A Mess of a Man (Cruel & Beautiful #2)(34)

“Oh, hell yeah,” I say.

“Then for once in your life, have some f*ck fun. Make him your f*ck buddy.”

Happy Hayley says, “I agree. You’ve been so busy and never do anything like this. You barely sleep with guys and always wait for love. Then you get burned in the end. Let yourself enjoy it for once without the worry of a relationship.”

Britt says, “I’m in the f*ck buddy camp.”

Carrie says, “Me too.”

“Lauren?” I ask.

“I am, but with anyone but Ben Rhoades. I don’t think he’ll play fair.”

“Bullshit,” Berkeley says. “Sam will hold the cards this time. Do it sister. Free the Sam Slut!”

Everyone starts chanting, “Free the Sam Slut. Free the Sam Slut.”

“Would y’all shut up? Jeez, everyone’s going to think I’m nothing but a hooker! I’m going to the bathroom.”

I get up and go. On my way back, I happen to glance across the room and sitting at the bar, with his arm around a dark-haired beauty, intimately kissing her neck, is none other than my Trevor. The one who said he couldn’t wait to see me, and that he’d been faithful to me ever since that night, and that I was worth waiting every minute for. In a moment when I should be fuming, I feel free. So much so, I pull out my phone for a bit of fun and take a picture.

When I get back to the table, I say animatedly, “You’ll never guess who’s here. And with someone.”

“Ben?” Lauren asks with satisfaction.

Shaking my head, I grin. “Trevor.” Then I show them the picture.

“No! And he just sent you flowers,” Lauren says, disappointment edging her tone.

“Hmm. Watch this.” I grab my phone back from the girls and text him.



Me: Hey! Hope you’re having an awesome time at Macintosh tonight!



I wait, not really thinking he’ll respond, but he does.



Trevor: Hey! You here too? I’m with a friend hanging out.



“What’s he saying?” They all want to know.

“That he’s with a friend. You know, he seems to have a lot of those.”



Me: Uh, I think your version of friend and hanging out and mine must be completely different.

Trevor: Sam, I can explain.

Me: This? I think it’s self-explanatory and I believe you and I are through.



And I send him the picture I took. Then I get the radio silence I expected earlier.

“So?” Lauren asks.

I tell them and they all shake their heads.

Berkeley is the first to say something. “Skanks. Men are all skanks.”

And why is it okay for men to be glorified whores, but women can’t? Screw that.

“I’m going to do it. Free my Sam Slut. I’m done with getting stepped on. It’s time Sam has some fun, too.”

We raise our glasses and toast my momentous decision to fling my thong to the wind—or in Ben Rhoades’s face if he’ll accept it.

Then a thought hits me. “Well, one good thing came out of this. I don’t have to go on that date with Trevor that I wasn’t looking forward to on Saturday.”

We raise our glasses for another toast. Tomorrow may be a hangover work day. But now my big question is, how will I approach Ben. I guess I’ll have to wait and see him at his firm.

“So, what do you think, ladies? Should I just wait until I run into Ben through work, or should I text him and ask him to get together?”

Lauren has a sly look that sends a shiver up my neck when she says, “I have an idea.”





Work becomes my best friend as I give it my all and then some to avoid going home to an empty house. I can’t even muster the energy to hook up with anyone. But I refuse to believe Samantha has a choke hold on my dick. I’m just too busy for the complication of anonymous sex with some random female who no doubt will ultimately want more no matter what they say. Karen is proof of that.

“Dude, some of us are going prematurely bald. And you’ll join our ranks if you keep that up.”

I release my death grip on my hair and smooth it back. Jeff just shakes his head. “It’s one o’clock. I’m grabbing Mark to go grab a late lunch. You in?”

“Nah. A former client of mine from J.P. Morgan Chase reached out to me. He’s not pleased with my replacement and wants me to put together a proposal for him.”

“Sweet. What does your pops think of that?”

I shrug. “I haven’t told him yet.”

“Why not?”

I shrug again. “Been a little too busy working to fill him in.”

The truth is twofold. I want to do this without Dad’s input. I want to land this client and have the papers signed before I tell my dad about it. I need this to prove as much to myself that I can do it on my own without outside pressure. And I trust Jeff not to say anything.

The other part is I’d gotten a call from Drew’s estate lawyer. They need me to provide them an accounting of his investments for the trust set up for Cate. The call is like a sucker punch reminding me again Drew’s gone and never f*cking coming back. And it’s another good reason not to go home.

Jeff and Mark are good guys, but they will never replace my best friend.