gold digger » jack gilinsky

nine

staying true to my word, i step inside of the varnish and am immediately hollered at. i whip my head to the source of the obnoxious sound.

"if it isn't the eligible bachelorette!" sam shouts with a grin on his face.

"the male term is bachelor, dumbass." nate comments.

i hold back on rolling my eyes, waiting for an explanation from derek. whom i talked on the phone with. whom i thought was just going to meet me individually.

"sorry," derek apologizes. "nate wanted to tag along and so did sam." he shrugs his shoulders.

i clench my jaw and sam's eyebrows raise, stifling a laugh. he's clearly amused at my irritation and annoyance.

"what has a stick up your ass?" nate asks me. "you seem more pissy than usual."

i narrow my eyes at him, "octavia." i bluntly reply.

a shocked expression come from all of their faces as i turn to order a round of shots for all of us. the guys know me as the condescending asshole after i divorced octavia, so i'm more than sure that they're surprised from my mention all at her.

"why's she got you all pissed off, g?" derek questions. "you shouldn't be bothered by her. at all."

i grunt, tilting back my shot and then cringing. i can't really remember the last time i had strong liquor.

"well," i start with a sigh while running my hands through my hair. "my dad began this new project-"

"oh, right. forgot you were high in the business industry." sam teases, cutting me off. "but damn david, making dough!"

i glare at him, grabbing one of their shot glasses, that's still filled with alcohol, and let that run down my throat. they're all listening to me intently, like i'm the most interesting thing they've seen all day.

"turns out his partner is braxton miller." i mutter, trying to brush off their sympathetic looks.

nate looks puzzled, "who is that?" he asks, super confused.

"he's literally one spot, in the business ranking, underneath jack." derek smacks his arm. "get it together, man."

"also octavia's current boyfriend." i mock, remembering the vision of when i saw her put his arm around her at the charity event.

"isn't that a good thing?" sam chimes in. "i mean, she's moved on and isn't on your ass all of the time?"

"no." i grumble. "it's not a good thing. i've been seeing her around the building lately and she's changed so much. she's still fucking beautiful, don't get me wrong, but she's changed."

"dude, what the fuck? no." derek cuts in. "you can not be whipped by her again. even if she's got good pussy."

nate joins, "yeah, listen to luh. remember, she was with you for the money."

"and don't forget, she slept with jack johnson. if she didn't, he'd still be hanging with us." sam adds. "but he was a betraying backstabber."

i bite my bottom lip, finding it hard to speak about that scenario. i lied. i'm a liar. i was the liar and she wasn't. she was speaking the truth. i let out a painful sigh as i recall the desperation in her voice as she tried telling me i was assuming.

"but the thing is, she didn't." i clarify. "i've gotten it through my head that she didn't want me for my money and she didn't sleep with johnson. i've been proven wrong so many times, i just didn't believe it."

"what are you talking about?" sam asks while nate orders another round off to the side.

i drink another shot of brownish liquid and derek tries to slow me down. right, i have to explain to them first, keeping my words straight. i gently set the tiny cup down before continuing.