Gold - Linde K. A. (версия книг .TXT) 📗

“You follow the tabloids now?” he asked.

She only knew he was here by chance after scrolling through a tabloid on the plane. She normally didn’t follow them.

She was suddenly nervous about this whole thing. But it was Gates. They had known each other too long. She could do this.

“What are you up to right now?”

“Cut to the chase, Bri. I don’t have all day for this,” he said, his voice cutting like ice.

“Can I come over? We need to talk,” she said quickly.

“Is this Bryna Turner? I haven’t heard from her in over a year and I’m confused right now.”

“Gates, don’t be a fucker.”

He laughed at her outburst. “Oh, there she is.”

“Yeah. Same old me,” she said dryly.

“Seriously, what do you want?”

“I just want to talk, honestly.”

“Am I going to want to hear what you have to say?” he asked, clearly cautious.

After all this time, what could I possibly say to change his mind about me? Maybe nothing. But if she said nothing, then nothing would change. And hearing his voice confirmed how much she wanted things to change. She had been able to rely on him for everything, and even if she didn’t want anything romantic with him, she still wanted his friendship. That was worth something to her. She hoped it still was for him.

“You know, I’m really busy,” Gates continued.

“Cut the shit. I wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t important, and you know it. If I know you at all, you’re probably sitting around in your boxers, playing Xbox.”

After a minute, he responded, “Damn. You know me too well.”

“Yeah,” she mumbled. “I did.”

“Okay. Fine. I’m too damn curious now. Come on over. This’d better be good.”

“It is,” she murmured before disconnecting.

At least…she hoped so.

The drive to Gates’s place was easy. She pulled up to the attendant, he cleared her through the gate, and she drove up to his mansion. It was enormous and far too much for someone his age. But who am I to talk? She had a house of her own that she hadn’t even worked for. At least he had this because his movies had taken off.

When she knocked on the door, she was unsurprised to see him wearing dark jeans and a fit red polo. His dark brown hair was spiked up in the front, and his blue eyes were apprehensive. His hesitant smile wasn’t the one that he used for the cameras that made all of America melt. But he still looked like her Gates, and he was still gorgeous.

“Hey,” he said.

She cleared her throat and looked away from his bright blue eyes. She’d fallen victim to them a time or two in the past. “Hey.”

“I guess…come in.”

“Thanks,” she said, bypassing him and walking into the living room.

“This is weird,” Gates said once he joined her.

“Yeah. A bit.”

“I mean…have you ever seen the downstairs to my place?”

Bryna shrugged. “I honestly don’t think so.”

“Yeah. We mostly occupied the bedroom.”

“Yeah.”

An awkward silence fell between them. It had never been there before, but the time apart and the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the dissolution of their friendship had forced the wedge between them. There was so much that needed to be said, and it all hung between them.

“Anyway,” she whispered.

“I never thought I’d hear from you again,” he said, breaking the barrier.

“I know. I never intended to call.”

His eyes narrowed. “Then, why did you?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Well, you asked to come over here.” He walked to the couch and plopped down.

His posture showed that he was uncomfortable with what was going on, and she didn’t know how to make this easier. This wasn’t her forte.

She barreled forward, not wanting to lose her nerve. “So…remember that time you told me you loved me, and I didn’t believe you?”

Gates glared at her. “The night you told me to fuck off at my own premiere the day before Valentine’s Day? Then, I didn’t hear from you ever again? How exactly do you think I could forget that?”

She took a steadying breath and sat down across from him on the coffee table. “Apparently, I make a habit of it.”

“A habit of what?” he asked curiously.

“Not believing people when they tell me they love me, not realizing they love me, and royally fucking up everything in the aftermath.”

Gates looked taken aback at that. “Ah, I see. So, who was the victim this time?” He sounded bitter.

“Hugh Westercamp,” she answered honestly. She couldn’t lie to Gates. What good would hiding the truth do now?

Hugh was out of her life by her own choice, and any damage she could do to his character had already been done to his heart.

“The hotel executive?” he asked in disbelief.

“That’s the one.”

Gates whistled under his breath. “Damn. You’ve upped your game.”

“I did,” she agreed. “But I’ve decided to give it up.”

“What? Hugh?”

“No. The game,” she told him.

He laughed until he realized she wasn’t joking. “Bri, come on. You’ve got to be kidding, right? Games are in your blood. You live and breathe scheming. You always have.”

“You’re right,” she acquiesced easily. “But when I play games, I hurt people.” She looked him directly in the eyes now. “I hurt you, and I’m sorry about that.”

Gates didn’t say anything for a minute. He stared at her, speechless. She knew she wasn’t good at apologies. Until Eric, she hadn’t even really apologized to anyone. It wasn’t who she was, but she had wronged Gates by letting this gap between them continue, and she needed to make amends.

“Did you just apologize?”

“I should have a long time ago. I know I told you we were broken up, but the line was fuzzy. I could have handled it better.”

His jaw dropped. “What the fuck happened to you?”

She laughed at his shock. “I guess…I saw the light.”

“I guess is right.”

“I’m still me. I can’t change the head bitch, but I wanted to apologize even if you don’t want to talk to me or be friends again. I had to let you know that I still want that even though I know I don’t deserve it.”

“I don’t want that,” he said immediately.

She tried not to flinch at his harsh words. Of course he didn’t want that. “All right. Well, I said what I came to say.” She stood and hurriedly started toward the door.

“Hey,” he said, catching her arm before she could run off. “I said I don’t, but what I meant was that I shouldn’t. I shouldn’t want us to be friends again.”

“Great clarification,” she said sarcastically.

“Look, I dreamed of the day this would happen, and you never came to me. I couldn’t go to you. I tried to move on. But I guess I’ve realized I should have gone to you a long time ago. I loved you, Bri. I knew you hated hearing it. I knew you didn’t feel the same way. Yet I pushed, and that wasn’t fair either. We’ve both done some pretty shitty things to each other, but we’ve been friends for a long time.”

“We have,” she agreed.

She was shocked that he had said those things. She never would have guessed that he felt this way about what had happened.

“It’s been hard without you.”

“No one to keep your ego in check?” she joked.

“You’re ridiculous,” he said.

But he was laughing. Suddenly, all the tension that had been between them seemed to leave his shoulders. She didn’t think they would be perfect, but she was willing to try.

“Are we cool?” she asked.

“It’s a start.”

“I can live with that.” It was more than she had expected.

“Come on, you.” He directed her out through the back door and to his pool.

Her mind immediately went back to a different pool where she and Eric used to hang out with margaritas and burgers she couldn’t always eat. It made her sigh as she lounged back on a chair.

Speaking of Eric…

“Now that we’re kind of on the same page,” she said, narrowing her eyes, “you put me in quite the bind last year.”