Page 74 of Fool Me Once

“Ryder,” she says, shaking her head. “I’ve been here for how long now? And he still randomly calls and texts.”

I feel like I don’t know my best friend at all right now, and I really hate this feeling. I know I kept things from her, and now, I feel even worse about that because the shoe’s on the other foot and I know exactly how it feels to be kept in the dark.

Before I can even ask her to elaborate on why he’s calling her, she leans forward, blowing out a breath. “After things ended with dickface and me, I got drunk one night, and I had sex with Ryder.” There’s another pause, like she can’t bear to say the words. “I found out right after that he had seen the sex video. And he’d only gotten with me because he had seenwhat I could doin the video.”

I’m so flabbergasted by all this information that I feel like I’ve been slapped in the face. Looking up, I try to process it all in a timely fashion. “Wait … did Ryder tell you that himself?”

“No,” she mutters. “Dickface did.”

“Rowantold you that?” I blurt out, knowing she’s going to hate that I said his name. “And you believed it? And does Smith know this?”

“No,” she grumbles. “Smith thinks of Ryder like a brother. I’d already ruined his friendship with Rowan. I don’t want to take Ryder away from him, too, just because his sister is a whore.”

“Saylor,” I scold her, “you’re not a whore. And your brother might love Ryder, but he loves you more. You’re hissister.”

She grabs her coffee and quickly stands, looking at me with wide eyes and pointing her finger. “You’d better not say a word to Smith, Gem. I get that you two are happy and all that now, but I told you this as my best friend. Not my brother’s girlfriend.”

I push myself from the bench, my eyebrows pulling together in confusion. “Sails, you have to know that no matter what my and Smith’s situation is, you can trust me. Always.”

Her free hand is now in a tight, frustrated fist, and her chin lifts. Finally, relief floods her face, and she drops her hand down. “I know. I’m sorry.” Looking down, she seems ashamed. “Can we table this for now? And talk about anything else?”

Taking her hand in mine, I smile. “Sounds like a great time to go find Craig and admire all his pillows.”

Gradually, a grin stretches across her face, and she bobs her head up and down. “Agreed.”

It’s not my place to tell Smith his sister’s business, but if anything she’s saying about Ryder holds any truth … he would want to know. So, now, I’m in an incredibly hard place.

As if hearing my internal battle, she squeezes my hand. “I promise, I’ll talk to Smith sometime.”

“Okay,” I whisper reluctantly.

I vow to myself to at least try to enjoy the rest of this trip with my best friend because it’s going to go by too fast.

Itype out the message and hit Send. Somehow, my cock twitches even though I’m not entirely sure what is about to go down tonight. There’s no going back now though because, within seconds, Gemma responds.

Me: Gotta stay late tonight. Don’t wait up. Love you.

Gemma: Oh, that sucks. I had big plans for us. All right. Love you.

Tucking my phone into my pocket, I take a seat at the end of the U-shaped bar at an exclusive club not everyone can get into—luckily because, tonight, I don’t really want this shit documented.

I order a drink from the bartender, who leans down a little too far, giving me a shot of her cleavage, like I give a flying fuck. Before I know it, a drink is sitting in front of me.

“Here all alone?” a smooth, sultry voice says from behind me.

I don’t get the chance to turn to look at who it is, nor do I really need to because she wedges her body between mine and the stool. Brushing her fingertips unhurriedly down my arm, she sits down beside me, keeping her legs crossed in my direction so that her knee runs against the side of my leg.

“Not anymore, I guess,” I drawl, running my tongue over my lips as the bluest eyes stare back at me.

Her lips are painted red, and she’s wearing a tight, sequined silver dress that hugs her body, dipping down low at her cleavage to show off her round tits. Instantly, my cock comes to life, twitching endlessly in my pants. Her scent isn’t vanilla, like I’m used to, but instead something richer and heavier.

Gemma.

Only Gemma with a black wig with blunt bangs and much more makeup than she’d normally wear.

She holds her hand out, a playful, seductive smirk teasing herlips. “I’m Amara.”

I wonder how she came up with that name out of all the names she could use, but I don’t ask. I just let her play with me a little more.

---