Cruel Money (Cruel 1)

It was absurd, of course. I had just shown up. If anything, I was an irritating nuisance rather than part of his crew that he’d known practically his whole life. They had something truly unique here. Something that I’d always craved and never found, except with Amy.

“You’re lucky to have them,” I told him.

He startled, as if surprised to hear me speak in his favor or to address him without mirth.

“I mean, I can tell that you’re close.”

“We are lucky, aren’t we?” Katherine said. She threw her arm around Rowe and laughed as if having these close-knit friendships were as natural as breathing.

Rowe took one look at her and said, “Don’t hug me.”

That just made her laugh harder. She kissed his forehead and then stood. “I haven’t been this giddy since…” She trailed off.

“The engagement?” Lewis asked with a devious smirk.

“You’re engaged? Congratulations!” I said.

Katherine lost her pep and then glared at Lewis. “Look, you ruined it.” She turned back to me and held out her hand to reveal the most massive diamond ring I had ever seen in my entire life. “Yes, I’m engaged. Camden Percy.”

I took her hand in mine and admired the stone. “It’s stunning. I’m sure you’re going to tell me that he’s the same Percy as the hotel chain or something equally ridiculous.”

Katherine didn’t blink. “He is.”

“Oh!” I gasped. “Well, wow.”

“I can’t believe you brought it up, Lewis,” Lark said. “None of us like to hear about that asshat.”

I glanced between the crew and realized that my excitement might not have been warranted. Perhaps Katherine’s engagement wasn’t a good thing. I couldn’t see why a woman like Katherine, who had the beauty of Audrey Hepburn and an exorbitant amount of wealth, would ever marry someone she wasn’t in love with.

“Always here to bring the group back to reality.”

I felt like there was something I was missing in this. But I didn’t know what it was. And, quite honestly, I was too drunk to try to figure it out.

My eyes involuntarily skittered to Penn’s, as if to find my footing in this misstep. His eyes were focused on Katherine with a flash of concern. Then, it was quickly replaced with something neutral before finding me. Whatever that neutral was…it was intense. It was smoldering.

“Nothing like an arranged marriage to ruin the party,” Rowe muttered under his breath. Then, he held his phone up victoriously. “Update complete.” He tossed it to Lark. “Should have all the new settings now. Crew 3.0 activated.”

“Thanks!” Lark beamed. “I promise not to go so long between seeing you next time.”

“I thought Crew was only 2.0,” I muttered.

“It is.” Rowe smiled, and it was the first real one I’d seen from him.

It was that moment I realized he was nearly as handsome as Penn and Lewis. Dark blond hair with hazel eyes and a square jawline that gave him old-school Hollywood vibes. But then he quickly averted his eyes and reached for his tablet once more.

“Ugh!” Katherine groaned. She stood and stretched her long, lean limbs. “You’ve all ruined my fun. So, I think the get-to-know-you sesh is over. Let’s go for a swim.” She held her hand out to me. “Come with?”

“Sure,” I said, standing unsteadily on my feet. Oh shit, how much had I had to drink? I really didn’t have an answer to that question. I teetered. “Whoa!”

“I think we need to switch you from the hard stuff,” Katherine said. “I happen to know where a bottle of bubbly is. Lark is an expert at opening them.” She tilted her head to the side, and Lark laughed before following her out of the room.

Lewis looked at Rowe and coughed. “So, man…pool?”

“Huh?” Rowe asked.

“Now, dude.”

Rowe looked up from his tablet and seemed to realize that it was just the four of us. He glanced between me and Penn and then said, “Oh! Right. Social cues. By all means, we’ll leave them alone.”

Lewis tilted his head to the ceiling and sighed. “Tact, dude.”

“What’s that?” Rowe asked as Lewis shuffled him out of the room.

Penn shifted from one foot to the other and then stilled. His eyes were on me, and I knew that I should look up and meet them. Also that I should probably let this anger cool. He’d been kind tonight. He’d let me hang out with his friends even if unwillingly. He’d even remembered some of our night so long ago. I shouldn’t blame him.

But I did.

And I couldn’t push that away. Definitely not while I’d had this much to drink.

While I loved his friends and how good it felt to be included in their antics, I knew it was temporary. They’d had Penn for a long time. They liked annoying him, but if I had to guess, my first instinct was right. They didn’t let strangers in their circle. The Crew was a solid group of five, and my presence was a fun one-time thing. Just like my presence had been with Penn in Paris.