“A what?” I stare at him like he just grew a third head.
Dexter rolls his eyes like he shouldn’t have to explain this. “In every romance story known to man, the guy fucks up big. That’s what you did when you fired the love of your life, and didn’t take her side, defend her honor, said all those mean things to her… all that shit. When you let the evil supervillain…” He points over at Decker, grinning like a real asshole the entire time. “Destroy the universe that was your relationship.”
Decker holds up a middle finger right at him.
Dexter shrugs. “I’m just keeping shit real, bitch.” He turns back to me. “Now, in the story, the hero always has to overcome this, because the man always fucks up. It’s a law of romance narratives. And he always has some over-the-top redeeming gesture to win her back.” He hooks an arm around my shoulder. “That’s what your situation calls for. And fortunately for you, I’m the king of those.”
“I don’t know.” I sigh. “Karli’s not going to fall for some fucking gimmick. She’s smart, like really smart.”
Dexter and everyone else laughs, like I’m an infant who doesn’t understand life. “Trust me. It’ll work.” He points a finger around the room at Tate, Quinn, Abigail, Harlow, Meadow, Mary, and Presley. “These are all extremely, utterly, highly intelligent women, who put up with absolutely zero bullshit, are as stubborn as the good lord could possibly have made them, and it worked on every single one of them, no matter how much shit everyone in this room talks about me and my cinematic preferences.
When my eyes roam around to all the women, they all look away shyly and semi-nod their heads like he’s not wrong.
Meanwhile, Decker, Deacon, Cole, Wells, Dominic, and Penn simultaneously nod furiously, and almost in tandem say, “It fucking works, bro.”
Finally, I turn to Dex and say, “Okay, I’m in. I’ll do anything. Just tell me what to do.”
Dexter grins. “Tell me every single little detail about her, the things she loves, no information is bad information.”
I shrug and say, “She loves Christmas and Die Hard.”
His lips curl up into a devilish smile. “I can work with that.”
14
Karli
A week has passed, and I finally have a plan.
Sure, it’s December twenty-third, and I’m sitting in my apartment, studying my books ahead of time for my spring classes before I graduate in May. You can never get too early of a jump on things, though, and it’s not like I have anything else to do.
My phone rings, and it’s Alicia, a friend from law school.
Shit!
I totally forgot I told her I’d go out tonight with some of my classmates. She told me we were going to have one last hurrah, as she put it, before we head back to studying non-stop and having no life at school. I agreed at the time because everything had just happened with Matthew and I didn’t want to spend half an hour on the phone. Not to mention, I thought maybe by this point I’d be ready to go out, or it would force me back into social situations.
Regardless, I’m not ready and forgot all about it.
I answer the phone. “Hey, look, I don’t know—”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes. Be ready!”
Damn it.
“Alicia, it’s not really a good time…”
“You’re going.” She hangs up before I can respond.
I glance around, then look at myself in the mirror. I really am sad and pathetic and it’s almost freaking Christmas. This is supposed to be my favorite time of the year. I’m already going home to spend the day with my parents on Christmas Day, so maybe this can be a soft run with regards to interacting with people again. At some point, I have to come out of my apartment anyway.
I look at myself in the mirror and say, “It’s time. You can do this.”
Immediately, I feel lame for having to give myself a pep talk.
Matthew wins if I hole myself up like this anyway. I’m done letting him control the way I act and feel, even if I do miss him like crazy. Which is insane. He’s literally the worst. Nobody has ever broken my heart the way he did.
I fly through the apartment and make myself look presentable. Truth be told, I’m kind of impressed. I look good; really good. I even have on a red top and look Christmassy. If I’m being honest with myself, I feel a little semblance of normal again.
Sure enough, twenty minutes after the phone call, Alicia rings the doorbell.
I answer and head down to the car with her.
She doesn’t say much the whole way down, which is odd for her.
“Everything okay with you? You’re being weird.”
She stops staring off into space and seems to snap out of it. “Yeah, yeah, everything is good. I even got us a driver for the night, bribed an undergrad. So we can get as drunk as we want.”
I stare at her for a long second, narrowing my eyes, because something is still off. She looks apprehensive. Still, I’m determined to have fun tonight. So, I get in the car.
Despite Alicia acting all weird, she has this odd grin on her face the whole way.
“Hi,” I say to the driver.
“Hey.”
I don’t recognize him, but he takes us through the streets of downtown Chicago.
“Where we going?”
Alicia shrugs. “It’s a surprise.” She draws out the last word very annoyingly.
Ugh. I hate surprises and she knows that.
Out of nowhere, the driver says, “I need to make a stop up here.” His voice is weird and monotone, like a shitty actor would deliver a line.
“Huh?” I look over at Alicia.
She shrugs like it’s fine. She’s more neurotic than me usually and seems very casual about the driver needing to randomly make a stop.
He pulls over in front of a building, and my hackles rise immediately. My glare slowly turns to Alicia. Everything suddenly clicks, all the weird vibes in the air. Through my teeth I say, “What is this?”
She holds up a hand. “Hear me out and just go inside.”
“Absolutely not. I will never step foot in that place again. Take me home.” I turn to the driver, and I know Alicia doesn’t know the whole story, so I try not to be furious with her, but it’s difficult.
“It’s their Christmas party and they invited me.”
“I don’t give a shit. I’m done with The Hunter Group.”
Alicia frowns. “I need the connections, please.”
“Why the fuck would you bring me? This is so…” I can’t even finish my sentence because I’m seeing red, and it’s not from looking at my shirt.
Alicia turns her attention to the driver and then nods.
He nods back then holds up a fucking gun.
I turn so white I think I might pass out. “Tha fuck?” I scream the words.
He points it toward the building and says, “Out.”
I can’t even speak. My entire life is flashing in front of my eyes and all I do is nod and hold up a hand. “Okay, okay, fuck.” I don’t think I can breathe right now.
I’m so scared I’m worried I might pee all over this backseat as I slide out. When I look at Alicia, it’s like she’s scared, but it seems like she’s acting. And why the hell did she nod at the guy right before he did that?