by Elias Taylor
He couldn’t live with spending the rest of his life knowing that he had let a girl like Beth get away. “I think you’re right.”
“I always am,” his mom said. “I love you.”
“Love you, too.” They hung up, but Christian remained where he was sitting. He gazed out at the horizon for a long time.
Just as it was becoming dark, he stood up. He didn’t know what he was going to do next, but he wasn’t going to sit around and let life pass him by. He would try once more. Maybe two or three times more, who knew?
Beth was about to learn that Christian Crown did not give up without a fight.
Chapter Thirteen: Beth
Beth moped about her apartment after Christian’s phone call. She had replayed the conversation over and over in her head, and every time, she came to the same conclusion. It had to be done. There was no way she could enter into any kind of relationship with him since he was Tisha’s ex.
When Beth woke up the next day, she’d had enough. It was time to stop thinking about Christian. It was pointless to agonize over that one phone conversation. It was done. She had to move on.
Shopping was a perfect distraction. It wasn’t Beth’s favorite activity, but it was time-consuming and required attention. It was also necessary if she was going to start meeting with banks. She needed some professional attire. Something that said she could run a successful business. She made a list of errands, and at the very top was getting new clothes so she could meet with the banks.
Beth suffered from mild social anxiety. She was never one to feel comfortable in social situations, let alone awkward ones. She struggled to find the right words or phrases to explain herself. That’s why Mel was the charmer in their little duo. Beth let her design work speak for her, and Mel bragged when she was incapable of doing it herself. Mel might have charm, but they both knew that Beth was the one with enough level-headedness to impress the people in charge of loans. Charm didn’t get loans, anyway. Intelligence and smart planning did.
Beth perused the mall, looking for a store within her price range that offered conservative options. She hadn’t been shopping in a while. All she needed for work were beat-up jeans and dirt-stained t-shirts. The same worked for biker events. For the bank, she was going to need something sleek. Maybe slacks with a matching blazer, plus good shoes. Beth didn’t like heels, but she could find a loafer.
Beth ducked into a store that looked promising and headed straight toward a rack of blouses. She was engrossed in examining each blouse, so she didn’t see Tisha until she was right beside her.
“Oh my God, Beth!” Tisha exclaimed.
Beth nearly jumped out of her skin. What was Tisha doing here? It was Monday. Beth had been positive that Tisha would head back to LA as soon as the weekend was over. Didn’t she have a job? Beth figured modeling wasn’t a typical nine to five, but still, Tisha made no secret of how bored she got in her hometown of New London.
Beth tried to muster a smile for her old friend, but her hands were shaking. Did Tisha know what had happened with Beth and Christian? There was no way she could’ve found out. Although news traveled fast in a small town.
“Hi.” Beth relaxed a bit at Tisha’s open smile. She didn’t look pissed. She was wearing high-waisted jeans that accentuated her flat stomach and a lacy crop top topped off with massive sunglasses.
“I can’t believe my luck running into you,” Tisha said. “I know you probably thought I’d gone back to LA, but Derek wanted to stick around and get to know the place better. He can be corny like that.”
Tisha rolled her eyes in a way that made it clear that she was totally delighted by Derek being so obsessed with her.
“Nice.” Beth knew she should be kind to Tisha, especially after what she had just done, but she wasn’t in the mood. Any loyalty she felt toward Tisha wasn’t about their current friendship. It was loyalty to the friend Tisha had once been. The girl who had sat by Beth for every single lunch period and hugged her when she cried at school because she missed her dad so much.
“So, what are you doing here?” Tisha asked. “This is so totally not your style.”
Beth tried to come up with an excuse. Something brief and uninteresting. She hadn’t told Tisha about wanting to open up her own business. She was scared Tisha would judge her or be negative. Tisha had made a few comments over the years about Beth’s unglamorous job.
“I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in anything but ripped up jeans,” Tisha said. She let out a loud laugh at Beth’s expense, and Beth winced. She didn’t care if Tisha made fun of her style. Beth liked how she dressed. Plus, Tisha had definitely seen her in nice clothes at birthday parties and graduation ceremonies. Beth knew she would sound childish if she debated the point.
“I just have a family thing,” Beth said.
Tisha wouldn’t ask anymore because Tisha didn’t care. She only cared about herself these days. Beth stared down at the mint green blouse she held in her fingers. It could look nice with her hair, maybe.
“I don’t think that would do your complexion any favors, sweetie,” Tisha said.
Beth dropped the blouse and forced all her energy into plastering a fake smile on her face. Why did Tisha even bother? Her little put-downs had stopped affecting Beth years ago. Did she really have no one else besides Beth? Surely, there was some model friend who could be Tisha’s sidekick.
Tisha gripped Beth’s arm and pulled her aside.
“Okay, but listen,” Tisha said. “I heard the most absurd story.”
Tisha leaned in closer and lowered her voice as she pushed her sunglasses up onto her head and waggled her eyebrows. Beth could tell that Tisha had gossip. And it wasn’t harmless gossip. No one spread nasty rumors like Tisha.
“Apparently, at that biker thing this weekend, Christian started a fight over some girl.” Beth’s heart sank. It was clear Tisha didn’t know the girl in question was Beth, but it was still very uncomfortable.
“How immature can he get?” Tisha said. “Seriously, I can not believe I dated him.”
Beth cocked her head and frowned. She had known Tisha for a long time. Beth could tell that Tisha was vibrating with jealousy, she was just trying to play it off. And get information. Beth’s palms started to sweat. She knew what was coming next.
“Were you, like, there for the fight?” Tisha asked.
Beth wondered if Tisha had purposely stayed in town to seek out the full story. Tisha knew Beth was a Road Warrior, so she knew that she could ask good old Beth to spill the details. That was crazy, though. That would mean Tisha still had feelings for Christian. She clearly didn’t love him, but she might feel possessive.
Beth’s heart started to beat faster. She was a terrible liar, but she was going to try. “Um, I might have left before.”
“And get this,” Tisha said. “I heard from someone who was there that he ran off with this chick on his bike. I mean, he has literally slept with half the town. It’s so pathetic.”
Jealous. Tisha was definitely jealous, and she wasn’t even hiding it that well. A surge of anger rose up within Beth. What right did Tisha have to keep tabs on Christian? He didn’t belong to her anymore. She had tossed him out like day-old trash. Tisha had wrecked his life enough, and he deserved to move on without Tisha saying nasty things about him.
“Look, Tisha, I—”
“It’s actually embarrassing.” Tisha acted like Beth hadn’t spoken. “I’ve seen some of the girls he’s hooked up with, and it’s like he’ll screw anything with a pulse. One girl had to be two-hundred pounds.”
Beth flinched. She shouldn’t have been surprised. Tisha had always been like this. She saw a million flaws in someone before she saw anything good. If Tisha had it in for someone, God help them. Tisha would tear them apart with words.
As she spoke, Tisha was leading Beth by the arm out of the store. Beth glanced with longing back toward the rack of blouses. She really did need to take care of this task. Not that Tisha cared. She clearly was pickin
g up steam and was determined to keep Beth as a captive audience.
“And this girl was probably a biker,” Tisha mused. “Which means she’s likely hideous and probably wears men’s clothing.”
Beth bristled. She was a Road Warrior, and she didn’t get gussied up every day. On occasion, she wore men’s jeans to work in gardens, but that didn’t mean she was inferior to Tisha.
In recent years, Beth tuned Tisha out when she started bashing others, but today Beth had none of her usual patience. She had been through a lot of ups and downs in the last forty-eight hours. She witnessed a fistfight, slept with her friend’s ex, enjoyed said ex more than she had thought possible, and then turned him down out of loyalty to the friend who did nothing but insult her. Now she was being forced to listen to this so-called friend bash a myriad of women who had done nothing wrong.
“And seriously, what kind of whore just goes and hooks up with a guy because he threw one punch for her?”
Beth snapped her focus back to Tisha, but this time she didn’t nod or smile vaguely. She was furious. If Tisha had been paying her any attention, she would have noticed the anger shooting out of Beth’s eyes.
Instead, Tisha kept going. “Seriously, I know biker chicks are sluts, but that’s a little extreme. Honestly, this bitch probably had, like, five STDs.”
Beth should’ve felt hurt by Tisha’s words, but she was way past taking offense. Tisha didn’t even know that this whore was Beth, but she had insulted Beth before. For a while, Beth had gotten offended. She was offended when Tisha told her she shouldn’t wear skirts because her legs were too muscled. She was offended when Tisha told her a guy would never date a girl without a manicure, and she was offended when Tisha suggested she try being a secretary since the whole landscaping thing probably wouldn’t work out.
Beth had been offended, but she hadn’t walked away. She made up excuses for Tisha. She reminded herself that she knew Tisha for so long, and she couldn’t stop being friends with her over a few mean comments.
Now, she was just mad. She was mad at Tisha for being such a jerk and mad at herself for putting up with it for so long. More so, she was mad at herself for letting a great guy slip through her fingers because of Tisha.
While the anger rose up in Beth, Tisha continued on her tirade.
“Although Christian has some STDs, himself, after the way he’s slept around,” Tisha said. “I swear, I’m so grateful every day that I dated him before he jumped on every slut in this pathetic town. Honestly, he is truly sad.”
Beth crossed her arms and whirled toward Tisha. “So what? You’re not dating him anymore.”
“Thank God for that,” Tisha scoffed. “He’s actual trash.”
Beth clenched her fists and opened her mouth. She didn’t know what she was going to do, but she’d had enough. Tisha could bash her all day, but when she started bad-mouthing Christian, who had done nothing wrong except trust Tisha, Beth was officially done.
It was time that someone stood up to Tisha.
Chapter Fourteen: Christian
Christian stared at the row of sweaters in the department store. He reached out and touched the same dark blue sweater he had been mulling over for five minutes.
He wasn’t much of a shopper. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he had gone shopping. Christian wore jeans and worn t-shirts every day, except when he had a photography gig that required a suit. He had one suit for such events, and he didn’t enjoy wearing it.
He decided if he was going to go after Beth, he was going to do it right. That meant cleaning his look up a bit. Christian wasn’t about to show up at her house in a suit—that was definite overkill and totally weird—but he was willing to up his style game just a bit.
The problem was, he hated shopping. He was bored out of his mind, and he couldn’t decide what he liked or disliked. Christian turned and headed back toward the center of the mall. Maybe he needed to find another store.
After he purchased a nice button-up shirt and a new pair of jeans, he could focus on the next steps of his plan. He wanted to get Beth some flowers. It was cliche, but Christian figured cliches existed for a reason.
He only wished that he knew her favorite flower. Roses were probably too obvious. Beth was a landscaper, and she worked in gardens every day, so she knew every sort of flower. She probably liked some obscure but beautiful flower that no one else had ever heard of.
Christian smiled at the thought. He liked thinking of Beth and her landscaping, and he wanted to hear her talk more about her designs. He shook his head and reminded himself to focus. He would never get to discuss Beth’s job with her if he didn’t get her to go out with him.
Christian squinted at the overbright lights of the New London mall. He could smell the faint scent of soft pretzels. Maybe it was time for a snack break.
Hydrangeas. Maybe Beth liked hydrangeas. He only knew what they were because his mom had a bush in her backyard. He liked them, though. They were simple but colorful.
Just as Christian was about to step on the escalator, he saw Beth. She was over by one of the massive fake plants, and she was talking to someone. The green leaves covered her companion, but Christian didn’t care. He was going to say hello. This was fate, and he couldn’t walk away.
A smile spread across his face as he walked over. Beth was frowning, and her arms were crossed. Even so, she was lovely. Her hair was down today, and there was a faint flush of redness in her tan cheeks.
How did she make jeans with frayed hems and holes at the knees look so good?
“Hey,” Christian said.
Beth’s eyes widened in fear when she caught sight of him, which Christian thought was a little much. She had rejected him, but he hadn’t been rude about it. She didn’t need to act like he was about to kidnap her.
Then he saw who she was with.
Tisha.
Christian’s heart sank. This was awkward. He glanced back at Beth, who looked like she wanted the floor to swallow her up. He couldn’t turn around, though. That would make it even more awkward.
Besides, it was just Tisha. A jolt of joy shot through him. He hadn’t thought of her as just Tisha in ages, but it was true. She was his ex. They had been together, but that was years ago. So what? They had all moved on, and this was a perfect opportunity to show Beth that.
“Hi,” Christian said as he stopped in front of the two friends.
He angled his body toward Beth. Just to be clear that it was her, in particular, he was interested in.
“Oh my God, this is too much,” Tisha scoffed. “Are you literally stalking me?”
Christian looked over at her. She was wearing heavy makeup, and her mouth was twisted into a cruel grin. How could he have ever been attracted to her?
“No.” Then he turned back to Beth, leaving Tisha stunned with her mouth hanging open.
“Look, I’m really sorry again about the other night.” He didn’t want to have this conversation in front of Tisha, but he assumed she would have no clue what he was talking about. He would keep it vague. He and Beth were both Road Warriors. They were allowed to discuss things that didn’t involve Tisha.
Beth, however, looked uncomfortable. She was widening her eyes and tilting her head toward Tisha, all while clamping her lips together. Her behavior puzzled him. She clearly didn’t want to talk to him, so he would just have to wrap up this conversation.
“Anyway, things got outta hand,” Christian said. “I am sorry.”
“Wait,” Tisha said.
Christian tried not to roll his eyes as he turned back toward Tisha. Why was she even in New London?
“It was you,” Tisha said.
Christian looked at Beth. She was visibly upset, and he wanted to wrap his arms around her. Only this wasn’t his place. Not yet, anyway.
“You were the one he went home with?” Tisha asked.
It hit Christian like a ton of bricks. Tisha did know, or at least she knew Christian hooked up with someone. Now, she knew it was Beth, w
hich meant he had inadvertently put Beth in a horrible position. Christian’s jaw went slack, and his eyes widened in horror.
Only she didn’t look scared anymore. She stood straight with her shoulders thrown back as if she didn’t care what Tisha had to say to her. She was not about to back down.
To Christian’s amazement, Tisha burst into hysterical laughter. “Oh my God, this is too much.”
She waved her hand in front of her face and cackled. Christian glanced at Beth and rolled his eyes. She blinked at his casual reaction, and he shrugged. Tisha was Tisha. There was nothing they could do about that.
Tisha’s laughter died down as she reached out and gripped Beth’s arm. It should have been a friendly gesture, but it wasn’t. Instead, it looked like Tisha was sinking her claws into Beth.
“Okay, sweetie, I know you have your insecurities, but you can seriously do way better,” Tisha said.
Despite himself, Christian was hurt. He had spent so long feeling worthless because of Tisha, and now that he found someone who made him feel good about himself, Tisha was going to ruin him again.
“I know you were vulnerable because they were honoring you dad, and all,” Tisha continued. “But you have got to have more self-respect.”
Christian’s hackles rose. It was downright malicious for Tisha to bring up Beth’s dad. She might be acting like she didn’t care, but she was full-on attacking Beth. Christian opened his mouth to speak up, but before he got the chance, Beth beat him to the punch.
“Just because you’re a gold digger doesn’t mean I am,” Beth said.
Tisha’s entire face went still. She blinked in astonishment. It was clear Beth had never spoken to her in that way, and it made Christian want to cheer out loud.
Beth yanked her arm out of Tisha’s hand and continued. “Christian is great, and if you can’t see that, that’s your problem.”
She gripped her purse, and for a moment, it looked like she was about to storm off, but then she looked back at Tisha. She wasn’t done. “My dad used to like you. He thought you were funny and a good friend.”
