“How about the fact that I pledged Pi Phi?” It’s the most prestigious sorority at UT, known for its enormous philanthropy and even bigger parties. It’s the destination sorority for girls interested in becoming fixtures of post-college Austin society.
His eyebrows go up at this. “That’s impressive. I’m SAE.”
And that’s the problem. I hold back a scoff. Fiji—Phi Gamma Delta—is the most elite UT fraternity. Pi Phi is the most elite sorority, and it carries weight with anyone who knows it. It takes money and connections to pledge, and I was the rare pledge who had neither. But the kind of people being a Pi Phi carries weight with are not my people. Not anymore.
I don’t even want to explain. Josh isn’t going to see the water he swims in, and I’m not here trying to undo his worldview. I came for a cute boy and pho. I got both. But I’ll only be back for more of one of them, and Josh doesn’t have enough scallions.
“I’m full,” I say. “Are you okay if we head back?” I smother a yawn to underscore the point.
His eyebrows have knit together more tightly with each passing minute, and now furrows line his forehead. “Is something wrong?”
“No. Just not as hungry as I thought I was, and I have to work early tomorrow.”Yes, you are exactly like Bryce, and I’m not making that mistake again.
“Okay.” His tone is polite. Not cold but definitely reserved. Good. He read me right.
We walk back without talking much. A couple of comments from him on the weather. A couple of vague replies from me. When we get to our front doors, we say goodnight and go inside, no hug, no invitation or hint that we should do it again soon.
For once, it’s Ruby on the sofa, not Madi, and she straightens and smiles when I come in.
“How was it?”
I shrug and hang my purse, jacket, and scarf on my peg. “He’s Bryce 2.0.”
Ruby’s face falls. “What? No. I didn’t get that vibe from him at all.”
“You know the Brower building downtown?”
“That big silver one?”
“Not only is he a lawyer there, he’s a Brower. A scion. Scions are ugly cars and worse people.”
“Scion just means descendant,” Ruby says, because of course she does. “That means literally every person on earth is bad.”
“I mean the fancy kind. Heir to an empire and all that garbage.”
I don’t need to explain this to Ruby. She was there for the rise, fall, and wreckage of my relationship with Bryce. All the girls were.
She slumps against the cushions. “Bummer. He seems so down-to-earth. No rich brat vibes. Sorry, bestie.”
I plop down beside her and rest my head on her shoulder. “It’s okay. Just be prepared to give up on my parking space.” I give her a consolation pat on the leg.
She slaps a remote in my hand. “We’re only a week into the new year. I’ve got plenty of time. Sad girl gets to pick the show.”
“I’m not sad.” She reaches for the remote, and I hold it out of her reach. “But I still claim picking privileges.”
I go with a reality show about a tattoo shop. Madi would complain, but Ruby doesn’t mind. She finds everything fascinating. It’s one of my favorite things about her. Only Ava and I have tattoos, and I think I’m the only one who toys with the idea of getting more, but Ruby gets as sucked into the strange art of tattooing as I do.
I snuggle into the sofa with her. So maybe the boy next door isn’t my future-husband true love. But true-friend love with besties is a pretty good consolation prize.
Chapter Seven
Josh
“Son,Ineedyouto take out a client tonight.”
I grimace. It’s not mature, but my dad can’t see me.
“I can’t, sir.” I don’t call him “Dad” in the office if I can help it. I don’t like to remind my coworkers of how I got this job. It’s more nepotism than they know. I didn’t get just myjobbecause of my family name. I screwed around in college and my grades weren’t impressive, so despite my almost-perfect LSAT score, it took some string pulling to get me into law school. And those strings look exactly like fat donations to the school’s endowment.
