Breaking Even (Sterling Shore 5)

I glare at her when I hear her underlying meaning. “I fucked up one night. He fucked up for years. He’s a—”

“A man who served his time and now works for the FBI, a security designer for highly reputable businesses, and a very wealthy man on his own who doesn’t need my money.”

I wasn’t going to say any of those things and she knows it.

“I should probably leave the two of you alone,” Ray says with smile while leaning down to kiss her cheek. “I deserve what he’s saying, dear. I’ll see you upstairs,” he adds.

Bile rises to my throat upon hearing that oversharing tidbit. My eyes are already burning from the images my mind is producing against my will.

Ray walks off, and I immediately start back in. “When the hell did you start... dating Ray Drivel?”

“Capperton. He prefers Capperton because of his daughter. And we’re not dating... exactly. We’re just two people who happen to enjoy the physical company of each other.”

I’m going to be sick for days. Did my mother just confess a friends-with-benefits arrangement?

“I have to go,” I groan, darting out of the house even as my mother says something my ears can’t hear. Apparently they’re scarred as much as my eyes are.

It’s not until I get almost to Allie’s house that I realize I never did get the groceries I dropped in the kitchen floor when I saw the con in my mother’s robe.

Not a good day.

Chapter Two

Cancun — Seven Years ago...

ALLIE

“Allie Thrash. I’ll be damned. In Cancun and drinking,” Chris says, assaulting me with his toxic breath when he stands too close.

Only in Mexico and under the influence of a lot of tequila would the captain of the football team suddenly recognize me. Small towns are terrible for having some stupid hierarchy, and I’m sure as hell on the bottom.

“Nice ass, nice tits, nice... share,” he slurs. I think he meant to say hair.

“Thanks,” I grumble, doing what I can to peel myself away from him. I never should have agreed to this stupid senior trip, but I know Bella wanted to come. She hasn’t ever been any more popular than I am, but she sure as hell has blossomed and turned into a girl the guys want. Too bad she no longer wants any of them.

“Hey, Allie. Over here,” Bella calls, waving me over toward two guys who look a little older, and I gratefully skip toward her and away from Chris Peterson.

I stumble to a halt when I see the guys up close, because they’re sure as hell not from here or back home.

“Hey, these guys are from Cali like us. This is Tag Masters and his friend Wren... Um... Sorry, I don’t know your last name.”

“Jacobs,” the guy with dark hair, soft lips, and a delicious smile says as he sticks his hand out for me. Wren Jacobs. I really like that name.

“I’m Allie Thrash,” I mumble shyly, prompting his grin to grow.

“How drunk are you?” Tag asks Wren, though I don’t know why.

Wren grins at me before giving me a wink that makes my heart flutter almost too painfully. No one has ever looked at me like that. I’ve always been the foster girl who lived in Mr. and Mrs. Johnson’s home. My identity has always been as lost as me, but right now, I feel like someone is looking at me for the first time without any judgment, pity, or discomfort. I feel... like a normal person.

“Tequila is my best friend,” Wren tells Tag, prompting the guy to laugh. Tag seems thoroughly interested in Bella, fortunately. Which leaves all of Wren’s attention focused on me.

“Want to grab a drink?” Wren asks me.

This trip finally feels like it’s worth it.

***

ALLIE