go on dates. He was William—a charmer. And my ex-boyfriend proposed in front of him. I was in no position to be jealous over a man who hadn’t made me any promises. Yet I was horrifyingly jealous.

My silence answered her question, and she blinked away the same tears I was holding back. In all our years of friendship, Neema had been the strong one. The tough one. Whereas it only took a gentle breeze to twirl me into a spiral.

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