Page 73 of What Happened Last Night

“Is Stone here?” I asked.

Sienna nodded, not looking up. “He’s working on a few things.”

We were silent again. I didn’t hear from Will or my brothers. I tried not to worry.

Brit and Axel showed up half an hour later, laden with takeout food. Axel vanished to see Stone, and after we ate, Brit sat on another sofa with her own laptop. We chatted from time to time. Brit and Sienna were obviously good friends, who bonded about more than their shared experience of dating a rock star. Brit had given me advice on how to style my curls, plus free products to try. She was a genius with hair.

Axel came back into the room, dropped onto Brit’s sofa, and lay back with his head in her lap without a word. She moved her laptop to the side and stroked his hair, her fingertips gently rubbing his temples. He closed his eyes, sighing, and seemed to nap.

I opened an email in Will’s inbox and read it. Then I read it again. It was from one of the men he’d met in Seattle on his trip weeks ago, a follow-up from their meeting. I had no idea what it was talking about. I was still trying to figure it out when Axel spoke from his spot on Brit’s lap.

“So, Luna. You know Billy’s schedule. Where is he today?”

I picked up my phone, worried again. Still no texts. “He’s golfing with my brothers.”

Everyone in the room looked at me. “Billy is golfing?” Axel asked.

“Yes.” Tension made me blurt the words out. “Because my brothers want to put him through some Amazing Race-type trial, and Will won’t back out of it, and it’s all some big testosterone standoff, and none of it needs to happen. But apparently, it is.” I looked around. “Oh, and Will and I are dating. You all knew that, right?”

No one looked surprised. Brit nodded. “We knew,” Sienna said.

Axel waved a hand, his silver rings flashing. His long legs were stretched over the sofa, his socked feet hanging over the arm. Even in such a weird position, he still somehow looked like a rock star. “Don’t worry about Billy. He’ll be fine.”

“That’s just the problem,” I said. “No one ever worries about Will. And someone should.”

Sienna smiled. “That’s sweet. But it’s just golf, isn’t it? It can’t be that bad.”

“It’s three against one,” I said. “They’ll cream him and rub it in. I forbade them to rough him up, but they’ll do something to him on this trip, I’m sure of it. Push him off the boat when they’re fishing. Slit holes in his tent if it rains. Put gravel in his hiking boots.” I put my palms to my forehead. “I should have put my foot down, said no. I should have had a backbone. Why does my family get to dictate everything? I’ve made a mess. It’s going to be a disaster, and Will isn’t going to want me anymore, and he’ll be right. It’s all too much trouble.”

Brit and Sienna looked sympathetic. Brit was about to say something, but then my phone pinged with a text. Then another, another, another. Texts rolling in.

“Is that him?” Sienna asked.

“I can’t look,” I said, even though I’d been compulsively checking my phone minutes ago. “What if he’s telling me he’s going home and I should never contact him again?”

“That would be awkward, since you work for him,” Brit pointed out.

“Believe me, I know.”

“Oh, my god,” Sienna said when the phone made another sound. “I can’t stand it, Luna. You have to look. What’s going on?”

Gritting my teeth, I picked up the phone. None of the texts that had come in were from Will. They were all from my brothers, replying to the text I’d sent in our message group.

Tanner: Luna who the fuck is this guy

Mack: What the fuck is going on????

Tanner: I’ve never seen anyone play like this

Tanner: It’s incredible

Tanner: He’s beating both of us

Mack: He said he’s never played before??? HE WAS LYING

Tanner: Holy fuck did you see that? What was that shot??? Who is this guy

Tanner: Mack is about to lose it

---