Miles Apart (The Not So Bad Boys of Rock Book 2)

by Rhonda James

  “You are a great guy, Sebastian. Brook would be a fool not to say yes. I know that she loves you. I think you two will be very happy together.” I heard a small voice trying to speak over Natalie, and I smiled, knowing who that voice belonged to. “Okay sweetie. Sebastian, I have someone here that would like to say something to you.” I heard a rustling sound as the phone was transferred over to Olivia, and then a moment of heavy breathing.

  “Good luck Uncle Bastian. I love you.” Olivia cooed into the phone, making my heart melt. I loved that kid, and I loved how she still called me Uncle Bastian, even though she was finally able to pronounce my name.

  “Aw, thank you peanut. Uncle Bastian loves you too. I’m sending a big hug your way, okay? Be sure to take care of Gibson for me until I get back.”

  “Say hi to Brooke.”

  “I’ll be sure to say hi to Brooke for you. Bye-bye.”

  “Bye!” She squealed, before ending the call. It never seemed to amaze me how kids that small could figure out technology. I shook my head, chuckling to myself, and made my way down the hall and over to Brooke’s apartment complex.

  It took some persuading, but I was finally able to convince the apartment superintendent I was Brooke’s fiancé and that I wanted to surprise her. Yeah, I know it was a lie, and pretty low, but my plan required that I have some time to set the scene. Dek had called the restaurant for me and found out that Brooke was working tonight. I had just about an hour before she’d be home, and then I would finally have the chance to ask her to be my wife.

  I set up my iPad and opened up the playlist labeled “Honey.” I finished arranging the vases of roses that had just been delivered, before lighting a few candles. I reached into my pocket and felt the square ring box tucked safely away.

  Now I just had to be patient, and wait.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Brooke~

  “I can’t believe he actually had the gall to expect me to just accept him back into my life with open arms.” I spit out, still seething about the encounter. Reid had met me and, immediately sensing that I was upset, had steered me to the nearest pub rather than heading home. At first I protested, but after three beers I had loosened up and stopped trying to get him to leave.

  “You really haven’t laid eyes on him since you were eleven?” I nodded slowly in response. He’d just sat through the quickie version of my sad upbringing. With the final pull on each beer I found myself getting more and more riled. “Maybe he had a really good reason for staying away. When’s the last time you’ve spoken to your mom?”

  “About a year I guess.” I shrugged casually, as if it really didn’t matter. Most of the time it didn’t seem to affect me. Today, however, the impact of that reality hit hard. Staying away had been easier, making it seem almost as if none of it had ever happened. Seeing him face to face brought all of it back to the surface, and the fear that went along with it. Without thought or hesitation I began to cry. I cried hard, and Reid remained quiet, letting me process all of it. After a few moments he pulled me against his chest and rocked me back and forth, calming me with the soft sounds of his voice.

  “I’m okay. Really. Thank you.” I mumbled, removing myself from his embrace.

  “You sure?” He titled his head and peered down at me, his gaze lingering a bit too long. I nodded once more. “I think this calls for one more drink.” He motioned for the waitress and held up two fingers, indicating for her to bring two more beers. A moment later she set them down before us.

  “To facing the past.” He raised his bottle to mine. “May the journey back not be as hellacious as the escape.” I tapped my bottle to his and brought it to my lips.

  “Amen to that.”

  We stayed at the pub a while longer, talking and listening to the random songs that blared through the overhead sound system. He really was a nice guy, and so easy to talk to. With each drink it became easier to open up and share my life with him. I usually never drank this much and found myself feeling a little too comfortable with him. Something deep within me told me it was time to head home and put an end to this, before things went too far.

  I missed Sebastian, that’s all it was. Right?

  “Reid, I think that we should probably head back home. It’s getting late.” I stood, stumbling ever so slightly. He grabbed an elbow to steady me.

  “You okay there, lightweight?” He teased.

  “Lightweight? I've had four beers. That’s nothing to scoff at for a girl my size.” I protested, hands on my hips.

  "Look at you, all sassy and cute.” He chuckled, giving me a wink and light nudge with his elbow.

  “You know it.” I retorted back, full of sass.

  We made our way back to the apartment, laughing and singing, which reminded me of Sebastian. He’d never called me back, a fact that had left me a touch angry. I’d really needed him today. Thank goodness Reid had been there to help me through it. I glanced over at him and realized just how much I’d come to rely on his friendship over the past two months. Being far from friends and family had been more difficult than I had originally imagined. Having him there to invite me to parties, walk me home from work, and care for me when I was sick had meant so much.

  “I still can’t believe you got me to sing karaoke.” I nudged him with my elbow. Just as we had been leaving the bar we were approached by the waitress. She'd handed us a slip of paper and gave a tip of her head toward a table of guys sitting rows over. The slip was a challenge for a karaoke sing-off. Never one to back down from a challenge, we had taken the stage.

  “Hey, we were great up there and you know it. Everybody loved us. Didn’t you hear them screaming for an encore? I guess now we have a taste of what it must feel like to be famous.” He laughed, hysterically.

  We were still laughing when we trudged up the last flight of stairs. We stood in the hall, halfway between his door and mine, and remained quiet for a moment.

  “Well, good night." I offered, putting an end to the awkward silence. "Thank you again for helping me through this. It was a nice distraction. I had a lot of fun.”

  “You don’t have to thank me, Brooke." He took my hands in his own and made slow sweeping passes over the back of mine with his thumb. "I’ll always be here for you. Haven’t you learned that by now. I’m crazy about you.” The next thing I knew he had my face in his hands and his lips were covering mine.

  I was stunned. I’d been aware that he had a crush on me, but after our talk a few weeks ago things between us had shifted and he had been treating me more like a friend. I suddenly realized how blind I had been. I was also painfully aware that, without realizing it, I had been asking for this. Maybe I had encouraged it. I should have known better. How was I ever going to explain this to Sebastian when I couldn’t begin to comprehend it myself?

  What happened next was a complete blur. One minute Reid was kissing me, the next he was on the floor with Sebastian on top of him. Fists were flying, and I heard loud cursing. I couldn’t move. My heart was pounding in my chest, and stomach acids churned in my stomach. I couldn’t believe that Sebastian was here. But it wasn’t him being here that had me feeling sick. It was what had him rolling around on the floor with Reid that made me want to throw up. He had obviously witnessed us kissing.

  “Stop it! Get away from him!” I screamed, finally coming to my senses. He didn’t listen. The punches kept landing and Reid’s blood splattered on the wall beside me. I had never seen this side of him, he was out of control. “Sebastian, please, stop!” I screamed again, jumping on his back. I didn’t care what he saw, it wasn't reason enough to beat someone senseless. He shook me off and jumped up, backing up to the wall. I looked over at him. His eyes were narrowed slits, showing no sign of their usual light and happiness. Blood dripped from his nose and his upper lip was split, but that seemed to be the extent of the damage. I glanced down at Reid, bloodied and bruised, and my heart leapt.

  “Look what you’ve done to him. What the hell is wrong with you?” I hissed through my
clenched jaw. The combination of too much alcohol and violence suddenly had my head pounding.

  By now he was now pacing frantically, which was typical behavior for him when he was agitated. This went way beyond agitated, this was insanity. “What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” He repeated, the tone of his voice shot up a notch. “I saw you… You were kissing him!”

  “That's not what happened!" I argued. Anger surged through my veins. I couldn't believe what I had just witnessed. This was not the man that I knew and loved. What I had just seen was a man completely out of control. It frightened the hell out of me. I rolled my eyes as he continued to stare at me with contempt on his face.

  "Oh for crying out loud. Help me get him up.” I ordered. “We can't leave him here like this. We need to get him into his apartment.” I straddled Reid’s body, struggling to lift him.

  “Move.” Sebastian barked, pushing me gently aside. “Unlock the door and then grab hold of his feet.” I moved quickly, hands shaking as I fumbled for his keys.

  “Reid, I am so sorry about all of this.” I muttered, softly, shaking my head. We placed him on the sofa and Sebastian stood by the door as I tended to tucking him in and checking to be sure that he was okay to be left alone.

  “Are you going to be okay?” I asked, quietly.

  “Yeah.” He stirred and answered hoarsely. “It’s just a few bumps and bruises. No big deal. The question is, will you be okay? That guy has a short fuse, Brooke. I warned you about that. Has he ever hurt you?” He whispered.

  “What? No. He’s never. He wouldn’t. I told you, he’s just protective. He loves me.” I ran my hands back and forth over my arms, attempting to wipe away the goose bumps.

  “Do you still love him?” His eyes pleaded with me to say no.

  I hesitated before answering, then looked over my shoulder at Sebastian. He stood there quietly, arms crossed in front of him, jaw firmly clenched, and every muscle pulsed as he fought to regain control. “Yes.” I answered, quietly.

  “He doesn’t deserve you.” I squeezed his hand and walked out the door, never making eye contact with the man that I loved, though I felt his stare penetrate right through me. I thought about what Reid said. In my heart I knew that Sebastian would never raise a hand to me, but after witnessing his rage I suddenly realized that there was a side to him that I didn't know. He had an adventurous side, a wild side, a tender side, and apparently a violent side. Why had it taken me nine months to see all of them? Was there more that I didn't know about him? Could you ever truly learn all there was to know about someone? And, did you really want to?

  “What are you doing here?” I spun on him after we made it into my apartment. “And where did you come from? You just appeared out of thin air.”

  “I came to see you. I wanted to surprise you. Guess I’m the one getting the surprise. It’s like my friggin' birthday all over again.”

  I was aware that something was different about this room. I turned around and found it full of hundreds of roses, all red, and there were candles lit throughout the apartment. Music played softly in the background. I walked over to the iPad, switching it off.

  “How did you get in here?” I asked, still angry for a lot of reasons. He hadn’t answered my call, or called me back. We hadn’t talked a whole lot over the last two months. The times we had spoken it seemed that we’d spent them arguing about one thing or another. He had just attacked a dear friend. And, on top of everything else, had somehow managed to get into my apartment and stage a romantic setting. Well, guess what. I wasn’t feeling very romantic at the moment.

  “I convinced your building manager to let me in.” He shrugged.

  “And just how did you do that? Did you bribe him?”

  “I may have slipped him a little cash and told him that I was your fiancé.”

  “I don’t believe this.” I threw my hands up and walked over to the nearest candle, blowing it out. I kept my back to him when I spoke next. “What you just did out there, I’m not sure what to think about that. Who the hell was that person?" I turned around, my arms remained folded tightly over my chest. "That wasn’t the Sebastian that I know and love." I leaned my hip against the back of the nearest armchair. "Or is it?”

  “I heard what he said to you. I watched him kiss you. You didn’t stop him.” He stated calmly. His hand rose to his face, wiping aimlessly at the blood dripping from his nose.

  “What do you mean you heard what he said? Were you eavesdropping on our conversation?” I turned and grabbed a kitchen towel from the counter, handing it over to him.

  “I wasn’t eavesdropping." He grabbed the towel, wiping his hand on it. "I was waiting here for you. I heard your voice and went to the door. I couldn’t wait to see you. I just wasn’t expecting to see that.” His voice sounded small, broken, nothing like the man I'd just watch pummel another human being senseless.

  “Sebastian. There’s nothing going on between us. That’s the first time he’s ever kissed me.”

  “You expect me to believe that? I saw it with my own two eyes. You didn’t stop him. You let him kiss you. I think you wanted him to.”

  “What?” I placed my hands on his chest and shoved him back. “Why would you say that?”

  “You’ve been acting different, ever since you’ve met him. I should have known something was up. I sensed that there was something going on, I was just too afraid to ask you about it.” He sat on the nearest chair.

  “What was all of this about?” I waved my hand over the room.

  “Tonight was the night I was finally going to propose to you. God!” He jumped up, pacing the room. “I’m so stupid. You never wanted to be with me did you? Not after you took this job. That’s why things have been so strained between us.”

  “That’s not true! Things have been strained, but I’ve tried, Sebastian. I’ve tried really hard to make this work. It’s not easy. We never talk anymore. We used to make time for each other. Now we go a week without so much as a word or text. It’s like we don’t have time for one another. It’s almost as if we’re no longer important to each other.” I brought a hand to my mouth, stifling the choking sobs. “I needed you today. I really needed you, and you weren’t there for me. I called you. I left a message begging you to call me. And nothing. I saw my dad today, for the first time in thirteen years. I was scared and I was hurting and I needed you, but Reid was the one that was there for me. Not you.”

  “That’s not fair, Brooke! We would have been together if you’d never left in the first place. I wanted you there with me.” His face contorted in anger. “You left me.” He jabbed his finger into his chest. “I would have been there for you. Hell, I’m here now! No matter what I do it’s never enough. I’m doing all the work these days and it’s still not enough. I don’t know if I can do this anymore.”

  I watched him struggle. I saw the pain in his face. The pleading in his eyes. And I didn’t care. All I heard was that he still blamed me for choosing my job. I had done this to us.

  This was all my fault.

  So I made a decision.

  “Then don’t.” I whispered.

  “What?” His hands fell to his side.

  “Let’s not do this anymore. I can’t do this anymore.” I croaked.

  “What are you saying, Brooke?” He walked over and knelt in front of me.

  “I guess that I’m saying it’s over. I’m tired of hurting you, and myself.”

  “You don’t mean that. Take it back.” He stood and stumbled backwards.

  “I’m sorry, but I won’t spend the rest of my life being blamed for the choices that I’ve made. That will only drive us further apart. Please, just leave.”

  “Don’t do this, please. I don’t blame you. Brooke?” He pleaded.

  “Yes you do. You just don’t realize it.” I reached for his hand. “I need you to know that I loved you. I still love you. But I can’t be the person you need me to be. I don’t want to be that person. I can’t give up my dreams just because you're afraid of them.
That’s not fair to either of us.” I kissed him softly on the lips. “Please don’t hate me.”

  The stern set of his jaw indicated his anger as he bent to retrieve his jacket and walked out the door without looking back. I stared at the door as the reality of what I’d just done sank in. I had just told the man I loved that it was over. I'd thrown him out of my apartment.

  Out of my life.

  I threw open the door but he was already gone. I heard a loud crash as the door at the bottom of the landing was thrown open.

  I shut the door, hearing the discernible click of the latch catching. I heard my heartbeat, thumping loudly in my ears. The noise was so loud I threw my hands over my ears, trying to block it out. But it was no use. It wasn't some external force that was trying to break me. It was coming from deep within, and it was in response to the pain I'd just created.

  I looked over and saw the multitude of flowers. They taunted me from every corner of the room. I ran over, grabbing the first vase, and hurled it against the wall. Water and rose petals went everywhere. It felt good to be destructive. I grabbed the next one and showed it the same attention. More destruction. Before long, I was surrounded by broken glass and red petals. I went around, grabbing each candle, and threw them into the sink, covering them with water. I sank against the refrigerator and slid down to the floor. My teeth chattered as I fought to suppress the dam threatening to burst from within. I hugged my knees to my chest and rocked back and forth, letting everything out.

  Sometime later, I opened my eyes and discovered that I was lying on the kitchen floor. The room was dark, and I was cold. I pulled myself up and stepped out into the living room. Everywhere I looked was covered in glass, water, and rose petals. I tentatively made my way through the mess and down the hall. What I found in the bedroom only made the ache cut deeper. Next to the bed was a larger bouquet of roses and a card. A beautifully wrapped present was propped against my pillow. I opened the card, not sure that I was ready to read it. The front of it showed a photo of a young woman being carried on the back of a man as they walked down the beach. The inside was filled with Sebastian’s scripted handwriting.