And then she walked out.
I read it. I read it late into the night. I read some entries twice through.
And then I regretted everything I’d said to my best friend. Everything. I regretted it so much that it hurt.
She’d fallen in love.
And she’d denied herself that love because of me.
I tried to text her I’m sorry, until I realized I’d smashed her phone to bits. “Fuck,” I muttered. “Fuck.”
I texted Tiago. No answer. I asked him if I could come by. I needed him. I needed him badly.
No answer.
I splashed water on my face, made myself up. He wouldn’t understand the drama, and it would only confuse things between us after our argument. I was wobbly. I needed an anchor. You can only work in the present. And in the present, Tiago and I had had a fight. And I needed to fix that.
I’d go over there, and I’d show him how much I loved him, and how much I wanted it to work out between us.
This with Nicole changed things. The reason she’d avoided hooking up with Johnny, is the same reason I would tell her she had my blessing to chase him. Because she was my best friend. And because I loved her as much as she loved me. I wanted her to be happy.
I jumped on the F train, northbound, got off at Delancey Street, walked the five minutes to Clinton. Climbed the steps of Tiago’s walkup. It was midnight. I didn’t want to wake the boys up. I used my key, opened the door. And heard the murmurs...
I smiled, thinking François or Erik had finally hooked up.
I closed the door, walked to Tiago’s bedroom.
And realized the murmurs were coming from there.
My heart dropped.
I opened the door slowly, too afraid of what was inside.
And there she was.
Blond.
Naked, except for the stilettos. Ass so perfect it could be her goddamn face. A tattoo above that ass, of a heart with an arrow through it. On her knees. Her head bobbing up and down feverishly.
And Tiago’s hard cock inside her mouth.
I should have known.
-5-
I actually stood there and watched for a while. Dazzled. Completely dazzled and floored.
Tiago did the same. Frozen. His face suddenly absolutely pale.
Only Simone remained oblivious. She kept sucking away, loud suction sounds coming from her as she gave him a real professional once-over. Maybe she was practicing for the LA Adult Film Industry.
I couldn’t even get upset. Not yet. The fist to my chest still had me bewildered. And the day had just been too fucking crazy. I was still so tired from my cat-fight with Nicole.
I simply turned, walked out.
“Catherine, wait, wait!”
“Huh!? What!” (That was Simone finally coming to the party.)
In the living room, I turned to face Tiago. He held a shirt in front of his cock. Completely naked otherwise. His body was so beautiful.
Yup, now it began to hurt...
I’d had sex with that body.
I’d told the owner of that body that I loved him.
And I did. I did love him. I loved his pain, his beauty, his heart. His mind.
I loved him completely.
Yeah, hurts bad. Hurts real fucking bad.
I held my index finger up. Fought violently against the tears threatening to hemorrhage inside me. “Don’t!” I held it together just long enough, got ready for a second statement. “Just—don’t!”
I turned, bolted down the stairs. From behind me, upstairs, “Catherine, I...I’m sorry!”
When I got outside, my lunch came out of me.
-6-
I needed Nicole.
So I called Johnny.
It’s the only place I figured she could go. She wouldn’t go to her godparents. And she had no phone because I’d destroyed it. Yeah, great friend that I was.
“Cat.”
“J—Johnny, is Nic—Nicole with you?”
“Uhm, yeah. Look, Cat, you need to under—”
“Nicole. Please.” I couldn’t get any more words out.
He sighed.
“Please. Please.”
Nicole took the phone. “What.”
I started weeping, weeping violently. Weeping into the phone.
“Cat, where are you? Cat?”
I just wept, snot coming out my noise; the pain finally landing on me hard, slamming me down and screeching against my ears like heavy missiles. I sat on one of those little railing-guard thingies around a tree.
And then Tiago arrived downstairs. Flushed. Dressed.
“GET AWAY!” I shouted at him. “GET—THE—FUCK—AWAY!”
“Catherine, please, let me explain.”
“GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!”
I put the phone to my ear, “Nic—Nic—Nic—”
She understood now. “Baby, I’m on my way. Gimme Tiago.”
I was shell-shocked, trembling.
“Cat, give me Tiago. Give me Tiago, honey. You’re gonna be OK. I’m gonna come get you. Just give me the prick.”
My mind still wasn’t registering. Still—
And then he touched me.
And I snapped awake.
“Don’t!” I said to him again. I gave him my phone. “Take it! It’s for you.”
Tiago took the phone. “Y—yes?”
I didn’t hear what was said.
Tiago: “Nicole, I—”
Nicole said something else.
Tiago remained silent, looked at me anxiously. Nodded. Nodded again. “I—I understand,” he said. “Y—Y— No. No, I didn’t. I— Yes. I’ll hold.”
We waited. Waited. Waited.
I couldn’t look at him. Couldn’t. I looked at my feet, felt the tears drop from me like raindrops.
I couldn’t believe I’d given myself to him.
He spoke again. “Y—yes? OK. Yes. Fine. Bye.”
He gave me the phone.
“Baby,” Nicole said, “we’re gonna take care of this. Lissa and Delon live two minutes away, same building as each other. One of them will be there. Go with the first one to arrive. Stay on the line with me until they—”
“I see— I see him, Nic,” I said. “I see Delon. Oh, and... Lissa’s also here.”
“Baby? Don’t talk to Tiago. Don’t. Start walking to Delon. Keep talking to me. Tell me about your day. Tell me about...your book.”
Nicole kept me anchored while the world spun.
I started walking to Delon, talking to Nicole about the book she already knew everything about, avoiding Tiago, keeping distracted, avoiding the inevitable breakdown.
I reached Delon
And then I collapsed.
Hard concrete crashed up against my knees. I dropped my phone, wailed.
Lissa and Delon picked me up.
And they practically dragged me to their place.
-7-
Nicole arrived at Delon’s place an hour later. By now she already knew the details of what had happened. I’d been talking to her on the phone while Johnny had driven.
She thanked Delon and Lissa for me.
I held the hot tea that Delon had been plying me with since I’d arrived. Imported. Has a calming effect apparently.
Nicole got on her knees, looked up at me on the couch with red, beautiful eyes. Pushed some hair behind my ear.
“I’m—I’m—I’m sorr—” I tried to say.
She shook her head. “Shhh. Shhh, babe. So am I. So am I.”
We held each other, and doing so brought all the tears back again. She felt warm and kind and soft. And she smelled good. She smelled like my best friend.
She deserved a man like Johnny. She did. I’d live with it somehow. Because she was like my sister. And because I loved her.
I pushed her back, wiped my nose. “Where’s—where’s Johnny?” I asked.
She looked away.
“Nic, where’s Johnny?”
She swallowed hard, looked down.
“Ni
cole? What’s...what’s going on?”
She looked up at me, her face now pale. “Babe...I tried to stop him. I tried—”
“Tried to stop him from what?”
“He wouldn’t listen, Cat. He was mad. He was raging. Worse than that night with Mike.”
Mike. The guy Johnny had almost killed.
Oh, no...
It began to dawn on me now. Oh, dear God, no. Please no.
Johnny’s words: Cat, this guy... If he treats you wrong, I’ll hurt him. I will. I’ll hurt him so he can’t walk again.
“Nicole? Is he...?” My voice was weak, my bladder weaker.
She nodded.
“Ohgod.” My hand went to my forehead.
“Ohgod what?” Delon asked, frustrated. Lissa stood frowning next to him.
Nicole looked up at them with weary eyes. “Johnny—Johnny’s gone to Tiago’s place, Delon. He’s gonna fuck Tiago up.”
“Oh, fuck that’s hot,” Delon said.
“There’s more, Cat.” Nicole looked at me again.
I couldn’t take anymore. I just stared at her, not even able to ask what.
Cars honked outside.
Nicole bit her lip, bowed her head.
“Nic, tell me. Just fucking tell me!”
She looked at my feet, grasped my fingers tighter.
“I tried to stop them, Cat. You must know that. I did. I promise you. I begged them. But you know how men are. They—”
“WHAT. ELSE!”
“Thunder, Cat.” Her eyes met mine. “Thunder’s gone with Johnny.” I stopped breathing. “Thunder’s gone with Johnny to fuck Tiago up.”
To be continued...
BOOK THREE
-1-
Book Three has a scheduled release date of January 16, 2015. I am also planning a series of short novellas covering the lives of some of the other characters in this series.
To be informed of Book Three’s release, please sign up for my newsletter here: http://racheldunningauthor.blogspot.com/
If you enjoyed this book, I would really appreciate it if you could give it a review from wherever you purchased it.
If you’d like to email me personally, here is my address: [email protected]. Few things put me in a better mood than hearing from my readers.
You can also hook up with me on Facebook here: http://bit.ly/RachelDunning
Thanks so much for reading!
Love,
Rachel
-2-
Also by Rachel Dunning:
Finding North, #1 Naïve Mistakes Series
East Rising, #2 Naïve Mistakes Series
West-End Boys, #3 Naïve Mistakes Series
Deep South, #4 Naïve Mistakes Series
Johnny, #1 Johnny Series
Red-Hot Blues, Standalone Novel
Like You, #1 Perfectly Flawed Series
Know Me, #1 Truthful Lies
Find Me, #2 Truthful Lies
Need Me, #3 Truthful Lies
Christmas Comfort, #1 Hot Holidays Series
Easter Sundae, #2 Hot Holidays Series
Girl-Nerds Like it Harder, #1 Girl-Nerd Series
Girl Nerds Like it Faster, #2 Girl-Nerd Series
Girl-Nerds Like it Deeper, #3 Girl-Nerd Series
Girl-Nerds Like it Longer, #4 Girl-Nerd Series
For news of upcoming releases, visit:
http://racheldunningauthor.blogspot.com
Or connect with me on Facebook:
http://bit.ly/RachelDunning
Losing Johnny Page 18
