Page 30 of The Lies of Bryn van Doren

“Oh, fuck,” mutters Stefano—enunciating the curse word in such a way that somehow gives it more emphasis.

Remembering the drink in front of her, Jessica pulls her attention away from her ex and takes another sip. She polishes off the cosmopolitan, wishing it was more vodka and less juice all of a sudden. What she wants is to feel the burn of liquor as it passes over her tongue and down the back of her throat, not the burn of remembrance, which feels more like indigestion than anything else.

“Are you okay? What do you want to do?” Stefano asks, compassionately rubbing his hand over her bare shoulder and down her arm. “I can order another drink right now and go throw it in his face.”

A small laugh forces its way out of Jessica’s mouth, and she compels a smile as she looks to her best friend. He’s gorgeous in his royal blue suit with matching blue accents. His dark hair is slicked back into a French braid, the end knotted at the nape of his neck. He looks far too poised to ever do such a thing as waste a perfectly good drink to humiliate Penn, but Jessica knows he will if she even so much as gives him an approvinglook. She shakes her head, allowing her eyes to flicker across the bar for another second.

This time, Jessica notices Penn is with another woman. He smirks at something she says before sliding his fingers through his own, cropped, wavy blond locks. Jessica seeks out Stefano’s hazel eyes in search of solace. It’s been six months since she and Penn split up. She should be over it—and in many ways she is—but sometimes she can’t help but to think of the awful things he said to her the last time they spoke.

He is the sole heir of his father’s fortune. His family comes from what Stefano often refers to asold money.Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Jessica had been surprised she and Penn hit it off so well. After almost a year of dating, she realized their entire relationship had been more of an act of rebellion than of love. When it came time for Penn to start thinking about where he intended to go for law school, he began to change. All at once, Jessica wasn’t good enough anymore.

Her stomach twists in regret as she remembers how much of herself she invested into him. Then she feels the acidic residue of both disgust and sorrow when she re-hears him telling her she would never amount to be enough for him and the man his father expects him to be.

“Hey.” Stefano cuts through her thoughts as he tenderly puts both of his hands around her face. She blinks and refocuses on his kind gaze as he goes on to say, “You are so much better than that bastard deserves. You know it, I know it, and whatever cold, entitled heiress bitch he invites into his bed will remind himheknows it too. You have nothing, absolutelynothingto be ashamed of, Jessica Shae.”

The smile that pulls at her mouth is genuine this time, and she rests one of her hands over his as she leans into his touch. “Thanks.” She inhales deeply and huffs a sigh as she gently breaks his hold of her face and says, “Maybe we should just get out of here.”

“It’s not fair,” he pouts, cutting his eyes across the bar. “I haven’t been able to get you out in weeks. We’ve barely been here an hour.”

“I’m sorry,” she murmurs over the sound of music and conversation in the packed club. While she can’t deny how much she usually enjoys their nights out at The Critic, the thought of Penn spotting her and then parading another woman in front of her is revolting. “We could go for pie,” she suggests hopefully.

Stefano studies her for a long moment and then smiles at her slyly. “How about one more round. Shots.”

“Huey, I—”

“Come on,” he pleads, squeezing her hands earnestly as he stands to his feet. “I’ll be right back. Order whatever kind you want. When we’re done, we’ll go. I promise.”

“Fine,” she all but groans. She hardly gets the word out before he’s making his way across the dance floor of the swanky club. When she loses sight of him, she beckons the bartender and tries not to look over at Penn for a third time. Fortunately, she doesn’t have to wait long. After ordering two chocolate cake shots, she turns her back to her unsuspecting ex.

By the time Stefano returns, she’s got both of their shots in hand. The grin on his face as he approaches causes her brow to dip in suspicion, but she doesn’t give voice to her confusion as she hands him the shooter glass.

Holding his up, he declares, “To beingbad.”

He then clinks his glass against hers and downs it instantly. Jessica hesitates for a moment, then follows suit. Before she can ask him what he’s up to, she hears it as “Sorry, Not Sorry” by Demi Lovato starts to play over the sound system. Her eyes find his immediately, and his grin returns, along with a mischievous glint in his gaze that cannot be denied.

“Show him, girl. You know you want to.”

It’s all he has to say. When a laugh bubbles out of her, Jessica can’t contain her smile. He’s not wrong. The beat starts to grow through the course of the first verse, the rhythm practically seeping through her skin as the melody becomes one with her blood stream. She stands to her feet, unable to resist the urge.

Stefano yells out in excitement as Jessica saunters to the edge of the dance floor. As soon as the chorus starts, her body takes over. Her tight, short dress and her stiletto heels don’t hinder her movement in the slightest, her mind telling her what to do and when as she freestyles. The way she uses her hips invites the attention of a couple of ignorant men who try to reach for her as she dances. Rather than ignore them, she plays off of them, using them as props as she moves from one man to the next. It’s not long before her tactics have earned her a crowd of interested onlookers. Their eyes only spur her on more. Fully in character, she performs her heart out, expressing everything she’s feeling through dance.

Two and a half minutes later, a round of applause erupts as she gasps for breath—her heart racing and her adrenaline heightening the excitement of the moment. With both of her hands, she rakes her hair out of her face and down her back, graciously smiling and nodding at the onlookers as she returns to the bar, where she left Stefano. The pride that shows on his face causes Jessica’s heart to swell. As she takes his hand, signaling she’s now ready to leave, she doesn’t stop herself from glancing over at Penn. He looks back at her unabashedly, his mouth agape almost unknowingly. Awash in her own sense of pride, she winks at him before escorting Stefano toward the exit.

“Oh, my god—hisface!” Stefano practically shouts as they step out into the chilly night air. He bursts into laughter, and Jessica joins him as he throws his arm around her shoulders. “That was priceless, dove. Absolutelypriceless.”

“Felt pretty good, too,” Jessica admits, circling her own arm around his narrow waist.

“You were made for that dance floor, darling. Fucking made for it,” he says with a satisfied sigh.

Jessica gives him a squeeze, leaning into his side as she lets his words fall to their feet. She looks down at the sidewalk as they stroll aimlessly, trampling over his declaration. Her smile fades a little, but she tries not to get lost in the old temptation to wallow. Fact of the matter is, he’s not merely saying what she wants to hear. He’s giving voice to what her heart has known to be true since she was barely six years old. They don’t talk about it much anymore, but she doesn’t fault him for the slip. The moment, coated in alcohol and revenge, makes the sentiment all but inevitable.

Tomorrow, she’ll wake up back in the real world—where her bank account and her life circumstances make the dream of dancing full-time only that. A dream. But for just a little while, as the night races toward dawn, she allows herself to cling to the high of speaking her truth in the one way in which she’s always been able.

Jessica’s heart skipsa beat when she hears the doorknob twist to grant someone entrance. Her head snaps in the direction of the room’s only passageway. She holds her breath until she sees Stefano slip between the small opening he allows before he locks them both inside. For a split second, she’s relieved. Her muscles relax, causing her body to slump a little where she’s still sitting, in the middle of the floor. When Stefano draws closer, she catches a glimpse of the expression tugging at the features of his smooth face, and her muscles tense up again.

Halting only a step away, he studies her with a frown. He then looks around the room before meeting her gaze. Her head still in a fog, Jessica can’t make sense of what she’s feeling, let alone whathemight be thinking. He looks even more perplexed now than he did when he first walked in. Jessica doesn’t realize she’s holding her breath in anticipation ofsomethingto give until he demands to know, “What the hell just happened?”

She expels a sigh, tearing her eyes away from his as she stares into her lap. She shakes her head, unable to make sense of it herself. Replaying the last few minutes once, and then twice, and then three times, one truth emerges from the haze of confusion she’s wadding through.

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