Savannah, picking up her coffee mug, takes a big gulp before setting it down and staring nervously at me. “Brooklyn, you’re really starting to freak me out. Will you sit down? You’re making me nervous pacing back and forth like that!”
I’m freaking her out? I’m way past freaked out. I’m straight on to entirely pissed off!
Men are such insensitive assholes and never think before opening their fucking mouths!
I stop mid-step and whip my head toward her narrowing my eyes before dropping my squared shoulders. I let out a frustrated sigh and slide up onto a bar stool beside her.
Running my hands nervously up and down my thighs I stare at the floor as I speak, “I got really, really, really trashed last night. Like drunker than I’ve been in a long time. Like UCLA long!”
“What did you do, Brooklyn? You’re not sitting in jail, so that’s a good sign,” Savannah’s replies sarcastically as she tosses a bite of muffin into her mouth. My stomach rumbles at the site of food, but I’m too pissed off to eat at the moment. Instead, I’d much rather shove a muffin down Dixon’s throat.
Fricking asshole.
Nothing like fucking with my damn heart and my head.
When I woke up this morning I was over the moon. I was in the best mood I have been in, in a very long time. Then Dixon had to go and open his damn mouth ruining everything.
To sit and talk to me like I’m some gold-digging whore that will run off with his stupid billions as soon as things get rough between us…that hurts more than anything. Sure, we’re probably going to have our share of obstacles to overcome because this is Dixon and me we’re talking about. We’re bound to bump heads time to time. But I love this man something fierce. I wish sometimes I didn’t because life would be a hell of a lot easier if I didn’t. But I do and I wouldn’t change it for anything because even though he drives me crazy, he also loves me unlike any man has ever loved me. He makes me feel things I’ve never thought I’d feel in my entire life.
I’ve heard Savannah go on and on about soul mates and true love when she talks about Kayden. I thought it was all movie bullshit that was drilled into her head from watching too many romance movies or reading too many happily ever after books. But then I met Dixon and he challenged me at every move, made the idea of actually settling down with someone desirable. Every day with him is fun and exciting. When I told him I loved him and made my vows last night, no matter how drunk I may have been, I meant every single word I said.
I’m in this for the long haul. But from the way Dixon sees it, we could easily get divorced at any moment, and with that, me running away with his fortune.
Leaning forward, I bring my elbows to rest on the countertop and drop my face into my hands. My head is pounding and spinning, making me want to throw up and pass out all at the same time. Swallowing hard, I open my mouth and say, “I made a stupid spur of the moment decision last night and barely even remember it, which makes it even worse! My parents’ are going to fucking kill me!”
Reaching out Savannah grips my shoulder and pleads, “You’re scaring me! What the hell did you do last night, and what is going on with you and Dixon? You two looked pretty heated a few minutes ago.”
I’m fighting to keep my tears at bay, but as I try to talk to Savannah about everything, I find myself struggling to keep it together. I push the palm of my hands into my eyes and let out a shaky breath as I try to hold myself together. I have so many thoughts swirling around my head. I don’t know where the hell to go from here. Everything’s a mess, and I don’t know what I want.
It’s too early in the morning, and I’m too hung over for all of this bullshit!
My shoulders shake as I try to find the words to say, but my throat closes up and I choke on a small sob as tears slip past my closed eyelids and drip onto the counter.
I hate that I’m crying. I hate that he’s made me weak. I hate most of all that I love him. Because no matter how hard I try, I won’t be able to stop loving him. I’ve tried with Jax and it’s simply impossible.
Now his parents are going to hate me before they even meet me.
“Don’t cry. Everything’s going to be fine.” Savannah gently rubs at my back as she tries to calm me down.
Lifting my face from my hands, through blurry eyes I stare across at my best friend who’s looking at me like I’ve grown three heads.
Which isn’t too shocking since I’m not one to be known to cry. It takes a lot to get me emotional, so Savannah knows as soon as she sees me sitting here falling apart that this is serious.
The sound of Kayden and Dixon arguing travels into the kitchen, causing me us both to jump. I snap my head around toward the living room. “Great! Now Kayden knows! That SOB, I swear to God! Ughhh, I don’t even know how to say this…I married Dixon last night,” I choke out between sobs.
“Holy. Fucking. Shit, Brooklyn! You…you married Dixon?!” Savannah stammers out, her voice growing louder with every word spoken. I flinch back slightly as Savannah leans in toward me screaming, “What the hell were you thinking!?”
“I wasn’t thinking! I got so fucking drunk last night that I blurted out I loved him and then BAM! Next thing I knew, Dixon is saying let’s go elope. One minute we’re chasing down shots at the bar to Lil’ Jon and LMFAO’s Shots, and the next we’re in a chapel getting married by a fuckin’ Elvis impersonator. My father is going to fucking kill us!”
“What are you going to do?” she finally asks, breaking the silence that has fallen between us.
Blowing my nose in a napkin, I drop my head toward the counter top, squeezing my eyes shut as I silently wish that I would wake up and find that the last twenty-four hours was nothing but a crazy ass dream.
“Take some slow deep breaths,” she says, rubbing my back once again.
I blow out a slow breath through my tightly pressed lips and work up the strength to tell her about Dixon wanting to dissolve the marriage. Pretend that last night never happened.
“He wants to get an annulment.”
“Oh. Well, I guess that’s the best thing to do. Seriously, do you actually see Dixon as husband material?” Savannah means well I know, but her question still hurts. Everyone sees Dixon as this man whore. He will never settle down and could never really care about a woman after getting the one thing from her he was after. But they haven’t seen the side of him I have. Underneath that playboy persona is a sweet man who is passionate in life and in the bedroom. I really thought that after last night we were moving in the same direction. Both wanting to commit to one another and be together. But now, I don’t know what to believe. How do I know it was his father’s idea to end this marriage? What if he’s having second thoughts and using his dad as an excuse to end things with me?
Even though it is wrong of me, I feel anger boiling inside of me toward Savannah. She got lucky. Kayden fell in love with her and dove head first into everything with her. No games, no wanting her and then pushing her away. When he asked her to marry him, she knew without a doubt that he was in this for the long haul. Even with these bumps in the road they’ve had to endure, Kayden never once let her stop knowing how much he loved her.
With Dixon, he pulled away from me when I needed him most and turned a blind eye letting me fall into a relationship with Jax. It wasn’t until I slowly began to move on with my life and forget about him that he suddenly decided he needed me all to himself. Now that he has me, he once again wants to push me away.
“I’m sorry we can’t all fall for the player and have him magically fall in love with us.” Shoving my barstool back, I climb to my feet abruptly, catching Savannah off guard and causing her to lean back with a shocked expression on her face.
I feel bad as soon as the words leave my mouth, but I won’t apologize for feeling devastated.
“I’m sorry…I didn’t mean…” Her voice trails off as she watches me round the island and walk over to the fridge. She seems to be in a state of shock thanks to my slight outburst.
Pulling open t
he fridge, I grab a bottle of water and chug half of it down. My throat is burning from crying and my throat feels dry and scratchy as sandpaper. I hate this desert heat. It makes your throat dry, skin dry, then add me crying to the mix and now I have red, puffy, raccoon eyes to boot. I’m one hot mess of emotion right now and really just want to go back home and curl up in my bed and never come back out.
I lean against the island for a few moments as I try to collect myself and reel in my scattered emotions. If I’m going to deal with this rationally, I need to pull myself together. Snapping at Savannah isn’t going to help the situation when she’s done nothing but listen to my ranting.
“I’m sorry,” I finally say just above a whisper as I grip the edge of the counter and peer down at the floor. I find myself tracing the swirls in the marble flooring as I try to slow down my racing heart and stop the tears from returning.
“It’s okay, I understand. It’s just hard for me to see you hurting like this, and it’s taking every ounce of strength in me to not march in there and kick some sense into his stubborn ass.” Standing, she makes her way around the counter and wraps me into a hug. “I thought you were going to tell me you were pregnant,” she says laughing.
Oh dear God. I think that news would cause the entire world as we know it to implode. The last thing we need is to bring a baby into our dysfunctional relationship.
I make sure I set a fucking timer on my phone every day reminding me to take my pill. I keep those babies in my purse at all time. No babies for this girl. No way, no how. I have dreams to chase and goals to crush. No way will I get knocked up and watch everything I’ve worked for turn to dust.
“Uhh, no way!” I laugh as my eyes grow large and a look of horror spreads across my face. I can’t believe she’d even think that! Slouching against the counter, my voice turns serious again, “Why? Why can’t he just love me?”
If he truly loved me, he would’ve told his father where to shove his fricking annulment papers. He would fight to show me that he believes in us. Believes that we are worth fighting for. Instead, he so easily gives in to his father’s demands? We could’ve went about this an entirely different way. Found a happy medium for everyone. Instead, everyone just decides for me that we’ll end our marriage and go about our lives like it never happened? Sure, I love the idea of a real wedding filled with family and friends. But I don’t want to walk down the aisle with a man who thinks I’ll just up and leave him, while I’m at it draining his bank account along the way. I would have even gladly offered to sign some form of agreement we both agreed on once we got back to Texas. Because being with Dixon is all I care about; it’s all I want.
Nothing can put into words how badly my heart hurts knowing that Dixon easily went for the worst option there is. Without even thinking it over first. Would a man really love a woman and do that?
In my eyes the answer would be no.
Savannah shakes her head slowly as her eyes soften and she stares at my sympathetically. “I really don’t know. I can tell he cares about you; hell, half the time he’s the one texting you for a damn booty call. He has tons of women at his disposal, but he calls you. I think he is just scared. He’s used to living his life a certain way. For him, maybe the idea of only one woman for the rest of his life seriously terrifies the crap out him?”
I’m done discussing this. It’s only pissing me off more. Listening to Savannah say all of my insecurities about Dixon out loud. It’s too much.
Spinning on my heels, I stomp toward the living room.
“Where are you going?” Savannah shouts at me as I hear her following on my heels.
Stopping, I whip my head around. “To pack my bags and get the fuck outta here.” With that being said, I storm through the living room and up the stairs to my suite.
Shoving my door open, I head straight to the closet where I have my suitcases and yank them out, laying them onto the floor. Dropping to my knees, I get to work unzipping them before climbing back to my feet. I start double fisting my outfits that are hung up all nicely in the closet and chuck them into the suitcase. Normally I’m anal about my clothes, keeping them organized and neatly folded when traveling, but right now I couldn’t give two fucks.
I stomp across the room when I finish on the clothes in the closet and begin yanking open the dresser drawers. In record time I have every dresser empty and my suitcases overflowing with clothes. I’m crawling across the floor organizing my shoes when I hear a knock at the door. For a split second I hope it’s Dixon finally coming to see if I’m okay. But instead I hear Savannah’s voice as her head pops inside the doorway.
What guy devastates the girl he claims to love and then ignores her? Doesn’t even try to make her feel better? Each moment he doesn’t come groveling, begging for me to forgive him for suggesting such a thing, the angrier I become.
“Hey, need any help?” she asks stepping inside the room and shutting the door softly behind her.
I don’t answer her, instead I continue stacking my shoes into my last suitcase. Treading cautiously across the room, Savannah approaches me and kneels down beside me. She doesn’t say a word. Instead she begins helping me finish packing up my shoes.
Chucking another pair of heels into my suitcase, I lift my eyes up to Savannah’s. “I don’t know if I can take riding on a plane with that jackass. I think I might book a flight back to L.A.”
The entire time I’ve spent up here packing by myself and Dixon not showing up to try and talk to me, the more I find myself coming to the conclusion that I should just go back to L.A. instead of heading back to Texas.
Savannah sets my last pair of shoes in and zips up my suitcase for me. Climbing to her feet, she brushes her hair out of her face and lets out a loud sigh, flopping onto the edge of my bed.
Resting her hands on her knees, she watches me pack up my makeup into my cosmetic bag. “I think running to L.A. is the worse plan ever. Dixon wouldn’t have eloped last night if a part of him didn’t love you back. I say you show him the stubborn Brooklyn…The Brooklyn who doesn’t give up until she has exactly what she wants.”
“Well I have the car ride over to the airport to make up my mind.” Throwing my makeup into my purse, I sling it onto my shoulder and grab the handles of my suitcases, wheeling them out of the room.
“Ugh. You can be so stubborn,” I hear Savannah mumble under her breath, following me out.
Chapter 11
-Dixon
As I drive my truck down my parents’ long, winding driveway and watch as the house comes into view, the more nervous I feel myself becoming. The last thing I want to do right now is face my parents’. I’ve never been more torn on a decision in my life. I had multiple text messages from my parents’ demanding I come straight to their house the minute our plane touched down.
I was torn between coming here and facing them or trying to fix things with Brooklyn. She wouldn’t even look at me let alone speak to me the entire plane ride from Vegas to Houston. Her and Savannah kept themselves barricaded inside the bedroom of the plane watching a movie. While I spent the entire flight being ragged on by Kayden. Jax and Braxton kept to themselves choosing to stay away from the subject. Which I don’t blame Jax, because only forty-eight hours ago he thought Brooklyn and him had a real chance at something together.
Little did he know that while she was with him, she was unsuccessful at forgetting about me. But as I sit here putting my truck into park and jump out, making my way up to my parents’ door to discuss possibly annulling our marriage, I find myself wondering if Brooklyn would be better off with Jax. Maybe I’m a selfish asshole and should’ve left her alone.
Inhaling a shaky breath, I grip the door handle and let myself inside. Stepping into the foyer, I’m immediately hit the familiar scent of home. No matter where I travel to or where I live, nothing compares to that feeling of being home. I walk around the house, checking the family room, my dad’s office, and the kitchen, but find no one. I notice the back patio lit up and the sound of
Darius Rucker coming from the backyard.
Pushing open one of the French doors leading out to the back patio, I spot my parents’ sitting in the handmade patio chairs I built for them a few years back, in front of the large stone fireplace. My sister and her husband are sitting opposite them sipping on glasses of sweet tea. The sun is hanging low in the sky casting shades of orange across the horizon and making a dark shadow fill the covered patio. The overhead ceiling fans are on low making the heat from the fire comfortable.
Lanterns resting on each end table beside the patio furniture is the only lighting outside giving the patio a relaxed atmosphere, but the second I stepped outside, I could feel the air shift around us.
My sister lifts her eyes up to mine when she spots me entering the back yard and attempts to cover the smile on her face with her glass, as my father and mother both shift in their seats toward me.
Lifting my hat off of my head, I run my fingers nervously through my hair before placing my ball cap back onto my head. I nod at everyone before walking straight for the cooler beside my dad and digging a Budweiser out of it. Twisting the cap off, I flick the cap into the fire and plop down onto the lounger beside my sister. “So…” I say trying to break the tension filling the air around us. My father’s eyes burn with anger as he takes a long pull from his beer. I follow suit, gulping down half my bottle with one long swig.
At this rate, we may just have a good ‘ol staring contest as we drink every goddamn beer in the cooler before finally one of us chooses to speak.
My mother shakes her head slowly as her fingers fidget nervously in her lap. She must notice that my father is too pissed off to say anything, so she finally asks the question weighing on everyone’s minds.
“What the hell were you thinkin’, Dixon? Eloping?!” Her voice starts out calm, but by the time she says my name, the volume of her voice has increased ten notches and the hysteria in her words is impossible to miss.
Sliding my hand over my face, I drop my eyes to the stones beneath my feet, watching an ant as it runs around in circles by my boot. “I wasn’t thinkin’, Ma. I’m sorry. It’s not like I was fixin’ to get hitched while there. It just kinda happened, is all.”
Betting on Beaumont: A Brooklyn Novel #3 (The Brooklyn Series) Page 12
