If I Only Knew(15)

Heather and Eli travel so much between his career and the music tour. They’re also still in that newlywed type stage where they can’t get enough of each other. Kristin and Noah aren’t married, but live together in the house they bought, and he’s bouncing between Hollywood and Tampa, so when he’s here, Kristin doesn’t exist. Nicole . . . forget it, she’s a new mother and wife who’s still running her business empire. It’s a shock any of us see her.

“Where’s the booze?” Nicole calls out from the backyard.

“I’ll grab the sangria!” Heather replies.

Ava has little kid duty. Since she’s grounded, this is part of her punishment. She sits in the yard with her ridiculously large sunglasses on as the kids run around her. I hope she hates every moment of this.

“I’m so glad Colin is off the tit,” Nicole blurts out.

“That’s a conversation starter I never thought I’d hear,” Heather says before tipping her glass back.

“What? I can drink again, eat what I want and not worry about him having gas or shitting because broccoli is also a laxative to babies. I’m just saying it’s nice to have my boobs be for play again and not food.”

My friends are fucking wackos.

“Are they super sensitive?” Kristin encourages.

“Yes!” Nicole smiles. “Like, orgasm from barely touching them. Callum is totally enjoying it.”

“Another image of my boss I wish I never had,” I grumble.

There are no boundaries with the four of us, and never were. I’m the baby of the bunch and they taught me everything I needed to know about puberty. Nicole has always been a nutjob and never had a problem telling—or showing—all her new bits.

“Oh, please, he rode me so hard last night that I saw stars.” She waggles her brows. “Like, hot, sweaty, dirty fucking that left my legs like jelly.”

“I’m so happy for you,” I toss back.

Nicole leans back, takes a drink, and continues on as though I didn’t say a word. “I think Callum was working extra hard since he was so pissed that Milo is back. He kept walking around the apartment going on and on about his arsehole brother. I hear he’s actually your new assistant?”

“Yeah, I swear, my relationships sometimes feel like I’m a psychological experiment you’re all studying to see how long someone has before they snap.”

She laughs. “Don’t worry, Danni, we have a pool going that it’s by the end of the week.”

“That he quits?”

Nicole smirks. “Or you kill him.”

Wonderful.

“God forbid you be helpful and tell me what you know about him so I can actually do my job and not suck.” I raise my brow.

“I don’t know much,” she admits. “Callum bitches about him and how hard he had it in comparison to Milo. Callum was always bouncing between the states and London, never really enjoying his childhood thanks to his parent’s custody agreement. Milo was a pampered, spoiled rich kid. I’ve met him once before now, and I like him, but . . . what do I know?”

“Nothing,” Heather answers and laughs. “Sorry, it was too easy.”

“Bitch.”

I roll my eyes as they start to bicker. This is who we are and always will be. We’re the friends that can call each other names, tell it like it is, and still love one another. I never have to worry that they’ll think less of me because it’s impossible. There comes a point in time when my best friends became my family. My sister Amy wasn’t here every other day to check on me, they were.

They set up a schedule, cooked, cleaned, and made sure my kids were fed.

My mother came a few times, but it was Heather, Kristin, and Nicole who kept my life from completely crumbling.

Kristin slaps them both. “Do I need to separate you two?”

“No, Mom.” Heather pretends to look ashamed.

“Well, Monday will be the test,” I muse. I hoped that this would be a new start to my new life. With a promotion, new ideas, and a chance to establish myself as a businesswoman, I finally had a goal. Now, I’m not so sure.

Nicole scoffs. “Please, you’ll do fine.”

The other two nod their heads in agreement. “Seriously, you raised toddlers. There’s no way Milo can be worse.”

I look at my daughter who was a dream as a child. Now, not so much. “Yeah, it can always be worse. They become teenagers.”





Chapter Seven





Danielle





“Can you contact the surveyor and see if he’s done yet?” I ask Milo.

“Of course, Mrs. Bergen. Anything else you need at the moment?” his voice is a tiny bit higher as he tries to sound helpful.

“That’s all,” I say without looking up.

It’s been three days.

Three days and he’s no closer to quitting than the day he started.

The worst part is I can’t even complain. He’s doing everything I ask, with a smile, and actually has been helpful. Since he literally did my job, he knows things I don’t. At one point he caught something I overlooked, and instead of being a dick like I would’ve expected, he pointed it out.

He’s up to something. I can feel it in my bones. He’s building a false trust and I’m not buying it.