Gold (All that Glitters #2)(84)

“I don’t know if I’m up for that,” Bryna said.

“What? He’s got your name written all over him,” Maya said.

“She had kind of a…bad summer,” Trihn explained. “Maybe another night.”

Maya shrugged. “Okay, but I think you’re missing out. He’s a higher up for Google.”

Bryna shrugged. “Let’s just dance.”

She placed her drink on the counter, unfinished, and veered for the dance floor. She didn’t want to get drunk tonight. She tended to act like an idiot while intoxicated. She was here to celebrate moving in with her friends and to not think about Eric—at all.

She let her body go free and forgot her struggles. The music was loud. Her friends were close. All felt right. She danced until her legs were shaking and her face was flushed before breaking away from the floor in need of some water.

She tried to flag down Maya, but she was busy with a group of customers who had walked in. Bryna leaned back against the bar and fanned herself as she waited.

“Can I get you a drink?” someone asked from behind her.

She turned around and found herself face-to-face with the hot businessman they had been eyeing earlier. He was even more handsome in person. She was shocked he worked for Google. Are tech guys suddenly getting hot?

“Just water. It’s hot on the dance floor.”

“I think I can manage a water.”

She smiled. “But can you afford it? It’s pretty expensive.”

“Most valuable thing in the world,” he replied.

“Hmm…and I always thought that was diamonds.”

He laughed and nodded at her necklace. “Seems you have that covered.”

She shrugged and glanced away, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

“I’m Rick,” he said, offering her his hand and drawing her attention back to him.

“Bryna.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Maya returned then and looked triumphant as she saw Bryna talking to Rick. “Dirty martini?” she asked.

“Just water.”

Maya arched an eyebrow but complied.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything else?” he pushed.

“Really, I’m fine.”

She purposely glanced down at his left hand. No ring. Not even an indentation. Maybe he wasn’t a bad guy.

But that didn’t even matter, did it? It wasn’t that she should be looking out for the bad guys. They should be looking out for her.

Maya left her water on the counter and refilled Rick’s scotch glass before disappearing with a smug expression on her face.

“Do you want to dance or maybe go somewhere more private to talk?” he suggested.

She sighed. “I know where you think this is going, but it’s not. I’m not the kind of girl you want to talk to privately. I’m dangerous.”

He raised an eyebrow. She had only managed to intrigue him.

“I like dangerous.”

“I’m a gold digger,” she said flatly. “The jewels you’re admiring me for are from someone else. If you stick around, I’ll manage to get some out of you, too.”

He stepped back in surprise at her frankness.

She pulled the Harry Winston B necklace off and held it in her hand. She couldn’t believe she was still wearing it after all this time. It was her signature look, yet what it symbolized wasn’t even her anymore.

She left him alone and confused. She didn’t have an explanation. It turned out she did idiotic things completely sober, too.

“What happened?” Trihn asked as Bryna approached her.

“Here.” She handed Trihn the B necklace, which she took in confusion.

“What?”

“That’s not me anymore,” she said. “I can’t even look at it.”

She was getting rid of her last piece of Jude. It felt like shedding her skin and starting fresh. Now, she needed to find someone who could see her as she was now, not as she had always allowed people to see her. No director father. No gold-digger status. No slutty reputation.

Just someone with no expectations.

She didn’t know what that meant for her, but it wasn’t an older guy in a suit, thinking he could buy her body with a few drinks.

THE NEXT DAY, Bryna put her house on the market. She called a moving company next to take only the things that were truly hers to the new apartment. Everything else she was planning on leaving.

She didn’t know how long it was going to take. She had never sold a house before. But after only two weeks, she had an offer on the table and was set to close on the place. It was terrifying but a relief that everything had happened so quickly. She would be signing the papers this afternoon in between class and cheer. It was supposed to be quick and painless.

She walked into her history of film class on edge. Her mind was caught up in the paperwork and what her intentions were after that.

Cam dropped into the seat next to her with a smile just as class started. He still sat next to her every day, and they flirted. It was nice since after the fiasco at Posse, she had been avoiding most other guys. She was spending more time focusing on her studies. She had done fine freshman year, but cheer and guys and money and booze had made her lose focus. She figured if she was only really concerned with cheer that would leave her with a lot more time to bring her GPA up.