Stella bumps my shoulder with her own. “I don’t know if she wants me to tell you.”
I bump her back. “Oh, so you guys are best friends now?”
She gives me the Stella stare. “Oh, shove it. No, we aren’t best friends. But I like her. And I like her for you. And I don’t want to piss her off. She’s a bit scary when she’s angry.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, she is. But it’s kinda hot, to be honest. Come on. Just tell me. I won’t mention it to her. Promise.”
“Cal …” Stella drags my name out.
We get into the Banford van that will take us to the hotel. The driver takes off immediately.
“Please.” Giving her puppy-dog eyes, I watch her slowly give in.
“Fine. But I’d rather not. And honestly, Cal, this is pretty much pocket change for her. I know you don’t really talk about money a lot. And I just don’t want it to ever come between you guys.”
It is always this cloud hanging over me. Because I don’t come from money. We were well off, and I never really wanted for more. I know I was better off than most.
But Becca comes from a world I’ve never known. One where you never check your bank account because you don’t have to worry about not having enough. Where you could travel for years without putting a dent in it.
But Becca has also never made a big deal about it. She used to let me pay for dinner or a movie to make it fair. Because she might have all the money in the world, but she’s humble. She knows at the end of the day, it doesn’t make her any better than me.
“It won’t, Stel-Bell. Just tell me,” I assure her.
“Cal, I wish you’d just drop it.”
I stare at her, not backing down.
“Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Stella looks off—adding in her head, I imagine. “So, she pays for the live-in nurse, the in-house chef, the private security, and the transport team so she can always go anywhere she wants. No one else has most of that, mind you.”
“And rent?” I ask.
Stella gives me a weird, hesitant look and bites her lip.
“Why won’t you just tell me?” I throw my hands up. “How much is the rent?”
Stella taps her fingers on her thigh. “She doesn’t exactly pay rent.”
“What do you mean? How?”
There’s no way she gets that place for free. The community is practically a neighborhood of mansions.
Stella mumbles under her breath, “She’s going to kill me.” Then, she meets my eyes and says, “She doesn’t pay rent because she doesn’t need to. She didn’t just buy your Gran a house there. She bought theentireBanford Retirement Community.”
Holy shit.
Look, I know Becca has money, endless amounts of money. But how fast she made that choice was shorter than when I contemplate getting an extra bag of chips at the grocery store because it’ll add four dollars.
I’ve never asked Becca how much money she has because, honestly, I’m kind of scared to know. She has this whole life that I’ve barely scratched the surface on.
In high school, it was one thing. Her parents managed everything. She didn’t make any choices or have access to everything.
But now, she runs the entire Chambers Hotels chain and, apparently, the Banford Retirement Community. And her car collection speaks volumes.
Her Instagram following is in the millions.
Sometimes, it all feels like too much. Too overwhelming.
But then she smiles at me. She smiles, and all that fear goes away because I know that no matter what, we will make it work.
