I spot my brothers and their dates almost immediately. We have talked over the last couple of days, and I’m trying to convince them that I’m stronger than I used to be. The problem is; I’m not so sure anymore. Now that Reed is back, I know I never really got past anything. I’d always known that, though, but I never needed to admit it since I had someone else to help numb the pain.
As I take a sip from yet another glass of champagne, I stop and almost spit it straight out of my mouth. I lock eyes with Courtney and her date, which is none other than Lance. I know they have been together a lot—hell, he is basically living with her—but I just never thought they were this serious. When we all lived in Ohio, Lance would’ve never stepped foot into a place like this, no matter how much Courtney begged or pleaded with him. It shouldn’t surprise me to see him, though. After all, Lance has to be a pro at these things by now with Reed’s status in the celebrity world.
Courtney looks at me with wide eyes. She’s either shocked to see me here, or surprised that Bennett’s not attached to my hip, who knows. We still haven’t really made up. I’m more hurt with her over not telling me than anyone else because in all of the talks we’ve had about it, she still won’t admit that she did anything wrong. She still stands by her notion that I need to get my closure once and for all.
Turning away from them, I make my way up to my brothers, Sarah, and some girl Matt brought as a date. I kiss my brothers on the checks and hug Sarah in greeting. “Hello, boys, y’all look pretty suave tonight. Sarah, I love your dress. It looks fabulous on you.”
Matt’s brown hair is spiked up and he’s going for the all-black look tonight. I always think he looks more like a rocker than a businessman. Mark, on the other hand, is always preppy—hair parted to the side and, as always, in the classic tux. Both of them are handsome in their own way. My sister in law, Sarah, is gorgeous with almost jet-black hair, an exotic look she gets from her Hawaiian grandparents, and a model-type figure. She could wear a potato sack and still have everyone falling all over themselves. But I’m biased being family and all.
“Hadley, I saw you got out of Bennett’s grasp. Surprised he let that happen,” Matt says with disdain lacing his voice.
Brushing off his comment, I gesture to his date—he always seems to go for the shock factor when it comes to his choice in dates for these things, and Matt certainly didn’t disappoint this time. With her boobs hanging out of her two-sizes-too-small black mini dress and nine-inch hooker-heels, she fits his mold perfectly. Funny, I wonder if Reed would go for her if he were here.
“Hadley, this is Mindy, she’s a yoga instructor.” Matt smile is big, like he’s the luckiest guy in the world. Mindy giggles while brushing her boobs against his arm. The way this Mindy girl acts, I am sure “yoga instructor” is a cover for stripper.
Sarah and I glance at each other—she must have the same thought in her mind about Mindy as I do. That man needs to look for dates in a totally different place if he is ever going to get married. I have to take a huge gulp of my drink to cover the laugh that’s fighting to make its way out.
Bennett puts one hand on my lower back, taking my laugh away in an instant, and shakes my brothers’ hands before kissing Sarah on the cheek—always trying to be the gentleman that they know he isn’t. If it weren’t for the business they do and me, they would never be in the same room with each other. “I’m glad you all could talk things out. Hadley has been down since the disagreement, she wouldn’t even talk to me about it. I can always tell when my sweet Hadley is upset.”
I have to bite the inside of my cheek to stop from saying anything. Knowing Bennett, fighting with my family works in his favor, better for him to have control over me.
“It was just a stupid thing. We wanted her to come back to the family business and she wouldn’t. Words were said and feelings got hurt—nothing to really talk about. Family problems—you know, no harm, no foul,” Matt says, coming up with something on the spot. I couldn’t thank him enough right now.
I give Bennett a tight smile.
“Well I think it’s something for Hadley to think about, too. I hate her working with all that garbage anyway.” Of course, people that don’t make more than seven figures are trash.
My family stays quiet except for Mindy, who laughs.
Bennett glances down at his watch and says, “My speech is in a couple of minutes, I need to go get ready. Nice seeing you guys again. I will see you after, Hadley.” He leans down and with his hot breath, whispers in my ear, “I don’t like that you left me. You know I want you by me. We will discuss this and your idea of a dress when we get home. Understand?” His promise sends a cold shiver of fear through me.
What the hell did I get myself into? Stupid me.
“If you will excuse me, I’m just going to go powder my nose. I’ll find you all in a while.” I excuse myself, not even attempting to smile.
I search for a way outside. Air… I need lots and lots of air. Out of nowhere, Courtney grabs a hold of my arm and pulls me into an empty room with Lance at my back. “Hads, I hate to do this, really, but we have a problem. Reed was hurt today and he really needs your help.”
“If Reed is hurt, take him to the hospital. I’m not helping him.”
I walk toward the door, but as soon as I reach for the handle to leave, Lance speaks. “Please, he went and found those guys that hurt Corey. I don’t know the extent of it, but he’s hurt. We can’t take him to the hospital because the league checks all that shit. They don’t allow him to fight outside of the events they secure. Even if he did it for the right reasons, if they find out, it’s done for him. Not only that, with the training and what he did to those guys, he could get fucked with the law. Hadley, I know it’s a lot to ask, but Reed needs you. I need you, please. Plus, didn’t he take you to the shop the other day? I am calling in the ‘I owe you’ for him.”
I must be a glutton for punishment because even with my head shaking no, I agree. “Okay, I didn’t drive so you need to take me. You both listen to me”—I point at Courtney and Lance—“the minute I’m done, I mean the second, you will take me home. If he is stupid enough to do this shit again, I’m not helping.”
Reed
For five years, I’ve stayed away from anything that would piss the league off. I had to in order to make it. But I needed a release tonight more than the damn heavy bag would give me. I’m a fucking idiot to go find those fuckers that messed with Corey, but they won’t hurt anyone for a long time. Sure, they got the drop on me, but nothing like being found by the cops with enough drugs on them landing their asses in jail for years. Laura even warned me something would happen to me if I took justice into my own hands, but I had to do it for Corey, and now he’s safe to live a normal life without ever having to look over his back.
With everything that happened to Corey and now with Hadley, I had to do something to get my mind off all this shit, and the only way to do that is to fight. I can’t get over how Hads’ eyes looked in the car, so distant, so alone. Hadley doesn’t deserve to go through that kind of pain by herself, yet she is. I know she is trying to hold it together in front of her family—that’s what she does. But Hadley needs someone she can run to when she needs to break down, and I want that to be me. I need that to be me.
If I wasn’t such a dumbass and left her, we would be going to that charity thing together. It would be me in the monkey suit, not some fucking douche who would never be fucking worthy enough to lay one single manicured finger on Hadley. Something about him is off…his smugness rubs me the wrong way, and the way she turns into herself around him sends alarms blaring in my head. I didn’t understand it the first night at the bar, but that damn smile she gives him has no feeling behind it—she’s afraid of him.
What Laura said at the bar plays over and over in my head. I need to get my shit together and fight for Hadley. Bennett thinks he has my girl, I can tell by the way he looks at her, but I know better. Hadley doesn’t come close to looking at him like she used to loo
k at me. We belong together, not them.
I will fucking battle anyone that gets in my way.
I knew from the minute Laura picked me up from the side of the road that she was mad—saying she was pissed would be a major understatement. Told you so’s were being thrown around like damn candy. She dropped me off, told me to deal with this shit by myself, and left before I could say anything else. Not that I blame her, it’s my mess and mine alone. But I know I did the right thing. There was no proof they did it, but I made sure that shit won’t happen again. I hated to pull Lance away, but I had to. Without Laura’s help, he’s the only one that knows what to do. He would pay some doctor a shit ton of money to stitch me up so I didn’t have to go to the hospital and risk the chance of the league finding any of this shit out—and lose everything.
I try to stand up off my couch to get another rag for my face, but I can’t seem to steady myself. Those fuckers really got me good. I try to focus on something—anything—but can’t.
“I got Reed’s eye and lip stitched. His pupils are responsive so he should be fine, but you really should take him to the hospital. He needs antibiotics, and something else could be wrong with him that I don’t see. Remember, I’m only an RN, not a doctor.” Oh, that voice… I love that sound. It’s damn music. How did Hadley get here? I wonder what type of begging Lance had to do to get Hadley to agree to help me.
“Reed will be fine, but damn it. This fucking sucks! His fight is in nine weeks and someone from the league is coming next week with the paperwork for Reed to sign to finalize the deal. I have no clue how we are going to explain what the fuck happened to his face.”
I can’t take it anymore, I gotta see her. I try to pry my eyes open and thank fuck they decide to cooperate with my brain. The first thing my eyes land on is the white wall in my living room. The second thing is my Hadley. She looks fucking stunning, breathtaking. I focus all my energy on her. God, Hadley really did get better with time. The dress she wears hugs her fucking body…I love that body. And that fucking back that I’ve wrapped my arms around so many times is bare. I even see the dimples in her lower back, and gets me hard just looking at them. Her hair is off to the side, leaving her neck wide open, allowing me to imagine my lips kissing the side of it. My eyes stop, seeing tattoos peeking out of her dress. One on her left shoulder and one on the side of her ribs, just enough to fucking tease my shit but not enough to see what the hell they are. Hadley always loved my tattoos, but even after begging her for months to get one, she knocked that idea away, said I had enough between the both of us. I’m pretty sure at this point, I would sell my left nut to see them. Tattoos on Hadley…damn. I wonder if she has any more under that sexy ass dress of hers.
Hadley looks at me and turns her attention back to Lance. “Sleeping beauty is up, so that’s my cue, guys. It’s time for me to head out. Which one of you is doing it? Someone should probably stay with him, though. Make sure he doesn’t fall and hurt himself more.”
“The thing is, you said he may have a concussion, and what if something else happens to Reed? Neither one of us knows what to do.” Fucking genius that Lance is. If my head didn’t feel like it would explode, I swear, I’d jump up and hug that fucker. This is what Hads and I need, one night alone so that I can remind her how fucking epic we are together.
Chapter 13
Hadley
I can’t shake my head fast enough. “Nope. Sorry, I won’t, can’t. I left Bennett already, if I’m not there when he gets to my house, he will be beyond pissed.” I didn’t even feel guilty about leaving the gala, not for one second. Bennett didn’t even enter my mind once, now the thought of him finding out scares the living piss out of me.
When Reed was passed out, I was able to look—I mean, really look—at him for the first time in so long. Even with a few additional scars, way more muscles, and more tattoos, he still looks like the same old Reed to me. It’s still the same body I loved wrapped around me every night, same voice that made me smile every day, same eyes that I got lost in for hours, same electricity every time I touched him. It was hard seeing him lying there hurt, I wanted to be there for him. I had to keep reminding myself over and over that Reed is still the same person that broke my heart and it changed me so profoundly that I will never come close to being the same ever again. This is the part I need to hold onto, the rest needs to be pushed away, far far away. If I don’t, I’m scared I’ll run back into his arms and never make it out again, maybe kill me.
Courtney brings her hands together as she pleads with me. “Please stay with Reed. You know that if something happens to him, you wouldn’t be able to forgive yourself.” Really? Pulling that card? I hate it when she does this shit, Courtney knows I will never say no to that.
I know I’ll regret this later, but groaning, I agree. “Fine, but”—I point at Reed, pretending he isn’t even in the conversation and absolutely no say in anything—“he will stay down in his living room. I don’t want to be anywhere near that damn bedroom of his. God knows what kind of STDs I will pick up just walking through that door. I need some clothes to change into because as amazing as this dress is, it isn’t the most comfortable thing I’ve ever worn. I have no desire to stay in it longer than I have to.”
Shit, my phone. “Courtney, will you text Bennett and just tell him I got sick or something, and then text my brothers whatever so they don’t worry about where I went? You will be back at seven to pick me up. I am talking sun up, you are here!”
Courtney smiles at me. “Don’t worry, Hads, I already texted both of your brothers, and Matt already told Bennett you went to your parents’ house because you got sick. I promise I’ll be here early. I’ll even treat you to breakfast at Waffle House if you behave yourself.” Courtney hugs and kisses my cheek, and then nods to Lance, who’s talking quietly to Reed on the couch. God knows what they are talking about, probably tits and asses for all I know.
Lance kisses my cheek and says, “You need to behave and try not to kill him.”
I smile sweetly. “Now, Lance, why would I do anything like that?” I ask in my best fake southern girl accent. He laughs as he grabs Courtney’s hand and walks out of the room.
The door closes leaving me and Reed alone, by ourselves, staring at each other.
Uncomfortable is the only thing that comes to my mind to explain how we are around one another…yep, uncomfortable is what I will go with. For the first time in so long, we are alone without an ending in sight. I got the shit end of the stick. We continue to stare dumbly at each other for what seems like hours, but it’s probably only a few seconds, and I can’t take it anymore. I have to break this silence.
“Well, I guess I need a shirt and pants to change into.”
Reed gives me one of his sexy winks I used to always fall for, and I’m proud that my stomach only flopped slightly. “Babe, you can always take the hot looking dress off and not put anything else on. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before. I never did agree to give you any of my stuff, anyway.” His first words to me are about sex, not surprising, given what his last few years have been filled with. If this is how the rest of our time together will be, it’s going to be a very long and painful night. I’m ordering every damn thing on that menu tomorrow morning and that’s only the beginning of payback for Courtney leaving my ass here, alone, with my ex, who I hate. Bitch.
“Reed, shut up. I’m sure you’ve noticed that I have changed a lot in the five years we haven’t seen each other. And, sweetheart, in case you are blind, this body only got better. And you, my dear, will never get a chance to see it without clothes on ever again.” Reed stands there in the middle of his living room looking at me, not saying anything smart-ass back. Good, mission accomplished.
I point up the stairs, assuming that is where his bedroom is. “Please, go get me some clothes, because like I said, I have no intention of being within twenty feet of that germ-infested bed. Yuck.”
Reed nods slowly, a defeated look masking his face, and starts making his way for
the stairs. I feel bad, well… almost.
For the first time since I got here, I get a chance to look around his house. I always saw “my Reed” and myself living in a house like this with little kids running around, we’d even talked about it. After everything we had been through, I obviously stopped following Reed’s career so much. It was hard to cut him out of my life completely with pictures of him everywhere, and that only made me wonder who he was now. I always pictured him in a condo in the city with a stripper pole in the center of the living room. Instead, I’m standing in the dream home I would have built, but nothing else is the way I would do it.
His house is at least five thousand square-feet, two stories, from what I can tell. Huge open living room with an oversized black leather couch that takes up most of the floor. The largest flat screen television I’ve ever seen hangs over the stone fireplace. A bookshelf sits in the corner, loaded with DVDs. Pictures—taken of him while he was fighting—are blown up and hanging on the wall. And there’s a set of double doors that lead outside. The foyer is to the left with a huge set of stairs that go to the top level. The foyer flows into his top-of-the-line kitchen, and in the space where a table would normally go, he has a bar connected to the wall with six wooden stools around it. In the back is another staircase and two closed doors. The side of the kitchen has an opening to the dining room with a table big enough to fit twelve people around it, and another set of double doors going to the yard. It’s like he lives with a ton of people with the amount a space he has. All the walls are painted white, and beside the pictures in the living room, nothing else is hung up. It’s cold, simple, not personable at all. Nothing in here screams “my” Reed. But I would be a fool to think five years couldn’t have changed Reed, either.
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