The Fragile Line: The Complete Series Box Set: Parts One, Two, & Three

by Kobishop, Alicia

  “You could come with me,” he offered quietly.

  I was sitting on the edge of his bed, getting dressed for my shift at Luciano’s tonight. Matt, it seemed, had other plans. Just before I hooked my bra, he reached around my waist and pulled me back onto the bed, rolling over until he was on top of me.

  “Hey!” I laughed as I looked up at his mischievous face.

  “Don't go," he insisted as he settled in, draping his muscular frame over me and burying his face in my neck. "Call in sick. I'm not done with you yet."

  "Me neither," I agreed, still smiling. Unable to force myself to pull away from him, I happily surrendered to his embrace. “I’m not ready to leave yet. We need more time but I’m not sure my body can take much more today. Not that I don’t want to, mind you. I’m just not sure I can and—”

  “I’d be totally fine just staying in bed, holding you all night,” he murmured as his fingertips drew lazy circles along my spine. “Watch some movies. Maybe find a Netflix show to binge on.”

  I let out a groan, “Oh, God, that sounds perfect. I want to. I mean, really want to. But I just can't call in sick today. We're short-staffed and I'm covering for someone, which means there's no one to cover for me. It wouldn't be right..."

  “Don’t worry, it’s okay,” he assured me as he nuzzled his nose against mine. “I understand.”

  Reluctantly, I got up and finished dressing, doing my best to ignore the unanswered questions that lingered in the air between us.

  You could come with me.

  Hmm.

  Our day had been perfect and neither of us wanted to face reality just yet. But if we wanted this to work, if we truly wanted a future together, we had to face our struggles head on. And this—being apart again—would definitely be a struggle, but not one that we couldn’t overcome.

  “Do you really want me to come with you? To Vegas?” I asked cautiously.

  “Fuck, yeah. I would love that. You could live with me. Hell, with what I make from the show, you wouldn’t even have to work.”

  My face scrunched up in distaste. “You are not paying for me, Matt. I’m not that girl.”

  He had winced the moment he said it. “I’m sorry. You’re right. You’re independent and I love you for that. Look, I know I’m probably jumping the gun by asking you to come with me. But honestly, I can’t stand the thought of being away from you for three more months. You don’t have to live with me if you don’t want to. You don’t even have to take my money. But will you consider living in the same city at least? There are plenty of jobs out there, especially in the restaurant business. With your experience, you’d easily land a job at a classy restaurant or a high-end casino and probably only have to work a few shifts a week after tips.”

  He got up, naked as the day he was born, and closed the distance between us. He cupped my face in his hands and pressed his forehead to mine. “I just want you close to me,” he said softly. “Don’t you want that?”

  He straightened and rested his hands on my hips, looking down at me expectantly. He had mentioned his long hours earlier, which basically allowed him time to sleep, do the occasional promotional event or interview, and not much else. As much as I wanted to be with him, all I could see was me sitting alone in a living room somewhere, with nothing to do except wait for him to come home–and probably resenting him more and more with each minute that passed. And, besides, I had a life here. A new life that I finally felt good about.

  “Of course, I do,” I replied, my tone subdued. “But…what would I do there? I mean, while you’re filming. You and me, together…this has been a long time coming, but still…it’s all still so new. I just worry that moving too fast will put too much pressure on us. And we’ve got time, right? We don’t have to figure it all out today.” At his slight frown, I continued, “All I know is that I love you and I want to be with you more than anything.”

  The sudden heat in his gaze and the possessive way he pulled me closer made it difficult for me to say anything but yes, but I needed him to understand why I wanted to be cautious.

  “But I also want to make us last,” I said gently. “I don’t want us to burn out. Besides, things are starting to fall into place for me here. I just moved in with Carrie and I can’t leave her in the dust like that. She doesn’t deserve it. I finally have someone to call a friend, and her daughter is just as amazing as she is.” I sighed, burrowing deeper into his arms. “I’m not saying I’m not willing to make some big changes, because if it means being with you, I’ll do just about anything. I just think we should be smart about it.”

  The warring emotions of sadness and understanding haunted his brown eyes, underscoring my own mixed emotions about the situation. Then he nodded, kissed my forehead and walked back to the bed, treating me to a truly drool-worthy view of his perfectly sculpted ass. My core tightened and desire once again began coursing through my veins. And he knew it too, judging by the cocky grin he shot me over his shoulder just before he lay back on the bed.

  No doubt about it, Matt Langston was impossibly gorgeous, a spectacular male specimen in his prime. And he was all mine. As he stared up at the ceiling in thought, his fingers linked behind his head, I took the opportunity to appreciate this man’s delicious physique. His legs were relaxed, knees slightly bent outward in a masculine display that drew my eyes to the impressive erection that lay ready—again—against his lower abdomen. He made no effort to hide the effect I had on him. My gaze ventured upward, lingering on the hard ridges of muscle that formed his powerful torso, the intricate tattoos that snaked their way up his thick arms, then up to his face and those eyes—

  “Made you look.”

  I rolled my eyes as nonchalantly as I could, but felt my cheeks warming at being caught so shamelessly admiring the view. Turning his face toward me, he said, “I love you too.”

  My embarrassment vanished in an instant and I nodded, suddenly shy as I cleared my throat. “Matt, we’ve talked about a lot of options, different ways we could handle this. What are your plans? I mean, when your contract ends? Would you do another season if they asked you to? Because you know they will.”

  “Nah,” he smiled, shifting onto his side and resting his chin in his hand. “It’s been an experience, and I’m glad I did it. But I’d rather eat balls than stay on the show. I don’t like the kind of attention that comes with it. Too much fucking drama for me. The paps make my skin crawl and the sooner I can get them off my back, the better. But, yeah, I’ll miss the shop,” he continued, smiling and holding an arm out toward me as I approached the bed and curled up next to him. “But I miss my life here more. I miss my brothers. Addie.” Kissing me on the forehead, he added, “You.”

  His grin was contagious.

  “Really?” I asked. At his slow nod, I went on, “So, does that mean—”

  “It means, I’m coming home when the contract ends. I’ve been leaning in that direction for a few weeks and now, with you—with us, you know—happening... Let’s just say being here with you, like this, only confirms that I made the right decision. I just wish we didn’t have to be apart for three more months.”

  “Me, too,” I said, crawling over him and straddling his hips, my eyes twinkling mischievously. “I see Skype sex in our future. Lots and lots of Skype sex.”

  “Damn,” he chuckled as his heavy-lidded gaze roamed my curves. “My needs are simple. Here I am just looking forward to phone sex, but I like your idea a hell of a lot better.”

  He pulled me into a deep, searing kiss. The more intense the kiss became, the more I wanted to give him what he wanted and just skip work. Luckily—or maybe unfortunately—his phone chimed on the bedside table, alerting him of an incoming text.

  “Dammit. I should get that,” he groaned, reluctantly pulling away from me to grab the phone. “It could be the news we’ve been waiting for.”

  I sighed as he checked the text, the heat of his kiss lingering on my lips.

  “It’s from Ava,” he said, extending his arm so we
could both see the screen.

  Ava: I just recorded a Facebook Live video with a public statement. The truth is out! You’re off the hook, my friend. ;)

  Ava: And Matt…Thank you. For everything.

  Another text came through with a link. Matt clicked on it, taking us to Ava’s video. She sat in an office chair behind a desk, the burgundy wall behind her filled with framed photos of brightly colored classic cars. Even though the lighting was shit, she looked stunning as ever. Her shiny black hair fell in waves down her chest, a side-swept bang resting just above her eyes. Her expression was solemn as she leaned in, her forearms resting on the desk, her fingers loosely intertwined.

  “Hi, guys. I’ve never done a live video feed like this before, but I figured it would be the fastest way to get the truth out. So here goes.

  “You’ve all come to believe that the mystery man I’ve been seen with over the last few months is Matt Langston. Now, I’ll be the first to say that a girl couldn’t do better than Matt Langston, he’s a fantastic guy.”

  Matt cleared his throat louder than was really necessary. I caught his self-deprecating yet smug grin and closed my eyes as I slowly shook my head and muttered, “You’re going to be impossible to live with now…”

  “Seems to me, you’d have to try living with me first…”

  I swatted his arm, glaring at him good-naturedly.

  Ava had paused, eyes twinkling, as if she had known how Matt would react to her words. But then she soldiered on, getting right to the point. “But nothing could be further from the truth. Matt and I have become good friends since meeting at the beginning of the year, but we are just that: friends, nothing more, nothing less. It’s true that we care about each other, as friends do, but not in the way you may think. He’s a brother to me in every way except blood, and I am a sister to him. That’s it.”

  The video comments exploded in an array of conflicting remarks that were there and gone so fast that I could barely keep up with them.

  0: 21 Nooooo! But you’re so good together!

  0:23 I knew it.

  0:24 Woohoo! Matt is back on the market! He’s all mine bitches!

  0:27 Nobody cares. Go home.

  Ava continued, “But you’re right; there is indeed a mystery man and I am deeply in love with him. As my relationship with him grew, it became more and more—” She turned her head to the side and smiled. Was someone in the room with her? “—complicated.”

  Turning back to the camera, she took a deep breath. “I think it’s safe to say that my mystery man has fallen for me, too. There are reasons why we’ve kept our relationship under the radar. You’ll know what those reasons are soon enough. You’ll understand why I kept him a secret from my family and from the world. But first, you need to know that the one person I could confide in from the very beginning of my so-called secret relationship, was Matt.”

  Remarks about Matt came streaming in, mostly fans showing their love, with an occasional troll saying something obscene.

  Ava sighed, “Matt helped me through an incredibly difficult time and, during a particularly low moment, he was there to console me and embrace me. That embrace, the hug between Matt and me that was photographed and shared over fifty-two million times on Facebook alone, the one that caused people to assume we were a couple? Well, it was just Matt being the good friend that he is.

  “Yet, from that picture, everyone assumed that Matt and I were in love. So, we agreed to neither confirm nor deny that assumption. Knowing that I wasn’t ready to share the truth about my real relationship with the world or my family, my good friend Matt agreed to keep up the charade. He did it to protect me. To protect my family. To protect our business.

  “But the decision backfired and I take full responsibility for that. It was my idea, not Matt’s. Please know that my intentions were never to hurt anyone. Not my family. Not Matt. And not the man I love. Unfortunately, by lying to everyone, that’s exactly what I’ve done. I’ve caused pain and I am so sorry for that.

  “My love and I revealed the truth to our families and close friends just this morning, and have received nothing but support from them.” She paused, clearing her throat as she briefly fought back tears. “It’s simple, really. They love us, so they accept us. And we hope that you, our fans and followers, will accept us, too. So, the only thing left to do is to introduce you to the man I love.”

  Ava turned away from the camera and extended her hand. “It’s time to show them the truth, baby. C’mere.”

  A masculine hand wrapped itself around hers, and a moment later he was beside her, leaning down so that the viewers could see him. In a snug white t-shirt and dark jeans, it was easy to see that he had a build like Matt’s. Maybe that’s why people were so quick to make all those assumptions about Matt and Ava. However, he was lacking Matt’s tattoos, and had lighter, longer hair, and at least 10 more years.

  “Hey, guys,” he said with a small wave. Turning away from the camera, he kissed Ava’s cheek. He buried his face in her neck, making her smile as, with a wink, she reached toward the camera and the screen went dark.

  Matt and I stared at his phone for a moment, then at each other.

  “Wait, wasn’t that—” I started.

  “M-hmm,” he answered with a slight nod. “Clay Beckett. The son of American Muscle’s biggest competitor. Clay’s dad, Fletcher, was Dalton Davis’ old partner. When Dalton decided to do the show, Fletcher wanted nothing to do with it. Instead, he left to start his own shop and took most of Dalton’s staff with him and a bunch of his clients, too. Dalton has never been able to forgive him. Clay works for his dad just like Ava works for hers. Ava thought their relationship might be a conflict of interest and she was sure her dad wouldn’t approve.”

  “Sounds like their families have accepted it, though.”

  “Yeah. They’re good people. It might be a hard adjustment for them at first, but they’ll get over it. At the end of the day, they love their kids. Who knows? Once the dust settles, Clay and Ava’s relationship may be the key to bringing two old friends back together.”

  CHAPTER Fourteen

  ~Chloe~

  The house was dark when I came home from my shift at the restaurant, except for the soft glow of the track lighting below the kitchen cabinets. Carrie started leaving them on for me after I woke her and Piper up one night when I tripped over my own feet in the dark. It was close to midnight now, which meant that they had probably been asleep for hours.

  I set my keys quietly on the table next to our current junk mail collection and opened the pantry door, looking for a snack before bed. Tortilla chips and jalapeño cheese dip, it is. I sat at the kitchen table, cringing at the loud crackling of the bag of chips as I opened it. As I popped a heavily-laden chip into my mouth with a satisfied moan, I heard a bedroom door open down the hall. A moment later, Carrie appeared in the doorway.

  “Shi’, di’ I wakeoo? S’rry,” I mumbled, my garbled apology barely intelligible through a mouthful of cheesy chips.

  “Nah, I just got done binge-watching the Gilmore Girls revival. I had no idea how much I’ve missed Lorelei and Rory’s fast, furious, pop culture one-liner references until now. Seriously. They had me at ‘GOOP’.” She ambled over to the table and took a chip out of the bag, resting her hip against the edge of the counter as she crunched the chip between her teeth.

  A pang of sadness unfurled in my chest at the memory of my sister and me watching that show together every week. Carrie seemed to notice the change in my mood but didn’t pry.

  “Okay, enough about that. How’s your friend doing?” Carrie asked in mid-chew.

  It took me a moment to realize that she was talking about Logan. “Oh! You mean Logan? He woke up. He was taking visitors by the time I got there,” I said with a smile. “He’s expected to make a full recovery.”

  “Really? That’s wonderful, Chloe! I’m so happy to hear that.” She pulled out a chair and sat down across from me. “So…what, you just hate the Gilmore Girls then?”<
br />
  I laughed as I pushed the bag of chips her way. “No way, I love that show, too.”

  I kept grinning as I pushed thoughts of my sister away and thought about the events of today instead, my smile getting wider with each image of Matt that flashed through my mind. His eyes. His smile. The way the corners of his eyes crinkled when I made him laugh. The dirty things that came out of that man’s mouth when he fucked me. And the way his soul mingled with mine when we made love…

  “Okay, spill it,” Carrie said flatly. “You look like you bought a one-way ticket to the happy farm. What aren’t you telling me?”

  “What’s the happy farm?”

  “Never mind! Don’t even think about changing the subject. The suspense is killing me. What’s going on with you?”

  “I saw Matt today,” I finally confessed.

  She gasped, “No way! He’s back!? And you’re…happy? Which means…you worked things out with him?”

  Another gasp, then she got up and pulled a bottle of wine and two glasses from the cupboard. After pouring the pale liquid into the glasses, she placed one in front of me and sat down at the table again. Eyeing me over the rim of her glass, she got right to the point.

  “Tell. Me. Everything.”

  ~~~

  Carrie and I talked for over an hour before finally deciding to call it a night.

  “It looks like everything is falling into place for you, Chloe.” She stood from her chair, placing her hand on my shoulder, a mixture of longing and optimism in her eyes. “I’m so happy for you. You deserve to be happy.”

  “You deserve happiness, too, Care,” I replied gently.

  “I’m happy,” she assured with a genuine smile. “I’ve got my daughter. A good home. Amazing friends. Look, I know what you’re thinking; I’m always going to miss Nolan. Frankly, half the time I feel like I’m walking around with a hole in my heart, and the smallest things will have me missing him, the pain every bit as raw as the day he died. But that’s only part of it; more and more, there are moments where he feels so close by. In a good way. He and I had some of our best talks right here at this kitchen table,” she said, trailing a fingertip along the table’s edge. “I like to think he’d be happy to know that it’s still serving that purpose.”