by S. Jones
Brad always looked good, but he looked exceptionally good tonight. He wore a black button down with the sleeves rolled up, leaving the top two buttons undone. His perfectly tailored dark grey dress pants fit his trim waist to perfection. His dark brown hair was disheveled from running his hands through it all night. He looked downright striking. He was also getting a lot of female interest tonight, but you would never know that by the way he looked at me.
He swept my hair off my shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “What are you thinking about?” God, even his voice was deeper than usual. I felt my nipples harden under the fabric of my white silk top. He was driving me absolutely crazy, so I decided to return the favor. I licked my lips and stared at his mouth. His eyes narrowed, my body was practically begging for him.
“Don’t.” He said firmly. “Unless you want to put on a show for this entire club.”
We continued to hold each other’s gaze. If he wanted to go find an empty storage closet or an empty bathroom stall, I was totally fine with that. That thought, however, was crushed when Gage came into view. My whole body tensed causing Brad to turn his head.
His eyes flashed to his sister and then back to Gage. “What are you doing here?”
I grabbed onto his arm, sensing him gearing up for a fight. “I invited him.”
Brad snapped his head to mine, his long lashes blinked three times. Yes, I counted. “Why?”
I could feel every pair of eyes trained on me. I swallowed the lump in my throat feeling a lot less confident. “Lily told me what happened between them. She feels terrible about it.” I sighed, running my hands down the length of my black pencil skirt. “I texted him and asked to meet us out tonight so they could talk.”
Brad’s eyes darkened, his glare practically sliced right through me. “You went and texted him behind my back?”
“I did. I’m sorry you’re upset about it, but Lily wanted to see him.”
His mouth hung open, then he snapped it shut. He placed his hands on his hips, still glaring at me. “Unbelievable.”
It had been an impulsive decision to invite Gage out tonight. I’d acted without considering the potential consequences. Even though I did it for the right reasons, it suddenly felt wrong.
“You wanted to see me, Lily?” Gage asked, causing us all to swing our gaze to her.
Lily looked nervous, like she was unprepared on how to handle this. She was chewing on her bottom lip so hard I was afraid she would draw blood. “I…” she started to talk, but Brad stalked up to Gage.
He approached him with a murderous look on his face, one that would have most men cowering down. Gage however, didn’t even flinch. “Stay away from my sister. I told you once, I will not tell you again.”
My stomach churned. This was my fault. “Brad, that’s not your decision to make.”
Brad’s angry stare flipped to me. “Excuse me?”
“Listen,” I softened my voice. “I know you’re only looking out for your sister, but you have to let her make her own decisions.”
Lily reached out and placed her hand on his arm. “I love you, but I need to talk to Gage in private. I promise I’ll be okay. I just need you to trust me.”
“Lily, he’s a manwhore. He’s only going to hurt you. Is that what you want?” He asked looking defeated.
Lily smiled at him trying to ease the tension in the room. “I’m just going to talk to him Brad, not run off and elope.”
“It’s your life, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
She gave him a kiss on the cheek and then walked off with Gage to have a conversation, which in my opinion was long overdue.
I slipped my arms around his middle and laid my head on his chest. “I love you and I’m so sorry that I upset you and went behind your back. I never would have arranged for them to meet tonight if I didn’t feel so strongly about it. She’s going to be okay.” I whispered, as his hand brushed along the back of my hair.
“I love you, too. Just don’t ever ambush me like that again, okay?”
I squeezed him as tight as I could. I didn’t ever want to let go. “I won’t. I promise.”
It had been over an hour and Lily and Gage still hadn’t come back from their ‘talk’ yet. Lucas and Sawyer were trying their best to keep Brad distracted, but you could see him growing more uncomfortable as the minutes ticked by.
I ran my hands over his back. “She’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”
He sighed in frustration. “I’ll kill him if he hurts her.”
Brad looked away then something must have caught his attention because his face went pale. I moved my stare to where he was looking. He was focused on a group of people at the top of the stairs. They didn’t look familiar to me, so I had no idea who they were.
Brad slid off the bar stool like a man on a mission. “I’ll be right back.”
Lucas and Sawyer both turned their heads to see where he was going. I guess they’d noticed his strange behavior as well. Both men shared a glance and then shot me a reserved smile.
I squinted my eyes to get a better view. There was a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. As soon as Brad approached the people at the top of the stairs, the woman with long brown hair turned her head. I recognized the face from a picture I had found when I was cleaning the apartment one day. It was Emily.
“Lexi?” Faith called out getting my attention.
My chest burned, and it felt like someone had slapped me across the face. I couldn’t take my eyes off them no matter how much it hurt. Brad was exchanging words with the guy standing next to her and it didn’t look pleasant. I stood there and watched them, feeling my blood run cold. He just up and left me to go to her, of all people.
I straightened my shoulders and forced my voice to come out much stronger than I felt. “I’m leaving.”
Lucas was the first to speak up. “Lexi, let me take you. Brad would not want you leaving alone.”
“No thanks. I’m good.” I said, trying to hide the crack in my voice.
Lucas looked over at Sawyer for some kind of confirmation, then back to me. “Brad would not want you leaving this club without him.”
“Something tells me that Brad won’t even notice that I’m gone.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Brad
Everyone turned their heads the second I approached the group. My old group. These were my friends at one time, but now they were looking at me like I had some type of catchy virus.
“What the fuck is he doing here?” Chase barked out, just as I had suspected.
There was no love lost between us, especially after what had happened last year. His reaction was understandable, seeing as I’d almost sent his ass to prison for something he didn’t do.
It had hurt like a bitch when I found out that Emily had played me. She’d thought it was me who had set Chase up, not knowing that I was being used as a pawn just like everyone else at the time. Not that any of that made a difference because her loyalties were with Chase. To say things did not end well between us would be an understatement.
Emily grabbed his arm, trying to calm him down. She knew he was a hot head and seeing me standing in his club only irritated him even more. “Chase, please don’t cause a scene.”
Jack, the one who you could always count on to restore peace and diffuse the tensest situations walked over and extended his hand. “Good to see you, bro.”
At least I still had one friend left. I shook his hand in return, glad that at least somebody was acting like an adult.
Emily avoided looking at me, which was probably for her husband’s benefit as much as anything else. I had been riding pretty high lately, but I was feeling a little off my game. I tried to block out all their bullshit and focused on saying what I had come to say. I was going to speak my mind whether they liked it or not.
It felt like the noise in the club went silent as I stepped up to her. There was no way I was leaving without talking to her. It wasn’t every day that I had the chance to come face t
o face with my ex. Her body tensed when she realized my intentions. She always knew me well. But I might as well have been looking at the face of a stranger. She was still just as beautiful as I remembered her to be. But as I stared at the woman I once loved, realization hit me—seeing her did nothing to me. Whatever lingering feelings I thought I’d had, were gone. Chase’s possessive arm was draped around her shoulder. Did he think he had to guard her from me? This conversation was happening whether he liked it or not.
“Hello, Emily. It’s good to see you.”
She looked conflicted. We didn’t end things on the best of terms. The last time I had seen her, she had practically shoved me out the door and told me to go to hell. Seeing her now didn’t bother me at all. If anything, the situation felt awkward as fuck. Based on the tension in the room, it was obviously mutual.
“You too, Brad.” was all she said, keeping her gaze fixed over my shoulder. It really was sad that this is what we had turned into. Two strangers, who felt uncomfortable around each other and didn’t know what to say. After everything we went through, it was just plain awkward.
I tried to soften my tone to ease some of the tension. “Congratulations on both your marriage and the birth of your little boy. It looks like life is treating you well. I just wanted to give you my best wishes.”
Even though Emily and I no longer spoke, our mutual friend Jack, and I kept in touch. We didn’t hang out like we used to, but we still met up every now and again. It was one of those occasions where Jack had told me about the birth of her son. Jack even showed me a picture. He was a cute kid, and I was happy for her.
“Thank you, Brad.”
I knew Emily. She was struggling with how to handle the conversation. She was concerned about her husband’s reaction, which she should’ve been. We stood inches apart and I could still read her like a book. There was a familiarity lingering between us, but it was strictly platonic. It was barely visible, but I could still feel it. Maybe it would always be there.
Chase glared at me. I could see his hold on her tightening. “Now that you have had your reunion, feel free to go back to your business.”
There was a time where his comment would have pissed me off and I probably would have had the urge to kick his ass. I actually flexed my hand on instinct ready to launch a punch to his pretty boy jaw. But then I remembered Lexi and unclenched my fist. Emily wasn’t my fight anymore. And Chase was no longer my public enemy number one. Colton was. I never thought I could ever loathe someone as much as Chase Newman, but considering recent events our past seemed irrelevant now.
Cassie, Emily’s closest friend came to stand beside her. “Brad, I’m sure you mean well, but it’s probably for the best if you just leave things alone.”
Cassie was always Emily’s biggest defender. It was no surprise that she’d try to step in and save the day. It just really pissed me off that all of them still saw me as the enemy. There was no denying it, her words stung.
“Christ, Cassie, you too? I didn’t come here looking for trouble. I’m just saying hello to my old friends.” I said, stressing the friend part. And then I gave her a smile that said you can go fuck yourself.
I plowed my hands through my hair, feeling the frustration start to build inside of me. They reacted to my presence like a bunch of immature high schoolers. I was so over it all and I planned to tell them as much.
My gaze connected with Emily. She was the only reason why I was standing here. “I just wanted to say hello. You look happy. I’m glad things are going well for you.”
Chase aimed a killing glare in my direction. His eyes blazed with rage. “My wife’s happiness is not your concern.”
I couldn’t help but shake my head, even though his reaction wasn’t too far over the top when I considered what I had almost done to Colton. Looking at the faces of the people I used to consider friends, made me realize how little I cared what they thought of me now. I was growing tired of the Mexican showdown. It was time to get back to Lexi.
“I will always care about Emily.”
Chase growled, his patience was obviously wearing thin. Tough shit. What the fuck did he think I was going to do? Out of the back of the crowd both Jack, and Cassie’s boyfriend Liam moved in-between the two of us. I cocked my head to the side and fought the urge to laugh. Did they really think I came up here to start some shit?
“Really guys? Are we still in Junior High?” I turned to Chase. “Like I said before, I’ll always care about her, but keeping her happy is your job now. She’s yours and I’m happy that she’s happy. That’s all.”
Emily took a deep breath and swallowed, relief was written all over her face. “Thank you, Brad. I appreciate that. I wish the same for you.” I could tell she wanted to say more, but there was no way in hell she was going to start a conversation with me in front of Chase. Her eyes briefly met mine and in that split second, I could see the smile in them. She knew. She could always see right through me. She didn’t need to say anything else because there was really nothing left to say. We had both moved on and found happiness with other people.
As I reached the bottom of the steps, my eyes landed to where my group was taking up space at the bar. As I walked closer, my steps slowed, and I assessed my surroundings. I noticed two things: one, everyone was staring at me like I had two heads. The second was, Lexi was nowhere in sight.
I froze.
A million scenarios ran through my head, but their expressions told me all I needed to know. My eyes slid shut as the reality of my actions came crashing down around me. I was so hell bent on setting things straight with Emily that I had royally fucked up again. I knew how insecure she was about my ex, and my stupid actions just fueled her imagination. I needed to find her. I had to get moving so I could fix this.
“She left.” Faith was the first to speak up, and the tone she used only confirmed my suspicions.
I hung my head and closed my eyes tight. I had nothing to say. Lucas walked over and put his hand on my shoulder. “Bro, she was pissed. You need to give her some space.”
The more I thought about it, the more I hated myself. “What did she say?”
Lucas took a step back and hesitated. If he was at a loss for words, I really was fucked. “She knew who you were talking to.”
My body locked tight with panic. “I wasn’t thinking. I saw Emily and just wanted to talk to her. That was the first time I’ve seen her since we broke up. What the hell was I supposed to do? Just pretend she wasn’t there?”
“Yeah, well that was a dick move.” Faith cut in, “you know how insecure she is about Emily, but you couldn’t jump off that stool fast enough when you saw her. No regard for Lexi’s feelings whatsoever.” She shouted, causing Sawyer to come stand between us. My eyes dropped to the ground; there wasn’t an excuse in the world that would be good enough.
I lifted my head feeling like the world’s biggest asshole. “She completely misinterpreted what she saw. I need to talk to her so I can explain.” I said, glancing around, meeting each of their judging eyes. Something made me stop and take notice. My eyes bounced to each of them. “How did she get home?” When no one answered, I felt my eyes shoot up into my hairline. “Don’t tell me you let her walk out of here alone?” I shouted, seeing red.
“Relax.” Lucas said, trying to get my temper under control. “I watched her get into a cab.”
A burst of energy shot through me. I was moving so fast my friends couldn’t keep up with me. What were they thinking? I pulled my phone out and dialed her number. I wasn’t surprised when she let it roll to voicemail. Once the line beeped, I started groveling for forgiveness. “Lexi, I’m so fucking sorry. I’m on my way to you right now. Please call me back. I love you, sweetheart. Only you.” I hung up and threw my phone back in my pocket.
I ran out into the street and banged on the trunk of a passing cab. I jumped in the back before the driver had even come to a full stop. I shouted out my address, hoping like hell that’s where she went. I buried my face in my hands
and prayed that I wouldn’t lose her over this.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lexi
I unlocked the door to my dark apartment, feeling broken and defeated. I flipped on the light switch and slid my body down along the wall, taking my spirit along with me. The pressure in my chest was unbearable. Never in my life had I ever felt so alone. Trying to fight back the tears was useless. The vision of him practically running to her was seared in my mind forever.
After sobbing uncontrollably for a few minutes, I willed myself to stand. I could feel my heart sinking further into my stomach as I walked over and threw my purse onto the kitchen counter. There was no way to know if walking out without letting him explain had been the right thing to do, but my first and only reaction was to run. The image of the two of them together had caused an ache so deep I wasn’t sure if I could recover.
My phone had buzzed nonstop since I left the club. He must have finally noticed I was gone. As tempted as I was to answer it, I knew the sound of his voice would make me cave in seconds. I couldn’t talk to him yet. I needed to clear my head. It was probably silly that I was this upset; it wasn’t like they ran into each other’s arms and locked lips like long lost lovers. What bothered me the most was his reaction to her. It was like everything else ceased to exist, including me. How was I supposed to bury that kind of hurt and rejection?
Walking into my bedroom, I stared at my empty bed. The bed I hadn’t slept on in forever. It was ironic how much I’d loved this apartment when I’d first moved here. It was the first place that ever felt like home. The apartment that once held so much hope and promise now felt like a prison. I understood the feeling of being trapped well. The walls that Brad had broken through were falling back into place. It was the only way to protect myself from the avalanche of pain.
