Page 99 of Hell Bent

“Same,” Dakota said. “But it’s not so different to being one of these guys, is it? People know you in one dimension, but none of us is one-dimensional. When youarea star, you have to create this … persona, something you can let the world see, so they’re satisfied. And hold the rest of yourself tight so you don’t lose it.”

“Not me so much,” Owen said. He’d been quiet all this time, looking serious, but now he was clearly joking. “People normally just think I have some kind of glandular disorder. But you’re right. I’m more than happy to let them keep thinking so, not get mobbed everywhere I go like Thor here. Who needs it? And as for Blake …” He glanced at his former quarterback, a smile lifting one corner of his mouth. “He can’t blend to save his life.”

“And I’m not trying,” Blake said. “My personality’s right out there, and I’m not apologizing for it. Can’t say I’m sorry to have got to play ball, either. Do the thing I love best and get paid stupid money for it? Sure, everything has a price, but that’s not exactly news.”

“Celebrity’s a weird thing, all right,” I said. “Every kind of it. Everybody wants it until they see what it means. But hey. ItisAlix’s birthday, and they have this dark chocolate rye whiskey cake here. Sounds a little weird, but I’ll believe they know what they’re doing. Want to split a piece of that with me?” I asked her. “Or another dessert?”

She said, “Oh, chocolate cake for sure. This is the upside of being an electrician again. I get to eat cake.”

Dakota said, “You’ve got that right. Want to eat cheesecake with me, Blake?”

“You bet, darlin’,” he said. “I’m out of the game and don’t have to care.”

Jennifer sighed. “Dakota’s baby girl is younger than Nick, and after about three months, Dakota looked exactly the same as before she had her. I don’t get dessert. That’s because I already had too many desserts. Christmas about did me in. I’ll have a decaf coffee instead and tell myself I’m enjoying it. If you get dessert, Harlan, do not offer me a bite.”

“No worries,” he said. “I don’t need dessert, and Owen hardly ever eats it. You’re safe between us. I’ll have a decaf coffee, too.”

Dessert time was the moment of truth. I’d put this off all day, and I needed to do it now. I’d thought this evening would be good, a relaxed time out with friends, but the princess stuff had left Alix raw, and I didn’t want that to be what she took away from this evening. So when that chocolate cake came, I pulled the wrapped package from the little bag I’d carried all night and put it in front of her.

“Happy birthday,” I said. And pretty much held my breath.

Alix

I stared down at the package. Or rather—packages, because there seemed to be two things here. A larger box, and a smaller one on top of it.

“Ooh,” Jennifer said. “Exciting. I love to watch people open presents.”

“You are a secure man, Sebastian,” Dakota said, “giving them to her where these guys can razz you about it. What if your present bombs?”

“Then,” he said, “I’ll return it and get something Alix likes.”

“Right,” Blake said. “Except that women generally don’t like to turn to you in front of your buddies and say, “Sebastian,honey, you have some truly terrible taste. Next time, ask me first, because this thing’s hideous.”

Everybody laughed at that, including me, and Sebastian said, “Alix is perfectly capable of that much honesty. I’m not worried.” But helookedworried. Maybe not to somebody else, but to me.

I said, “I’m so touched. Honestly.” My hand on the package. “It wasn’t necessary, but?—”

Dakota said, “Would youopenit?”

I pulled the gold ribbon holding the shiny silver-wrapped boxes together and separated them. The first one was tiny, maybe two inches on a side. I thought,However bad it is, wait until later to tell him.I wasn’t accepting any more diamond tennis necklaces, because what had I been running from if not the constant compromising of who I was? But I couldn’t humiliate Sebastian. If there were ever a time to sharpen my acting skills, that time was now.

I thought all that as my finger slid under the silver paper and the tape released, as I pulled the paper aside and revealed the box.

It was plain white. And the black printing on it saidChanel.

I couldn’t look at Sebastian.Please,I begged silently.Not gaudy, not big, and not covered in diamonds.Then opened that box and found another one inside. Black velvet. Opened the lid and …

It was an earring.Oneearring. I took it out and held it in my palm. A cuff with a sort of quilted pattern embossed into it, maybe three-quarters of an inch in diameter. The gold wasn’t too shiny, somehow, but rich, if you know what I mean, and the piece looked classic but not in the least boring. Especially since it was, you know, a cuff.

I stared at Sebastian, and he said, “What? No good?” Trying to smile, but it wasn’t working.

I said, “Would you put it on my ear?” Nobody else said anything.

He took it from me, put it over the top edge of my ear, then slid it on down so it rested just above the lobe. I said, “I don’t have a mirror. I want to see. Maybe?—”

Jennifer said, “Here,” and handed me a little pocket mirror. And I looked.

Well, yeah. The cuff encircled the outer edge of my left ear, above the tiny gold hoop that was my pierced earring, and it looked so good there. Elegant. Modern. Simple. Perfect.