Love Games (Revenge Games Duet Book 2)

by Sky Corgan

  The night has taken a strange turn. I don't know what I'm doing anymore. I walk Willow to the door and make sure she gets home safely, staring at her longingly as she disappears inside her apartment.

  Willow

  Butterflies in my stomach; they were there last night in Caleb's apartment. I had wanted him to kiss me so badly. The things that he had said to me—the way he looked at me so intensely, like he had meant every word—it had my heart and my head reeling. Everything I felt for him in high school came back in those moments and was amplified tenfold. It must have been the alcohol.

  Thankfully, I was so physically and emotionally exhausted that I was able to pass out once I came home without dwelling on it too much. Now that I'm awake, though...Shouldn't I be thinking about what happened at the sex store—almost getting raped. That was the most traumatic experience of my entire life. Yet here I am thinking about Caleb instead.

  What in the hell is wrong with me?

  He has a girlfriend. I have a boyfriend. And even if we were both single, it would never happen. I'm sure he doesn't think of me like that. I'm sure he was just being nice.

  I really need to focus on making sure that our friendship can work. With that in mind, I go over to his place to offer to take him out to breakfast.

  “Are you working today?” I ask as soon as he opens the door to me. Thankfully, the butterflies from last night are gone. I had half expected to feel them when I laid eyes on him this morning. But there's nothing.

  “I'm not hungover, so yeah.”

  “Aw.” I sulk.

  “Why? What's up?”

  “I was going to take you out to breakfast to pay you back for rescuing me last night.” I rock on my heels.

  “I didn't rescue you, but I also won't turn down free breakfast.” He smiles.

  The mood feels tense between us as we sit across from each other at the diner down the road. I know that it was all because of the alcohol, but things got a bit awkward last night. I need to smooth them over by showing more interest in his relationship.

  “Can I see a picture of your girlfriend?” Why did I just ask that? If she's prettier than me, it's going to kill me inside.

  Caleb's jaw clenches as he stares down at his phone.

  “What's wrong?” I ask, wondering why he's hesitating.

  “You don't need to see her.” He glances away.

  “Why not?”

  Caleb chuckles at me, propping his elbows up on the table. “You sure are nosy.”

  “I'm just curious is all.” I take offense to his comment. “Is it weird to want to know about the girl that my best friend is dating?”

  “I suppose not. But I'd rather keep things private.”

  “Why? You don't want me to ever meet her?” I'm not sure how I would feel about meeting her, but I'd like to think that Caleb is comfortable enough with me to introduce us.

  “Is it necessary for you to meet her?” He raises an eyebrow.

  “I just want to see what type of woman could stand to be with you,” I tease him.

  “The type of woman that doesn't like dating douchy rich guys,” he retorts playfully.

  “Hey. I would rather date someone rich than someone broke.” I fold my arms over my chest. “I bet you take her out to Wendy's for dinner.”

  “I do. And she loves it. I let her get all of the dollar burgers she can eat.” He smirks.

  “Oh, how spoiled she must feel.” I roll my eyes at him. “Seriously, though, you've told me almost nothing about her. Is she younger? Older? What does she do for a living?”

  “None of your business.” He looks up at the ceiling as if trying to ignore me.

  “Does she even exist?” I narrow my eyes at him. He's being so vague that it's making me suspicious.

  “Of course she does.” He quirks his head back. “Don't you hear us at night when we're fucking?”

  That shuts me up. The thought of Caleb with any random woman stings.

  “Well, if she's not dating you because of money, I hope she's not just using you for sex.” I try to keep the mood light despite what I'm feeling inside. If we're going to preserve our friendship, these are conversations that I'm going to have to get used to having with him.

  “Ha! Like it actually works that way.”

  My smile fades as I lose the battle to my sinking mood. “I just don't want to see you get hurt.”

  “Have I said anything to indicate that I'm going to get hurt?”

  “No.” I shake my head. “Still.”

  “Then don't worry about it. My relationship is none of your concern.”

  But it is, though. Because next to Peter, Caleb is the most important person to me in this entire city.

  “Have you ever seen Caleb's girlfriend at the gym with him before?” I ask Becky the next day at work. She's been to the gym far more than I have lately, and I know that Caleb spends copious amounts of time there. It would make sense that his girlfriend would come to visit him.

  “No." She shakes her head. "Why?”

  “I'm just curious.”

  “Is she pretty?”

  “I don't know,” I reply hesitantly.

  “What do you mean you don't know? Haven't you met her before?” Becky gives me a queer look.

  “I haven't.” It's almost embarrassing to say. I claim to be close to Caleb, yet I've never met his girlfriend.

  “That's kind of odd,” she admits.

  “Has he ever talked to you about her before?”

  “No.”

  “It is odd.” I furrow my brow. “His Facebook status is still set to single, too.”

  Becky laughs.

  “What?” I knit my brow at her.

  “You sound like a stalker.” She grins.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You like him, don't you?”

  “I do not!” My mouth falls open.

  “Then why do you care so much about his girlfriend?” It's obvious she doesn't believe me.

  “Because he's my closest friend. You'd figure he'd introduce me to her.” I screw my face.

  “Well, he would definitely introduce her to you before me. And I haven't seen her at the gym.” She opens the data entry program to start work for the day.

  “Don't you think that's weird, though? He spends so much time at the gym. Surely, she would have come in at some point.”

  “It's not like I'm there all the time. Speaking of which, you should come with me today. If you're so keen on spying on Caleb, maybe she'll be there.”

  “Maybe I will go.” Maybe I'll get lucky and his mystery woman will show up.

  My hatred towards Becky seems to slowly be waning. That coupled with my curiosity prompts me to meet her at the gym after work. Caleb isn't there, and I'm only mildly disappointed about it. In truth, I need to get back on a regular workout routine. Since dating Peter, I haven't put much time into improving my physical fitness.

  “It's kind of sad that Caleb isn't here,” Becky says as she leads me to the thirty-minute circuit course. “He may have a girlfriend, but he still makes for some nice eye candy.”

  I grunt in reply. It's not like I can agree with her. I'm dating Peter.

  She shows me what Caleb taught her and then we get started. It's nice having someone to workout with. It definitely motivates me.

  “You wouldn't be looking for a roommate by any chance, would you?” Becky asks me towards the end of our workout.

  “No. Why?”

  “Because I want to get out of the apartment I'm in now. My current roommate keeps stealing my clothes and cosmetics. I've about had it with her.” She climbs onto the back extension machine for her final set of reps.

  “That sucks.” I frown. “Can't you just lock your stuff away?”

  “We share a one bedroom apartment. It's dorm style. She's on one side of the room. I'm on the other. We split closet space. It's not like I can lock her out of my half of the closet.” Becky changes the weight setting on the machine before grabbing the bar and
pulling back.

  “Doubly sucky.” I don't know what else to tell her.

  “You live in a one bedroom, too. Right?”

  “Yeah.” I wait for the light to turn green before I start doing my last round of cardio step ups.

  “What size is your bed? We could probably have a similar set up.”

  “That's assuming I'll let you move in with me.” I glance back at her.

  “Just think of how much fun it would be.” She grunts as she finishes her set and lets go of the bar. “Two young girls living together. We could be like sisters.”

  “I have sisters. More than I need.” I think about my siblings back home.

  “Well then, think about the money you'll save.” She wipes the sweat off of the back of her neck with a towel.

  That's a more appealing thought. I could definitely use the extra money now that I'm dating Peter. When I was single, it didn't really matter because all I had to worry about was paying rent, buying gas for my car, and putting food in my belly. Now...

  My hand brushes the necklace that Peter gave me. I still need to pay him back for so many things.

  The light turns red, and I sigh in relief that our workout is finally over. Lifting weights is challenging but rewarding. I think I like it.

  “Thanks for showing me all of that,” I tell Becky as we go to grab our bottles of water before heading to the locker room.

  “No problem. Now, you just need to be consistent with it. It won't do any good to do it once and stop. You should start coming here with me regularly if you can find time around dating Peter.”

  It's not a bad idea. She is starting to become a lot more pleasant, but that might just be because she needs something from me.

  Peter

  “Let me take you out to dinner tonight,” I tell Willow as I walk her out to her car after work. It's been a few days since we last went out on a date, and I miss her terribly.

  “Alright. What time?” She smiles softly as I entwine our hands.

  I stop to redirect her to my vehicle. “How about right now?”

  She stalls, looking slightly flustered. “I can't right now.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I told Becky I'd meet her at the gym after work.” She shrinks as she tells me as if she's afraid I'll get mad.

  All I can do is grin. “So the two of you are getting along now, huh?”

  “I suppose we are.” She shifts her weight.

  “Alright. How about after you finish up at the gym?” I gaze out into the parking lot, hoping to not be rejected a second time. It's not like Willow to say no to anything I ask, but I can appreciate that she wants to focus on her fitness a bit.

  “That sounds good.”

  “Excellent. Just text me when you're done.” I lean in to give her a chaste kiss on the lips.

  “I will.” She nods before continuing on to her car.

  Well, that didn't quite go as planned. Now I'm going to have a few hours to kill.

  I decide to call Caleb and ask if he wants to go out for drinks. Surprisingly, he has the time to meet me. I honestly expected him to be busy with clients. Either way, I probably still would have headed to the bar. It's nice to have someone to go with, though.

  We meet down the street. He's about thirty minutes late because he's wrapping things up with a client, so I down a drink before he has a chance to get there. He walks into the bar looking like he just finished working out himself.

  “What in the hell are you sweating so hard for, punk? You look like you just ran a marathon.”

  We do our bro shake before he pulls up the bar stool beside me.

  “I think this particular client pays me to watch me workout.”

  “What do you mean?” I raise an eyebrow towards him.

  “She's an erotica author. Mid-thirties. Not in bad shape. When I first started training her, she told me to tell her what to do, then she told me that I should workout, too.”

  “That's kind of odd.” I quirk my head back.

  He holds his hands up. “I don't question it as long as I get paid.”

  “Maybe she wants to pay you for some other kind of training.” I nudge his shoulder.

  “Pfft. As if I'd sleep with a client. I like my job. I don't want shit to get awkward.

  “I'm not like you, banging the people I work with,” he shoots back at me.

  “Hey.” I point at him. “It's okay to bang her if I'm dating her.”

  “Sure, sure. There were many before her, though.” He waves towards my past.

  “All behind me now. Willow is the only one for me.” I smile, thinking about her soft skin and sexy curves. I'm one lucky man.

  “Speaking of which, how are you handling things?” he asks me before tapping the bar to get the bartender's attention. It's not particularly busy, but for some reason the service sucks this afternoon.

  “Handling what?” I take a sip of my beer. Seeing Caleb without a beverage reminds me of how thirsty I am.

  “The thing with Willow. You know, her assault.” He looks at me as if I'm insensitive for not picking up on what he was talking about right away. My mouth falls open as I try to process what he just said. Then he jerks his head back, his disapproving gaze turning to surprise. “She didn't tell you.”

  “Assault? What are you talking about?” I shake my head, my heart pumping faster, my blood starting to boil as I realize there's someone in the world I need to kill.

  “Gah. That girl.” Caleb looks away from me and curses. “I can't believe she didn't tell you.”

  “She didn't tell me, so now you're going to tell me,” I say firmly.

  For a moment, I worry that he's going to say that it's better if I talk to her about it, but then he blessedly relents. “She went to the adult video store the other night and some guy tried to pull her into a van.”

  I'm so shocked that I'm speechless. Why didn't she tell me this?

  “How do you know about this?” I ask him, knowing that it sounds like I'm accusing him of lying. The fact that she told him and not me hurts, though.

  “Because she called me when it happened. I met her at the crime scene and then went with her to the police station. She was really shaken up but otherwise fine. She fought the guy off. A tough girl, that one.” Caleb gets his drink from the bartender and takes a few long gulps.

  There's a hollowness in my chest. I'm feeling so many unpleasant things that I can't even look at Caleb. Not only did Willow hide this from me, but she went to him when it happened instead of me. What am I supposed to think about that?

  “I need to go.” I motion to the bartender to close me out.

  “Hey.” Caleb places his hand on my arm to get my attention. “Don't be too angry at her. Okay? It was a traumatic experience. Maybe she just wasn't ready to tell you about it yet.”

  “I won't.” I stare at his hand, wanting to cut it off.

  The fact that she didn't tell me doesn't bother me half as much as the fact that she thought to call him first. There's so much wrong with this situation.

  I leave the bar and wait in my car like a lunatic for Willow to text me. When she does, I drive to her apartment and sit in the parking lot. The minutes tick by like hours as I wait for her to come down. Finally, she arrives.

  I stare straight through the windshield, trying to still the anger and pain inside of me. “Why didn't you tell me?”

  “Tell you what?” Her expression is full of confusion.

  I turn to her finally, my tone serious. “About the assault.”

  Realization hits her, and she sinks back against the seat as the weight of her guilt bears down on her. “Caleb told you.”

  It's not a question. She knows. Because apparently, he's the only person she told.

  I grunt and nod. “You hid this from me for days. Pretended that everything was okay. You basically lied to me. Why?”

  Willow chews her bottom lip, but it doesn't take her long to respond. “I didn't want to worry you. You're so busy and you've been
through so much lately with your business being vandalized. You didn't need to have to worry about my bullshit, too. Besides, I was fine. I promise that if he would have...” her voice trails off. “If he would have raped me,” she struggles to say the word, “I wouldn't have hesitated to tell you.”

  I soften slightly, internally cursing myself for getting so mad at her. She always puts others before herself. I've known this since the beginning. But this...this is too much.

  “Willow.” I slide my hand on top of hers. She glances down at it before her eyes meet mine. “I love you. Nothing is more important to me than your safety and happiness. You can't keep putting yourself second to me like this.”

  “I'm sorry.”

  “Is that why you called Caleb instead of me?” I want it to be the answer. I already know it is, but I have to ask anyway.

  “Yes,” she replies, and I'm instantly filled with a sense of relief, though I'm still not happy about it.

  “Promise me.” I squeeze her hand so that she'll know I'm serious. “Promise me that if—God forbid—anything like this happens again, you'll call me first. I'm your boyfriend. It's my job to worry about you and take care of you and be there when you need me.”

  Willow smiles, though it doesn't reach her eyes. “I will.”

  “That must have been so horrible for you.” I lean back, finally feeling my body relax a little. “Did they catch the guy?”

  She shakes her head. “Not yet.”

  “Soon then. Hopefully, soon.” I struggle to think of something supportive to say. I wasn't there when all of this happened, so I want to make up for it now. “I want you to let me know when they catch him. I'll come down to the police station with you when you identify him.”

  “Alright.”

  “That motherfucker better be glad that there's going to be glass and a dozen cops between us or else I'd beat him so bloody he'd never think of touching another woman again.” My anger flares as I imagine what he could have done to her.

  “Calm down.” She wraps her hand around my arm, and when I look at her, she's smiling. Not that distant smile that she was wearing a moment ago, but a genuine smile. The smile that I'm used to seeing when she's happy to be with me. And right then, I know that everything is going to be okay.