Page 9

Chapter Nine

FRANKIE

“ W hoa.” Luna grabs my hand before I get a chance to sit down. “Okay, the picture didn’t do this thing justice, and the picture was damn good.”

“It’s nice.” I pull my hand back to sit down, not wanting to put too much focus on it.

It’s not our normal happy hour night, but things have been in chaos for the past few months between Nat falling madly in love with another lawyer. Well, kind of a lawyer because he’s not practicing anymore. He’s retired for the most part and now knits.

That made me laugh at first. Dylan Wolfson is a very well-known lawyer here in the city. The man graduated from Harvard with honors, clerked for a Supreme Court justice, and opened his own law firm. I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard he was going to give it all up to hand-make items.

Then I got to see some of his work and hear the story of how he started knitting because his mom loved to do it.

He picked it up while she was sick in the hospital.

Thankfully, she’s okay now, but Dylan is presently knitting full-time.

I have mad respect for the man. It's easy to lose sight of your initial motivation for pursuing a career in law.

Dylan also got my best friend Nat to rethink what she was doing in her life and to pursue her real dream of writing. Then we have Luna here, who dumped one of the supposed richest men in the city who gave her all kinds of knockoffs, from jewelry to bags.

Our normal, calm, and poised Luna burned it all in front of his house. That caused a media stir. The media's attention was not only drawn to the burn party but also to her subsequent escape with Graham Dassault. A man who is the richest man in the city.

While it has all died down to a degree, there are still people trying to poke her for questions. At our last happy hour at our normal place, Hot Spot, a reporter for Vanity Fair showed up. Now we switched our nights, and it is working out because their men have poker night at the same time.

Shit, I guess my "man" is at this poker night too. He’s not my man, I mentally correct myself. No matter how good he is at pretending this is all real. It’s all for show.

I must say his acting skills are truly exceptional.

If he ended up not playing football, he’d do outstanding as an actor. He has the looks for it already.

“Nice? Really?” Nat takes a sip of her drink. “I think you’re enjoying that ring more than you want us to know because there is no need to have it on right now.” Crap, I should have taken it off. I thought about it for a split second, but Nat is right; I am enjoying wearing it.

“You never know who you might run into,” I say.

They both stare at me, knowing I’m full of it.

These girls know me better than I know myself sometimes.

“Fine, I love it, okay?” I hold my hand out in front of myself to admire it.

I haven’t taken it off since Kaden placed it there.

“It’s feminine and pretty.” It embodies two qualities I have never had.

I’ve always been the smart girl who ignored my frizzy red hair in high school. It was the least of my worries. Back then I couldn’t care less. I was all about making good grades and finding a career.

I love my mom, but I didn’t want any part of myself to follow in her footsteps, whether it be financially or because of the heart longing to have the love of a man.

It sounds terrible, but I needed to succeed to have security for myself.

So I kept my head down and focused on my own success.

I didn’t have time for men. In my experience, they caused more harm than help.

Sure, my mom has her career. She’s been a nurse her whole life, but her pursuit of love has been a painful one, even when she’s trying to hide her heartbreaks from me.

I’m not sure when exactly, but I’d fallen into the tomboy role. Now, when I actually want to get dolled up, I usually get strange looks, and it makes me oddly self-conscious. I loathe that I care what others think, but I can’t stop it.

"It suits you," Luna says. Nat nods in agreement.

"It really does."

"Are you two fucking with me?" Why aren’t they asking me a million questions and telling me this is crazy? I mean, that’s what I did when they started falling for their men.

"Frankie." Nat rolls her eyes. "We know you better than you think." The server comes over and places a martini in front of me. I pick it up and take a healthy swig.

“It’s all for show.”

“But is it?” Nat asks. “I mean, the man has been trying to date you from that first day. Even while you were busting his balls.” I smirk, thinking about that night.

“You can admit you’re into him,” Luna adds.

“I don’t date.” Not really. In a moment of weakness, I agreed to the one date with Kaden, but it doesn’t really count. It ended quickly. As soon as I found an excuse, I used it to distance myself from him.

“Well, that works because you’re not dating. You’re getting married,” Nat points out. I pick up my drink and finish it before ordering another.

“Guys, seriously. At most, he’s using this to kind of date me.”

“Do you hear yourself? That he’s after dating you and nothing more? He’s Kaden Gunner,” Nat says.

“You had no clue who Kaden Gunner was before I told you,” I point out.

“This may be true, but I’m sure most other people around here know. He’s not only a fancy football star, but he’s also got money and is not bad on the eyes. He doesn't need to force anyone to date him. Kaden wants a date with you .” Nat has a point there.

“It’s because I said no and ignored him. Now it’s a challenge.”

“Whatever.” Nat lets out a sigh. “Anything I say, you’ll come up with a counter.”

“Habit. It comes with the job." I pick up my drink and make a mock toast with it before I take another sip.

“All right.” Nat holds up her hands in defeat. “But why don’t you enjoy the Kaden ride while you’re on it? You might find that you like it." She wiggles her brows.

I bet it is a very enjoyable ride. One many girls have had themselves and would love to have another. My chest grows tight at the thought. I pick up my drink and polish it off.

Then, I do the thing they never tell you to do while drinking. I text my supposed fiancé, letting him know that while we're engaged, he better not be giving out rides. We do, after all, have an image to maintain.

Because I'm, of course, not jealous. Why would I be? I can't stand Kaden… right?