The Price of Love (A Price Novel Book 1) (23 page)

“Not me,” I said.

“Well, maybe you just don’t know how,” she said, giving me a strange look. Was this chick saying I had no fashion sense?

“Or maybe she doesn’t need all that,” Slayde said a little defensively.

Aw! He’s sticking up for me.
I thought he was trying to imply that I wasn’t fake like her.

“Or maybe she has better things to do with her time,” Kevin said.

Obviously that was the wrong thing to say, because she immediately flipped back to crazy Kimberly. “What the hell is that supposed to mean, Kevin?” She pounded her empty wine glass down on the patio table.

He didn’t seem the least bit fazed by this behavior. “Not a thing?”

“So, you’re saying I have no life?” she shouted.

Still calm, he took a swig of beer. “No, I only said she’s busy. She’s still in school, Kimberly. Calm down.”

“Whatever,” she said and stormed inside.

I was expecting some kind of explanation about her crazy behavior, but Kevin just started talking about protein shakes.
Really?
Hello, dude, your girlfriend’s in serious need of medication!

The rest of the evening went just like that. Kimberly would come back and be super sweet and pleasant and then jump all over Kevin for nothing. I really didn’t understand their relationship.

On the way home, Slayde said, “Thanks for going with me. When he and I first talked about this, she wasn’t even supposed to be home.”

“I like Kevin, but frankly I think that Kimberly should be evaluated by a professional. She’s all over the place. Is she always like that?”

He smiled. “Always.”

“Why is he with her?”

“I have no idea.”

“Where’d he meet her?”

“The gym.”

“His gym?”

“Yep.”

“Well, lesson number one: don’t date your customers.” He laughed, but said nothing.

*****

Slayde decided to go ahead and buy the house. It had been on the market a while, and Slayde was able to speed the process up so that we could move in as soon as possible. Slayde headed back to work after the weekend was over, so it was up to me to meet the decorator at the house after class. She was supposed to get it all ready so that when Slayde got back in a week, we could move in.

The week flew by, and before I knew it, it was moving day. Since I lived in a dorm, all I really had to move were my clothes and personal things. I was in my dorm getting the last few things together when Eric walked in. “Can we talk?” he asked.

“I don’t really have anything to say, but I guess I can listen,” I said.

He sat on my bed and put his face in his hands. “I don’t know how we got here. I can’t believe you’re all leaving. Have you really thought about this? Is this really what you want?”

“Eric, I’m not in the mood to go through this with you today. I’m a big girl, and I’m capable of making my own decisions. If you can’t respect that, then please leave.”

He looked at me with a hurt expression. “You know, you’ve really changed. You aren’t the same person you were before you left for Paris.”

“I don’t think I’ve changed at all. Maybe you’re finally seeing me for who I really am, and not who you want me to be.”

“No, that’s not it. You don’t speak for yourself anymore. You just do what he wants you to do. The old Arden wouldn’t have kicked me out of her room anytime I said something she didn’t agree with.”

“Eric, I don’t think you see what you’re doing that makes me act that way. You aren’t treating me with the respect you should. I wouldn’t stand here and allow anyone to talk to me that way. I don’t do what Slayde wants me to do. I do what I want to do. However, I do consider his feelings when I make decisions because I love and respect him.”

“You’re setting yourself up for heartbreak, Arden, and you don’t even see it,” he shouted. He had stood up and suddenly seemed close to my face.

“How is that, Eric?”

“Arden, come on. He’s a freakin’ underwear model. Every woman in America is staring at your boyfriend in his underwear every day. Eventually someone will come between you two,” he said.

“You’re saying, because he looks good in his underwear, he is going to cheat on me?” I laughed.

“I don’t think it’s funny, but yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. He’s a man, and he won’t put your feelings before his own desires forever. Eventually, there will be someone he wants more than you. Even if it’s just for the moment, and you probably won’t ever know.”

I paused for a moment. I was truly taken aback. “Wow, you really are something. Thank goodness I fell in love with Slayde and not you.”

Hearing a noise, I looked up to see Slayde standing in my doorway. I wasn’t sure how long he had been standing there, but I could tell by the look on his face he had heard most of our conversation. He walked up to Eric.
This isn’t looking good.
“Dude, I am really sick of you butting into our relationship. You don’t know shit about me or my relationship with Arden. This is the last time I ever want to hear about you talking to her. You stay away from her.” He was inches from Eric’s face.

“Hey, what’s going on in here?” Milly said, walking in.

“Eric was just leaving. Weren’t you, Eric?” Slayde didn’t break eye contact with Eric. Eric didn’t say anything, but shot me a hurt puppy dog look when he walked past me on his way out of the door.

“OK, enough with the drama. Let’s get this show on the road.” Milly looked annoyed.

After we put everything in the car, we headed across campus to the new house. Milly drove my car since she had wrecked hers, and I rode with Slayde. He didn’t say anything to me until we pulled up at the new house.

“You aren’t worrying about what Eric said, are you?” he asked.

“No,” I said, reaching for the door handle.

He reached across me and stopped me from opening the door. “A, I love you, and I would never do anything to hurt you or ruin our relationship. I’m not stupid. I know how lucky I am to have you. I wouldn’t throw that away on a fling with some random girl. You have to know me better than that.”

“I know that, Slayde,” I said, and climbed out of the Range Rover.
But do I really know that?
Eric was right. I would never know if he did something like that.
Damn Eric, he’s such a jerk for even putting that doubt in my head.

I knew Slayde was worried about what was going on in my head, but I couldn’t deal with that right now. I just wanted to keep busy for a while until I could figure out what I was feeling. I followed Milly into her room and started helping her put her clothes away. “What, you don’t have clothes of your own to put away?” she joked.

“Slayde can do it,” I said.

She stopped folding and looked at me. “All right, what’s going on? Are you two fighting?”

“No, we’re fine.”

“Bullshit, you’re fine. You’re quiet, and you’re in here with me, when you should be excited and out there making out in your new house with your hot boyfriend. So, what the hell is going on?”

Tears started running down my cheeks. “I don’t know. Eric just said something that got me thinking.”

“Oh, Arden, you shouldn’t let anything Eric says make you upset. He’s an ass. I thought we had already established that fact. What did he say?”

“He said Slayde was going to find some other girl and have an affair, and I would never know,” I cried.

“Arden, that’s crazy. Slayde loves you more than he loves himself, and Eric — well, he loves Eric. Eric just wants to get into your head, and it looks like he did. The thing about love is, no matter what career you have or what amount of fame you may have, it doesn’t change who you really are, deep down inside. A cashier at In-N-Out Burger can cheat just as easily as a movie star can. It doesn’t matter how many girls drool over him, Arden. It won’t change who Slayde really is and what he wants. He’s a good person. Give him more credit than that. For your own sake.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“I am right! Now go in there and kiss and make up.” She pushed me out of her room and shut the door.

When I walked into our room, Slayde was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He looked depressed, and I hated that. I lay beside him and put my head on his chest and closed my eyes. He didn’t say anything. He just wrapped his arms around me, and I relaxed and fell asleep.

After everyone was settled, we decided to have a little cookout to celebrate our first night in the new house. Slayde and Josh handled cooking the meat, and Milly, Karen, and I took care of everything else. We all relaxed and enjoyed not having anything to do. That seemed to be the theme of the weekend. No one studied at all until Sunday night.

Slayde decided not to go back Sunday night. He figured he could get up and leave by 5:00 a.m. and be there in plenty of time. I sure wasn’t going to argue with that. I knew I would hate sleeping in that big old bed by myself the next few nights while he was gone.

Monday was our last real day of class, and finals started Tuesday. I wasn’t sure how much sleep we got the next few nights, because the only time I recalled going to sleep was in the middle of studying. I was the only one who had an exam on Friday; everyone else would finish on Thursday and go home to their families. I would stay in the house and wait for Slayde to get back Saturday. The thought of that made me sad. At least at the dorms there would still be other people there, and I wouldn’t be so alone. Maybe I would go stay there.

Wednesday night, Milly and I sat outside drinking wine. “I was thinking about waiting and flying home Saturday,” Milly said.

“I thought your parents had already sent you your ticket.”

“They did, but I can always change the ticket. I don’t want to leave you here by yourself.”

“You don’t have to do that for me. I’m sure your family is ready for you to come home.”

“You’re my family too, and I think I need to stay here with you,” she said. That’s why I loved Milly. She always knew what was really going on with me.

After my exam Friday, I was so excited. I grabbed my backpack, put in my earbuds, and rocked out to my favorite playlist all the way home. I was singing along with my favorite songs, not caring who heard. I was a free woman. I had four weeks of no school, no tests, no serious thinking — nothing but time with Slayde, and I was going to enjoy every minute of it. Milly and I decided to go out for a girls’ night. Slayde wouldn’t be home until the next morning, and Milly and I hadn’t done anything just the two of us in a while. We needed this.

We got all dressed up. It was always more fun to go out when you looked pretty. I wore my favorite skinny jeans, a light sweater, and some
Louboutin
s I’d borrowed from my mom’s closet the last time I went home. Who cared if they were last season’s — they were still gorgeous. The only genetic thing I seemed to have inherited from my mother was a love for beautiful shoes.

Milly had on a dress that I thought was a little shorter than I’d have worn and possibly a size too small, but she still looked cute. Even though Milly had her own bathroom, we got ready together in mine like old times. “Maybe we can find you a man tonight, Mills.” I wanted to go on the hunt for her, just like she used to for me.

“I hope not.”

“OK, maybe we can find you a woman.”

“Sorry, the woman for me is already taken.” She winked at me, and we laughed.

“Why are you so hell-bent on being alone, Mills?”

“I don’t want to be alone. Nobody wants to be alone. I just don’t want all of that drama until I finish school. I’m not as blessed in the brains department as you. I can only focus on one thing at a time.”

That was a good point. Milly was a good student, but I knew she had to work hard. I had never really had an issue with grades. I almost felt guilty that it came so much easier for me. I liked to study, so it just seemed to come easy for me. It always had. That’s why testing out of high school at seventeen and starting college a year early was an easy choice for me. I wasn’t sure if I had been in a hurry to get out of high school or my mother’s house or both. But in college I even took classes in the summer because I hadn’t wanted to go home. School was my real home. It was the only place I was accepted for who I really was.

We decided to go to Pot of Gold, an Irish pub where they gave students discounts for showing their IDs. It wasn’t a huge place, but the atmosphere was great, and the music wasn’t so loud that you couldn’t hear each other talk. The crowd was usually other people from the med school. The frat rats and their followers usually frequented Tower 22.

I hadn’t been there since before my trip to Paris, but nothing had changed. The bartender, Eddie, was still there; his face lit up when he saw us, and he came from behind the bar to greet us. “Lookie here. I must be dreaming. My two favorite girls. I was wondering what happened to you two. I thought maybe you were spending your weekends at AA instead of with me.”

“That may be where we’re headed, Eddie, but not tonight.” Milly leaned across the bar and gave him a kiss on the cheek. I had always thought Milly and Eddie would make a great couple, but she wouldn’t even entertain the idea. I didn’t know what would be so wrong with dating Eddie. He was a bartender but only at night; he took business classes during the day. I surveyed him. He was about the same height as Milly and had a nice body — at least from what I could see. He had spiky blond hair and big green eyes. Now that I thought about it, he was really cute.

“So, what will it be? The usual?” He winked at Milly, and she nodded. “OK, two fresh apple martinis, coming up.”

We sat down at the bar to wait on our drinks. “Eddie sure looks cute tonight.” I was trying to stir the pot.

“I guess,” she said and looked away. I didn’t understand her sometimes. We usually had similar taste in men, but she didn’t seem to share my attraction to Eddie.

“Here you go, ladies. These are on the house.” Eddie winked at Milly, smiled at me, and moved on to the next customer.

We went and found our favorite booth in the back. We always sat where we could see the door, the bar, and the dance floor. That way we always knew what was going on. We hadn’t been there thirty minutes when I saw Eric and another guy from class walk in. Following close behind them were two girls I didn’t know. They looked younger, like college freshmen. They looked like sorority sisters. Milly looked at me and gave me a very dramatic eye roll. “Could be trouble,” she said.