Cruel Money (Cruel 1)

“Oh,” I said, disappointed. I’d wanted to spend time with Penn. I’d thought we’d have the night together even if we were with his friends…and he hated the music.

“Oh boy,” Lewis said. “So…you and Penn, huh?”

“What? No. Why would you think that?”

“You have that…look. Trust me, I’ve seen it a lot.”

I frowned at that. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re together, right?” he asked, leaning away from me.

“We’re not together. We’re just, you know, casual.”

“Uh-huh,” he said disbelievingly as he rose from his chair.

I bit my lip and turned back to the stage as the lights faded completely. A minute countdown showed on the screen for the opener. Penn and Katherine weren’t going to come back for this. They were going to stay out wherever they were. Alone. And I didn’t know if something was going on.

“Can I ask you something?” I asked when I got to my feet.

“What’s that?”

“Are Penn and Katherine…you know, something?”

He grimaced. “Define something.”

“Together? Or have they been together?”

“You’re asking this because you and Penn are so casual?”

“Ugh! Never mind.”

“Look, Penn doesn’t want Katherine,” he told me. “They’ve been this weird thing for years, but if he wanted to be with her, he already could be.”

That helped marginally. At least it mirrored what Penn had said.

“And Katherine?”

He stared down at me, and I could see that he didn’t want to answer.

“Katherine only wants what she can’t have.”

“So…if Penn and I weren’t casual?”

“She would be worse. So much worse.”

Great.

Peachy.

Fuck.

Penn

23

Katherine lounged comfortably in the private room she’d dragged me into. I should have known better than to think she wanted to get a drink and then go back to our seats. She detested waiting. She was the kind of woman who always had to arrive fashionably late. Make an appearance.

I’d only come for Natalie. And I wanted to head back already.

Normally, she couldn’t even drag me to this kind of show. She knew that I didn’t really like mainstream music. Not that Chloe wasn’t talented, but it just wasn’t my normal music.

It wasn’t like I was going to try to get Katherine to an acoustic show at a small venue. I knew that she would never show up for that. So, it was particularly painful that I had to be at this one. If Natalie hadn’t seemed so excited, I’d still be back at the beach house, working on my book.

“Oh, don’t look so glum. Just one more drink, and we can go,” she said with an eye roll as she raised her hand for the bartender.

“Why are we even here, Ren?”

“I had to make it up to Natalie.”

“Ah yes, calling her a project to her face probably wasn’t your best move.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

I snorted. “Yes, you did.”

“Honestly, I didn’t. I like Natalie,” Katherine said, and it almost sounded sincere. “It was just fucking Camden.”

“How is fucking Camden these days?”

She bared her teeth at me. “Don’t get me started.”

“Still as good in bed as ever?” I teased.

“If you consider hate sex good, then sure.”

I shrugged. “It can be if the person you’re hate-fucking isn’t a devious, manipulative, downright evil son of a bitch.”

She patted my cheek twice. “Ah honey, are we jealous?”

“Just don’t understand how you put up with it.”

“A lady never spills all of her secrets.”

“Are you considering yourself a lady now?” I said with a grin.

“Don’t mess with me, Kensington.”

The bartender appeared then, and Katherine asked for another round. I finished off my bourbon with pleasure. I’d need at least another to make it through the show.

Katherine’s hand landed on my knee, and I arched an eyebrow. She just grinned devilishly and slowly crawled her way up my pant leg. She was dangerously close to my dick. And goddamn her, she couldn’t just let it go. She had to keep going.

I grabbed her wrist hard in my hand. “That’s not a toy you get to play with, Ren.”

“You never like to have fun anymore.” She crossed her legs and let a creamy white leg spill out of the slit in her skirt. “I’m not wearing any underwear.”

“That’s great,” I said hollowly.

She sighed dramatically. “So, how’s it going on your end? Is she in love with you yet?”

“Guess you’ll have to wait and find out.”

“Well, that’s a no. Are you even fucking?” she asked with an edge to her voice.

Our drinks appeared, and I watched her down nearly her entire martini. She was pissed. I relished in it. Upsetting Katherine was like watching a ticking time bomb without the countdown. You never knew when she was going to explode.

“I have an idea,” I told her, ignoring her question. “Why don’t we end this bet?”

“Excuse me?” she gasped.

“I’m being a gentleman here. The stakes are high for you. And you’re going to lose. So, I’m offering you the chance to back out.”

“No.”

“It’s a stupid bet. And you don’t have to go through with it.”