Society Girls: Neveah (11 page)

“Don’t hold back.”

“I never have, and I never will.”

“Is Neveah okay?”

“Um, no. How would she be okay after that?
She says it happens all the time, but she looks like someone kicked
her puppy. Or her goldfish died. Or the boy she likes checked ‘no’
on the note from her friend.”

“I get it,” I say, cutting her off because
she’s getting too close to the truth.

“I know you have no obligation to Nev, but
it would’ve been nice if you’d stood with us and at least called
out that bastard you brought into my workplace.”

“It’s complicated. I
would’ve done more than just stand up if I could’ve.” I don’t add
that I actually
do
have a reason for standing up for her. She’s my girlfriend, or
at least she was. I’m pretty sure she’s cursing my very existence
right now.

“There’s always the choice to do the right
thing, Dyl Pickle. You just have to take it.”

“Sometimes the stakes are just too high,
Ellie Bear.”

“We’ll just have to agree to disagree on
this one.”

“And all the other stuff we’ve fought about
over the years.”

“I’ve got your back no matter what. You know
that, right?”

“Yeah, sis, I know. I love you.”

“Love you, too. But, um…maybe you should
stay away for a little while. Aiden is really close with Nev, and
he’s pissed right now.”

I knew that. Aiden and Nate are Matt’s best
friends, and therefore close to Nev and her family, too. “Sure.
Talk to you soon.”

We hang up, and I set the
phone down on the counter. I want to throw it across the room. I
want to smash everything I own to pieces, but that won’t bring her
back. I don’t think anything will bring her back and she doesn’t
even know what I was hiding from her yet.
Who
I’ve been hiding. I used to think
we’d get past that, but now I’m just as sure that we won’t. It’s
over. Time to roll the credits and walk away. Too bad I’ve never
been good at doing what I should.

Neveah

Ellie’s been avoiding me for the past two
days. I know she feels bad about Eric, even if she doesn’t know
about Dylan. I’m surprised when I see her walking straight towards
me as I enter the Foundation lobby.

“Hi, Nev. Can I talk to you for a
minute?”

“Sure,” I tell her, lifting my messenger bag
higher on my arm.

“My birthday’s this weekend, and although I
wasn’t planning on doing anything for it,” she says, stopping to
take a deep breath, “my brother has decided that I should have a
party at his place—my friends only, I swear—and I would love it if
you’d come.”

That bastard. I’m not answering his booty
calls, so he’s playing dirty. “I’ll be there. Just let me know the
date and time,” I tell her before I can stop myself. I can ignore
him. Or at least I can try.

“You’ll need his address, too, but I’ll send
you everything. Thanks, Nev. You don’t know him, but I swear if you
did, you’d love him. He’s not the guy who sat silently by while his
asshole agent said those things to you. He doesn’t have a racist
bone in his body. I hope you can get to know him, and then you’ll
see.”

“I don’t think so, but I’ll
come to your party. I like
you
, Ellie.”

“I like you too, Nev. I promise it won’t be
weird. He’ll behave—well as much as my brother can behave. At least
with it being just my friends, he won’t have anyone to act like a
dog around.”

“Is there some rule about him dating your
friends?”

“An unwritten one because he refuses to
settle down, and I don’t want him sleeping his way through my
friends.”

I look over at Alex Corrigan, our
receptionist, and so much more. At my raised eyebrow, Ellie smirks.
“It was only three for Miles. But he’s too crazy about Alex for it
to matter to her.”

“What if your brother fell for one of
us?”

“Don’t hold your breath. Like I said, he’s
not ready for a committed relationship. I’ve got to go, but I’ll
text you later,” she says as she heads out the door.

If only I’d talked to her first. Although I
hate to admit it, my time with Dylan wasn’t bad. He helped me find
the courage to face my fears, and for that I’ll always be grateful.
And fine, he made me feel like the sexiest woman in the world when
he made love to me for two days straight. Too bad sex doesn’t equal
love.

* * *

Dylan

“What do you mean, ‘it’s over’?” Sadiq asks
me as I pace around the pool house.

“Eric said some stuff to Nev when we were at
the Corrigan building a few days ago.”

“What kind of things?”

“Racist things.”

“And you punched him?”

“No,” I say quietly. “I didn’t do
anything.”

His fist flies out so fast that I don’t even
see the hit coming. My head snaps back, and I stumble a little
before righting myself. I reach out to wipe the blood from my lip
and nod at him. We both know I deserved it, and I’ll take as many
hits as he needs to give me without complaint. My vow was only
about bringing Nev to him, and not protecting her, but I went
beyond my vow. Hell, I told him I was partially breaking my vow
last week, and now I’m telling him I let her be insulted. A few
punches are the least I deserve.

“I am ashamed to have ever called you my
friend, Dylan Gallagher. I gave you my daughter and you let your
friend degrade her.”

“He’s not my friend,” I
say, tearing up because Sadiq
is
my friend, and knowing he’s ashamed of me hurts. A
lot.

“Why? Why would you do this? You told me you
love her.”

“I do love her. I-I have my reasons for
staying silent, and your disappointment is killing me almost as
much as her silence. I wish I could’ve done something, but I
couldn’t.”

“Couldn’t? Did this man threaten you in some
way?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“So he did. And you chose to protect
yourself over Neveah.”

“No. I chose to protect my parents…my
mother…and that is all I will say. I’m truly sorry that you’re
ashamed of me, but I can’t go back in time and change things. They
are what they are.”

“You’re not going to fight for my
daughter?”

“If I thought it would work, I would. I
would hire a skywriter to proclaim my love, make a grand public
gesture, shower her with hundreds of flowers every day. I’d do it
all if I thought it would matter, but it won’t. This isn’t a movie,
or a novel. I can’t charm my way out of this.”

“I didn’t ask you about charming her, I
asked you about fighting for her.”

“I’m throwing my sister a birthday party
here tomorrow. Only for her and her friends. I’m hoping Nev
comes.”

“She’ll be here.”

“How do you know?”

“Even as a little girl, my daughter was
never one to back down from a boy. I doubt she’s started now.”

“She hasn’t,” I say, remembering how she
didn’t put up with Eric’s shit.

“Then you must fight, and if you really love
her, you’ll make sure to win.”

I want to. God, do I want to win her back.
It won’t be easy, and Sadiq being alive is still going to be a
problem for us, but I have to try. I can’t live my life knowing I
didn’t at least try.

* * *

Neveah

I called up from the gate, even though I
know the code. Dylan buzzed me in without a word, letting me know
how today is going to go. That’s fine…game on.

I’m dressed for revenge in a purple bandage
dress with thin straps and a crisscross hem that lands closer to
the tops of my thighs than the bottom. My hair is loose and wavy,
just the way Dylan told me he liked it, and I’ve got shiny lipstick
on that I hope makes him think of how it would look all over his
cock. I want him to want me…and then realize he can’t ever have me
again. Petty, I know, but it’s all I’ve got right now.

I smile as I walk into the backyard,
greeting my friends with hugs and kisses. Ellie calls me over to
where she’s sitting with Aiden, Matt, and Reina. Dylan is standing
next to her chair, staring me down as I walk over. I see Reina
tense, and I throw her what I hope is a reassuring look. I’m here
to show him what he’s missing, not to call him out.

“Nev, I wanted to formally introduce you to
my brother, Dylan. I know you two got off on the wrong foot the
other day. I’m hoping you can both get past that and maybe even be
friends.”

“No,” I say before I can stop myself. Maybe
I’m not as in control as I thought I was.

“Excuse me?” Ellie asks.

“I think Nev needs an apology from Dylan,”
Reina says, realizing that this is going south, fast.

“She didn’t even give him a chance to
apologize,” Ellie argues.

“What do you have to apologize to me for,
Dylan?”

“He doesn’t
have
to apologize for
anything, actually,” Ellie tells me, still trying to defend her
brother. “It’s not like he’s your boyfriend or
something.”

“Isn’t it?” I ask, and then it all comes
tumbling out. “Didn’t you ask me to be your girlfriend Dylan? You
know, before you went down on me on your basketball court, or ate
sushi off my naked body in your kitchen? Oh yeah, and before you
told me you loved me several times a day? Are you going to
apologize to me for any of that, or just for the fact that you told
me you’d always have my back and defend me if you ever witnessed
someone treating me badly because of my religion?”

“Motherfucking bastard,” Matt says, and I
see him rise from his chair as Reina tries to pull him back down.
I’m sure Ellie’s shocked, and I can tell that everyone’s focus is
on us, but I don’t care. I guess I did come here for a fight.

“I won’t apologize for loving you,” Dylan
says, ignoring everyone but me.

“You didn’t love me.”

“I do.”

I shake my head. “If you loved me, you
would’ve said something to Eric.”

“You can take care of yourself, Nev. You’re
the strongest woman I know, outside of my mom and my sister.”

“It doesn’t matter if I can take care of
myself. You promised to stand up for me.”

“I’m sorry that I didn’t. Nothing else,
though. I won’t apologize for anything else, even though some of
the people here look like they want to kill me, and my sister looks
like she wants to throw up. Thanks for that, by the way. No one
needed to know the details.”

“Seriously? You’re going to apologize and
then chastise me in the same breath? Well, fuck you Dylan
Gallagher, fuck you. Oh wait, I already did that and gave you a
notch on your basketball goal, didn’t I? Is there a t-shirt,
too?”

“Jesus, Nev. I’m trying here, okay?”

“No. It’s not okay. Not even close.”

I need to get away. I just need to be alone
so I can calm down and walk out of here. The pool house is behind
Dylan, and I decide it’s my best bet. I dodge past him before he
can react and push my way into the abandoned house.

Only it’s not abandoned, and as I hear Dylan
shouting behind me, I see a piece of my past staring back at me. My
father. No…no…NO! He’s dead. Matt killed him… we buried him. He
reaches out for me, and all I can do is scream. Scream and run.

* * *

Dylan

I try to stop Nev from running into the pool
house, but Aiden grabs me. “I have to get to her. Let me go!”

“Leave her alone, man. You seem to have done
more than enough to her already,” he practically growls in my
ear.

“You don’t understand,” I tell him as a
scream rings out.

Nev stumbles backwards out of the pool house
and turns her horrified gaze back to our group. “Matt. Oh my God,
Matt.”

“What is it?” he asks.

“It’s me,” Sadiq answers, walking out of the
house.

“You…you look like…,” Matt says, going to
Nev and putting his arms around her.

“That’s because I am, Matthew.”

“That’s impossible. I saw…”

“You saw what your government and I needed
you to see.”

“No. This is a trick. Some kind of crazy
trick. I-I gave up my life for over a decade because I killed
Neveah’s father. You’re an impostor. You have to be.”

Reina is standing next to Matt now, rubbing
his arm and looking like she wants to kill Sadiq and make it real
this time. Nev has been silent, but she finally speaks up. “How are
you here? Why are you at Dylan’s home?”

She looks back to me, but it’s my sister who
answers. “He was our neighbor. He moved in when Dylan was twelve. I
had no idea he was your father.”

“Hello, Elletra. It’s lovely to see you
again.”

“I’m sorry I can’t say the same right now,
Sadiq.”

“Dylan?” Nev’s looking at me like I’m a
stranger, and it’s killing me.

“Maybe we should all sit down, and Sadiq and
I can explain,” I suggest.

“This is because of that stupid vow isn’t
it?” Ellie asks.

“What vow?” Aiden asks, still holding onto
me.

“As Dylan said, we should go inside and
discuss this,” Sadiq says. He looks around the backyard. “Perhaps
with less of an audience.”

“These are my friends. Whatever you have to
say can be said in front of them,” Nev tells him, standing up
straight again.

“I do not expect you to keep things from
your friends, but it will be easier to explain things to a smaller
group of people.”

“I agree,” Reina says. “Matt, Nev, Ellie,
Aiden, Nate, Darcy, Dylan, Sadiq, and I will be going inside.
Everyone else, try and enjoy yourselves out here.”

We walk inside and get settled on the couch.
What happens next will either save us, or destroy us. I’m afraid
destruction is the more likely outcome.