Page 54 of Payoff Pitch
“I’m not with him and don’t think I ever will be.”
He gently caresses my hair. “He’d be crazy not to fall for you. I did the first night I met you. You’re everything a man could possibly want in a woman. You’re kind, smart, andso damn beautiful that sometimes I find it hard to breathe around you.”
I tilt my head up and softly kiss his lips. “You’re going to make some lucky woman incredibly happy one day.”
I get homeand see Kam asleep in her bed. That’s a rare sight.
I need to confide in someone though, and I don’t want it to be her. She can be overbearing.
I let myself into Arizona and Ripley’s apartment. Arizona’s door is open, and her bed is made. She must have slept at Layton’s. I open Ripley’s door. “Rip, I need to talk to—”
Shock isn’t a big enough word for what I see. Ripley is naked with Quincy equally naked. His face and hands are on her breasts. “Holy Red Wedding! What the fudge is this?”
Quincy quickly covers their bodies. I had no idea that they were sleeping together. Oh my god. I wonder if Arizona knows that her best friend and brother are doing it.
She mentions that it was a one-time thing, but Quincy looks annoyed by the comment, and I’m not sure I believe her. Nonetheless, I leave them to it and tell Ripley to let me know when she’s free to talk.
About fifteen minutes later, she texts me to come back, and I do. I walk in and she pours me a cup of coffee. I look up at her. “What the freak is going on?”
She sighs. “Don’t make a big deal of it. Quincy and I fool around sometimes.” Her eyes fill with tears. “It’s meaningless, which is why we don’t want anyone to know.”
“Arizona?”
She shakes her head. “No. No one.”
“Rip, why are you crying? Maybe you care more than you’d like to admit.”
“It doesn’t matter. He’ll never want more than casual. Inwhat world does a man who looks like Quincy Abbott end up with a woman who looks like me?”
“Because…beautiful men and beautiful women don’t end up together?”
“Because fit men and fat women don’t end up together.”
“Don’t call yourself fat, Rip. You have curves. Men love curves. You’re perfect. You model lingerie for crying out loud.”
She mumbles, “Plus sized,” and then sighs. “It’s not happening. Drop it. I don’t want to talk about it.”
Wiping her tears, she says, “Enough about me, though I hope you’ll keep this between us.”
I nod. “Of course.”
“Did you sleep with Ezra? I honestly thought you were into Tanner.”
I exhale a breath. “Tanner isn’t interested in me. I wanted to try things with Ezra. He’s so sweet and so into me, but in the end, I couldn’t do it. Why can’t I have casual sex like my sister does?”
She rubs my back. “There’s nothing wrong with needing an emotional connection with someone before the physical.”
Tears fill my eyes. “I’m so fudging attracted to Tanner. On all fronts.”
“Does he know?”
I nod. “He does. We kissed once but he ended it. He said he can’t do it to Harper and that I’m too young for him.”
“But not that he wasn’t attracted to you?”
I twist my lips and think back. “I suppose he didn’t say that.”
“Maybe it will happen one day.”