“Why am I not surprised you haven’t told them about me yet?” Blake teased, threading her arm in mine and leaning up on her toes to kiss my cheek.
Charlie watched that kiss with murder in her eyes.
“Reese always was the perpetual bachelor,” she explained to the group, a charming smile firmly in place. “I don’t think the word girlfriend left his lips in at least ten years before he made it official with me.”
Maxwell and Gloria laughed at that, and it was a perfect segue for Gloria to tell the story of how she and Maxwell had met and started dating. I smiled and nodded as she did, but my eyes kept finding Charlie’s, and hers never left mine.
I wasn’t sure if she wanted to cry or kill me.
It felt a little like both.
I cursed the time on my watch that told me I had to make my way to my piano. I wouldn’t get my first fifteen-minute break for at least an hour, and that meant an hour of playing and not talking to Charlie. It meant an hour of her not knowing why I kept Blake from her, and how I felt about her.
It also meant an hour with Cameron.
And an hour for Blake to make things even worse.
I gritted my teeth, knowing I had no choice but to wait for that break. I had to figure out a way to get her away from the table when that time came.
“Well, it’s time for me to start,” I said. “I’ll join you for a drink after this first set.”
“Oh, good luck, babe!” Blake said excitedly, kissing my cheek again before taking her seat next to Gloria.
“Break a leg, son,” Maxwell chimed.
And with one last, longing look at Charlie, I made my way to the piano.
It was the longest, most torturous hour of my life.
While playing the piano for someone other than a student again should have brought me nothing but joy, all I could do was force a smile as I played through my set list, all the while checking the time on my watch for an acceptable amount of time to pass for me to take a break.
When I wasn’t charming the crowd with the occasional wink and smile, I was staring at Charlie.
Blake seemed to be the one filling all the conversation at the table, and the more she made everyone else laugh, the more I watched Charlie drink. The more she drank, the more her brows lowered as she glared at me.
It was literally the worst-case scenario, and I cursed myself more and more each passing minute for not making time to explain to her before the night had arrived. Trying to catch her at school earlier today had been impossible, but I should have somehow found a way to make it work. I should have waited to use the damn bathroom until she was here.
Rookie mistakes, ones that would cost me.
Still, I wasn’t out of cards, and I played one I hoped would salvage the night as I rounded out my set list.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” I said, fingers softly grazing the keys as I addressed the crowd. “It’s time for me to take a short break. But don’t worry, I’ll be back soon to continue playing your requests. Before I go, here’s one last song. This one is an original, one I wrote for a very special girl.” I smiled then. “I think that’s how all the great love songs start, isn’t it?”
The crowd chuckled a bit at that, and I found Charlie’s eyes once more, wondering if she was starting to recognize the tune as my fingers moved. Blake pressed a hand to her chest where she sat beside Gloria. She thought the song was for her.
But I didn’t have to say for Charlie to know.
It was the same tune she’d woken up to, the one I’d written after I’d had her for the first time, after I’d touched her, kissed her, existed inside her. And when the first crescendo played, I saw recognition hit.
Charlie’s frown faded for the first time that night, and I begged her with my eyes across that crowded room to listen. I tried with the only tool I had to bring her back to that night, to the weekend, to the night not so long ago before everything got even more complicated between us.
That night seemed so far away now.
Had it really just been days before? Was it really only Wednesday now? For some reason, that first night we shared seemed like years ago, and my chest ached with the need to bring it back to Charlie. I wanted to take her home. I wanted to hold her. I wanted to remind her how she could be loved, if she chose me.
Cameron had forgotten their anniversary. He had forgotten to be a husband to Charlie when she needed him most. Now, he begged her for more time, but he didn’t deserve it.
He didn’t deserve her.
Then again, I was the one with a “girlfriend” sitting at the table with her right now. As much as Cameron had hurt her, now I had, too.
I just hoped the song would reach her.
Charlie watched me as I played, her face stoic, hand reaching for her wine every now and then. I still cast my gaze over the entire crowd, but I found her more than usual that song, trying to read her, trying to hold her with the song since I couldn’t hold her in my arms.
Near the end, I watched the candlelight catch in her eyes as they glossed over, and she shook her head before standing abruptly, whispering something to Cameron before dashing back toward the bathrooms.
There was another full minute in the song, but I ended it early, thanking the restaurant for their applause all the while making sure I didn’t lose Charlie in the crowd. Once I’d taken my bows, I stopped by the table long enough to ask Blake to order me a drink and thank the Reids for their kind compliments.
Then, I excused myself for the bathroom, chasing after the only girl who mattered.
Charlie
I flew into the women’s bathroom with steam rolling off my skin in waves.
Stomping into the first open stall, I slammed the door closed behind me and fisted my hands at my sides. If it wasn’t such a nice restaurant, I would have screamed. I would have cursed. I would have probably cried.
Because I’d been duped.
Reese had done nothing but look at me like I was the only woman who mattered in the world for the last two months. He’d taken his time, slowly making his way inside my heart, and once he’d had it, he’d dug his claws in deep. I believed every word he said — how could I not with the sincerity I found in his emerald eyes?
But Blake Springthorpe was living proof that all of it was a lie.
Reese had a girlfriend, and suddenly everything that had existed between us felt like the reflection of a fun house mirror. It was warped — a fat, distorted version of the truth.
He’d lied to me, he’d kept any mention of Blake out of every single conversation we’d had, and even worse — he’d cheated on her.
With me.
A married woman.
A new rush of anger flooded me at the realization, at how stupid I had been, how careless, how completely naïve. I let it take me over, my body bending with that rage, until it faded and left behind the real cause of my grief.
Hurt.
I was hurt.
I was jealous and scared, angry and sad, and more than anything, I was confused. Why would he say the things he did, and do the things he’d done, if he was in a relationship? Was he ever going to tell me about her? Was he ever going to end it with her?
Or was I just a conquest?
My fingers ran up through my hair, twisting and gripping until the pain I felt in my chest transitioned to my scalp.
It occurred to me then that while I knew the Reese Walker who existed fourteen years ago, the one I’d stayed up late with talking and listening to him play piano, I hadn’t a clue who he had become over the years — or who he really was now.
How could I believe him as the boy I used to know, when that boy no longer existed?
I forced several breaths in the bathroom stall before slowly moving to the sink. I washed my hands calmly, reapplying my lipstick and fixing my hair. For a moment, I just stared at the woman gazing back at me, the woman I didn’t recognize. I saw so many things in that reflection: a wife, a daughter, a cheater, a liar, a lost little girl, a selfish woman.
>
I wondered what other people saw.
When my heart was as calm as it could be, given the circumstances, I opened the door that led back into the restaurant. But before I could take two steps, a hand wrapped around my wrist, and I was yanked into the mens’ bathroom.
Panic surged through me as Reese tugged me inside, pressing my back into the door and covering my mouth with his hand as he locked it behind us. When I realized it was him, I narrowed my eyes, biting his middle finger until he yanked his hand back.
“Ouch!” He shook his hand out. “What the hell, Charlie?”
“You were messing up my lipstick,” I said flatly, pressing my hands into his chest. I shoved him off me, crossing the empty bathroom to the mirror to fix the mess he’d made.
Reese just watched me, and I knew what he wanted — he wanted me to make a scene. He wanted me to cry, to beg him to tell me who Blake was and what she meant to him, but I refused to give him the satisfaction.
Instead, I acted completely unfazed, wetting the corner of a paper towel before wiping away the small smudges around my lips.
“Charlie,” he started, moving into the space behind me. “I’m so sorry about Blake. I can explain.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” I said calmly. “She’s told us plenty of stories over the last hour. I think I know all I need to know.”
“It’s complicated.”
I scoffed. “I’m sure it is.”
Reese blew out a frustrated sigh, stepping a little closer until my eyes found his in the mirror.
“When I left New York, yes — she was technically still my girlfriend. But only because we never talked about what we were. Ever. She was more a roommate than anything. We never agreed to be long distance, and we never agreed to keep seeing each other.”
“But you never called it off either, did you?”
He swallowed. “No, but—”
I just laughed, shaking my head. “That’s rich. I suppose you were never going to tell me about her then?”
“I didn’t think I needed to.”
I spun then, stepping into his space until there were just centimeters between us. He stared down his nose at me, and our chests brushed, sparking a heat low in my stomach that made me even angrier.
I hated that he affected me that way.
“You didn’t think you needed to mention you had a girlfriend?”
Reese clenched his jaw. “Like I said, it’s complicated. And I’m going to address this with her.”
“Oh, are you?” I laughed again, crossing my arms over my chest. “Well, that’s just great. Let me know how that goes.”
“Damn it, Charlie,” Reese snapped. “Stop acting like that and listen to me.”
“Acting like what?”
“Like you don’t care. Like you’re not upset right now,” he said, stepping into my space again. He lowered his voice. “Like you don’t want me to kiss you.”
A chill swept over me, electricity sparking low and hot between my thighs. My eyelids fluttered, and then anger surged in like a riptide, masking the desire.
“You are unbelievable.” I scoffed, throwing my hands up as I crossed the bathroom. “I’m going back to the table.”
“Did you forget that you’re the one who’s married? That you just asked me — yesterday — to be okay with the fact that you’re staying with him for at least two more months?”
“EXACTLY!” I spun on him again, unwelcome tears flooding my eyes. They only made me angrier. “I’m married. And you have a girlfriend. So why didn’t you just leave me alone?”
“Because I love you.”
My heart sank, falling into a sad heap on the floor below us as my face twisted with the agony his words brought.
“Don’t say that to me,” I whispered, the tears spilling over now. I wiped them away quickly, furious that I’d let them fall at all. “Don’t lie to me anymore.”
“It’s not a lie, and you know it.” Reese stepped into me, his thumb replacing my own as he dried my tears. Then, he lifted my chin until my eyes met his. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about her, Charlie. I am. I don’t have any valid excuse as to why I didn’t. And I know I have to handle things with her, but just like you, I need a little bit of time, okay?”
His eyes pleaded with mine, but my heart was already bruised by his hands, and now it cowered away from where it once ran to him for comfort.
“What are we doing?” I whispered, shaking my head. “We’re hurting them, we’re hurting each other. Why?”
“Because we know what we feel is real,” he answered simply. “Because you’re my home. Because I’m your happiness. Because I love you, Charlie. And you love me. And if there’s anything in this world worth making a mess over, worth fighting for, it’s that.”
My stomach twisted with pain again, but my heart responded to his words with a hard, steady beat. I didn’t know if what he said made any of this right, but I knew it was true.
Where did that leave us?
“I don’t know what to believe anymore,” I confessed. “I feel like I’m in a dream. A nightmare.”
“Trust what you felt with me this weekend,” he said. “What I know you still feel.”
“How?” I shook my head. “How do I know what’s real anymore?”
Reese’s knuckle lifted my chin, his lips lowering for mine, and I held my breath wishing for that kiss. I just needed something — anything — to bring me back to him, to the way it had felt over the weekend, to the relief and love I’d found in his arms.
But before his lips met mine, a hard, loud knock sounded at the door.
“Charlie? Are you in there?”
I pushed Reese away, wiping away what was left of the tears on my face before quickly crossing the bathroom to unlock the door.
Cameron stood on the other side of it once I swung it open, and I watched his face twist as confusion and concern for me morphed into a solid, unrelenting rage once he saw Reese standing behind me.
“Your parents were worried,” he said flatly, not taking his eyes off Reese. “As was I.”
“I’m fine,” I said with a croaky voice. I cleared my throat, sliding my hand into his. “I was just coming back.”
Cameron nodded. “Did he hurt you?”
“Are you fucking kidding me, man?” Reese said incredulously.
“No, of course not,” I added quickly. “Come on, let’s go back to the table.”
“I think we should go.” Cameron’s grip on my hand was strong, his eyes still narrowed at Reese.
Reese started toward us, but I turned to warn him with my eyes not to press.
“I still have another set,” he said.
“I think we’ve heard enough.” Cameron’s words were final, and he tucked me under one arm with the punctuation of them, guiding me out of the bathroom.
I didn’t look back.
“Are you okay?” Cameron asked once we were moving through the crowd.
“I’m fine.”
“You sure?”
I nodded, crossing my arms over my middle. “I just want to go home.”
Cameron walked me to the front first, giving the valet our ticket and wrapping me in my coat before excusing himself to go back to our table. I watched him from across the restaurant as he let everyone know we were leaving, that I wasn’t feeling well. He made his way back to me quickly, just as Reese took the piano again, and my eyes flicked between the two of them.
I hated them both.
But I loved them both, too.
And for that, I hated myself.
Cameron
Nothing killed me quite as much as the sight of Charlie crying.
Maybe that was why I’d had to use every ounce of willpower in me not to smash Reese’s face into the bathroom sink at The Kinky Starfish. That’s what I told myself, although I knew the bigger part of that was the fact that he had my wife locked in a bathroom with him.
Alone.
And she was crying.
My fists tightened a
round the steering wheel at the memory of it, and I cracked my neck, reciting every calming word I had to keep my cool. Every cell in my body wanted to combust with the rage I felt toward that man, toward what he’d done to my wife — to my marriage.
I wanted to forbid her from ever seeing him again, to move us across the country and away from him, but that wouldn’t fix anything.
The truth was I couldn’t tell Charlie what to do, or what not to do. She didn’t belong to me.
I’d lost that privilege, and even when I’d had it, I never would have used it.
I respected her too much.
I didn’t want her to do something because she felt obligated to, least of all stay with me, or stay away from him. All I truly wanted was her happiness. Did I yearn to be the one she found it with? More than anything. But if she didn’t, if her happiness was with him at the end of it all, I would bow out as gracefully as I could and wish them well.
But tonight, he hadn’t made her happy. He’d made her cry.
And I wanted to murder him.
Charlie was still sniffling as we drove into our housing development. My hand had found her knee when we rounded the last corner before our driveway, and I squeezed gently, letting her know I was there.
“Want me to run you a hot bath?” I asked when we were parked.
She shook her head softly, eyes on her hands as she sniffed again. “I’d just like to go to bed.”
My stomach knotted, but I squeezed her knee again in understanding before pushing my door open. I circled the car quickly to grab hers next, helping her up and out, and she held onto me as we walked inside.
I had to reach her.
That’s all I could think as I watched her kick out of her heels, abandoning them on the hardwood behind her as she made her way upstairs. I followed, my eyes stuck on her delicate spine she’d revealed as she swept her long hair over her shoulder, and blood pumped through me harder at the thought of touching her.
It was the only way I could get to her tonight.
I didn’t have words — I never did. Tonight was no different. What could I say to possibly comfort her from the pain another man had caused? And there wasn’t a single thing I could think to give her in that moment that would make her feel any better — nothing I could build, nothing I could cook, nothing I could buy.
What He Always Knew (What He Doesn't Know Duet Book 2) Page 4
