I paced the length of the terrace, zeroed in on a single girl through the glass.
Belle sat in the dining room, munching on a plate of hash browns and runny eggs. Across from her, laughing at a joke she made, was some shithead. Zeke? Zach? Who cares?
Every thirty seconds, Belle paused to sip from her teacup—pinky in the air like she used to do when we were kids. Just one in the many ways she was a contradiction.
She tossed that pinky up. Covered her mouth when she laughed. Said please and thank you with the best of them. Always sat ankles-crossed like the daughter of the dame should.
Yet somehow, this was the same person wearing an oversized teal T-shirt cut to reveal her shoulders, a black sequin skirt, and stilettos to double as a murder weapon. She cussed to put a nun in a coma, won an all-you-can-eat vegan hot dog challenge (according to an Instagram page that I only looked at out of curiosity), and was the most twisted, devious person you’d ever have the displeasure of meeting. Belle would rip your heart out and use the blood to sweeten her tea.
The devil with fashion sense and a high-class pedigree.
“What the hell is his problem?” I heard Preston ask.
The three of us were outside awaiting the start of the first event. Mrs. Desai fluttered around, overseeing the placement of the chairs and tables, and all-around making people doing an easy, menial task more nervous than they needed to be.
Nathan came over, getting in my path. “Two words,” he said to Preston. “Let me guess, C, you skipped breakfast to confront Belle and she reduced you to half the man I see before me.”
“Fuck off!”
“A simple yes would do.”
Growling, I sought her again. I hadn’t seen Belle in person in four years. Time had transformed her in every way. A long, silken braid wrapped around her shoulder and hung between her breasts. Shapelier breasts than I remembered to go with the new curves and lines her body formed. Her voice was deeper. Her lily-green eyes bigger. And her mouth—
“I missed you.” Phantom lips tickled my throat. “You still smell so good.”
“Argh!” I clawed at my neck, raking red lines over her invisible mark.
Where the fuck does she get off saying that to me? Telling me she wants to be friends and then turning her back on me. Saying she did what she did that day because she loved me? What a load of crap.
“Dude.” Preston clapped my shoulder. “May I suggest you stop glaring like you’re trying to set her on fire? Belle may not have noticed but everyone else has.”
I tore away from her, and took in the sideways glances and open stares.
“What do you see in her, D?” I swung my head to him. “She trashed your favorite painting, refuses to date you, cracked your nose, and is wrecking your chances with Delilah. You fucked her and got it out of your system. Just move on.”
“I haven’t begun to get Belle out of my system. And I told you already, I’m not giving up until you give me a reason.”
My hand moved to touch my scar.
Too late. Hers was already there. Featherlight as she stood in that hallway and stroked the end of our friendship.
“Preston. Boys.” Mrs. Desai called us over. “Come have a seat. We start in a few minutes.”
I pushed past him, heading for the seats nearest the sand and swell. Small, two-person tables were arranged in a circle around the courtyard. Today was a full day and it began with two-minute introductions. Mrs. Desai labeled the chairs for the girls, leaving the guys to get up and move around every two minutes.
Preston plopped down across from the seat labeled Belle Adler. I claimed the chair next to it.
BELLE
I felt Carter’s eyes on me all through breakfast. If it was possible to drill a hole in someone with a look, my brains would’ve been leaking on my eggs.
“What’s the history between you two?” Zion asked.
I sipped my tea, using the act to delay my response.
“We moved around a lot,” I began. “Before Bracknell, I lived in Stirling. Before that was Hawk’s Bay.”
“Where Carter used to live?”
I nodded. “We lived there the longest. Six years. Carter and I were best friends for four of them.”
“What happened?”
“What always makes a friendship fall apart. He needed me and I let him down.” I peered at Carter through my lashes, observing him barking