Not You It's Me (Boston Love #1) - Julie Johnson Page 0,107
can be proud to be connected to. Someone like me.”
My heart’s racing inside my chest, a mad tattoo of panicked beats I worry she’ll be able to hear across the five feet between us. I try to fight the truth in her words, try to tell myself she’s wrong. I know she’s exploiting my vulnerabilities, voicing my deepest fears of inadequacy and inferiority… but that doesn’t make it easier to dismiss her words.
She steps closer, her voice dropping lower. “So, have your fun. Let him use you up, until you’re half in love with him. Let him take everything you have before he throws you away.” She grins. “Maybe you’ll even last the week. But six months from now, six years from now… do you really think you’ll be the one standing by his side?”
I open my mouth, prepared to refute her words even if I worry they might be true, but I never get the chance. The sound of a stall door being thrown open, hard enough to rattle the hinges, makes me jump half-out of my skin. Vanessa and I turn at the same time to look at the brunette gliding from the stall, who’s clearly been eavesdropping on our conversation and, from the looks of it, isn’t at all sorry about it.
“Vanessa.” Phoebe grins, but it’s got an edge I haven’t seen from her before. “Nice to see you again. I’m Phoebe West — remember me?”
Vanessa’s face pinches with discomfort and goes suddenly pale.
“No?” Phoebe’s grin widens. “I’ll refresh your memory, then. I was the one at the Children’s Hospital Benefit last summer, who caught you and a certain married gentleman with his pants around his ankles in that back hallway. Very daring of you, considering his wife was in the next room, and all.”
“I—I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Vanessa snaps, though her voice lacks any real conviction.
“Oh, I think you do. Flagrant infidelity in a public place isn’t the kind of thing a girl forgets!” Phoebe steps closer. “Then again, I suppose a classy, well-bred lady like yourself thought she was just doing her civic duties, since he was a city official, and all. Tell us, are your services factored into the state budget?”
Vanessa huffs in outrage, turns to glare at me one last time, then stomps to the exit and disappears. My wide eyes move from the door to Phoebe, more than a little impressed that she managed to annihilate Vanessa with a few casual words.
“That was way too much fun,” she says, stepping up to the sink beside mine, her eyes dancing with mirth. “I hate that girl. Always have. She bounces from one eligible bachelor to the next, trying to sink her claws in. The month she chose my older brother, Parker, as her target was one of the worst times of my entire life.”
My world stills at the mention of her brother.
My brother.
She makes a disgusted sound. “She was like a leech. Following him everywhere. Showing up at the house. Swimming in our pool in a barely-there bikini, hanging all over him in front of me, calling him sweetheart and baby and boo-boo — blech! What self-respecting girl calls a man boo-boo?”
“What self-respecting man lets her?”
Phoebe grins. “Not Parker. He ditched her.”
I hesitate a beat. “Is he… Is he dating anyone, now?”
“Why?” Her eyebrows lift. “You interested? I thought you were with Chase.”
“No!” I practically yell, uncomfortable at the suggestion that I’m incestuously interested in my half-brother. “I’m definitely with Chase. Just… wondering.”
Phoebe stares at me for a beat. “Sorry, I’m a little protective when it comes to Parker. And no, he’s not seeing anyone. Not anyone serious, anyway. I mean, I really don’t think you can call the parade of bimbos that march through his life dating, since none of them last longer than a few nights. I love my brother, but… his taste in women needs some serious work.”
“You two sound close.”
She nods. “Yeah — mom’s dead, dad’s a big businessman. Parker basically raised me.”
“I’m sorry… I didn’t know.”
“How could you?” She shrugs. “It isn’t so bad, really. It’d be damn-near perfect, if he wasn’t so overprotective. He scares away most of my dates long before they’ve made it past night one.”
“But he let you come with Brett?” I ask, my nose scrunching.
“No, he’s out of the country, so I took advantage.” She stares at me for a minute. “You don’t like Brett.”
I stay silent, not wanting to get into it with her.