Society Girls: Neveah (10 page)

“I can’t believe my brother
is going to that gala with
her
,” Ellie says with a laugh as she
walks into the cafeteria.

“I can believe it,” Jade tells her. “He’s a
dog.”

“That statement his agent released was the
best part. ‘I’m never settling down. No woman will ever be special
enough for that.’ Classic Dylan,” Ellie adds.

I force myself to stay in my seat, and not
run from the room. It was hard enough to read the words online, but
to hear Ellie laughing like it’s nothing new cuts me deep. I pick
up my phone as it vibrates on the table in front of me. It’s him. I
don’t want to answer, but I have to. I have to get past this—get
past him—and then move on.

“Hello,” I say as I get up from the table
and motion to my friends that I’m going outside.

“My agent set up the date. I didn’t know
anything about it until after he’d leaked it to the press.”

“What about the statement?”

“Statement?”

“Don’t do this. Please don’t make this
harder,” I beg him, thankful that the patio is fairly empty and I
can claim a small piece of it for myself.

“If I knew what the hell you were talking
about, I’d be doing every damn thing I could to make things easier
for you. You have to know that.”

“You put out a statement saying you would
never be with one woman.”

“Son of a cunt! I’m going to kick his ass
once my contract is up. I did not say that, Nev. I wouldn’t ever
say that. I might deny being in a relationship, because things are
complicated at the moment, but I wouldn’t vow for it to never
happen.”

“You’re sure?”

“I am. I love you. So much my heart wants to
burst. I also wanted to jump on a plane to you when I heard about
the date. I can’t let the kids down, and now I’ve been told I can’t
get out of the gala. I need you to know I’ll be thinking of you
every second of every day until I get back to you. Promise me you
believe that.”

“I do. It was just hard seeing it online,
and then hearing Ellie and Jade laugh about it like they expect you
to say things like that.”

I hear him sigh. “They
probably
do
expect
it, along with a lot of other people. I don’t care about what
anyone else thinks. Only you.”

“I think I love you, and we’ll be okay. How
was your shoot, by the way?”

“When she wasn’t trying to grope me, it was
good.”

“She was doing that? Ugh.”

“I shut it down, and the pics I took without
her were pretty awesome. I picked a special one for you, in fact,
since you were my muse.”

“Your muse?”

“I thought about you for those pics, and
everyone said they’d never seen me look like I did before?”

“How did you look?”

“They think I look like I
was yearning for a woman I couldn’t be with, which was partly true.
When I looked at the pictures, I saw a man who is hopelessly in
love with a woman he
does
have, but can’t be with right now.”

“I can’t wait to see them, and get my
personal pic.”

“I can’t wait to see
you
.”

“I have to get back to work, but I’ll call
you tonight.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

Neveah

Dylan’s going to be back today, and I can’t
wait to see him. We’ve texted and talked all week, plus he sent me
flowers, a stuffed basketball, and other little gifts while he was
gone. I loved seeing his pics with the kids at the mini-camps, but
I hated his pics with that actress. He looked so yummy in his tux,
and while I know it was fake, it was still hard to see him with
another woman.

I try to put him out of my mind as I walk
into weapons class. Today is a firearms day, and I know they all
expect me to just watch. I can’t wait to show them that I’m no
longer afraid. Well, okay, I’m still a little afraid, but I can
shoot the guns. Despite what everyone said, I know they had to be
at least a little worried that I wouldn’t be able to do it.

“Okay, everyone, we’re heading across the
hall to the range today. Nev, you can hang out in here if you’d
prefer,” Faith says.

“Actually, I was planning on shooting some
targets.”

“With a gun?” she asks. The room is dead
quiet. I’ve made them all speechless.

“Yes. A friend has been helping me. I shot
in his private range last week.”

“Friend? Is this the
same
friend
who’s
been sending you flowers and stuff?” Matisse asks.

“Maybe.”

“This is great, Nev. Did you try any
specific gun?” Faith asks, steering us back on topic.

“I tried three different ones. I’m ready for
whatever you want me to try.”

She smiles at me, and I smile back. “Let’s
do it.”

Two hours later, I’ve shot
every type of pistol, and even tried a rifle. I won’t say it was
easy, because at times I wanted to just throw one of them down. I
stopped, took some deep breaths, and accepted a high five from one
of my friends when it happened. I could sense them all watching me,
and waiting to see if I’d need them. I
did
need them, but not as much as I
thought I might. I’m slowly coming to terms with that I can do and
understanding that accidents can happen, but I can’t live my life
waiting for one.

My friends all go into the cafeteria ahead
of me. I have a voicemail from Dylan and I want to listen to it
alone, so I wave them all off. I practically jump up and down when
I hear that not only did he get an earlier flight, but he’s also
here at C&C. His agent wanted to meet Matt, so they’re lunching
in the cafeteria, too. I grab my prayer rug so I can do my midday
prayer after lunch and walk briskly to where everyone is
waiting.

I’m smiling as I walk into the large room
and spot them at one of the center tables. My friends and Matt’s
are all around them, and I grab a burger before making my way to
the chair I see Dylan’s holding for me. It’s not obvious that it’s
saved, but he threw his jacket and baseball cap on it, and I know
if I ask to sit there, he’ll move his stuff for me.

“Hi,” I say as I walk up.

“Hey. Neveah, right?” he asks and I nod.
“Did you want to sit here?”

“Hell no,” the guy I don’t recognize at the
table yells as he jumps from his chair. This must be his agent,
Eric. “I’m not eating with a terrorist bitch!”

Chairs hit the floor as men and women get to
their feet around me. Everyone except for Dylan is standing up. “He
didn’t mean it,” he tells me before turning to Eric. “Tell
them.”

“I meant it. What’s she even doing here? Was
she searched when she came in the building? She could have a gun
rolled up in that rug she’s carrying. Who carries something like
that around for the hell of it?”

“I’m carrying it because I pray after
lunch,” I say in a calm voice, even though I want to cry. Not
because he’s saying these things to me—I’m used to that—but because
Dylan isn’t defending me.

“Praying for the next Jihad by your
people?”

“My
people are peaceful. We are not ISIL, ISIS, or whatever other
acronym you wish to use. The Qur’an does not teach what they do.
They use religion as a shield for their evil when that same
religion would condemn their actions.”

“Sorry if I don’t believe you. Why don’t you
just show me what’s really in there?” he asks, but really it’s a
demand.

He reaches for the strap of my carrier, but
Matt knocks his hand away. “Lay one fucking finger on her and you
won’t walk out of here alive.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.”

“He’s not,” Reina adds, putting her arm
around me.

Eric looks around at all the angry faces and
then he looks down at Dylan, who hasn’t moved since this began.
He’s pushing his food around his plate like nothing’s wrong. Like I
haven’t just been insulted. Me, his girlfriend…his love…the woman
he said he’d defend. I believed all the lies he fed me, but now I
know the truth.

“Let’s go, man,” Eric tells him, and he
nods.

“I’ll call you latter, El,” he tells his
sister, still ignoring me.

“Your friend has to leave, but you don’t
Dyl,” she says.

“It’s better if we both go.”

“Alright, but definitely call me later.”

“I will.”

They both walk out without a backward
glance. As soon as they clear the door, I run the other way. There
are study and quiet rooms on one side of the cafeteria, and I push
inside of one of the empty ones. I fall to the ground and let
myself cry.

“Nev,” Faith yells as she runs in with Reina
and Ainsley on her heels. It’s a small room, so I guess they’re my
designated comfort squad. “It’s okay. He’s just an asshole. I’m
sorry you had to hear that, but it won’t be the last time.”

“I don’t care about him, or what he said.
I’ve heard it all before, and you’re right—I’ll hear it all again
many more times throughout my life.”

“Are you embarrassed? You shouldn’t be,”
Reina says. “He was the one who looked bad.”

“No. I’m not embarrassed. I have my own
reasons for crying.”

“One reason. You have one very good reason.
Or very bad as the case may be,” Ainsley says.

“You know what’s wrong?” Reina asks her.
“How?”

“I’m right here,” I remind them, but they’re
all looking at Ainsley now.

“She’s had some unusual activity on her cell
phone. More calls and texts in the last week than she had in the
first few months here. The activity was flagged, and I looked at
it.”

“You looked at my texts?” I ask in
horror.

“Not all of them. I know who you were
conversing with and talking to, and yeah, I know the gist of the
messages, but I didn’t pry more than I had to. We have to make sure
no one is going behind our backs trying to expose or sabotage
us.”

“Can someone please just say what’s going
on?” Faith asks.

Ainsley looks at me with apologetic eyes
before she tells them all what she knows. “She’s been dating
Dylan.”

“Dating? Ellie’s brother? He doesn’t date,”
Faith says.

“He pretended to date me. He told me he was
my boyfriend and that he’d stand up for me. Obviously he was
lying.”

“Matt is going to kill him,” Reina says.

“He better hope Matt gets to him first,”
Faith replies.

“No…I…I don’t want them all to know how
stupid I was. I don’t want them to know I was with him.
Please.”

Reina nods. “Okay. We won’t say anything. I
trust you to handle the situation as you see fit.”

“Damn it! I wanted to cut him,” Faith
says.

“At least he helped me with the guns. That
was real.”

“I only read a few texts, but they seemed
real, too,” Ainsley tells me.

I shake my head and wipe my tears away. “If
they were real, he wouldn’t have just sat there. I can defend
myself, but it would’ve been nice if he’d had my back like the rest
of you did.”

“I’m sorry, Nev. Everyone in this room, as
well as our friends out there, knows what it’s like when the man
you love does something to break your heart. You don’t want to tell
them, and we’ll respect that, but you can count on any one of us
for anything you need. I hope you know that.”

“Even Ellie?”

“Ellie loves Dylan, but she’d kick his ass
if she knew what was going on,” Ainsley says.

“He loves her. I know he didn’t fake that.
The way he talked about his family to me…it was real.”

“That family is close, and I can guarantee
you that even without knowing what’s been going on with you and
Dylan, Ellie is not going to go easy on him,” Reina says.

“I just want to forget Dylan Gallagher even
exists. I know that’s not possible, but at least now that he’s done
with me, I won’t have to see him very often.”

“Nope. We’ve hardly seen him since he joined
the NBA, so you shouldn’t have a problem with that,” Reina tells
me.

“And he’ll get to live longer,” Faith adds,
before they all hug me.

“I guess I should go back out there.”

Reina nods, and Faith opens the door. I
spend the next ten minutes telling everyone I’m okay. Matt, Aiden,
and Nate are ready to draw blood, but I talk them down. The hardest
part is when Ellie keeps trying to tell me that her brother’s a
good guy. He’s not, though. I was just a notch on his bed. I was
afraid I would be that, but I let myself fall in love with him.
This is what I get for not trusting my instincts. I’ll do my best
to never make that mistake again.

* * *

Dylan

“Pick up the phone, pick up the phone,” I
chant over and over again, hoping Nev will somehow hear me, and
more importantly, heed my call.

I know better than that, though. I’ve been
calling and texting her non-stop since I got rid of Eric. I can’t
believe he did that to her. Scratch that—I can totally believe it.
I should’ve never agreed to take him there. I just thought he’d be
on perfect behavior since he was hoping to get a deal with Matt. He
had no way of knowing Nev is like family to Matt, but he still
should’ve kept his mouth shut.

I wanted to shut his mouth.
Hell, I wanted to make it so he’d never speak again. I couldn’t do
it without risking his retaliation, though, and as much as I love
Nev, my family has to come first. My parents have always believed
in me, even when I was in my darkest hour.
Especially
when I was living through
that. I owe them everything, even if it means I’ll lose the only
woman I’ve ever been in love with.

My phone rings in my hand, and I answer it
without even checking the display. “Hello.”

“Hi, asshole,” my sister says. Shit, I
wasn’t ready for her yet.