Through The Grapevine: A BWWM Romance (2 page)

Then here sat his fiancé, the girl he had actually managed to date and convince into an engagement ring, and the woman was screwing around on him with another guy,  not only right before they got married, but she fully intended on keeping up her torrid affair after their marriage.

It made Shannon's heart ache with sorrow for him, and she wished with all of her soul that she could do something to right the wrong that was happening directly under his nose.

She had thought countless times that she wished that she  could find a man like Colby,  or just have a chance with Colby to show him how much she loved him. He might fall in love with her instead of  going for the perfect shell he was engaged to spend the rest of his life with.

They finished their lunch and headed to a few more stores, and though Shannon's heart was sad, she gave her friend a false outward smile. She had loved Tiffany's vivacious nature and her sense of adventure, humor, and style, but she had just shown a facet of herself to Shannon that overshadowed all of the good things and Shannon was not quite sure how to deal with it, so she stayed quiet and played along.

Colby was completely enamored with Tiffany; she was a gorgeous southern California girl, and Shannon understood that Colby probably had no idea how he had even gotten her, let alone talked her into marrying him, and Colby wasn't more than a peripheral friend to Shannon; friends with her because she was Tiffany's best friend. Colby had no idea how she felt about him, and probably never gave her a second thought.

She shook her head, musing that we always want what we can't have; he wanted Tiffany, and Shannon wanted him, and no one was getting anywhere good with those wants.

"Did you hear me?" Tiffany snapped her fingers in front of Shannon's face, and Shannon jerked her head back and focused on her friend.

"What was that?" They were standing beside Tiffany's convertible in the private parking lot.

Tiffany shook her head and smirked. "Earth to Shannon! I asked if you wanted to come over to Colby's with me. His parents are having a pool party and I don't want to be there alone with him. He'll hang on me. If you're there, he'll be too shy to follow me around like a puppy and bug me. Come hang out with us! It'll be fun, and his dad is barbecuing." She grinned as if that was an offer that no one should turn down.

Shannon could have cared less about the barbecue, but the idea of spending a lazy afternoon by the pool with Colby made her heart turn over in her chest. She shrugged lightly and nodded.

"Okay. How could I turn down barbecue?" Shannon said, with conviction.

They headed over to Colby's house, stopping by Tiffany's so she could pick up one of her newest swimsuits and then they were on their way again.

Shannon bit her lip and tried to sound as nonchalant as possible. "Um... Tiffany, if you want Ron so much, why are you even marrying Colby? Why wouldn't you go after the guy you really like?"

Tiffany looked over the top of dark reflective sunglasses at Shannon as though she had just asked the stupidest question in the world.

"You're kidding, right? I get to have a big white wedding! How fun is that! I'm the talk of all our friends, everyone is fascinated with me and what I'm doing, and weddings are so pretty and fun. I want to have a big fancy wedding. I want a big house up in the hills here, and a hot car, and tons of money to go shopping with anytime I feel like it.

Ron is hot as hell in the sack, but he's a personal trainer and he doesn't make that much money.

Colby is super smart and he makes tons of money already, and he's just starting out in his career. He'll wind up being a billionaire in no time; probably less than ten years. Why wouldn't I marry him? Duh!" She rolled her eyes and then started singing along with the pop song on the radio as she drove further and further up into the hills of Los Angeles.

Shannon tilted her head and looked at her doubtfully. "Do you love him?"

Tiffany looked at her and turned the radio down. "What?"

"I said, do you love him at all?" Shannon asked as sweetly as she could, trying her best to make it sound like girl talk.

Tiffany nodded, "Of course I love him, he's sweet and he spoils me rotten. He treats me like a queen, and I deserve that. What's not to love?" she shook her head at Shannon's idiotic questioning, and cranked the music back up to sing to it again.

Shannon looked out at the enormous mansions half hidden from the street as they flew along, wondering why she had ever thought to question Tiffany's motives. Who wouldn't want to marry Colby, indeed? Obviously, love wasn't a huge factor for Tiffany, but being worshiped was.

Maybe she thought that was love. Shannon didn't know, but the day had begun to show her aspects of her friend that she had never seen before and that she thought may very well mar their close friendship.

She loved Tiffany and thought of her as a close confidant and sister, but Tiffany's recent treatment of Colby was abominable. It was a darker side of Tiffany that Shannon had never seen. She knew that everyone has dark sides, and those were just part of loving people; taking them for the good and the bad, but the side of Tiffany that she had discovered this day was eating away at her and it hurt her heart a great deal.

She wasn't sure how she could love a friend so dearly who treated someone else so wretchedly, especially if that person was someone she also loved. She found herself in a strange triangle,

They turned off the main road and drove up a long and winding driveway that eventually led to an enormous house, which overlooked the entire city, all the way out to the sea. Tiffany parked the car and hopped out, grabbing her bag and looking at Shannon.

"Well, here we are!" she bubbled.

Shannon followed her to the front door, and waited with her until the butler came and opened the door for them, inviting them in and advising them that everyone was in the back of the house by the gardens and pool.

Tiffany led the way and Shannon followed her through the massive home, looking around at it in wonder. Colby's father was a billionaire, even if Colby wasn't yet, and it showed in everything about their lives. It seemed ostentatious to Shannon, and she wondered how it had been that Colby had turned out so down to earth and simple, because he was nowhere near as showy as his father was.

They stepped out of the back of the house and it wasn't a full minute before people were crowding around the beautiful blonde goddess who had joined them. Everyone was congratulating Tiffany on her wedding and asking her how things were going, anxious to hear all of the latest news of her big event.

Colby appeared out of almost nowhere, and stood before Tiffany, looking at her with adoring eyes and a wide smile. "You made it!" he said, his soft deep voice filled with joy at her arrival. "I'm so glad you're here. I was starting to get worried about you." He gazed at her as if she was a shining drop of sunlight that had landed right in the palm of his hand.

"Oh, well, we had a few stops to make along the way." She  said simply, waving her hand as if it was nothing at all. Shannon realized that they had made a late entrance, and she suddenly felt embarrassed.

"What time were we supposed to be here?" she asked Tiffany, in a quiet tone.

Colby heard her and turned his head away from Tiffany to look at her. He gave her the sweet, charming smile that he always gave her, because of all Tiffany's friends, he liked Shannon the most.

Shannon's heart flipped in her chest and she had to tell herself not to swoon under his hypnotic blue gaze and endearing grin.

“Oh, the party started a couple of hours ago, but it's no big deal. You're here now and that's what matters most!" he said, looking back at Tiffany. She leaned up and kissed his lips softly, and then smiled at him and said lightly, "We're going to go put our suits on. We'll be back."

She turned and sashayed away and he watched her go as if she was the setting sun and if he blinked, he might miss the best part of her.

Shannon's heart twisted in her and she smiled through it and followed Tiffany to the pool house. They changed into their suits and headed out to the pool. Most of the people at this party looked incredible in their swimwear; physical beauty being a standard in Los Angeles, but few of them looked the way Tiffany did as she padded around the pool, showing off her scantily clad body to all of them.

Colby watched her as if the entire world had faded away, and Shannon tried her best not to noticeably watch Colby. Tiffany went like a social butterfly from small group to small group, and Colby sat quietly at a corner of the pool in his t-shirt and shorts, just watching her.

She was incredible to him; beautiful and lithe, vivacious and fun; all the things that he thought he wasn't. It made him feel like he was more whole to have her around him, as though the parts of him that didn't shine so brightly were scintillating in her, and that together their two halves made a whole. He supposed that that was what people meant when they talked about soul mates.

Shannon watched him a short while, but she couldn't stand to see him by himself and in minutes, she went over to him to talk with him.

"Hey, is this seat taken?" She started looking around him and pretending that it was crowded.

He laughed at her and shook his head. "Well, if you can budge in somehow, you're welcome to sit by me; there's one spot left and it's all yours if you can get to it!" he teased. He was glad she had come over.

He had found it easier to talk with her than just about anyone else; she listened when he spoke and she was genuinely interested in what he had to say. He could feel it when she looked into his eyes, and it made him feel like she valued him; a trait that he did not find with most people.

Shannon found it amazing that more people didn't know what a delight Colby really was. She supposed it was his shyness.

She sat beside him and put her feet in the pool. "I'm sorry we were late. I didn't even know about it until just before we showed up. I could have lit a fire under her and we could have been on time if I had known she was supposed to be here."

He shrugged. "It's no big deal. This party is really more about my father making a big splash about the wedding," he said, kicking his foot. The spraying droplets of water arced across the pool.

She nodded. "He's pretty excited, then?" she asked him.

Colby shrugged. "Well, he's mostly happy that I'm happy. My father is always looking out for me. He just wants the best for me, and he loves seeing me in such a good spot, so he's celebrating that. It's important to him." Colby smiled across the large pool to where his dad stood talking to four other people.

Shannon nodded. "That's a good dad. You're a lucky guy, Colby."

They were quiet for a moment, and then Colby said softly, "Shannon, can I ask you for an opinion?"

She looked at him and smiled, delighted that he had any interest at all in what she thought. "Of course, Colby, ask me anything, any time you want to." Shannon nodded at him encouragingly.

He paused a moment and then looked at her, his blue eyes locking on to hers. "I was wondering what to get Tiffany for a wedding gift, and I thought you might be able to help me. I was thinking of something a bit big, like a house. What do you think? Would she like that?"

Shannon recalled her earlier conversation with Tiffany. "I think it would be a good idea to wait and let her choose a house later on. She has some pretty specific ideas about where she wants to live." Shannon paused a moment and then looked at him in confusion.

"Haven't you guys talked about this already? Didn't you have the 'where are we going to live and what kind of house do you want' discussion?"

Colby frowned a little. "Well, kind of, but it's hard to get her to talk to me sometimes. She is fine with moving in here with dad after we get married, just until we get our own place, but every time I try to talk to her about it, she asks if we can talk about it later. She's a really busy lady, so she hasn't had a lot of time to discuss housing yet."

Shannon was incredulous. Tiffany hadn't made any time to figure out where they were going to live after they got married. She hadn't been out scouring the neighborhoods already, looking for a house. What on earth was she waiting for?