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Lo stares harshly. “Brunettes.”
“I don’t give a sh*t about hair color,” Ryke says, his forearms on his thighs as he sits on the leather chair.
Co
Sava
“What about gray hair?” His eyes flicker up a little. He’s staring at Scott, who stands off screen. “You’re forgetting black hair too. And purple, blue, orange—”
Lo is back, glaring.
“Wow,” Lo says, his hand on Lily’s head, still concealed in his shirt. “They cut off your little rant, Co
“Chapped,” Co
“Come here, I’ll rub your ass for you.”
Co
“Who’s the messiest?”
“Ryke.”
“Me.”
“Ryke.”
“Have you ever been with a man before?”
Lo cocks his head to the side. And he flashes a bitter, dry smile, not giving anyone anything they want to hear.
“No,” Ryke says.
Co
“Who has the best legs?”
“Lily,” Loren says. “But she won’t believe me if I say it.”
Ryke rubs his lips in thought.
Loren glares at him like “you better not have fucking said her name”—but I think we all hear Daisy in his head anyway.
“Rose,” Ryke grimaces.
I laugh into my sip of champagne.
“Rose,” Co
“Top or bottom?”
Lo glares. “Top.”
Ryke shakes his head in a
“Top.” Co
“Do you think Daisy is as sexually active as Lily?”
Lo’s eyes flash cold. He stands up. “I’m done with this sh*t.”
“What the f**k kind of question is that?” Ryke asks. He rises and chucks a pillow.
“No, she’s not,” Co
While we go to commercial break, Daisy picks herself off the ground, her cellphone in hand. She tries not to make eye contact with any of the guys. It’s clear that the media is trying to determine whether or not my little sister will turn out like Lily.
And this fact only causes Lily to stay buried in Lo’s shirt, not only doused with shame but now guilt.
My chest hurts for both my sisters, but there’s nothing in my power that can reverse what’s happened. Maybe my clothing line isn’t worth this attention.
I scroll on my phone. My sales…they’re up by ten percent so far. The little ads that cut to the commercials must be helping. They say, Purchase the clothes worn by the Calloway sisters right now! And they show the links to the CC website.
I wish my body didn’t soar by the small success. A part of me wishes this reality show was a failure so I could easily choose my sisters’ welfare over my dream. I should do it. Two years ago, I think I would have. But I wonder if Lily would ever forgive herself for driving my company to the ground. I think she needs to know that my company is okay too—that she didn’t destroy everything with her addiction.
Daisy’s phone slips between her fingers and clatters to the floor. She bends down to pick it up, forgetting that she’s in a black backless dress I designed, short on her thighs. The dress immediately rides up, showing half her ass since she wears cut-off boy-short underwear.
My little sister has sufficiently mooned the crowd.
Ryke is the closest to Daisy. “Fuck,” he curses, quickly standing behind her. He grabs the hem of her dress and tugs down.
The three guys look over their shoulders at the nearest camera.
“Did they see her…?” Lo trails off, not able to talk about Daisy’s ass without cringing.
“That one did.” Co
Daisy struggles to pick up her cell.
“Daisy, grab the fucking thing,” Ryke tells her, having to literally tug her dress down three more times as she moves.
She finally snatches the phone and spins towards him with a large smile. “Got it!”
Ryke stares at the hem of her dress, making sure it’s not riding up. I should be the one doing it, but I’m slightly tipsy, and I fear moving the wrong direction in my four-inch heels. I already sway a little. If it wasn’t for Co
“Are you checking out my ass?” Daisy asks with the raise of her eyebrows
“Yeah, so did the rest of the fucking party.”
“So what’d you think? On a scale of one to ten.” She grins playfully.
“I’m not rating your ass.”
“Will you ride it then?”
“Daisy,” I interject. Stop, I mouth. She pushes Ryke too far, and he’s not one to back down from these kinds of conversations.
Daisy’s smile fades. “Sorry…I was just messing around.” She flips her phone in her hand. “I’m going to go…mingle.”
Now I feel bad.
“No,” I tell her sharply. “You’re staying.”
“No, it’s cool. I need to go talk to Mom anyway.” She avoids Ryke who stares down at her with a strong gaze—filled with this unadulterated concern. It’s strange for such a hard-lined guy to have such potent empathy for others. But I’ve seen it come out on more than one occasion.
Co
So he called my father.
Co
I hear my father say, “Which daughter? And I have someone on the way. Thank you.”
“Daisy.”
My father lets out a large sigh. “That one’s going to kill me.”
Co
He truly wants children.
He wants the challenges that each one brings.
He smiles as though he can’t wait for that day where he has to deal with the hard parental choices, the dilemmas, the chaotic situations he must calm.
He does want it all.
But I’m afraid I may not be able to give it to him.
[ 18 ]
CONNOR COBALT
The screening party has been going relatively fine until I watched Samantha Calloway fawn over every bullshit line that came out of Scott’s mouth. He complimented her brown hair three fucking times, and Rose’s mother was close to melting at his feet. At least her father is on my side.
He texted me: I don’t like him. – Greg
To the point, a heart with good intentions. No bullshitting around. That’s Greg Calloway. His wife isn’t as benevolent, intelligent or non-judgmental. She has a WASP elitist mentality that would make my mother internally roll her eyes.
It’s mostly Rose’s parents that have my stomach in knots. Because even though I’ve appeared only twice in the show, edited to look disinterested in my own girlfriend, it’s their opinions that matter to me, not the public, not strangers—just people that I need to impress. Because one fucking day, I plan to marry that girl, and I want them to realize that I’m the best man for Rose. And that no one else can come even marginally close.