Forbidden Lust

10

Lourde

White paneled walls, chic blues, and timber floors fit out the rows of glass-fronted shops. Lilacs and creamy white hydrangeas colored the sidewalks, filling the streets with their faint sweet perfume.

All morning we’d roamed the village-like shops in East Hampton, buying anything that took our fancy, and in the process, we’d worked up a ravenous appetite. I’d bought three summer dresses, cut-off short shorts, and hit up Polo Ralph Lauren for some essentials. “Gosh, I’m in love with these,” I said, holding up my new purchase of white denim shorts.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you buy anything remotely that scandalous before.” Grace smirked. Folding them back into my bag, I sipped on my frothy Frappuccino, unable to hide my smirk.

Pepper side-eyed me. “Why the slutty purchase?” she asked, picking at her wasabi chicken salad.

“I’m free, girls.” I popped a piece of seared tuna in my mouth.

“On that, have you called him back?” she questioned.

“Who?”

Her brows shot up into her forehead. “Your ex, who else?”

Grace giggled, and Pepper’s catlike eyes narrowed.

Since prep, these girls have had my back, and I loved them to the ends of the earth, but I wasn’t calling him back. I didn’t care what Pepper had to say about it.

“As if,” Grace said. “Don’t you dare.”

“Yeah, what she said.” I nodded.

“You know, he is pretty upset. He’s moping about the house, complaining to Grace and me. He wants to see you.”

I put my fork down and folded my arms. “And what did you say?”

“Once you visit another honey pot, the queen leaves,” Grace interjected. “That’s what I said, Lourde.” I shot her a wink as she sipped on her French Earl Grey.

Pepper rolled her eyes. “I was more tactful.”

“Tactful? Whose side are you on?”

“Don’t look at me like that. Of course, I think what Hunter did was completely wrong. I just think you should talk to him, that’s all. You were together for over a year.”

“And that went up in flames in a matter of moans and orgasms. Although I doubt Hunter made her come.” I took a deep breath. I think I was angrier that it happened to me again rather than losing Hunter.

“Do we know who she was?” I asked quietly.

“Her name is Bessy Miles. Lives in Manhattan, she’s an influencer,” Pepper said.

“In what?”

“Don’t know. Let’s see.” Pepper slid her phone out as Grace flipped hers over. It was a race to find her on socials.

“I’ll check TikTok,” Pepper said.

“I’ve got Insta,” Grace added.

I stirred and drank the remaining foam on the bottom of my Frappuccino.

Maybe I owed him a callback. But what would I say? It’s over. Never call me again? He’d likely try to wrangle his way out of it like he always did when we argued—manipulating me and turning it around, so he seemed more the victim than the instigator.

But why would he want me back? Deep down, I knew we weren’t compatible. If he wanted to get back with me, I seriously doubted it was because he loved me. Since I was old enough to have a boyfriend, indirectly or directly, I’d been set up with the wrong man. A man from a respectable family who somehow could benefit the Diamond empire.

Mom thought it was best for everyone because it worked out so well for her and her mother before her. Having both arranged marriages, the net worth and status of each family involved soared from the arranged unions.

But that wasn’t me, was it?Married when she was just twenty-one, Mom never worked. She was the glue that held this family together, and Connor and I were so close because of her. I sighed. Lately, I felt like more of an outsider from the family than I ever had, all because I considered working and disagreed with being married off.

“Three and a half million followers on TikTok,” Pepper said.