Finding Mr. Write (Business of Love #5) - Ali Parker Page 0,80

If they so much as look at me funny, I’ll—”

“Keep your opinions to yourself and not make this any harder than it needs to be?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I was going to say.”

She rolled her eyes and we went through the front doors and climbed the stairs to her floor. Briar knocked, not having a key, and we waited a beat before her friends opened the door. They smiled until they saw me standing around the corner beside Briar.

“Hey,” Briar said, “can I talk to you guys?”

The brunette sighed and leaned against the door. “You’re getting back together with him, aren’t you?”

Briar nodded. “I am. We talked things through. Everything was a misunderstanding and we’re on the same page now. By the way, Wes? These are my friends.”

The blonde girl, Madison, had a cat in her arms. She gave me a tight-lipped smile that felt forced and looked like it was causing her physical pain—like a recovering Botox client. Of course, it wasn’t the Botox giving her issues.

It was me.

“Nice to meet you,” I said, despite feeling the exact opposite of my words.

“You too,” Riley said without bothering to look over at me. Her attention remained on Briar. “Shouldn’t we talk about this, babe? How are you going to make this work? Long distance doesn’t work for anybody and—”

“I’m going with him back to New York,” Briar said.

The two women stared at her like she’d just told them she was pregnant with octuplets.

“You’re what?” Madison asked.

Briar looked over at me and smiled. “I’m going back to New York and I’m going to move in with Wes. I know it’s soon, and I know it sounds crazy, but I know this is the right choice for us. He’s going to help me get on my feet and—”

“Briar, this is insane!” Riley said sharply.

“You hardly know him,” Madison added.

“No,” Briar said. “You hardly know him.”

Touché, I thought with a satisfied smirk I had to hide by looking at my feet.

Riley planted her hands on her hips. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Briar sighed. “It doesn’t matter. Look, I’m not asking for your permission, guys. I’m not asking for anything actually. I’m telling you that I’m moving back. Now if you’d step aside, I’m going to grab my bags, and Wes and I are going to spend the night at a hotel.”

Briar brushed between her friends and disappeared from view to get her bags, leaving me standing on the threshold with two sufficiently pissed off young women glaring daggers at me.

I forced a smile. “Nice cat.”

“He’s not nice.” Riley stepped closer and looked me up and down. “And I don’t think you’re very nice, either. I think you’re catering to Briar’s every whim and making it easier for her to get by in New York. She could never do it on her own and you know that as well as we do. Without you, she’d fall on her face. Is that how you get your kicks? Huh? You like to help girls who are in over their head?”

“You have the wrong idea,” I said.

Riley shook her head. “I don’t think I do. I think you’re a weasel. You heard me. A weasel. And I think Briar likes how easy you make things for her which is why she’s hanging off your arm like a lovesick puppy dog and—”

Briar cleared her throat behind Riley, whose eyes widened with surprise. She plastered a fake smile on her face and spun to face Briar, her long dark hair nearly whipping me in the face as she turned.

“Do you have everything, babe?” Riley asked, her voice three notes higher than it had been two seconds ago.

“Is that what you think?” Briar asked softly.

Riley played dumb. She grasped at straws. “Sorry?”

“What you just said to him. Is that what you think about me? You think I’m that incapable?”

“No, I don’t think that. I was just saying—what I meant to say was—”

“Save it,” Briar said, holding up a hand and moving around her “friends” to stand with me in the hall.

I took two of her suitcases off her hands as she turned back to them.

“You know what?” Briar said. “I’m done listening to you two. You’ve never been in my corner. Not once. All either of you have ever wanted is for me to stay here in Waynesville and do the same things you do. You’ve never cared that this lifestyle never made me happy. So long as I was here to cook and clean for you guys, you didn’t