Page 84 of Darling Beasts

“Raj is working on the campaign,” Talia answered, as if this explained anything.

“I don’t give a fuck what he does for a job—”

“He’s my boyfriend,” I blurted, and someone—Raj, probably—made a choking sound. It was possible I’d made things worse, but it was too late now. The horse, as they said, had left the barn.

“He’syourboyfriend?” Spencer said. “Aren’t you gay?”

“Jesus! I didn’t realize you all spent so much time contemplating my sexuality.” I rotated toward the Jacuzzi. “Rajeev! I’ve been looking for you all night. What are you doing in a hot tub with my sister?”

After swiping a navy-and-white-striped towel from the loggia, I scurried toward the Jacuzzi, defocusing my eyes so I wouldn’t irreparably destroy them. Yep, those were my sister’s nipples alright. I couldn’t totally see what was going on beneath the water, but Raj appeared to have on boxer shorts. Thank God for small mercies.

“You know about my jealous streak,” I added. “Please, stopmaking moves on my sister. She has a serious boyfriend. Also, she told me you’re unattractive and a loud chewer.”

“Wait. What?” Raj said.

I crouched down and wrapped the towel around Talia, drenching the bottom third of it in the process. “Come on, let’s get you into the house,” I said, literally dragging her out as I decided Spencer might actually buy the charade. Talia was hot as hell, and why would she hop into bed with such a lanky, furry, unjacked man? No offense. “Goodness, that’s a very revealing bikini. No wonder Raj was so taken by you. As if you’d ever date a big nerd like him.”

“Hey!”

“Oh, Raj, I can’t believe you’d do this to me.” The more I wailed, the more convincing it seemed, in my own head anyway. I hurried my sister inside, shouting at Raj that I’d never forgive him, which was pretty damned close to the truth.

Chapter Fifty-Six

Ozzie

As the car pulled away from the curb, Ozzie questioned whether he was out of his goddamned mind. Orout of his watermelons, as Ustenya would say.

For two weeks, Gabby had been assaulting him with messages, voice and text. Even Dad left a voicemail—a real-life voicemail!—begging him to come back. Ozzie might’ve ignored them both forever if not for Aunt Kathy’s words living rent-free in his brain.

If you can change anything about the situation... you should try.

Despite what everyone assumed, Ozzie wasn’t afraid to make an effort. A fan base of millions didn’t justhappen, and surviving Canyonside was an active endeavor.

You don’t want to wake up one morning and find out your whole world has shrunk.

Ozzie’s world shrank once, when he dumped @DegenerateOz, and a second time when he told Freja she’d need to leave the apartment for more showings, and she said she was clearing out for good. Ozzie didn’t blame her—the girl deserved a promotion—but he wasn’t looking to downsize again, which explained why he was now in the back of a Lyft, on his way to catch a red-eye to the left coast.

It was the right move, Ozzie assured himself. Sure, he could stay in New York to sell his apartment and lick his woundsand complain about how his family treated him like trash. But family was a finite resource, same as money, and you couldn’t ignore them and hope everything worked out. He did need every penny of the $50K, but more than that, these were Ozzie’s people, and this time they’d invited him in instead of pushing him away.

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Gabby

“I’m sorry about calling you my boyfriend,” I said to Raj, who was still in the Jacuzzi. “And the stuff about you being ugly and all that. Obviously, not true.”

“What’s that guy doing here?” Raj asked, eyes bulged and unblinking.

“Ummm...” I made a face, wondering how he couldn’t put two and two together. Talia’s boyfriend was here in a tuxedo and with a small square box in his pocket. My first inclination was to make an excuse, claim that Spencer was a lovesick, non-dangerous stalker, but maybe dos Santos was right. I was a filthy lying liar who was allergic to the truth.

I exhaled. “That’s Talia’s boyfriend. He was going to propose. Sorry if that’s news to you. I know what’s going on between you two. Not everything.” I put up a hand. “So, no intimate details, thank you very much.”

“He was going to propose?” Raj said. “I got the impression they were about to break up, and it was only a matter of time.”

“They’ll probably break up now?” I offered.

Raj nodded in a slow, circular manner. He had the countenance of a shell-shocked man.

Just as I was about to comment on the benefits of us all being on the same page, someone shouted my name, and I looked up to see Tony standing in an open doorway. His face was white, this man who once told me he’d seen and heard it all.

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