by S. R. Watson
That piece of information would have come in handy before I agreed to get out of the car, ugh. Grayson is standing there in black silk pajamas and nothing else. His defined chest and abs taunt me, daring me not to look. His bare feet are even sexy. I swallow the lump in my throat and manage to look away.
I feel like have been sucker punched. So this is why he has a fuck pad. He’s living with a woman already. We need to keep our worlds separate my ass. I keep this stupid fake smile on my face all while wanting to get as far away from here as I can. Bailey mentions changing into some clothes she keeps at her brother’s place and disappears from the room. You can cut the tension with a knife. I walk slowly to the huge windows to take in the view, praying that Grayson can’t see my defeated look.
“I got your text,” he says from across the room.
“There was never a doubt that you did.” I sense him walking toward me so I turn to face him. “I got your message.”
“How so? I didn’t reply.”
“All the same, the message was loud and clear. Our arrangement is null and void, especially since you’re back with Vanessa,” I say while trying to appear unfazed.
“I’m not back with Vanessa.”
“You’re living together,” I reply in a whispered hiss. He must think I’m a fool.
Who am I kidding? I feel like a fool. I’m so over this.
“Look, Shiv, I was planning to contact you today. I needed time to ... ” He’s cut off by Vanessa’s sudden reappearance in the room.
“Where did Bailey run off to?”
“She decided to shower and change here. She’ll be out soon,” Grayson responds.
“Oh, okay. Have you eaten, Shiv?”
“No. Bailey mentioned grabbing lunch though.”
“Nonsense. Come. Join me for brunch on the balcony. This way you guys can wait to eat later after condo hunting,” she insists. “Care for a mimosa?”
“Okay, sure.” Grayson reluctantly excuses himself after trying in vain to secretly get my attention. Vanessa and I head to the balcony after grabbing brunch from the kitchen. We indulge in bagels with lox and drink mimosas. Bailey joins us shortly while we’re spending time getting to know each other. Maybe Vanessa really is a nice girl. I may have prejudged her unfairly because of her connection with Grayson, but she had been a little snobby at the pool party.
“Well, I guess we should get going,” Bailey says while grabbing a plain bagel half. “I ate breakfast this morning with Jordan while you slept in, but these bagels look too tempting to pass up.”
I drink the remains of my mimosa and thank Vanessa for her hospitality. I head toward the door with Bailey, refusing to look in Grayson’s direction as he maneuvers around his kitchen. I can feel his eyes boring into me. I should have known he’d be a player. Professor by day and elusive billionaire playboy by night, I’m glad I dodged that head-trip. I’ve been through enough drama.
In route to Bailey’s car, she phones the realtor and they discuss what listings she’s going to visit first. After countless hours and visits to at least six properties, she ultimately decides to purchase one of the two bedroom condos where Vanessa resides. Wearing heels for this little adventure was not my brightest idea, although Bailey seemed to have no trouble.
WE HEAD BACK to my place to get ready to go out. I love karaoke although I’m not a spectacular singer. I can hold a tune, but that’s it. I love the music and watching as others express themselves through lyrics. I change out of the god-forsaken heels and into my Chuck Taylors, jeans, and “You Got Served” tee. This is more my speed. I’m ready to sing my heart out. Bailey steps out of my bathroom and I chuckle. She’s all dolled up in a skin tight dress and pumps. She and Jordan are two of a kind.
“How do I look?” Bailey twirls in a circle, letting me take in the full effect.
“Are we going somewhere else besides the karaoke bar?” I joke.
She frowns at my assessment. “I just want to look my best. You never know, my future man might be there.”
“In that case, you look hot. He won’t know what hit him.” This earns me a grin. “Come on, let’s hit the road before your future man gets away.”
On the driver over, I get a text from Liam.
Liam: Hey. R u busy?
Me: Why?
Liam: We need to talk
Me: I’ll pass
Liam: Please it’s important
Me: Well right now I am heading to the karaoke bar with Bailey
Liam: Which one?
Me: Palm Tree LA in K-Town
Liam: K
What does he mean, okay? Does that mean he going to meet up with us?
My phone rings and I quickly answer it without looking at the caller I.D. “What Liam?”
“Sorry, try again,” the sexy voice rasps on the other end. It’s Grayson. I can’t give away his identity so I reply simply with, “Hey.”
“Bad time? Expecting a call from Liam?”
He’s trying to sound as though he’s asking out of mere curiosity—I know the technique well, but I know that it’s anything but. “No and no. He was just texting me. I’m heading to the karaoke bar with Bailey.”
She glances at me at the mention of her name and mouths “Who is it?” I pretend I don’t see her and work to get him off the phone.
“Hmm. We need to talk,” he says. Seems to be the theme of the night.
“Okay, I’ll call you tomorrow.” I haven’t made up my mind if I actually will, but he doesn’t have to know that. If he notices my urgency to get him off the line, he doesn’t say anything.
“I look forward to hearing from you. Have a good time.” Why is he even bothering to call now? Does he think that I’m just supposed to overlook that Vanessa is not only living with him, but she was parading around his place in her underwear? He has a lot of explaining to do—that’s if I decide to call him back.
Bailey takes the hint and doesn’t question me again about who was on the phone. We make it to the karaoke bar. This is the first time I’ve been here with Bailey, but she’s been here countless times before with other people. We found out we had this place in common. It’s thirty dollars per hour for the food and karaoke package, so the plan is to have a few drinks first, until we meet a few people to join our karaoke party.
THE DRINKS WILL help loosen up any nerves we have about making complete asses of ourselves. Over the next hour, we meet a group of six who’d been biding their time to rent the room. We make our way to the back and start looking through the songbook. There are a variety of popular songs including a Korean section. I finally choose what I always start the night with—Madonna’s Like a Virgin. Toward the end of the song, I glance at the door and in walks Liam. He’s smiling from ear to ear. So I guess I have the answer to my earlier question. I finish my song to clapping and whistles, Liam being the loudest. As Bailey takes the stage to sing her rendition of Poe’s Angry Johnny, Liam pulls me away from the group to talk.
“How have you been?” He slides his hands in his back jean pockets. I’m momentarily distracted. The movement pulls his T-shirt taunt against his chest and abs. I can’t help but compare his body to Grayson’s. He is sexy as hell, but the professor wins hands down. That man gives a whole other classification for sexy—just sinfully delicious.
“I’ve been fine. Not quite as well as you apparently, but fine,” I say finally.“About that. I’m sorry. I made a mistake.”
“Oh really ... which part? The cheating on me or the rubbing your little girlfriend in my face every chance you got?”
“Heather isn’t my girlfriend and I’m sorry for all of it,” he sighs. “I panicked.”
“What do you mean panicked?”
“This is our last year. After we graduate, the expectation will be that we get married.” He chances a glance in my direction. “I got cold feet. I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet.”
Is this really his justification for putting me through hell? “Who said anything about marriage? I have never pres
sured you. Hell, I’ve never brought it up.”
“I know you haven’t. It just seems like the next logical step. I guess what I’m trying to say is I made a terrible mistake and I see that now. Flaunting Heather in front of you was my attempt to piss you off, hoping it would help you get over me faster.”
“Well you have succeeded on both counts.” I watch him flinch at my jab.
“When I saw that guy carry you out of that frat party, I got a wake-up call. I had a chance to see what it was like for you to be with someone else and it stung like a mother … ”
“Liam, what hurt the most was to disrespect me in the manner you did. Even if you have moved on, our time together should count for something. What you did was flat-out purposeful and hurtful ... like I was more of an enemy to you.”
He flinches again at my correlation of being his enemy. “I’m so sorry.”
“I’ll spend forever making it up to you if you let me. I want you back, Siobhan.”
I’m in shock. I expected him to try and make amends, but not this. We’ve been through so much together and he was once the love of my life, but I can’t go there again. I can see now that I can live alone. I can be happy as me, not needing him to determine how I feel about myself. And, judging by other male attention I’ve been receiving, why should I settle? “I can’t. I appreciate you telling me the truth and I forgive you, but you still cheated on me.” God this is hard. I don’t even bother telling him about the conversation I witnessed between Melissa and Heather—how he mocked our sex life. It no longer matters. “I can be your friend, but I could never trust that you would be faithful to me. That is a deal-breaker for me. I told you I wouldn’t be like her. I won’t be like my mother. She let numerous men cheat and verbally abuse her in hopes that they would stay after my father left. You knew how this affected me and you still cheated.”
“You’re right. Again I’m so sorry. If your friendship is the only thing you’re offering, I’ll take it. I know I fucked up, but I won’t give up on the idea of us. First I’ll regain your trust and maybe then you will see the possibility of something more for us.”
I’m about to discourage him from the false hope, but he’s called to the stage. Apparently he had signed up to sing while I was on stage. Chris Daughtry’s It’s Not Over blares from the speakers as he takes the mic. How fitting. Too bad he doesn’t realize it really is over. It took some time for the hurt to cease, but I’m ready to move on. I’m no longer bitter about seeing him with Heather or any woman for that matter.
His apology is what I needed to find closure to our relationship. The hurtful part was his indifference to how he was making me feel. Now that he has acknowledged his wrongdoing, I know we can move forward from this. He’s going to have to come to the same realization that I did—what we had is over. I hope I can help him as a friend come to these terms.
I applaud when he finishes the song and give him a sad smile. I don’t want to encourage his logic for that song choice. He knows music grounds me and how much I love it. He was attempting to reach me through the lyrics. I don’t acknowledge his attempt though. Instead, I introduce him to Bailey and the rest of the group that I met tonight. He gets us a round of beers and we all laugh and clown around as the other group members perform their set. The background video to the lyrics is hilarious—a donkey walking on chained legs and fish fertilizing eggs. The video definitely doesn’t match the songs, but it is a hell of fun. After everyone takes a turn, Bailey pays and we get ready to leave. Liam and I leave on a positive note that we would keep in touch and that he would see me in class. Bailey drops me off and tells me she’s going home to get in her own bed.
“Thanks for coming with me today to find a place and for a fun night.”
“It was fun. I had a great time,” I say.
“Yeah, we’ll have to do it again sometime.”
I agree. She is a hoot. She didn’t meet her future man, but she still turned plenty of heads tonight. “Absolutely.”
I get ready for bed and wonder if I should call Grayson tomorrow. He does owe me an explanation since he claims he’s not back with Vanessa. Why the hell did he ignore my text? I close my eyes and snuggle under my covers. I think I already have my answer to whether I plan to call him or not.
I HAD PLANNED to sleep in since I didn’t get in until three, but the blaring ring of my cell phone awakens me. It’s my mother so I answer it.
“Hello, Mom.”
“Well, hello to you too, dear. Why does it sound like you are still in the bed?”
“Because I am. It’s the weekend,” I groan.
“Late night?” she asks.
I wonder why the small talk, but I oblige. “Yeah, a friend and I went to a karaoke bar last night.”
“I’m glad you’re getting out and having some fun.” I can read between the lines. She is glad I’m not sitting at home pining over Liam. I had to listen to an hour of ‘I told you so’ when I finally called and told her about the breakup. She thought the idea was ludicrous that I would follow him to college in the first place. She only acquiesced somewhat when I told her the university had a good MBA program.
“Yeah. So what’s going on?” My mom and I talk frequently, but she never calls me this early. Even with the two-hour time difference, it’s still early.
“I just signed up for a nursing conference for February and it’s in Los Angles,” she says. “I will be there for three days so I can visit with you.”
“Mom that’s great. Just let me know the dates.” The conference is months away, during next semester. I’ll see her before then at Thanksgiving break and again in December over the Christmas break. I haven’t been home to visit my mom in almost a year so I look forward to the holidays. It’s especially tough that I didn’t get a chance to go home with Jordan, but I’m on a tight budget.
“I will, honey. I won’t hold you; I just wanted to let you know the news. You take care and I’ll call you soon with the details.”
I know her news was just an excuse to check how I was coping with the breakup. She could have told me about the conference over the holidays. I’m glad I could put her mind at ease. “Okay, Mom. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
I’m so proud to see how much my mother has achieved. I was thirteen when my mother and father divorced. She had no real job skills at that time. She became a housekeeper for Jordan’s family while she took basic college courses. She brought me to work with her one weekend when the Daniels were supposed to be out of town. They came home early and found me in the kitchen waiting for my mom to finish cleaning. Instead of being upset, they introduced me to their daughter and encouraged my mother to bring me with her on a regular basis. Jordan and I hit it off immediately. The Daniels could see the bond we’d formed and before long, I was being enrolled in the same private school as Jordan.
After the sudden departure of their regular cook, my mother took on that role as well. We began to spend more hours at the Daniels than at home. Mr. Daniels eventually insisted that we move into the pool house rather than the continuous commute. After a while, my mother was accepted into the nursing program, but still managed to balance her work schedule. The Daniels were very supportive of my mother’s continued education. When she graduated and became an ICU nurse, they were as proud as I was. She obtained total financial independence without relying on a child support check from my father. He’d left us to pursue his photography dream and to travel the world. Although she isn’t wealthy like the Daniels who own several hotel chains, she is firmly rooted in middle class and is able to help me pay for college. She has achieved a lot and is a prime example why you shouldn’t depend on someone else for your livelihood. That’s why she was so against me following Liam. She didn’t want history to repeat itself. After learning that Jordan would be with me, it eased some of her concern.
I TWIST MY hair around my knuckles, trying to figure out what I should say when I call Grayson. I want to play it cool, not giving any indication that I hat
e he has me so twisted in knots or that Vanessa living with him pisses me off. I don’t want to care.
I stop procrastinating and quickly dial his number before I lose the nerve. It only rings twice before he picks up.
“Hello.”
God, that delicious rasp of his is so sexy. “Hey,” I say, giving him a chance to take the lead. After all, he is the one who wanted to talk.
“Is your roommate still out of town?”
“Yes, but how did you know that?” I didn’t tell him Jordan would be gone.
“I overheard you and Bailey talking yesterday.” There’s a short pause before he continues. “Can I come over? I want to talk with you in person.”
It’s against my better judgment, but I can admit that I want to see him. “Sure. Give me an hour.”
We end the call and I rush through the house like a mad woman trying to figure out what I’m going to wear. I take a quick shower and brush my teeth after finally deciding on just a tank top and cheer shorts. It’s my lounge around the house clothes. I don’t want to appear to be trying too hard. He has his work cut out to get back in my good graces. The doorbell rings and I question my sanity. Butterflies coil in my stomach at being alone with him again. I open the door and he takes his time eying my attire. A smirk crosses his gorgeous lips and I struggle to remember that I’m upset with him.
“Nice shorts,” he says as he pushes the door closed. His eyes don’t leave mine as he walks forward. My back is now against the island in the kitchen and his hard body has me trapped against him.
