Diamonds (All that Glitters #1)(36)

“Must have been,” he agreed. “Where did you end up tonight anyway?”

“Oh, Chateau Marmont.”

There was a pause before he asked, “By yourself?”

“No. I was with a friend of mine.”

“A guy friend?”

“Yeah, but you have nothing to worry about. We’re just friends. Where did you fly out to anyway? You’re full of questions. I think you can answer one yourself.”

There was silence on the other end for long enough that she shifted awkwardly in her seat.

“Are you still there?” she asked.

“I didn’t go out of town.”

“You didn’t?” she asked, confused. “Why did you tell me that you did?”

“I was at Chateau Marmont tonight. I didn’t know you’d be there, but I saw you kiss someone else, Bri.”

Her stomach dropped, and she gripped the seat. “No. You have it all wrong. I wasn’t…it wasn’t what it looked like.”

“We weren’t playing a game. I wasn’t coming to snatch you away. You were just with him,” he accused

“Jude, I swear, that is not what happened. He’s a friend. It meant nothing to me.”

Gates snapped his head in her direction, and she waved him away.

This could not be happening. She couldn’t be dealing with this. Why the f*ck is Jude in town? And why was he at the same hotel as me? He was supposed to be somewhere at work where it wouldn’t matter that she was out with a friend. And he had seen Gates kiss her but obviously not the slap afterward.

Fuck!

She was shaking, literally trembling in her seat.

“I have to get back to the party. Let’s talk about this tomorrow.”

“Jude,” she whispered.

“Good night, Bri.”

The line went dead, and she dropped her phone into her lap in disbelief.

“Are you okay?” Gates asked, reaching for her.

She swallowed hard and tried to hold in her pain. She wouldn’t unravel. She was strong, confident, and independent. She didn’t need a guy. She didn’t need…

Tears silently pooled in her eyes, and she turned into Gates’s shoulder.

He held her against him. “Tell me what happened.”

“He saw you kiss me.”

“He was there?” Gates asked in surprise.

“I didn’t know he’d be there.”

“So…did you guys break up?” He sounded cautious and uncertain.

He wasn’t used to comforting her. She didn’t normally need comforting. This was all new territory for her.

“He said he wants to talk tomorrow.”

“I’m sorry, Bri. I never would have done that if I’d known. I would never want to upset you.”

She put her head in her hands and leaned forward. “What am I going to do?”

“Blame it on me. He’s just angry right now. It’ll be okay.”

“I hope you’re right.”

JUDE DIDN’T CALL THE NEXT DAY.

Or the day after that.

On the third day, Bryna couldn’t hold it in any more, and she dialed his phone number. It rang forever before clicking over to voice mail. She tried one more time. When it went to voice mail again, she left a quick message asking him to call her. She couldn’t bring herself to call again. She wasn’t going to act f*cking desperate.

Clearly, it didn’t matter that he had said they would talk on New Year’s Day. He had lied about leaving Los Angeles. Why wouldn’t he lie about him calling too?

She still couldn’t believe that he had actually been at Chateau Marmont on New Year’s. She had been safe and secure in the knowledge that things with Gates were platonic and that nothing could go wrong. Then, she had been smacked in the face with this.

Her feelings for Jude were the same as when they had spent a week together in St. Barts. She didn’t know how he could feel differently in such a short period of time. Nor did she know how he could go this long without talking to her and getting clarification on what had really transpired. If she had seen him with someone else, she would have wanted a goddamn explanation.

Bryna tried to go about her normal life, but everything felt surreal with school starting again. It was as if the entire Christmas break had been a dream…and then a nightmare.

She was glad she had so much to occupy her time and keep her mind off of what had happened.

Competition season was coming up for cheer, so they were doubling practices. And Felicity wanted to start weekly meetings to discuss the charity benefit. Bryna selected three assistants—Avery, Tara, and Jemma—to ease the load. Though Avery and Tara were being weird and distant. Bryna didn’t know what that was about, but she couldn’t even bother with it.

College applications had to be turned in by this weekend, and she was trying to focus on planning out her campus visit schedule. She had already turned in her LV State application, but she still had to finish up UCLA, Stanford, Berkeley, and NYU. She kept trying to tell herself that there were more important things to do than stress about Jude, her friends, and cheer.

Later that week, after practice, she drove home from school with her mind full of everything she needed to accomplish. She parked her car in the garage and took the stairs two at a time. Just as she entered her bedroom, she saw Pace peek out from his room.