by JA Huss
Brooke Alder might be my shining knight on the white horse right now, but she stands very clearly in the “them” department.
“Go,” I say. “I swear, it’s fine. And bring back dinner.”
“Hmm,” Brooke says, grinning at me. “I’m going to learn something new. What do you like to eat?”
I nod my head at Wald. “He knows me as well as I know myself. He’ll know what to get.”
“OK.” Brooke shrugs. “If you say so. Ready?” she asks, looking at Wald.
He grabs his car keys off the counter and throws them up in the air, catching them with a jingle. “Let’s go.”
Huck and I watch them leave and then he says, “OK. Wald and I came up with a whole list of things we’ve been doing and vacations we’ve taken.”
“Yeah. Like what?”
“First, we met in Singapore. We’re sticking with that since we already have that story. Goldfish girl. I kinda love it.” He starts talking about the timeline of three years ago. Which makes me think back to what we really were doing three years ago in Singapore.
By that time the business was just going crazy. We were getting new clients every day. And throwing parties and having big-deal meetings. It was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun.
“We had some good times, didn’t we?” I say.
“Hell, yeah,” Huck says. “And we’re not done yet. So what do you think of her?”
“Brooke? I mean… I like her. I really do kinda like her.”
“Huh. Me too. So does Wald. You know what’s funny?”
“What?”
“I think even when this is all over and we’ve got Maisy back, we really will still be friends.”
“We’ve known her one day,” I say. “And she’s got secrets of her own.”
“I know,” Huck says. “But it does kinda feel like fate. Don’t you think? I mean look at it logically. Is there another woman on this planet who would jump into the game with us? And not only that, play her part like an expert? Even Johnny was falling for it.”
“I wouldn’t assume that, Huck. He’s got a bullshit detector like no one else I know.”
“Yeah, but… maybe we’re not even bullshitting?”
“What do you mean?”
“You like her. I like her. Wald likes her. And I’m sure Maisy’s gonna love her to death too. Maybe this is the beginning of a good thing here?”
“One day,” I remind him. “Not even a whole day.”
“You just bought a house with this girl.”
“Fake,” I say.
“Yeah,” he agrees. “But no. You really did just go house shopping with that girl.”
“Dude, I can’t wait for you to see this house. You’re gonna fucking love it. Seriously, this house might even change Wald’s mind about going home.”
“You sure you don’t mind us moving in?”
“Why would I care? We’ve been living together since college.”
“I know, but… that was after college life. This is after after-college life. And if the plan works, your kid is gonna be living there too.”
“Nah,” I say. “It’s still the same. Maisy is gonna love you guys.”
“Well, I am looking forward to Maisy as well. She’s gonna be fun.”
“She really is,” I say. “I can’t wait.”
“And this situation with Brooke is fuckin’ perfect if I do say so myself.”
“How the hell did you even think of this plan?”
“I read an article last month—”
“You don’t even read.”
“Fuck you.” He laughs. “I can read in three languages. So, for real. I read this article in Weekly Playboy about these three dudes who were all best friends—”
“Weekly Playboy!” I laugh.
“It has good articles. Obviously.”
“Do they even publish that in English?”
“I just told you. I can read in three languages.”
“So you spend your time reading Japanese porn mags?”
“Will you shut up for a second and let me talk?”
I roll my hand at him in a ‘please, go on’ motion.
“And this is how they started.”
I wait for more, but it appears he’s done. This explains everything. “What do you mean?”
“They hired an actress to be the one guy’s fake fiancée so he could get his family off his back because he was kinda having an affair with his best friends.”
“So he was gay?”
“No, he wasn’t gay. He was bi, I guess. They like… whatever. That’s not the point. The point is that one of them needed a girl to get the parents off his back and they hired this actress to play the part for a huge family reunion. But then all three of the guys sorta fell for her… it kinda, you know, devolves out of our scenario from there. But that’s where I got the idea.”
I just stare at my best friend.
“What? Why are you looking at me that way?”
“You,” I say, “are fucking one of a kind, Huck. I swear. Never in a million years will I ever meet another asshole like you.”
“You’re welcome.” He grins. “And back atcha. Now let’s get busy. We have like a hundred posts to write. Here’s the general timeline Wald and I came up with…”
It’s not a general timeline. It’s very fucking specific. But what did I expect with Wald in the mix?
Over the next thirty minutes Huck describes how we passed through seven countries, ten cities, and finally landed back in Tokyo living together in our current place.
“You got any pics of the Kyoto house on your phone, Joey?”
“Why?” I ask, scribbling down the outline of a dinner date we all had in Hong Kong.
“Because we need a pic of us all in front of the house. It’s the best one, don’t you think?”
I look up at him and think about this. “Yeah. It is.”
We have three homes in Japan. One, our main penthouse, in Tokyo. It’s close to everything and that matters. This one he’s talking about in Kyoto. And an apartment in Okinawa right on the water.
“Let me look,” I say, grabbing my phone. “I think I sent one to Johnny right after we bought it.”
“Hmm. What’d he think of it?”
“Never replied.”
“That guy is such a dick. How can the two of you even be related?”
“Don’t ask me.” But then I pause and look up at Huck.
He shakes his head. “Don’t even go there.”
“You know it’s not the first time someone’s asked me that. About Jesse too. Because we’re so damn different.”
“Not that different.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that I was some bastard at this point. But fuck it. It doesn’t even matter.” I start scrolling down through my photos. “When did we buy that house?”
“Five and a half years ago, maybe.”
I scroll, scroll, scroll and finally find some.
In Japan a place like this is called a machiya. A traditional home with tatami mats and sliding shoji doors with rice paper windows. And there are lots of little rooms. It’s an historic place, so it took us a long time to get permits for renovation and a long time to finish it too.
I find the original pic before renovations, then scroll forward and find one after it was finished.
I send them both to Huck.
His phone dings and he says, “Yeah. This’ll be perfect,” when he looks at them. “Remember how happy Brooke was when that reno nightmare was finally over last year?”
I laugh. “Let’s not forget to remind her when they get back.”
“Speaking of which. They’ve been gone a while now. Should we text?”
“Huck,” I say. “This is Wald. He’s the most trustworthy, practical asshole we know.”
“True. But I saw the way he was looking at her. He likes her.”
“We all like her,” I say. “And I’m truly not her boyfriend. So… whatever.”
“I just ca
n’t believe our luck, ya know? Finding her in the middle of this whole Maisy thing.” Then he sighs and looks down at the social posts he’s working on. “I’m really glad we’re doing this.”
“Lying to the Kane family?” I chuckle.
“No,” Huck says. Then his eyes meet mine. “Getting your daughter back.”
CHAPTER TWLEVE - BROOKE
Wald puts on classical music when we get in his car. Joey drives a brand-new Porsche. Which, for some reason, totally fits him. But Wald’s car is… not a car at all. It’s a big Ford truck.
“Interesting choice of wheels,” I say, buckling my seat belt.
“Yeah, so you know, if you want to bring any furniture along”—he shoots me with his finger—“I got you, Brooke.”
“I’m a pass on that. I bought my place furnished.”
“You did?” he says, pulling out of the parking garage. “So you really don’t need money?”
“Well, everyone can always use more money. But generally speaking, I’m good for now. I’m not doing this for the money.”
“For the friendship,” he says.
“I need people right now,” I say. And maybe it comes off a little sad. Possibly even desperate. But you know what? Why should I be ashamed that I’m lonely and want friends? All those self-help books are constantly telling me to be myself and, well, this is me. “Even though I just met you this morning we just have something that clicks, you know?”
“I do,” he says.
“Go left at the light,” I say. “I’m really not that far from here.”
“So what happened to your… other friends?”
“It was just over,” I say.
“Falling out?”
“No. But… yes. And…” And I think that’s all I should say. So I finish with, “But I got money out of it.”
I didn’t really have friends in my old life. I had a small team. But most of them had moved on before this current situation happened. And that was it. In my line of work once the job is over and the team dissolves, it’s done.
It was never about friendship, anyway. Or family. Not really. Not the kind of family these three guys have built.
And I was being totally serious about how I would be happy for Maisy if she got to live the dream I never did. How horrible for her to lose her mother. What is her life like without parents?
I know what mine was like. And while I did get lucky, it wasn’t the kind of luck Maisy is about to fall into, that’s for sure.
“So that’s why you don’t care about the money?” Wald continues, glancing at me as we wait for the light. “You did one last job?” He chuckles a little at the cliché.
“I guess you could call it that.”
“I am calling it that. What are you calling it?”
I sigh. “It was just over.”
“So… your friends. They were girls? Guys?”
“Guy,” I say.
“Just one guy? That was the extent of your friend pool?”
I take a deep breath, preferring not to talk about the past.
“Did you have a relationship with him?”
“Why are you so nosey? Jesus. I should be asking you these questions.”
“Ask me anything you want. I’m not hiding anything.”
I glance at him out of the corner of my eye. Wald is not as muscular as Huck. Or as lean and chiseled as Joey. But from what I can tell, he’s got a nice body. Broad shoulders. Clean, square jaw. Nice facial features. Green eyes and dark hair.
“Do you sleep with your friends?” I ask.
He chuckles and then the light turns green and we’re turning. “Sometimes.”
Then it’s my turn to laugh. “No girl then? Or guy?”
“Plenty of those,” he says. “Both. But no one specific.”
“What about Joey? Does he have a girl?”
“Right now his only girl is Maisy.” He pauses and glances at me, then returns his eyes to the road and says, “And now you.”
“Please,” I say. “We’re not together. I’m not dumb enough to start believing that kind of shit.”
“He likes you. I can tell. Huck likes you too.”
“And you?”
“Yeah,” he says. “Me too.”
“Is that why you wanted to drive me? To get me alone?”
“You a mind-reader now?”
“Is it true then? You wanted me alone?”
He shrugs. “Keep going straight?” he asks as we approach an intersection.
“Yeah. Keep going.”
“Hey, well. I’d fuck you,” he says. Then he starts grinning.
“You would, huh?”
“Definitely. You’ve got my brain all twisted up with intrigue, Brooke Alder. So many questions running through my head about you right now.”
“Like what?”
“Like…” He pauses. “Like… how is this gonna end?”
“It’s not gonna end. That’s my prize, right? You guys get the little girl and I get you guys.”
“And then what do you think happens?”
“I dunno, Wald.” I stifle a chuckle. “I have no clue.”
“You and Joey just bought a house. If everything goes well, in a week or two you’re gonna have a little girl living there with you.”
“You’re gonna live there too.”
“Yeah. What do you think that looks like?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well.” He laughs. “I am going to fuck you.”
“Are you now?”
“For sure.”
“Maybe I’ll tell you no.”
“You could,” he says. “But you won’t.”
“How do you figure that? You don’t know me. And my loyalties right now are to Joey.”
“Yeah, but his loyalties are to me.”
“So he’s gonna let you?”
Wald nods. “If I tell him I want to, he’ll let me.”
“And then what?”
“And now we’re back to my question.”
“How do I think this will end?”
“Do you have an idea?”
“No. Do you?”
“Kinda. But I’m not gonna share it with you. Not yet, anyway.” He pauses, then says, “Left, right, or forward?” when we come up to another intersection.
“Forward.”
“Good choice,” he says, then grins.
He doesn’t say anything else as we drive, aside from asking for direction. And when we get stuck in traffic just a few blocks from my building, it starts to get awkward.
What is he thinking about?
Are they gonna pass me around? Is he planning on stealing me from Joey?
Which is a dumb thought since Joey and I are not a thing. It’s all pretend.
Still, I can’t help but feel that I’m with Joey.
That’s how we set this up. I’m his public girlfriend. There’s no Wald in my future.
At least… not without Joey.
“Turn into this garage on the right,” I say.
We turn. And I direct him to my parking spot since my car is back at the hotel. Then we get out and take the elevator up to the fifth floor and the next thing I know he’s leaning too close to me as I push the key in the lock and open the door.
“After you,” he says.
I walk forward into my little apartment and then turn to face him as he closes the door. “Right here?” I ask. “Right now?”
“Fuck you?” He chuckles. “I can’t have you first. That will never work.”
I laugh at his audacity. “What the hell does that mean?”
“You know what I mean, Brooke.” Then he walks into my bedroom and I follow, feeling a little lost. And maybe a little helpless. And that feeling in front of the new house comes back to me. The fantasy feeling. It’s been a long time since someone took me by surprise in a good way and I have lived long enough to understand that being taken by surprise is special.
You don’t get but one or two good surprises in many, many year
s.
A door. But not just any door. This is like a freaking drawbridge lowering down over a moat surrounding a castle.
It’s a big deal.
I don’t understand it yet, but I recognize it. And that thought makes me remember something that Mila cosmetics chick said in her book. Something about being ready for your chance. You put in the work and you build this thing. And one day someone is looking for this exact thing you built and they find you.
That was how she described her tipping point of success. She found her business partners when they were all in college still. Separate colleges. While on spring break, of all things.
But something happened to them that brought them together and their idea for a cosmetics line took root.
That’s the prep stage. Their big break came years later after they graduated when all that hard work added up to some kind of grant or award.
Boom. The drawbridge lowered and they walked right into the castle.
But she freely admits that her life wouldn’t have happened this way if she didn’t find her team.
It wasn’t her talent or the talents of the other women with her that made the difference.
It was their synergy. It was the cumulative effect of all four of them that opened that drawbridge and got them the keys to the castle.
And I just think there’s a lesson there. She had three partners and now here are these three men who want to partner with me.
Weird, right? Maybe that Calling Your Destiny audiobook wasn’t full of shit after all? Maybe my sleeping brain did absorb some nugget of truth and I’ve been putting it into practice all these weeks. So that one day—today—I wake up and they whisk me up in their procession and take me into the castle with them.
God, I’m weird.
But I gotta admit. It’s a pretty big coincidence that I’m here in my apartment with some guy I don’t even know, and tomorrow we’re moving into the castle together.
And damn, that house is so perfect. I cannot imagine a luckier little girl.
I might even be a little bit jealous of Maisy Kane.
Wald opens my closet and starts picking through clothes. “What are you gonna take?” He glances at me. “Probably some summer things and some winter things. We gotta have pics in all different seasons.”
So… back to the point. Do I sleep with them?
