The Price of Love (A Price Novel Book 1) (22 page)

“I know he’s an ass, but he is a very intelligent ass, and we need his brain. Just look at it like we’re using him.” She laughed.

“I’d better give Slayde a heads-up, though. The last thing we need is another brawl in our dorm room.”

“That’s probably a good idea, but let’s not tell Eric that Slayde is coming until right before he gets here. OK?” she said. “We need him on his A game, and that will throw him off for sure.”

Eric was the first one to show up to the study group. He wouldn’t even look at me, and he sat all the way on the other side of the room. This wasn’t starting off so well. I guessed I would have to be the one to break the ice. “Can I get you something to drink, Eric?” I asked.

He looked puzzled and said, “No, thanks,” and then immediately looked down at his book.

Once everybody else got there, everything felt back to normal. We had just reached a stopping point and were talking about ordering food when Slayde called to tell me he was almost there. Luckily Eric was out of the room. He had gone to get something to drink, which was stupid, since I had offered him something.

Lowering my voice, I said, “Slayde, I just wanted to let you know that Eric is here studying with us. He hasn’t said one thing out of line. He’s not even speaking to me, and I’m sure everything will be fine.”

“A, that sounds like a bad idea. How about you study, and I will come get you tomorrow after class?” I couldn’t tell if he was pissed or disappointed.

“Aww, I wanna see you. I miss you.”

“I miss you too, baby, but I don’t see how my presence is going to make for a very productive study group.”

“Please! By the time you get here, we will almost be finished. You won’t have to suffer long, I promise.”

“All right, but if he starts any shit, I’m leaving. I can’t risk fighting with him right now. I don’t need any black eyes or scraped knuckles in the middle of filming.”

“Sounds good to me. I’ll see you when you get here.”

“You want me stop and get pizza for everybody?” he asked.

“That would be awesome. We were just trying to figure out what we were going to eat.”

“OK, babe, I love you and I will see you in a little while,” he said.

After hanging up, I told everyone that Slayde was bringing pizza. We had already started studying again when Eric rejoined the group. “I thought we were getting food. I’m starving.”

“We are. Pizza is being delivered,” Milly said with a smile. I noticed Karen and Josh smiling too. I guessed they all thought it would be entertaining to see Eric’s reaction to the delivery boy.

Within the hour, Slayde opened the door with an armload of pizzas. “Anybody hungry?” He and Eric made eye contact, and I felt the tension in the room rise. After a moment, Eric got up and walked out. “Well, that’s just more for everybody else,” Slayde said with a smile. I knew he felt like that was a point in his favor.

After a few minutes, Eric came back into the room. I thought he must have realized he looked like an idiot for leaving, and that the only person he was hurting was himself. He even ate some pizza. I did catch him cutting a few ugly looks at Slayde, who was lying on my bed with his ear buds in, reading his script, but other than that, the rest of the night went off without a hitch.

When everyone finally left, I collapsed onto my bed. Milly was in the bathroom, taking off her makeup, when Slayde said, “I’m getting kind of sick of living in a hotel. Why don’t we get an apartment or a house?” It startled me; I had not been expecting that. I loved spending time with him, but that sounded like more of a commitment than just dating. I felt excited but a little afraid.

“Are you asking me to move in with you?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m asking you. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve lived together.” He kissed me.

“I don’t know. I can’t just leave Mills.”

“She’s right. She can’t just leave Mills,” Milly said as she walked back in the room and turned off the overhead light.

“See, that’s exactly what I am talking about. No privacy,” he said and laughed.

“Like you two need any more privacy than you already have,” she said. “I’m already pissed you swooped in and stole my girlfriend. Sharing her with you is one thing, but you aren’t moving her away. Sorry, that’s where I draw the line.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Slayde and Milly loved each other. They got along like brother and sister. They had started picking on each other and even took sides against me when they needed to. They were my family, and I wouldn’t have traded them for a blood family for anything in the world.

“If you had let me finish, nosy Rosie, you might have actually liked my idea. I want you to come with us. I want to get a house or an apartment with enough room for all of us. I’m only here half the time, and I don’t want Arden to be by herself. You can keep your dorm for studying or whatever and stay at the house whenever you get sick of this place.”

“I can see that going over real well with my dad.” Milly picked up an imaginary phone. “Yes, Dad, I know you already paid for my dorm for the year, but I think I need to get a second place. You know, all the cool kids are doing it.”

“Are you going to let me finish?” he asked. “I’m asking you if you want to move into a house with us for free. I’ll pay for it.”

“Well, that must be nice, Mr. Moneybags,” she teased. “I don’t know about that. What are you going to make me do to earn my keep? Sexual favors? Because I can’t do any of that; I’m saving myself.” She paused. “Oh wait, I’ve heard you can be pretty persuasive.”

While Milly was turning off her lamp, Slayde threw something across the room at her, but I wasn’t sure what it was. I just hoped it wasn’t mine. She said, “Ouch!” and laughed.

I thought if Milly moved too, it would be OK, but I would miss my friends at the dorm. But as long as I could always go back to the dorm, I supposed it wouldn’t be such a big deal.

“What’s the answer? Do you want to move in together or not, ladies?”

“I’m in if A’s in,” Milly said.

Slayde gave me a little peck on the lips. “What’s the verdict, A?”

“Why not?” I said, and Milly cheered, and Slayde kissed me again.

“OK, stop that. I can hear you, remember. I know you haven’t seen each other in a few days, but please try and control yourselves until tomorrow, when I’m not around,” Milly said. “Gross!”

When I met Slayde at the hotel the next afternoon, I could tell he was excited. I had only gotten about two steps inside the door when he jumped up off the bed and came to meet me. He was smiling his perfect twenty-eight-teeth smile. I wasn’t sure why, or if there even was a reason. Slayde was usually pretty happy.

“I found the perfect house,” he said. “It’s only one block from the west side of campus. You could walk to school. Isn’t that where most of your classes are?”

“Yes, for the most part they are all in one building on the west side of campus.”

“It’s four bedrooms with a huge living room and kitchen, and it has three and a half baths. It also has a pool in the backyard.”

“Gosh, do we really need a house that big?” I asked. “And when are we going to have time to take care of a pool?”

“You can never have too much space, and they have this thing called a pool service company.”

“I can’t believe you found something so fast. Most rental houses don’t come open until the end of the semester.”

“This isn’t a rental. It’s for sale. Are you having second thoughts? If you aren’t ready to do this, I’ll understand.” But he didn’t look like he’d understand.

“No, it’s not that. It’s just I hate for you to spend all of that money for Milly and me. I’m fine with the way things are.”

“Baby, I’m tired of living out of a hotel and a damn bus. I just want to have somewhere to go home to that’s not my parent’s house. I have been thinking about buying a house for months, but I just can’t think of anywhere as home without you there. So, why not buy one here and live in it until you finish school?”

“Then what?” I asked.

“Then we will get married and build a house outside of LA.” He picked me up and carried me to the bed.

“Married? What are you talking about, married?” I asked. He looked offended.

“Yes, married, that’s what people do when they love each other and can’t live without each other. They get married,” he said as he kissed me.

I didn’t know what to say. I had barely gotten used to the idea of dating Slayde Price. I wasn’t sure I could wrap my head around being married to him.

We spent most of Saturday being lazy, but Slayde had decided it was time to introduce me to his best friend. “I’ve been back for a little while, and you still haven’t met Kevin. So let’s go over to his place tonight and grill with him and his girlfriend,” he suggested as we sat by the hotel pool.

“OK. Is she nice?”

He laughed. “Not really, but he’s my best friend.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. “So I get stuck with her, and you don’t even like her?”

“I’ll be there. Kevin’s fun. It will be fun, I promise. Do it for me?” He smiled.

“Sure.”

“Thanks, babe.”

For the rest of the day I was filled with anxiety. I had never met Kevin, so I was nervous about that. What if he didn’t like me? I was also really nervous about meeting his girlfriend. She had to be really bad for Slayde not to like her.

He had said it was just a cookout at Kevin’s house, but I still had to go back to the dorm for clothes. After trying on five different outfits, I opted for khaki shorts, a white tank top, and my favorite gladiator sandals.

When Slayde picked me up, he smiled. “You look cute.”

I felt my face getting warm. “Thanks,” I said quietly. I had never been good at taking a compliment.

He talked about filming and also told gave me a little background on Kevin on the way over.

When we got there, Slayde didn’t knock — he must have been there a lot. He grabbed my hand and I followed him.

When we stepped out the open back doors, I could smell the lit charcoal, but I didn’t see anyone.

“Hey,” I heard a man’s voice say from inside.

We both turned around and saw a person who must have been Kevin walking toward us.
Oh man, Kevin is smoking hot!
He had a gorgeous, perfect smile and pretty blue eyes. He wore his auburn hair a little long and curly. It looked like he probably just ran his hands through it a few times after getting out of the shower and let that be it. His face was a little stubbly, and he appeared to be a few years older than me. He had a fit, perfect body like Slayde’s.

He held his hand out to me, smiling. “Nice to finally meet you. I’m seriously sick of hearing your name. No offense.”

I laughed and shook his hand. “None taken.”

He walked to the fridge. “Beer?”

“No, thanks. I’m fine.”

He handed Slayde a beer, and we followed him back out. Kevin started putting the steaks on the grill. “Where’s Kimberly?” Slayde asked.

Kevin didn’t look away from the steaks. “Upstairs. You gonna be at the gym in the morning?” It didn’t seem he wanted to talk about her.

I heard someone screaming from inside. “Kevin!”
Obviously Kimberly.

Kevin rolled his eyes and kept talking to Slayde. “Five thirty?”

“Yep,” Slayde answered, looking toward the house, then at me, and then back at Kevin. I could hear her coming down the stairs, and my stomach felt full of anxiety.

“Good. I have you a whole new workout ready.” He looked up and smiled at Slayde.

“Oh yay,” Slayde replied sarcastically.

“Kevin Kyle!” We all looked up to see a furious Kimberly in the doorway. “Where in the hell did you put my wine opener?” she shouted.

“I haven’t seen it,” he responded without raising his voice.

However, she continued to scream at him. “Yes, you did! You brought me wine last night!”

“From an open bottle. I didn’t use the corkscrew. Look in the drawer.”

“Idiot,” she said and stormed back inside.

I looked at Slayde, who was looking at Kevin, who was still messing with the steaks.

“How bad is it?” Slayde asked about the workout.

“Let’s just say you’ll be sore a few days.”

“Fun stuff! You doing it too?”

Kevin closed the grill. “Of course. I can’t make you look better than me Slayde. Damn.” They both laughed.

“Here you go.”

I looked up to see that Kimberly had remerged in a strangely better mood. She was standing next to me, holding out a glass of wine with a huge smile on her face.

“Thank you,” I said, taking the proffered glass. I felt a bit caught off guard by her kinder behavior.

“So, you must be Arden. I’ve heard so much about you.”

Really? Because all I’ve heard was that you were a bitch, but my two-second diagnosis would lean more toward bipolar.
I smiled but kept my thoughts to myself.

“Kevin, honey, did you put the potatoes in the oven?” Kimberly smiled up at Kevin and wrapped her arm around his waist.

“Yep,” he said and smiled back.

What was wrong with this picture? I stared at them for a few minutes, trying to figure it out, while everyone around me engaged in conversation.

Here was Kevin, seemingly normal, with this very obviously not-so-nice girl.
Why?
She was very attractive, but that seemed to be it.

She looked a few years older than he did. She had long blond hair that if I’d had to guess I would say was partly extensions. Long, fake eyelashes and too much makeup. I might not have recognized her first thing in the morning. Her body was almost flawless, with perfectly perky breasts and a tiny little waist that you could see when she moved because it was partly exposed. She looked cheap, but she had expensive taste, judging by her clothes.

Either way, my brief knowledge of Kevin told me he could definitely do better.

“What do you say, Arden?” Kimberly asked, startling me.

I hadn’t heard the question. I had been too busy critiquing her. “Ummm,” I looked at Slayde for help.

“Arden doesn’t really like to shop, Kimberly,” he said, clearly trying not to laugh.

“What? You’ve got to be kidding!” she squealed, looking at me like I was from another planet. “Everyone likes to shop.”