Page 100 of Wicked Player
“Oh… and another thing,” she says. “I learned something else about Colton’s two favorite ladies. Victoria is actually his cousin, and Annabelle is a long-time friend. She was a neighbor of his growing up. That’s why they always sit at the head of the table with him.”
“Interesting…”
“I honestly think he’s a decent guy,” she continues. “You should really give him the benefit of the doubt. He seems to really like you. Who knows? Maybe he’s not as big of a player as he seems.”
“God, I’m so confused,” I cry into the phone. The customer is seated now, still watching me, and I’m reminded that I’m not alone.
“So sorry,” I say again as I hand him his coffee and muffin. I return with the milk and sugar, and wish him a good day.
“You sound busy,” Cassie says. “I should probably let you go.”
“No,” I protest. “I need your help. I’ve been thinking a lot about all this stuff this past week, ever since that lunch with his dad. If I get involved with him, it’s not only me who could get hurt, it’s Christian too. He’s already gotten attached. If the boats weren’t all out of the water, he’d probably want to go fishing with him again. Just yesterday, he asked me if Colton ice fishes… I said I had no clue.”
“What a mess,” she says, and the line goes silent for a long beat.
“I have an idea,” she blurts. “What if you leave Christian out of it, meaning you only see Colton without him. And you do the friends-with-benefits thing, not let yourself get emotionally involved. You could just enjoy fucking him without getting too serious about it.”
I roll my eyes. “You realize who you’re speaking to, right?” I say. “I’m not exactly a friends-with-benefits type of girl.”
She sighs. “Why do you have to make your life so complicated?”
“I don’t know.” I really don’t. “It’s just the way I’m wired. You read erotica, and I read sweet romance. We’re very different that way. I wish I was more like you,” I tell her. “For real.”
She laughs. “It’s not always fun. You’ve heard all my horror stories, right?”
“Yeah… on second thought…”
We’re both laughing now, and I’m so thankful for her. She always manages to pull me out of my moods, but I suppose that’s what best friends are for.
“So you going to the next party?” she asks. “I am. I’ve already been invited.”
This doesn’t surprise me at all. Of course she’d be invited again — she’s so great. “I don’t think so.”
“What?! Why not?”
“I don’t know… maybe it’s the fact that he’ll be surrounded by his usual harem, and I want no part of it. Or maybe it’s the fact that I have nothing to wear. And also… I don’t want to live in another episode ofThe Bachelor.”
“You’re no fun.” I can practically see her trademark pout. When she pouts like that, you want to give her the world.
“I haven’t decided for sure,” I tell her, “ but it’s looking like a no right now.”
“You’ll change your mind.”
The doorbell clangs again, and more customers walk in, a group of four teenagers this time. “Listen, I really need to go now. Four people just walked in. Thanks for the chat.”
“You’ll change your mind,” she says once again before she says goodbye.
* * *
Colton has emailed twice, called and texted. I’ve been ghosting him, not intending to do it forever, just until I figure all this out. I consider Cassie’s words, and wonder if I could go ahead with a more casual relationship. I debate whether I want to go to the party or not. It’s coming up real soon, next weekend. I know he’ll go ahead with it, regardless if I attend or not.
He says he really wants me there. I wonder if he’ll pick another woman to stay the night if I choose not to attend. I start imaging who it would be, and then I mentally slap myself and tell myself to knock it off. I can really drive myself crazy sometimes.
Thankfully, my shift’s just about over, and we’re set to go visit Judy after dinner. She always cheers me up. I think about her story, and the many parallels to my situation do not escape me. Like me, she tried to push away Everett, yet he chased her, much like Colton is doing now with all the messages. What if she had kept pushing him away? She would have never had those years with him, and those three children. She would have probably stayed with Caleb, whom she didn’t truly love.
Christian and I have made vanilla cupcakes with a raspberry jelly center. He loves helping me bake, probably because I always let him lick the bowls at the end. Baking is togetherness for us, and it also relaxes me, lets me escape the everyday problems of life, if only for a little while.
Christian knocks cheerfully on Judy’s screen door, while I stand next to him, toting a basket of cupcakes. He knocks once again when she doesn’t answer.
