He pulled his phone from his pocket.
“Don’t flipping call right now,” I scolded and smacked his phone down. It his lap and then bounced to the ground.
“Shit, what are you doing?” he asked as he reached down to retrieve his cell phone.
Shane laughed. “She’s a little drunk, so excuse her aim. But she was trying to stop you from a mistake. Calling Lexi right now, at this hour, would be mistaken as a booty call. That will win you no points.”
I nodded. “He’s right.”
“I usually am,” Shane agreed.
I stood up abruptly. “Okay. That’s settled. I need to move or something. Let’s go in and dance.”
Ethan shot up out of the chair and stepped towards me, putting his arm around my back to steady my balance.
“Do you remember the show on the dance floor?” Shane laughed and walked in with us. “Are you sure you want to be a part of that?”
I leaned my head onto Ethan’s shoulder, breathing in his minty scent with undertones of pure maleness. “Hmm, maybe no dancing. Walking inside is probably enough.”
Liam and Taylor were no longer on the dance floor. Taylor was standing with Sydney, Chelsea, and Henry taking shots, and Liam was sitting in a nearby chair while a girl straddled him.
Sydney spotted us and walked over.
“Chelsea and Taylor are ready to leave,” She said, and we walked to where they stood.
“This place is trash.” Taylor eyed Liam and the girl licking his neck. “They let anybody in now, including prostitutes.” She tipped her blue shot back and then walked over to them.
Liam focused on her and raised his hand up to the girl straddling him to make her stop.
Taylor braced her hands on the armrest of his chair as she leaned over him, “You make me fucking sick. I can’t believe I ever let you touch me. Even if your dick doesn’t shrivel up and fall off with disease from the tramps you dip it in, you will never touch me again.” She pushed herself from the chair and turned to march out of the club. As she passed us, she said, “The limo’s out front.”
Liam stood, oblivious to the disgruntled girl he knocked off his lap. I thought he might follow Taylor but instead, he flung back a shot and walked out to the patio.
Ethan stepped to the side of me. “I guess you have to go. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“I guess.” My slow spinning mind was struggling to catch up to what was happening.
“Drink at least one more bottle of water before going to bed,” he said, pointing at the water in my hand. Then he hugged me and kissed my forehead before following Liam out the patio door.
I turned back to Chelsea and Sydney, but it was only Sydney still standing there.
“Chelsea’s already out front. You should catch up before they leave,” she said and then followed Ethan outside.
I had to navigate the maze of a club on my own, and my drunken emotions were hard to contain. I was disappointed by Ethan’s farewell. In the past couple of days, my feelings had changed for him and were undeniable. I had crushes before and liked guys in the past, but I’d never wanted someone the way I wanted him. No one had ever made me feel so alive before. With him, I felt calm, and confident, and right. I’d thought the pull so strong that it had to be mutual. But now, I felt angry, and hurt, and confused. Maybe I’d been wrong. Maybe these feelings had been one-sided. I knew he was interested in me, but was he feeling the electricity that I felt? The idea of him not feeling the same froze me.
The limo ride home was silent. Taylor and Chelsea drank liquor straight from a bottle, and I drank water, trying to fight my stupid urge to cry.
~Carly~
Her fingers rushed over her phone screen as she texted Connor. She needed to meet with him. Today.
She’d debated on what her next step should be, and turning to Connor seemed best. He was her boss’s boss and someone she had a personal relationship with. She should tell him about Mr. Goldstien’s advances.
If she did it in person, she’d get the added benefit of seeing his reaction. That would speak volumes about his feelings and his claim he felt towards her, if any.
But first, she had to go to work.
She smoothed her dress and blonde hair as she twisted in the mirror to see herself at all angles. The dress was new, and she hoped Connor would see her in it. But her phone was aggravatingly silent as she slid it into her purse and left the condo.
Chapter Eighteen
News travels at the speed of boredom
Carlos Ruiz Zafón
I was going to be proactive today.
The water I guzzled before bed did help with my hangover. That and an ibuprofen, I felt very little effects from the night before, besides the confusion surrounding Ethan.
Eyeing my mother’s room, I poured a cup of coffee and then carried it and my laptop back to my room.
I hadn’t checked out any news stories yesterday, but I decided to ease into my press by checking Facebook first and then the dreaded Google search.
My fingers shook with nerves as I unlocked Facebook, and I almost spit my coffee out when my notifications showed two hundred and thirty-seven new friend requests and fifty-four new messages. I’d only been off Facebook for a day. This was all a result of my paternity announcement.
I skimmed the friend requests and while some had mutual friends; I didn’t recognize anyone. The same was true for the messages.
As I sat dumbfounded, my message and friend request numbers went up.
Overwhelmed, I clicked on the cog icon and deactivated my account.
There. Now, I wouldn’t have to manage that anymore. I took a celebratory sip of coffee.
On to the next task.
I typed my name into Google and braced myself for the results. The first article was mainly about my father and his “secret love child.” There was one photo of me and an old family photo of Connor, his ex-wife, and their daughters. I stared at the picture of Chelsea and Sonja’s mother. Sonja obviously got her looks from her. She was a slight woman with petite features and the same strawberry blonde hair.
I scanned through the other Google hits. The press was mainly about my father. Most kept to the story that he was recently surprised to learn he had another daughter. They mentioned that since my father’s divorce, he’d separated his resort businesses from his ex-wife’s family corporation. His business was doing better independently, and his fortune had recently gone up. They speculated that might be the reason for my appearance. I clicked off the article, fuming.
My father had set the story up to make him innocent at the expense of my mother’s and my reputation.
I clicked on to a local gossip blog. The pictures of Chelsea and I out last night were shown with small captions about our location, outfits, and comments on our similar features. At least those were good pictures.
Scrolling down the page, my heated anger drained to ice cold shock when I saw the name Tristan Rush and a picture of him entering Eden last night. Underneath it was his mug shots. A swollen eye and cut lip were evident in them.
It was as if the air had been vacuumed out of the room and I stood from my bed only to sit back down and pull the laptop closer to read the article. I read it carefully, bracing for a connection to be made to me. My nerves fired as the few details were revealed. The UCLA basketball starter had gone into Eden late last night and witnesses say he physically attacked another patron and the cops were called. They found a large quantity of Cocaine on him, and he was charged with felony drug possession with intent to distribute and assault; he could face up to two years in jail.
Relief flooded through me, I wasn’t connected to the story. Anxiety quickly followed as questions bubbled in my mind.
I went back to Google and typed in Tristan’s name to find more information, but there was none. Other sources were posting the same limited facts.
I was filled with nervous energy and couldn’t stay seated. I went to my phone to check for any missed messages. None. I opened a new text
to Ethan and couldn’t decide what I wanted to say or ask, so I settled on:
Call me
Who else could I contact who might know something?
Shane, but I didn’t have his number.
Liam, but no.
Out of ideas, I called Lexi.
“Hey, perfect timing; I’ve got a little break while they set up the next shot.”
I’d forgotten she had a photo shoot this morning.
“Did Chase call you?”
She paused. “No. Why would he?”
“He said he was going to but there was a fight last night.”
“Is he okay? Who did he fight?” Her voice rose an octave as she questioned me.
“No. I mean, I don’t know. There was a fight after I left. Tristan was arrested. Chase told me he wanted to call you. Earlier, before I left.”
“What? Take a breath and tell me what the hell you’re talking about.”
After I filled her in, she said she was going to call around for more details. She promised to call me back with any new information.
Too anxious to sit still, I went for a run, but I made sure my phone was charged and volume was up so I wouldn’t miss any phone calls.
I ran from the shower to answer my phone, disappointed and nervous not to recognize the number on the screen. “Hello?”
“Can you be ready in an hour to go to lunch with me or do you need more time?” Shane squeaky voice asked.
I paused. “What? Why?”
“To eat and talk. What type of rude question is that?” He laughed. “Besides, I have a good story for you. Believe me, you are going to want to go to lunch with me.”
Shane had stayed last night; he probably knew all the details of what happened. “Tell me now.”
“No. I’m too hungry to talk. Meet me at Ivy at four if you want details.”
Shane stood out front of the white picket fence of the restaurant, smoking a cigarette. When he saw me approaching, he put it out and hugged me. I stiffened as I noticed photographers across the street snapping pictures.
Shane waved to them. “They take pictures of everyone and hope for a story. They camp out there every day, just hoping for someone important to show up.” He walked me to the entrance. “They got lucky today; you showed up.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I somehow doubt I’m still a story.”
He nudged me with a laugh. “They move through stories quickly, but not that quickly. You’ll grab attention for the weekend, at least.”
The host escorted us to our seats at an outside corner table. A large white umbrella and tree branches provided shade, and colorful flowers in pots were grouped in the center of the table.
“Get the lobster ravioli or gumbo,” Shane said over his menu.
“Wow. You are bossy. Now tell me your story.” I closed my menu and sat back in my chair.
“You are impatient. If I was not confident in my awesomeness, I might suspect you only came for the information I can provide and not to enjoy my company.”
A server in a pink polo greeted us, and Shane handed him our menus as we ordered. Shane grinned as I ordered the gumbo, and he ordered the ravioli and a mojito. I stuck with ice tea.
When the server left, I stared at him expectantly.
“What happened when you three left? Did Taylor go into super bitch mode? Did she break shit?” His eyes sparkled as he leaned forward on his forearms, waiting for information.
“Nope. The ride home was quiet and non-eventful. What about your night?”
His smile widened. “It was very eventful.”
The server returned with our drinks and I huffed as Shane picked up his and took a long sip. I shifted in my seat, barely restraining myself from reaching over and shaking him.
When he didn’t continue, I was forced to respond, “Cut the crap and talk. What happened?”
“Well, I was in a fight last night.”
“What? You? It was you that fought Tristan?” My mouth dropped open in surprise, and my hand dangled in the air between us. I’d invented multiple scenarios about last night’s events, but none of them had Shane as the fighter. He was average height and thin, I couldn’t imagine him leaving those bruises on Tristan’s face.
“Well, no.” He laughed. “I fought one of Tristan’s friends. Or more correctly, I tripped one who was going to jump into the fight. I prevented Ethan from getting hit from behind. Which reminds me, Ethan dropped this in the fight last night.” He handed me a cell phone. “Since you live in the same building can you return that to him?”
My heart dipped and stuttered as I stared at the cracked phone in my hand. The bottom of the screen was shattered. I put the phone in my purse and nodded, this at least explained why he hadn’t called me back yet.
Shane leaned back with a smug smile and nodded slowly at my expression. “You haven’t heard any of this, have you?”
I shook my head. “I read something online about Tristan being arrested.”
“You shouldn’t read that crap. But prepare yourself because they left out a lot of important details.”
I gripped my hands together to keep them from shaking and prayed for the zillionth time that the fight had nothing to do with me and that everyone else involved was okay. That Ethan was okay.
“Tristan arrived with some of his friends just after you left. Ethan obviously didn’t like the guy, but he just sat back, drinking and glaring at him. Until Tristan started dancing with Sydney. Then Ethan gets up and tells him to take his hands off her. Tristan swung at Ethan, and then everyone went crazy. Tristan’s friends jumped in. Ethan’s friends jumped in. I did my part, of course. Then security and cops were there, but Tristan didn’t calm down like everyone else, and he was searched and arrested.”
I sat back, stunned. The fight had broken out over Sydney. A part of me was relieved that I hadn’t been mentioned, but my irrational jealous side was in flames. Ethan had fought over Sydney, not me. Uncertainty knotted my stomach, and as the server delivered our food, I doubted I could eat.
“Is Ethan okay? I saw pictures of Tristan and he looked beat up, how is everyone else?” Concern over Ethan won out over my other emotions.
Shane’s lip’s curled. “He’s fine. Tristan barely got a punch in. I didn’t know Ethan could throw down like he did. He and Liam rocked everyone that got involved.”
I nodded, relieved. But Shane’s smirk put me on edge.
“Sydney was thrilled by the action; especially since she thought she was at the center of it. She thought Ethan was being protective of her. What do you think?”
I shrugged, trying to contain the flames of jealousy rising in me. “Did Sydney not want to dance with Tristan?”
Perhaps he was being too aggressive with her, and she needed protection.
“She seemed to be enjoying herself with Tristan, but Ethan still stepped in. Do you know why?” His eyes glowed with unspoken information.
I bristled at his question. “What? What do you want me to say?”
He chuckled and patted his hands in the air in a calming motion. “Relax. I just want your side of the story.”
I met his gaze. “I don’t have one. I wasn’t there.”
“But you’re involved. See, Sydney didn’t hear what Ethan was saying while he fought Tristan.”
His words pulled on the knots in my stomach, tightening them.
“Ethan kept threatening that Tristan would regret ever touching you. So, doll, I want to know your side.”
I froze, trying to think of how to explain. I didn’t want people knowing anything about Wednesday night, but I didn’t want people to think I had a fling with Tristan either. Shane seemed nice, but I doubted he would keep our conversation a secret.
I pulled up my sleeve to reveal the bruises that were now an easily seen black and blue, and then I dropped the fabric back in place, covering my shoulder. “Tristan grabbed me the other night. Ethan knew about it and was pissed.”
Shane’s smirk vanished. “Well, that explains it
. What happened with Tristan?”
“He grabbed me the other night to keep me from leaving. It didn’t work.” I tried to smile.
Shane leaned back. “Maybe you are a badass if you can defend yourself against him. Well, either way, that bastard got his last night, and now he’s facing a shitload of legal trouble. Stupid ass.”
He rubbed his fingers over his chin. “I’ll have to let Sydney know her prince wasn’t intervening for her, but for you.”
“Just let it go. I wasn’t there; it could have been her he was sticking up for.”
Shane looked at me sideways. “You’re smarter than that; it’s obvious he’s into you.”
I cleared my throat and changed the subject. “Sonja will be back on Monday. She’s coming home early.”
Shane’s eyes bulged. “Why?”
I smiled, thankful I could feed him gossip that didn’t involve me. I knew that Sonja was okay with me sharing the story since she had told me to spread the word. She was coming back a single girl. “She broke up with Sebastian.”
“Uh oh. You are going to have some competition then. You may be the new girl that has everyone’s attention, but she’s the sweet girl next door who’s never been available. She started dating Sebastian in high school. Plenty of guys have been waiting on this day.”
“Who?” I asked, chewing my food as I took in his words. This meal was exhausting. I felt like I had been on a rollercoaster of emotions, but I refused to be anything but supportive of my sister. If guys were into her, good. I hoped it would distract her from her heartache. And if Ethan was one of them, then good thing I found out now instead of wasting any more time.
That’s what my brain was thinking, but my heart was flip-flopping like a fish out of water at the idea of Ethan choosing her over me. Sonja was bubbly and nice, with a quick, lean frame; she was different from me in many ways. If that was his ideal girl, then I couldn’t compete. I stopped this line of thought. I didn’t have time or emotions left to waste on hypothetical problems; I had enough real life issues to stress over.
It Goes On Page 20
