Duplicity (Jilted Book 1)

by S. M. Shade

  “Amis-amants,” I murmur.

  He looks down at me with a cocked eyebrow.

  “It’s the French way of saying friends with benefits. Makes it sound a little more classy.”

  “Amis-amants. I like it. Can you speak French?”

  “Not a lick. I heard that on a TV show.”

  Chuckling, he plants a kiss on my neck.

  “Can you agree not to sleep with anyone else? I know this is nothing serious, but—” He kisses me quiet before I can point out I don’t want some groupie’s disease.

  “Nobody else. Same goes for you.”

  “We’ll just have fun for the summer.”

  “Absolutely.”

  I drag my fingers over his stomach, tracing a scar I noticed when we were naked. It’s a slightly raised half circle that cuts through his navel. “What happened here?”

  “I crashed on my bike when I was ten. Got impaled on a piece of metal from a fence.” He grins at me. “Good thing women find scars sexy.”

  “Yeah,” I scoff. “Because you really needed help in that department.”

  We stay cuddled together for a while until the rain slows to a drizzle and fog starts to roll in. He keeps an arm around me on our walk back to Foxhaven.

  Maybe I’m being stupid getting into any kind of relationship with him, even a friends with benefits situation, but as he turns to smile at me before getting on the elevator, I know one thing.

  It’s a mistake thousands of other women wouldn’t hesitate to make.

  Chapter Eight

  Singleton

  A permanent smile is stamped on my face after the last week I’ve spent with Kinley. After our amazing night in the gazebo, we’ve met every evening to hang out, and found ourselves back up in my bed more often than not. I’ve never had so much fun with a woman before. In or out of bed.

  My phone rings with a call from Sully, and for once, I’m glad to hear from him, since I need his help.

  “Holt,” he says, not giving me a chance to say hello after accepting the call. “I’ve got some news and you aren’t going to like it.”

  Great. Count on him to kill my good time.

  “Spit it out,” I sigh.

  “The rehab may want to extend your brother’s stay. He’s not…progressing the way they’d hoped.”

  Of course he isn’t. “Did he relapse again?”

  “They found some pills in his room. Opioids, but his piss test says he hadn’t taken any, so they probably caught him in time.”

  Sighing, I run my hand through my hair and sit on the edge of the couch. Some things never change. And he’s definitely one of those things. It doesn’t matter how many times me or dad try to intervene because he doesn’t see any problem with his “lifestyle”, as he likes to put it. As if waking up in your own puke once a week and scaring the shit out of your family by overdosing twice is perfectly acceptable.

  I’m no angel. I smoke weed and drink occasionally. When I was younger, I fell into the opioid painkiller trap, but the first time I ran out and realized how much withdrawal sucked, I never touched them again. I won’t be like my alcoholic mother and addict brother.

  Moderation.

  I’ve heard good things.

  “How much longer?” I ask. I know he expects me to be upset. I wasn’t crazy about the idea of staying here for the entire summer, but now all I can think is that I’ll have more time with Kinley.

  “I don’t know yet. I just wanted to give you a heads up. The rehab center will be calling you.”

  “Okay.”

  There’s a long pause before he says, “I expected more of an argument. Oh god, you’re fucking the owner, aren’t you? You realize there are new pictures of you two together making the rounds again. Alicia is going to lose her shit.”

  My teeth grit with my reply, “It’s nobody’s business who I’m fucking. And while I have your attention, I want to arrange a weekend away from here. Find me a rental on the beach in the Florida Keys and get the plane down here.”

  Sully blows into the phone, and I have to pull it away from my ear for a moment. Passive aggressive asshole. “A weekend for two?”

  “Yes, and book under an alias. You can put security nearby that I can call if necessary, but I’d rather try to blend in.”

  “Yeah, that always works well,” he scoffs. “When?”

  “This weekend.”

  “Fine.”

  His terse answer makes me grin. It’s nice to give orders for once instead of taking them. “Sully, this shit with my brother, I’m telling you, I’m almost done. If they want to extend his stay, that’s fine, but if he fucks up again, I’m not saving his ass. There’s a limit.”

  “Yeah, I get that,” he says. “I’ll be in touch about the trip.”

  Hanging up the call, I sit back on the couch with a sigh. It sounds cruel, that I’d give up on one of the only two people in this world who love me, but I’m at a loss of what to do. He’s determined to kill himself and nothing we do seems to put a stop to his childish self-destructive behavior.

  A knock at the door has me on my feet, and I grin down at Kinley after opening it. “You don’t need to knock. You have a key. And we both know you wouldn’t mind walking in on me naked.”

  “Isn’t it a little early in the day to be so conceited? You should try to spread the arrogance out a bit.” Her words are punctuated with a quick kiss. “I just wanted to pop in and see you because I’ll be busy today. I have meetings with some vendors to organize our Labor Day Picnic.”

  She follows me in, and I pull her into my lap when she goes to sit next to me on the couch. “Labor Day is still a couple of months away.”

  “Yeah, I like to plan ahead. It’s a pretty big deal for Foxhaven. It’s our biggest weekend for families. We used to hold it on the Fourth of July, but the town also puts on a big party and fireworks that day, so we moved ours to Labor Day.”

  “Makes sense. Well, clear your calendar this weekend.”

  Her lips tilt up. “Do you plan to keep me prisoner in your room?”

  “In another room, but only part of the time. The rest of the time we’ll be on a beach. I want to show you the ocean.”

  Her mouth falls open, and she stares at me. “You want me to leave for the weekend and go…where?”

  “The Florida Keys. It’ll be a quick flight in a private plane. We could leave on Friday and be back Sunday evening.”

  Silence reigns while she considers it, and I’m afraid she’s going to say no. “I’ve never left Foxhaven for that long since I took over,” she says. A bright smile leaps across her face. “But I’m sure they can handle it.” Her eyebrows raise, and she looks up at me. “Won’t we get mobbed by paparazzi?”

  “With a quick exit and a disguise, we should be fine. Which reminds me, how good are you with a set of clippers?” Her jaw drops as I run my hand through my long locks.

  “You do not want me to cut your hair.”

  “I want someone to cut it. Someone who won’t let it get out to the media until after our trip.”

  “My friend, Anavrin, is a hairstylist. I could bring her here. She won’t tell anyone. But she will drool and fangirl over you.”

  “We can hardly blame the girl for that,” I tease, and she rolls her eyes.

  “I’ll see if she can come Thursday evening.”

  “Perfect.”

  She wraps her arms around my neck and brings her lips to mine. “Then let’s go see the ocean.”

  It’s been a long hot day, and the shower feels amazing, washing the heat and sweat from my skin. It’ll feel even better to get all this hair cut off. I’ve never been a fan of long hair and I can’t wait to be rid of it.

  As I dress, my phone vibrates with a text from Kinley.

  Kinley: Would you mind if my friend Foster joined us? He came with Anavrin and he may throw a giant tantrum if I leave him out.

  He? I’ve never met Kinley’s friends or heard her mention any guys. Shit. Am I actually jealous? Judging by the tight
ening in my stomach and my desire to stake my claim on her, I guess I am. It’s fucking ridiculous. We agreed this was temporary, and even if it wasn’t, it’s not like she couldn’t have a male friend. What the hell is wrong with me?

  Me: Sure. Come on up.

  I’m standing at the small bar, making a drink when the beep from the door warns me a keycard has been swiped. Kinley enters with a small blonde girl, and a tall guy, both around her age.

  “Oh my god, you’re right, he’s even hotter in person,” the girl squeals, and Kinley covers her face with her palm.

  “Anavrin, you swore. No fangirling.”

  “I’m behaving! But damn.”

  They make their way over to me, and Kinley nods at me. “Holt, this is Anavrin.”

  “It’s nice to meet you. I love your music!” Anavrin exclaims.

  She may be breaking Kinley’s no fangirling rule, but it’s her male friend who drags his gaze over me from head to toe. I’m a guy. I know exactly what look that is. I guess the jealousy was even more ridiculous than I thought.

  “Thanks, it’s nice to meet you. I appreciate you coming to cut my hair. It’s kind of hard to be in public right now,” I tell her, and she nods.

  Taking a deep breath, she calms herself a bit. “I’m happy to.”

  Kinley gestures toward her other friend. “And this is Foster.”

  We trade the obligatory hello and handshake, then Kinley continues, “They both know they’re sworn to secrecy when it comes to you.”

  “Dude, she even made us leave our phones downstairs,” Foster says. “Her trust is heartwarming,” he teases, glancing at Kinley.

  Kinley snorts. “If it makes you feel better, you aren’t the one I thought might sneak a picture.”

  All eyes are on Anavrin, and she grins. “We’ll never get your hair done if you’re waiting on me to deny it.”

  “Well, at least you’re honest,” I laugh. “The bar is stocked if you guys would like a drink.”

  It only takes about twenty minutes to get past the awkwardness that comes with hanging out with new people, and even Anavrin drops the starry-eyed act. I don’t blame her. There are a few people I’d be star struck to come face to face with, but it’s uncomfortable to be that person. I’m glad she gets past it quickly.

  We spend an hour or so just talking, laughing, and having a drink before Anavrin asks, “So, do you know what style you’re going for?”

  I pull up a picture I saved on my phone just for this moment. I don’t know shit about hair and usually kept mine shaved down before all this. “I want something I can just dry and go. I’m not the type to spend a lot of time on it, using product and all that.”

  Anavrin takes my phone and studies it for a moment. “A messy undercut? This would look good. We’ll just shave it close on the sides and back, and leave longer, textured hair on the top. It’d be easy to care for.”

  Foster turns to her. “Uh, I asked you about this cut not two months ago and you said I’d look like a potato with a tuft of hair on top!”

  Kinley bursts into giggles as Anavrin rolls her eyes. “Because you have a different face shape. Not every cut works on every head.”

  Anavrin grabs a stool and sits it in the bathroom in front of the mirror. She takes a pair of scissors, clippers, and a few other things out of her bag and spreads them on the counter before gesturing to me. “Ready when you are.”

  Kinley steps up and runs her hand through the long strands. “It’s so gorgeous. I just wanted to touch it once more before you cut it off.”

  “And I’ll just have a lock or two to take home, purely for personal use, I assure you,” Foster quips, and Kinley smacks his arm.

  Anavrin clips a towel around my neck and studies my hair for a moment. Her gaze meets mine in the mirror. “You’re absolutely sure? Because we’re taking a lot off.”

  “Positive.” I’m done taking orders from Sully. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to his reaction, but mostly, I just want to feel like myself again.

  Kinley and Foster loiter in the doorway at first, but wander off as Anavrin clips and cuts away what feels like five pounds of hair. When she finishes, I run my hands over the sides and back, smiling at the feel of the bristles. The top is a little long, but not so much it’ll fall into my eyes.

  The longer I go without saying anything, the more Anavrin gnaws her lip. Finally, she asks, “What do you think? I can take more off the top if you want.”

  “No, I like it. Just like this.”

  A relieved smile graces her face, and she pulls out a small bottle, squeezing a tiny amount of gel into her hand. She runs her hand through my hair, distributing the product as evenly as possible. “I know you said you want simple. A little bit of this goes a long way and gives it the messy look without being all stiff. I brought you one bottle, and you can order more online.”

  “Thanks,” I reply, standing up and running my palm over the back of my head again. “What do I owe you?”

  She blinks and shakes her head. “Nothing, I’m just doing a favor for a friend. Just promise I’ll eventually be able to add this to my portfolio.”

  “I’ll have Kinley take a picture and send it to you as soon as it’s safe to make it public. Right now, I’m trying to dodge the paparazzi.”

  Anavrin starts gathering her stuff and puts it back in her bag. “Yeah, Kinley mentioned that. I’m driving you to the airport in the morning because they don’t pay any attention to my car.”

  My eyebrows jump up. “You know we have to leave around four thirty?” She must be a good friend to Kinley if she’s willing to drag her ass back here in the middle of the night.

  “I’m aware. I’m crashing in an empty room and I don’t have to work tomorrow. It’s all good.”

  We walk out of the bathroom and a smile jumps onto Kinley’s face at the sight of me. “Oh my god, I love it!” She has the same impulse I did and runs her hand over the stubbly sides.

  Foster crosses his arms and glares at her. “I could totally rock that cut!”

  Anavrin rolls her eyes. “Fine, let’s go to my room and I’ll see what I can do with your mess.” She grabs his arm and pulls him toward the door, looking back at us to see Kinley still caressing my head. “You still owe me twenty bucks. I told you they were going to hook up from the beginning.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Foster mumbles.

  We call out our goodbyes, and they shut the door behind them.

  “Your friends bet on your sex life?” I ask with a grin.

  She shrugs. “It’s a small town. Not much to do.”

  Taking a few steps forward, I back her up until the back of her knees hit the bed and she sits. “I can think of lots of things I’d like to do.”

  Between the new look and our quick escape before dawn in an unfamiliar car, we manage to make it to the airport and onto the private plane without a trail of vultures behind us.

  “Wow.” Kinley gazes around in awe at the luxurious environment. I felt the same way the first time I was on here.

  “Where should we sit?” she asks, looking from the cream colored leather seats to the matching bench that runs the length of the opposite wall.

  “Anywhere you want. After we take off, I’ll show you around.”

  Grinning, she chooses one of the seats. “There’s more?”

  “A bathroom and a bedroom.”

  The attendant approaches and introduces herself, taking our drink orders. After she retreats, Kinley whispers, “Is it just the three of us?”

  “And the pilot.”

  A glint appears in her eye. “This seems like a rare mile high club opportunity.”

  This woman is too good to be true.

  “How long is the flight?”

  “About two and a half hours. Drink up, because as soon as we’re in the air, I’m making you an honorary club member.”

  A few minutes later, we’re in the air, and I unfasten my seatbelt. Kinley does the same, but she doesn’t look so good. “Bathroom?�
�� she mumbles.

  I show her back to the bathroom in a hurry, and she barely makes it. Slamming to her knees, she empties her stomach and groans as I hold back her hair.

  “I’m sorry,” she chokes, sitting back on her feet. “I’ve never been motion sick before.”

  She said she hasn’t seen the ocean, but it never occurred to me this may be her first time on a plane. “Have you ever flown before?”

  Shaking her head, she gets to her feet, looking shaky and miserable. The attendant appears outside the bathroom door we left open in our hurry and asks, “Can I get you some Dramamine?”

  “Yeah, good idea, thanks,” I reply.

  Kinley follows me back to the cabin. “Here, bug, lie down.” I grab a pillow and tuck it under her head as she stretches out on the bench. The attendant returns with a pill, a glass of ginger ale, and a few vomit bags.

  “At least it’s a short flight,” she points out, giving Kinley a kind smile. “Try to relax.”

  “Thank you.” After taking a tiny sip to swallow the pill, she lies down and closes her eyes. “So much for the mile high club.”

  “We’ll just join the sex on the beach club instead.” I sit down and she puts her head in my lap.

  “Ugh, that sounds like a good way to get sand in sensitive places.”

  Chuckling, I play with her hair, running my fingers through it. “Just rest. You’ll feel better once we land.”

  As I expected, the motion sickness medicine knocks her out. I take out my notebook. Something about having her asleep in my lap triggers my need to write, and it’s not dark lyrics this time. She looks so vulnerable like this, so far from her take-no-shit, I’m-in-charge self.

  By the time the attendant returns to tell me we’re going to land, I’ve written an entire song, and I’m glad I brought Samilla so I can put it to music soon.

  Kinley stirs when I brush my hand down her cheek. “Are we there?”

  “We’re close. Can you sit up and buckle in?”

  “Mmm-hmm.” Her color is back, but her eyes droop under the weight of the medicine.