Page 5 of Decked Out with Ivy
She sighed at the thought, but the sting lessened as she made her way over to her fellow single partner in crime. She gave her best friend, Louise, a high-five as she placed her bag on the table. “Brooke is getting our drinks, if she ever peels her lips off Tyler,” Louise’s voice rose as she said the last part, getting Brooke to turn and stick her tongue out at her before she kissed Tyler again then headed to the bar.
Ivy and Louise sat across from each other, and Louise narrowed her brown eyes. “You okay?”
“Do you think my sweaters are ugly?” Ivy pulled off her coat, revealing the giant Santa across her chest.
“No, I love them. You know that. Why would you even ask that?”
“It’s nothing.” Ivy waved her hand.
Louise’s eyebrow arched. “What’s going on?”
“This guy came in the shop today, and he said my sweaters were ugly. Actually… his exact word washideous.”
Brooke slammed down three mugs of beer and plopped in the seat beside Ivy. “What did I miss?”
“Some guy told Ivy her sweaters were hideous.”
“Who? I’ll kick his butt.” Unlike Ivy, Brooke had always been a firecracker. While Ivy was polite and kind, Brooke was unapologetically honest and feisty.
Ivy shrugged. “He was shocked I didn’t know who he was. But I don’t remember a Cody Chance, do either of you?”
Both Louise's and Brooke’s eyes widened.
“You don’t know who Cody Chance is?” Louise asked.
“Wait till I tell Bex,” Brooke said, referring to her new sister-in-law… who happened to be a famous actress and Brooke’s employer.
“Why would Bex care? Does she know him?” Confusion swirled in Ivy’s head.
“He’s only one of the biggest actors in Hollywood,” Brooke said.
“I have basic cable,” Ivy said with a shrug. “I don’t watch new movies.”
“He’s been in movies for over a decade. Since we were in high school,” Louise added.
“Oh.”
Louise rolled her eyes. “Summer of Second Chances? We saw that in Conway, remember?”
Ivy’s eyebrows drew together. It had been their senior year when they drove to Conway to see that movie. “He played the douchebag ex-boyfriend. The football player.”
“Ohhhh!” Ivy exclaimed. “He clearly didn’t need to act very hard.”
“I texted Bex,” Brooke announced with a menacing quirk of her lip.
“I don’t want to get the guy in trouble or anything. The airport lost his luggage. He was just having a bad day, I’m sure.”
Louise titled her head, a long black curl falling over her shoulder. “According to the tabloids, he’s not exactly Mr. Nice Guy.”
Brooke tapped her screen before placing the phone on the table. “Bex has always said not to trust the tabloids, but I don’t know. There’s photo evidence.”
“Evidence of what?” Ivy leaned in, glancing at the phone with a spark of curiosity. She tried to play it cool, but her gaze kept drifting to the screen where his face was front and center. His green eyes stood out against his slightly tanned skin. The man was gorgeous. Too bad his personality didn’t match his exterior.
“He smacked a camera out of a paparazzi’s hand,” Brooke said.
Ivy settled into her seat, trying not to keep darting her attention to Cody’s picture. “Didn’t your brother do that, too?”
Brooke’s brother, Chase, was married to Bex Shepard, and wherever she went, the cameras followed. Luckily, their small town had managed to scare most of the paparazzi off, but there were still the brazen ones who had no regard for privacy. They felt just because Bex was famous, they had rights to her every waking moment.