Page 108 of Ex's & Oh's (The Lucky Girls 1)

I don’t know how to answer her. A camera flash draws my attention and I use it as an excuse.

“The paps found us.”

Stacey groans. “They’re never going to leave us alone, are they?”

I shake my head. They really won’t leave Stacey alone—it’s an excuse I used, but lately, she’s all they can think about.

“Okay,” she says.

She downs the rest of her cocktail. I only take a few more sips of mine before we pay and leave the bar. We hail a cab, and I give the driver the address.

When we round the corner that overlooks Brett’s property, Stacey gasps.

“This place is incredible,” she says.

“More importantly, it’s private,” I counter.

Stacey nods, and we climb out when the taxi driver drops us off. This time, the paparazzi can’t follow us. This is private property.

We walk to the house and we let ourselves in. Brett and Marc aren’t here yet. Stacey and I walk through to the living room and she looks around, marveling at the sheer size and beauty of it all before she makes herself comfortable on the couch.

I join her.

“I think my life will look very different than all this one day,” she says.

“Why?”

“I don’t know if I want to keep doing this. The fame, the paps…and having money comes with all of that.”

“It doesn’t have to.”

“No now that I’m not with Marc anymore, they’ll leave me alone.”

I want to counter it, to tell her that it will be okay, but we hear a car pull up.

“I think that’s Brett,” I say.

“We should drink together, do something fun to forget about this mess,” Stacey suggests.

Brett walks in first and smiles at me. Marc follows behind.

“Oh, no,” Stacey says when she sees Marc. She looks like she’s been cornered, and she stands.

“Stacey, please,” Marc says, holding up his hands as if in defense. “Just hear me out. Can we talk about this?”

“There’s nothing to talk about, Marc. We’re done. I’m not doing this with you.”

“Just hear him out, Stace,” I say.

She glares at me. “You did this. You brought me here for this, didn’t you? Damn it, Jen, I thought we were friends.”

I sigh. “We are.”

“And yet, you keep betraying me.”

I bristle at that. “I didn’t betray you at any point. I care about you, Stace. We all do.”

“I made a mistake,” Marc says.

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