Page 29 of Press Your Luck

"Apologize for what?" Had she planted the story about me and Max?

Ruby chimed in, her eyes wide and sincere. "We're really sorry about tattling on you at the charity event. We didn't mean to get you into trouble."

"Here.” Analyn thrust the wrapped box toward me. "This is our peace offering. We hope you like it."

So they were the reason Pierce had ushered me out of the bar. If they hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have ended up having sex on a conference room table with Pierce. It was strange how I was both annoyed and thankful to them. Damn Pierce.

I wanted to go with the annoyance, but I was in a world all by myself, and despite what they’d done, they seemed to genuinely want to be my friends. I definitely could use a friend or two.

"Thanks.” I accepted the gift and opened the door to let them in. "I appreciate it."

"Great." Analyn beamed, her eyes lighting up with relief. "We're really sorry, Naomi. We just want you to know how much we support you and everything you're doing."

"Thank you. Please, make yourselves comfortable," I said, leading them into the living room.

"Naomi, I can only imagine how stressed out you must be with everything going on," Analyn said, sitting on the couch. "We thought maybe this gift could help you relax a bit."

"Actually, we were hoping that even though our teams are rivals, we could still be friends.” Ruby sat next to Analyn.

"Of course. I'd like that."

“Whew. Now go ahead and open your gift,” Ruby said.

Feeling a mix of excitement and curiosity, I sat in a chair across from them and unwrapped the box to reveal an expensive bottle of wine, fine chocolates, and luxury bath products.

"This is great. Thank you so much." Their thoughtfulness warmed me. It was just what I needed after the relentless criticism I'd been facing lately.

“We all need some pampering now and then, especially when dealing with stress. Normally, I have wine and ice cream, but we were afraid it would melt.”

I laughed. “I was just about to have some wine and ice cream to deal with the day.”

Analyn and Ruby laughed too.

“Let me get some wine glasses.” I went to the kitchen for glasses and a wine opener. I also grabbed some juice, remembering that Ruby wasn’t drinking wine due to her pregnancy. When I returned, I opened the wine and filled two glasses and put juice in the third, handing Analyn and Ruby one.

Ruby raised her glass in a toast. "To friendship."

"Cheers.” I clinked my glass against theirs before taking a sip of the wine.

As the evening continued, we poured more wine and sampled the delicious chocolates. Our conversation flowed easily, and I opened up to Ruby and Analyn about the recent challenges I'd been facing with the press and my nonexistent love life.

"The media has been absolutely relentless in reporting things about me that aren’t true.”

Ruby nodded sympathetically, her eyes filled with understanding. "I know exactly what you mean. It's like they're always on the lookout for something juicy, regardless of whether it's true or not."

"Exactly." For once, someone seemed to understand. “Sometimes, I wish I could just focus on coaching without having to worry about all this extraneous drama.”

"I've had my share of run-ins with them too,” Analyn shared, sipping her wine.

Ruby pursed her lips at her. “Yeah, when you were fake dating my husband.”

What?My eyes widened in shock.

Analyn laughed. “First, he wasn’t your husband then. Bo and I were always only friends. My heart was with Reed even if my head was fighting it.” She turned her attention to me. “The point is, you can't control what they say about you, but you can control how you react to it. It’s best to treat them like bullies and ignore them. It's not easy, but I try to focus on my life, my goals. The rest is just noise."

I nodded. “Easier said than done.”

“Absolutely,” Ruby chimed in. “I definitely still find it hard. I was blindsided when I was first thrust in the spotlight. Bo’s mother had arranged for him to announce his engagement.” She shook her head, and her expression suggested it still unsettled her.

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