“I can assure you that’s not it. I never thought I would get married again, and now to be forced to stay married doesn’t make me happy.”
Pushing off the tube, Alex floated on her back. “No one is telling you that you have to be married in the house. You don’t have to have sex with her or any other husbandly duties.”
She did have a point. “I can’t have sex with anyone else until we divorce, and at least once a week, we have to be seen out in public holding hands.”
“For Christ’s sake, you’re an actor. It’s not going to kill you to hold her hand once a week. She looks like a sweet girl.”
I barked out a laugh. “Looks can be deceiving.”
Climbing onto the flamingo, Alex rested her foot on my raft to stay grounded. “What does she get out of this arrangement?”
“Besides living in my house for a year? She gets to keep her job, and—”
“What do you mean she gets to keep her job?” Sitting up, she waited for an answer.
“She has a job at CJJ but hasn’t started yet. Now she has a second job babysitting me.”
“Did you ever think she doesn’t want to be stuck in this marriage or babysit you just as much as you?”
I hadn’t thought about what Abbi must be feeling. I’d only thought about myself and being pushed into the corner after fucking up. Now that I thought about it, it was obvious Abbi wasn’t happy with this situation and only wanted to keep her job.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Abbi yelled from the side of the pool. How had we not noticed her? “You weren’t supposed to tell anyone, and the first person you see, you blab your fucking mouth.”
Alex and I watched wide-eyed as Abbi stormed off into the house.
Chapter Nine
Abbi
Rushing off to my room, I slammed the door closed and threw myself on the bed. I couldn’t believe that asshole. I was going to lose my job before I even started it.
A soft knock on my door had me sitting upright and glaring at it. “Abbi, can I please come in?” Alex called from the other side.
While I didn’t want to hear what she had to say, Alex hadn’t done anything to me. Seeing her talk to Reeves earlier, showed me there was a nice guy in there somewhere deep down.
Moving to the end of the bed, I tried to reign in my emotions and called, “Come in.”
Alex peeked in as the door slowly opened. “Hey, I know you probably don’t want to hear from me, but I wanted to try and explain Jenner.”
I doubt she could make a difference, but I’d hear her out.
Sitting down, Alex gave me a sad smile. “I know you’re not happy. Jenner told me, but I think he needed to talk to someone about what’s going on. He said you have your friend, Sophie, so I’m sure you can understand how nice it is to be able to talk to someone about what’s going on. Jenner can’t go to Catherine and complain. Not that he was complaining about you.” She gave me another sad smile as she took my hand in hers. “Poppy messed him up pretty bad, and he barely talked about it. I’m sure there are things I don’t know, and I think he feels guilty about it. While I’m going to tell Luke, I can promise you that we won’t tell anyone your secret. I think you’re a sweet girl who wants to keep her job, and I told Jenner to think about how this is affecting you and not to be an asshole. I doubt you’re happy to be in this mess and don’t like having to lie about it to your friends and family.”
I did understand, but one thing stood out to me. “Reeves has Levi to talk to since he was there in Vegas.”
“They’re friends because of circumstance, but I’m not sure how much Jenner trusts what he says to Levi for it to not end up in Catherine’s ear. We’ve been friends for a few years, and he knows I won’t say a word. I’ve been a part of the media’s lies. I’m sure you’ve seen the bad boy he’s turned into, but I promise he’s a good guy. He’s just lost. Please be open to giving him a chance. I’m not saying you have to fall in love with him, but try to be friends.”
“I want to try and be friends and not have the house I’m living in for the next year to be a war zone.”
I hadn’t known she was tense until her shoulders relaxed as she smiled over at me. “That’s all I ask. Since I’ll be in LA for the summer, I’m hoping to pull his head out of his ass. I hope that we can get along because I plan to be around quite a bit.”
I thought it was strange they were so close, and yet she hadn’t been around. “Why are you only here for the summer?”
“I live in Missouri, and there’s no way in hell my ex will ever let me move here.” She let out a bitter chuckle. “We’re lucky we can be here for most of the summer. Mason still has to go back every other weekend, but we make it work, so we’re not apart from Luke for long periods of time.”
Alex hopped off the bed and retied her towel around her waist. “I’m going to head back out there and take Mason off Jenner’s hands. Please join us, and maybe you can see him in a better light with me here.”
So she knew he’d probably be an ass without her presence.
“Thanks, I’ll think about it.”
She gave a small smile before she slipped out of the room, and a few seconds later, I heard them all hooting and hollering, having a great time.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to go out there and have to apologize for going off on Reeves, even though I had every right to be mad at him. We were sworn to silence, and the first person he encountered, he spilled our secret to. But I did believe Alex that he wouldn’t speak of it to anyone else.
For the next hour, I listened as Jenner and Mason yelled every few minutes to the sound of water splashing as I hung up the rest of my clothes the movers had brought. I probably should have called Sophie, but I didn’t want to have to tell her how poorly things were going up here on the hill. I should have been thankful I got to keep my job, and Catherine had given me a week to get accustomed to my new married life. For the next year, I was living in the most beautiful place I’d ever been in, and it would be tranquil if Jenner and I could learn to live together and not try to kill each other.
With my clothes put away, I decided I should join them. If I stayed holed up all the time things between us would never get better.
Slipping on my bikini and slathering myself with sunscreen, I tightened my ponytail and made my way out to the pool. It was now or never. I nearly tripped over my feet, seeing Reeves sprawled out on a lounger, his bronze skin glistening in the sunlight, biceps bulging with his arms behind his head. Damn, he was fine.
“You came out,” Alex called with a bright smile on her face. She was throwing rings into the pool and watching Mason dive in to get them. He was a good swimmer for an eight-year-old. “Mason and I were just getting ready to leave so we can pick up our grocery order.” She leaned forward, put her hand to her mouth to hide it, and whisper yelled, “We have about as much food as the two of you.”
Reeves kicked her chair as he laughed. “We’re going to get some food, so stop giving me shit.” His eyes went wide as he looked to the pool to see if Mason had heard him swear. “How do you do it?”