“And two of the three partners already fled the Connecticut temperatures. Landon took Serena and their new baby to Arizona to some spa for Christmas. And Preston and Vi went to D.C. to be with Skyler and her fiancé.” Landon and Preston are both partners at the firm and two of my father’s oldest friends, both of whom I’ve known since I was young. Serena and I sort of grew up together with her being about three years younger than me. She always seemed super innocent but then she started messing around with Landon, her father’s best friend which kind of threw everyone off.

To be honest, I thought it was kind of badass.

“The girls not back from the mall?” He looks at his watch. I shake my head and my eyes dart to the door, as if my brain was suddenly convinced by my father’s words that Gabrielle was about to walk through it. “I don’t even want to look at the credit card statement.”

He makes his way towards the steps and stops on the bottom one. “I’m starving, you want to order some food?”

“Sure, how’s pizza?” I ask, knowing that my despite how well he eats all the time, it’s one of his weaknesses.

“Put the order in, I’m going to go shower.” He says as he makes it to the top of the stairs. “And text Gabrielle to see when they’re going to be home and how much damage they’ve done.” He chuckles.

Chapter Twelve

I’m sitting in the backseat scrolling through TikTok as Monica drives my mom and me around doing some last minute Christmas shopping. Even though I’m probably going to have to go back again because it’s impossible to buy a gift for the boyfriend no one is supposed to know about. I couldn’t tell them it was for a boyfriend without an inquisition and I couldn’t buy an intimate or remotely romantic gift and say it’s for James. How would that look?

So, I’ve bought James two sweaters, both of which I know he’ll like and some lingerie for myself that’s mostly for him. I smile to myself at the reaction I got when I showed him and more importantly the topless picture. I do know that I’m being risky, texting him when Monica could easily grab my phone or happen to just see that I’m texting him. I should probably consider at least changing his name.