working for Kingdom in their New York office. Beau was in college and Dare was in high school. The only time we were all up and home at the same time was in the very early morning hours. And so, this became our ritual.
We’d catch up, talk shit, and laugh over a cup of coffee while the sun ushered in a new day.
I miss that, because despite how different we are from each other, we’ve always been friends.
But, I’m not as young as I used to be. Too much scotch, not enough food or water, and dancing until we were drenched with sweat is starting to catch up with me and I’m struggling to keep my eyes open.
Dare is already asleep on one of the lounge chairs. Curled up in a fetal position, the way he used to when he was a kid. When I see him like that, I can almost recall a time before his name became synonymous with trouble. It’s not his fault, he was only three when Jason died, and Hayes left. He got the short end of the parenting stick.
“You dumped her because she got a cat?” Beau’s question interrupts my reverie.
I glance at him and my lip curls in annoyance. I reach across the space between our lounge chairs and snatch my phone out of his hand. I have pictures of Regan on that phone and the last thing I need is for him or anyone to see them.
“Why are you reading my texts?”
“Because you keep secrets and you’re not allowed to have secrets from me. Remember?” He spears me with an annoyed glare.
“No, I don’t remember.” I grumble and open my phone’s security settings. I change my password; the same one I’ve had for the last ten years.
“Are you changing your passcode?” he asks in surprise.
“How’d you guess?”
He laughs. “Stone, come on. You read my texts all the time.”
“I used to. You were a minor and I paid for your phone.”
“You were two years older than me and being young doesn’t mean I didn’t want my fucking privacy, man."
I roll my eyes.
“People in hell want ice water. I stopped checking your messages when you started paying the bill. And yes, I dumped her because she got a cat,” I answer his original question. It’s not the whole truth but it’s a pretext for it.
“Jesus, Stone. She got a cat to keep her company while you were gone. God, you’re an evil fucker, man. No heart at all.” He shakes his head, his face pinched in mock disappointment.
I quirk my lips in a smirk and roll my eyes, dismissing his teasing.
“We didn’t want the same things. And I’m allergic to cats. She knew that. Felt like a natural end to me. How was I to know she’d be upset?”
Beau drags his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose to reveal his red -rimmed, glassy-eyed glare of disbelief.
“You know, I promised Cadence I would get through this week without lecturing you about your lifestyle choices. She said you’d be feeling enough pressure as it was with Hayes getting married and you being next in line.”
I roll my eyes upward in annoyance. “I feel zero pressure to do anything. Any choice I make is one I want to. But tell Cadence thanks for trying to use her dark powers for good. That’s a first.”
Normally, I’m a lot less civil about the vise grip his girlfriend has on his balls. She’s overbearing and in general, bad for him.
Last Christmas she announced that she’d had a dream about starting a stingless bee apiary in Mexico. She and Beau bought some land in a town called Playa Encanto and went search of a simpler way of life,
As far as I can tell, the year he’s spent in Mexico with Cadence has involved developing an intimate knowledge of hallucinogenic plants and herbs having sex on public beaches and playing his guitar while she dances in circles around a small fire.
At least that’s what all the videos he posts on IG make it seem like.
He says they’re happy, fulfilled and relaxed.
I think she’s just spending his money, pulling his chain, and using him to live a life of leisure.
But there’s never been any getting through to Beau when it comes to her. And if I know anything it’s that my objections only make him more determined to prove me wrong.
“Don’t you worry that you’re going to end up alone?” Beau’s voice is contemplative.