“Ha ha, Ryan, you do realize it is in California, by the beach right? Whatever. I’ve got something to tell you.”
“Oooh, you’re finally getting a boob job?” he asked excitedly.
“No!” I exclaimed, looking down at my B cups self-consciously.
I actually had toyed with the idea of increasing my chest to a more substantial size, not Pamela Anderson, just more than a handful. But Cade had been showing me he more than appreciated my mere handful, I had been feeling good about them, until now.
“Dammit,” he mumbled, “I was going to be your nursemaid, had the perfect outfit and everything.”
I scrunched up my nose at my gay friend nursing my boobs back to health.
“Well sorry, Florence, ain’t gonna happen.”
“Oh well, I’ll find another use for it,” he replied, mind obviously wandering.
“Ryan. Something to tell you, kind of important?” I probed.
“Oh, go ahead, girl, tell me the news,” he said, sounding less interested.
“I have a boyfriend,” I blurted, deciding to dive straight in, hoping Amy hadn’t beat me to the punch on this one as well.
There was silence on the other end of the phone.
“Hello? Have I finally managed the mean feat of rendering Ryan Jackson speechless?” I asked sarcastically, hoping his response would be a happy one. I got my answer when I heard a squeal girlier than mine down the end of the phone. I held it away from my ear a second.
“Crap, Ryan, you promised you’d warn me when you do that, I don’t want to go prematurely deaf,” I whined, maybe understanding why people kept saying that to me.
“Oooo weee, girl, this is fantastic. You’re finally back on the horse! You’re back on the horse right? In the biblical sense? He better be hot, what am I saying, you’re in the middle of nowhere. Please don’t tell me his sister is also his cousin.”
I rolled my eyes, Ryan was a snobby Manhattanite through and through with a flair for the dramatic.
“Seriously, Ryan, you need to stop with the comments, Amber is my home now. And I think you would eat your tongue if you saw the caliber of men down here,” I lectured, but Ryan was already cutting me off.
“Okay, okay, whatever. Tell me more about him. How long have you been seeing him? Oooh what’s his name? I’ll stalk him on Facebook.”
I chuckled. “He’s not really the kind of man that has Facebook, Ry, and I’ve pretty much been seeing him since the first day I got here. Took him a week or so to crack me, though,” I laughed again, thinking back to our first meetings.
There was silence on the phone again before a yell. “What?”
I held the phone out again, oh boy, Ryan sounded angry.
“You’ve been in Nowheresville for more than three fucking months! And you’re telling me this now? This is bullshit, I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”
“Ry, there’s been a lot going on and things have been complicated – ” I started to explain, feeling guilty.
“Complicated? Well, you’ve certainly had enough time to call and tell me you finally got off the wait list for your Birkin, and you couldn’t wait to call me and tell me Orlando and Miranda broke up,” he spat.
“Hey!” My voice was raised now too. “I’ve been on that wait list for like years, that was a big deal.” I stroked my Birkin lovingly. “And you were over the moon about Miranda and Orlando, he’s on your celebrity bonk list.”
“Enough,” he snapped. “I cannot believe Amy didn’t even tell me this shit.”
“I swore Amy to secrecy, Ry, this isn’t her fault,” I argued.
“Oh puleeze. Amy couldn’t keep a secret even if it meant she could have Chanel’s entire fall line. She told me about Kyle Winters like, a second after she found out.”
I gasped. “That bitch,” I whispered, mentally thinking up more ways to torture my big mouthed best friend.
“I simply cannot have this conversation with you right now, Gwen, I am too mad. I will call you when I decide I am over it.” His voice was uppity. I knew he was pissed and hurt.
“Ry, please…” I pleaded into the phone, but he had already hung up.
“Fuck!” I yelled and grabbed my beautiful purse, in search of Amy.
I screeched up to the clubhouse after hearing Amy was there picking up Rosie. I didn’t even want to wonder why she was showing up there. Things between her and Brock had been tense, to say the least. I had already assembled my emergency kit for when WWIII went down between them. It was red wine, chocolates, and all the horror movies I could find of people in love getting murdered gruesomely.
I narrowed my eyes when I saw her walking towards me, laughing with Rosie. Lucky and Cade were milling by their bikes nearby.
I got out of the car and slammed my door. “You!” I shouted, pointing at Amy and stomping towards her, hearing my heels click on the concrete.
“Oh shit,” Lucky cursed from nearby.
Amy had the gall to look confused. “What, Gwen?”
“You sent my mother a picture of Cade and me? How freaking dare you, Abrams! That was not your place. And I can’t believe you told Ryan about Kyle Winters, you swore you would take that to your grave.” I was inches away from her face, yelling in it.
I ignored the fact that Cade and Lucky had approached and we seemed to have more than a few spectators. Rosie was watching, half shocked, half smirking.
Amy’s expression turned from confusion into realization, and she leaned into me. “Well, someone had to tell your mother. At the rate you’re going, she’d learn about it when she got your wedding invite,” she joked and I saw red.
I let out a scream of frustration.
“Babe,” Cade warned from behind me. I was sure he was having flashbacks of our front lawn wrestling match.
“Oh no, brother, I suggest you stay out of this one. The Old Lady is looking wild, you don’t interrupt bitches with this shit.” Lucky sounded serious, I whirled to see a grin on the bastard’s face.
Cade had ignored him and was walking towards me. I held up a hand.
“Stay out of this. You have far too much testosterone to be involved in this conversation,” I told him, whirling back to Amy.
“I was going to tell Mum, in my own time, it’s only been three months. I don’t see you running to tell your parents about you and Brock, or you and Ian, for that matter.”
Amy scowled. “This is different, Gwen, and you know it. You guys are the real deal, and you are in Bad Ass land, three months is like forever to these guys.”
I let out another little scream. “Are you fucking serious? I don’t even know what to say to you. You are looney tunes.” I made the universal crazy gesture. “And I am so pissed at you for telling Ryan about Kyle. I may never forgive you for that.” I glared at her.
“Who the fuck is Kyle?” I heard Cade snap from behind me and ignored him.
Amy’s glare turned into a smile, and she glanced at Cade. “Oh come on. How could I not tell Ryan? It was hilarious. Seriously, Gwen, he owned a comic book store.”
“So? There’s nothing wrong with that, he had a business,” I argued.
“He still lived with his mother.” She grinned.