Page 30 of Terms + Conditions
“Bear!” Elizabeth shouts from inside.
The blur is a dog, a German Shepherd to be exact. The dog sizes me up, a soft growl deep in its chest, sniffing the air in my direction. I hold my ground, slowly raising the back of my hand toward it, and after a few more sniffs, its tail begins to wag, and it licks my hand.
“That’s…odd,” she huffs, standing in the doorway with confusion written all over her face. “He normally doesn’t like men.”
I scratch behind the dog’s ear, and then he falls to the ground with a loudplop,offering me his belly.
“He hates Ryan.”
I bite my tongue, probably not the best time to comment on how dogs can usually tell the difference between a good guy and a douchebag. “When did you get him?”
“My birthday.”
I don’t remember seeing a dog when I was here last time, and that was…almost five weeks ago, the week after Halloween. Then again, Nina didn’t invite me in for a look around, either.
“C’mon, Bear, I gotta go,” she calls him, and his ears perk up at the g-word. “No, not you. I have to go.” Elizabeth rubs his ear affectionately when he deflates, and leads him back inside.
Her bags sit on the bottom stairs, and I take the first step into the house. Despite my curiosity, I grab her suitcase and duffle bag and walk back outside.
“Is he going to be okay?” I ask when she follows behind a moment later.
“I have someone stopping by a few times a day…He’ll be fine.” Elizabeth locks the door and saunters down the steps to my waiting Bronco. Tossing her bags in the back with mine, I wonderwhois stopping by a few times a day. Is it Ryan? Surelynot, she just said Bear doesn’t even like him. And if things had improved to that point, I wouldn’t be the one going with her this weekend…Right?
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
NOW
“WHOSE HOUSE IS THIS?” I ask, unloading our bags. I was surprised when Elizabeth gave me the address of a different house than the normal one we reside in. Normally, we stay at the Thompson beach house, owned by Noah’s parents. The girls had been coming to Palm Valley almost every year for the last eight years, and when Georgie started dating Noah Thompson, we invaded his parents’ home instead of renting out another one. The house was a gorgeous, three-story mansion with direct beach access. Blue-gray (“It’s called Faded Flaxflower,” Noah’s mother once doted) vinyl siding with white accents met with a mix of gold metal roofing and “Desert Tan” shingles. If you think the Villas are pretentious, you haven’t met Noah’s parents. Luckily, they rarely showed up when we were here.
The new house was located in a more private, secluded area of the Palm Valley community, nestled in a neighborhood at the tip of the island. Pulling into the driveway, there are only two cars: a gray Jeep Wrangler and a white Toyota Highlander. That means we’re second to last to arrive. Maybe the Thompsons moved. Doubtful, I can’t imagine Noah’s mother getting rid of that house, but maybe. Seems weird that Noah is joining us, but we aren’t staying at his family house.
“Not sure,” Elizabeth says, looking up at the home that towers over us, sizing it up as if it’s a monster to conquer.
The house is different than the normal vibe. I’m not denying it’s gorgeous…but it’s different. The exterior is made of white stucco with a red Spanish-tiled roof. An abundance of foliage and landscape surrounds it, a tropical paradise. It’s the opposite of the Thompson home: an oversized, overpriced house that sits a few hundred feet back from the dunes and ocean waves.
“All Gigi said was that the Thompsons couldn’t accommodate us this year.”
Couldn’t accommodate us? That doesn’t make sense. Georgie is married to their son. How could they not accommodate him?
Elizabeth chews on the inside of her lip and pulls her cardigan tighter against the ocean breeze. Nervous. Anxious. Overthinking.
Welcome to the party, I’ve been here all week.
“You sure you wanna do this?” I ask.
“Do we have a choice?”
“There’s always a choice.”
Her brown eyes raise to meet mine for the first time since we left her house. The drive down had been quiet and a little awkward. She kept to herself and her phone for the most part while I listened to an audiobook.
“Elizabeth!” A chorus of squeals echo around us. Georgie Golding and Selena Hart tramp down the stairs before pulling Elizabeth into a bone-crushing hug. Elizabeth, Selena, and Georgie went to SCAD together, along with Lola Montgomery. Elizabeth attended for photography, Selena for fashion, and Georgie and Lola were in theater, with Lola double majoring in media.
A few steps behind them is Selena’s boyfriend, Elijah Prince—he is also one of my former fraternity brothers from Chadwick and he and Selena met at our wedding. He wasn’t involved in thehazing incident and still doesn’t know I was there. I’ve never told him that I was the one who took the kid to the hospital. Elijah had a hard enough time digesting what happened that I didn’t want to add fuel to the fire. Sure, we went through the same initiation, but it was nothing like what happened that night.
“Thank God, another man in the house.” Elijah sighs.
“Noah isn’t here?”
