Society Girls: Rose

by Crystal Perkins

  “Do you want me to make a statement, Rosie?” Luke asks her.

  “Would you? It’s just so embarrassing. I mean, you’re like my brother, and I’ve never even…it’s gross.”

  Liv bursts out laughing. “He’s not gross at all, but I don’t mind you thinking he is.”

  “Whatever.”

  The conversation turns to upcoming parties we’ll all be at, since it’s the season for fundraisers, and I’m spared having to explain why I won’t be making a statement. I’ve already explained it to Rose, although I’m pretty sure she didn’t like my answer then, and she wouldn’t like it now.

  “I’m glad we have some time alone,” Luke tells me when the girls get up to go to the bathroom together.

  “What’s on your mind?”

  “If you hurt her, I’ll kill you.”

  “Original.”

  “Honest.”

  I tip my beer bottle at him. “I appreciate the honesty, but just so we’re clear, I’m more likely to get hurt in this relationship than she is.”

  “She isn’t good at showing her emotions, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t care,” Luke tells me, taking a drink of his own beer.

  “I know.”

  “You do, don’t you?” he asks, narrowing his eyes at me.

  “Yes.”

  He nods. “Good. She needs someone who appreciates her.”

  As do I, but I’m not going to discuss that with him. I need to talk to someone soon, or I’m going to go crazy, but Luke Griffin is not that person. Not just because he’s married to Rose’s sister, but also because he wouldn’t understand. I really don’t think anyone I know would. What I’m feeling is something society doesn’t think guys should feel, and while I know many enlightened men, I still don’t think they’d get it. Hell, if I wasn’t living it, I might not get it either, and ain’t that the biggest problem of all.

  “You ready to go?” Rose asks, rubbing her hand over my hair.

  Luke gets a kiss from Liv as she sits on his lap, but I’m not keeping track. Nope, not at all.

  “Sure.”

  “It was fun hanging out. We should all get together again soon,” Liv tells us.

  “My racing schedule is going to get crazy soon, so I won’t have much free time,” I tell her.

  “Well, if you do, give us a call, and we’ll meet up.”

  “If we’re free,” Luke adds, looking at me like he’s not sure if he really likes me or not. A moment ago, he might have, but I’ve given him pause once again.

  “The testosterone’s getting a little thick in here, which is our cue to leave,” Rose says.

  She walks around the table, hugging both of them, before returning to my side to smile up at me. I can’t stop myself from smiling back at her, even though my mind’s in a little bit of turmoil right now. I want this woman so bad, but I can’t help but think she doesn’t want me in the same way, and it’s going to kill me once we both figure that out.

  Rose

  Ares is quiet when we get into the car, so I’m surprised when he takes us to his compound instead of dropping me off at home. I’m even more surprised when he pulls his car onto the lawn, and leaves it running while he gets out. The night has turned chilly, but I don’t hesitate to take his hand when he opens my door.

  “I didn’t get my dance yet, Petal,” he explains, pulling out his phone, and choosing a song.

  As Coldplay comes on, I let him lead me to the front of the car, falling easily into his arms. We dance and kiss, kiss and dance, and it’s so much better than if we’d been doing this at the fundraiser. It’s romantic, and sweet, two things no one else sees from the man before me, and I love that I’m the one who gets this side of him. If I’m being honest with myself, I love him, but I’m not ready for that yet. I’m not sure if he’ll ever be there with me, so I fight to hold back what I feel, reminding myself some of Ares is better than none.

  Storms in Vegas can come and go at a moment’s notice, and tonight is no different. One minute, we’re dancing, and the next, rain is falling on us. We both laugh, and kiss, then run. Instead of running to the house, we both choose the car.

  “I’ve always wanted to have you in the backseat of my car, Petal,” he says, licking the raindrops from my neck.

  “Have me.”

  “Not tonight. Not in this car.”

  He says the words while licking the drops from the cutout in my dress, which means he’s basically licking my breasts. Not my nipples, but the swells that are heaving as my breathing gets heavier. He obviously wants me, but he’s not going to take what I’m offering.

  “Why?”

  “Tonight, I want to make out with you while the rain comes down around us. For minutes, or hours. As long as the rain keeps going, I want to keep kissing and touching you.”

  Oh. Well. I mean, who am I to say no to that?

  The rain goes on for hours, and so do we. My senses are overloaded, in the perfect way. The scrape of his stubble over my breasts. The rasp of his zipper as he lowers it, the rustle of fabric as I unbutton his shirt. The caress of his hand on my thigh—and higher—as he reaches into the slit of my dress. The salty taste of his skin as I kiss my way across his chest. The cold of the window when our hands press together. The way he looks in my eyes when I come on his fingers, making me feel like I’m the only woman in the world.

  The world fades away as the hours pass, and I don’t even recall hearing the sound of the rain outside, until I’m falling asleep in his arms on that backseat. I’m safe, cherished, and if I dare myself to believe in the impossible…loved.

  Ares

  I knew it couldn’t last, but I didn’t think the day after the most epic make-out session of all time would be the end of our love story. There are things you can come back from, and then there’s what I just saw online. What fucking Reece Diven just sent me to make sure I saw it.

  Luke made his statement to the press this morning, as expected, but Rose also made a statement an hour ago. One where she referred to me as a good friend, who she enjoys spending time with. If you can’t read through the lines of that one, let me make it clear. I’m the fuck-buddy. Nothing more than that.

  I throw my phone against the wall of my office, and flip my desk over, laptop and all. I fight the urge to go downstairs and toss every tool in the garage around, because it hurts that damn much. I still have enough sense to know my business isn’t something to throw away over a broken heart, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to do it.

  Instead, I leave my office as is, turn off the lights, and walk the mile down the road to my house in the rain. Yeah, it’s still raining, and ain’t that a bitch. Once I’m inside, I strip off my wet clothes, lock the door, and head for the alcohol. Nothing like top-shelf whiskey to take away the sting of rejection and dismissal.

  When I wake up hours later, I’m on my wood floor, with a blanket over my ass, and I’m not alone. I crack one eye open, seeing all the husbands, boyfriends, and various male friends of the Society and Griffin women. Lucky me.

  “How’d you get in?” I slur, still drunk, even after my nap.

  “Juvenile question,” Aiden Ford answers.

  I flip him off, and go for the next question. “Who threw the blanket over me?”

  “Me,” Luke says.

  “We didn’t want to chance you rolling over again, and showing off your junk for a second time. I mean, you’ve got a nice dick. Shower, not grower quality,” Owen tells me, and I find the strength to toss a pillow at him.

  “I grow,” I mumble, because it’s true. I know what I’ve got, and yeah, it’s nice and big.

  “Enough about that,” Matt tells me, trying to stifle a laugh. Bastard.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “You were a Studkateer, even before you got with Rose. We’re here to make sure being friend-zoned didn’t fuck you up. We got here too late to stop this train wreck from starting, but we’re here now to help in any way we can,” Zack tells me.

  “You mak
e me sound pathetic when you put it that way.”

  “We’ve all been there,” Brayden reminds me.

  “Our women are the best, but they unintentionally smack us down quite often,” Nate adds.

  “What about when it’s intentional?”

  “Rosie would never set out to hurt anyone, unless they deserved it,” Luke says.

  “She agreed to be my girlfriend, and then told the world I was just a ‘good friend she likes to hang out with’. What about that wasn’t intentional?”

  “Whoa. That’s harsh,” Dylan admits.

  “Welcome to my life,” I say, gripping the blanket tight as I sit up. “I know it’s not supposed to be the ‘guy’ thing, but I don’t want to just be used for sex.”

  “No one wants that,” Ryan says, with a slightly stricken look on his face. There’s a story there, but I’m not in a place to hear it right now.

  “Rosie’s brain doesn’t work like ours,” Scott tries to explain. “I don’t know how it works, but I know it’s different.”

  “Beautifully different,” I say, getting to my feet.

  “Sit down, Dixon. No one’s disputing that. I’d knock him out if he said any less, and you know it,” Luke tells me.

  I do know it, so I sit. “I don’t know what to do. I’ve told her I want to be with her, but she doesn’t want me like that. What the fuck am I supposed to do?”

  “Give her time. Be patient, and let her realize you mean it,” Joel tells me.

  “Yeah, and stop taking random women back to your room,” Jake says.

  “I don’t.”

  “What about after the race this weekend? It was all over the news,” Calum reminds me.

  “You, of all people, should know not to believe everything you hear.”

  “Women like to make things up. Men, too,” Blake agrees. “Does Rose know you weren’t with that women?”

  “I was with Rose that night, so yeah.”

  “She wanted you to dispute it, didn’t she?” Luke asks.

  “Yeah, but like I told her, if I did that every time, that shit would never go away.”

  “Yep. Not responding to the press is always best,” Knox says, and I know he gets it. He eventually had to hold a press conference to set things straight, but that was only as a last resort.

  “We’ve already established that Rose thinks about things differently. I do not know all of what goes on in her mind, but I’m going to make a non-official guess, and say she’s embarrassed. Both by being accused of sleeping with Luke, which we all know is ridiculous, and also by having it seem Ares cheated on her,” Kenny tells us.

  “I don’t want her to be embarrassed, but I also don’t want to get into a press war with some woman who means nothing to me. It’s race season, and I need to keep my head in the game.”

  “How’s that working for you?” Kace asks me.

  “Really fucking great.”

  “We know you can’t respond, and it sucks sometimes, because you just want to tell everyone to mind their business, but don’t give up on Rose,” Wayne tells me.

  “I don’t think I even have a car in her race.”

  “We’re here if you need us, and we’ll all be at your Vegas race in a couple of weeks,” Bodhi says.

  “Thanks. I might just have to take you up on that offer of help, because I’m at a loss here.”

  7

  Rose

  Ares isn’t answering his phone, letting me know he doesn’t like my statement. I did it to protect myself, but I knew he’d be upset by what I said. It’s not about him—not really—but until he sees it that way, I’ll just have to deal with being shut out. I promised my friends we’d meet up to talk later, but right now, I need to talk to Reina. I have so many questions for her, and if I don’t get answers soon, my brain is going to go into overdrive.

  “Hi, Rose. Come on in.”

  I follow her into her stylish living room, and settle into one of the comfy chairs. “Thanks for seeing me.”

  “You sound so formal, sweetie, and you know you don’t have to be that way with me.”

  “I know. It’s just…I have things to ask, and I don’t know how to ask, and it’s just making my brain jumble.”

  “Take a few deep breaths, and just ask.”

  I do as she says, focusing myself. The numbers aren’t coming, because I know I’m in a safe space, but my mind isn’t focusing on its own either. The deep breaths help enough for me to speak, but just barely.

  “How did you overcome it? Everyone calling you ‘Matt Corrigan’s wife’?”

  “Who says I have? People call me that all the time.”

  “But you’re Reina Corrigan to most of the world.”

  “I suppose I am, but if I’m being honest, I love being Matt’s wife more than I love just being me. I know it’s not what some feminists would like to hear, but it’s the truth. I love my husband, and I’m proud to stand next to him. I believe he feels the same about me, although, to my knowledge, he doesn’t get called my husband.”

  “Your knowledge would be wrong, then,” Matt tells her, coming in the front door. “The women you help ask me if I’m your husband all the time, and I fucking love it.”

  “See. This is why I love being his wife.”

  “And I love being your husband. But, you know if anyone said you were my wife in a derogatory way, they’d be waking up in the hospital the next day.”

  “It really doesn’t bother me. I know who I am, and what we are. I know you respect me, and love me. What some other idiot thinks doesn’t matter.”

  “No offense to you, Matt, but don’t you want to be known as your own person, Rei?”

  “None taken, Rose. I get what you’re saying, but my wife is her own person. She runs an organization that’s more important than mine, makes life and death decision for thousands, if not millions of people, and she gave birth to our child, which is the most amazing thing of all.”

  “You’re pretty great yourself, Matteo, but thanks for all of that,” she says, leaning over to give him a quick kiss. “Rose, I mentioned feminists, and I’m sure you know I consider myself one. A feminist is a woman who supports and upholds other women, no matter what they wear, or how they choose to live their life. It’s about choice. If a woman is forced to dress a certain way, I will fight for her to have the choice to change. But, if another were to choose those same clothes for herself, I would respect her choice as well. I feel the same way about working or not working, when you’re a woman. No one’s life is the same, and it shouldn’t be. I know not everyone agrees with my views, but for me it’s all about choice. I won’t say I chose to fall in love with Matt, but I did choose to spend my life with him, and it’s the best choice I’ve ever made.”

  Wow. I don’t know what to say, because what she said isn’t what society expects of one of the most powerful women in the world. And maybe that’s the lesson for me to learn. I’m not sure it’s one I can fully embrace right now, but I feel better knowing it.

  The baby monitor registers the first cries of an infant waking up. Matt jumps up, as Reina laughs. “As you can see, Mitch has replaced me as his favorite.”

  “Siempre mi favorita, Princess,” Matt tells her, as he kisses the top of her head. “I love our son, but you’re always first.”

  I practically swoon off my chair, watching them look at each other like the world starts and stops right there, with them. I have a feeling, sometimes it does.

  “You didn’t say anything when Matt said he’d beat someone up for you,” I say, once he’s out of the room.

  “I love it. Like he said, I’d do the same for him, but I love it when his inner Caveman makes an appearance. It’s sexy as hell, because while I can take care of myself, knowing he’s there…it’s just sexy as hell.”

  “I liked it when Ares beat someone up for me last night.”

  “He cares for you very deeply Rose.”

  “He says he does.”

  “It wasn’t a question. I know Ares, and I kn
ow what he feels for you is real. I can tell you’re not at the place to believe it yet, but I’m going to just tell you that I do.”

  She’s right, and we both know it; I’m just not ready to believe it yet. “I don’t look anything like those women he picks up at parties and other places. They have perfectly curled hair, and pretty dresses. I show a lot of skin, and have a mind I can’t control most of the time.”

  “Do you think there’s a reason the women he picks up look nothing like you, Rose? I’m pretty sure we’ve already established his love of all that bare skin you show. As for control, you haven’t lost it for months.”

  I’m not ready to answer her, but I have one last question of my own, so I ignore everything else, and she lets me. “We’d be photographed if we were together.”

  She waves her hand, and rolls her eyes. “I’ve given up on trying to keep all of you under wraps. A few of you are incognito, but I’ve found hiding in plain sight works for everyone else.”

  I thank her again, and leave a few minutes later, because I know she wants to be with her boys. She hugs me goodbye, and reminds me to come by anytime if I need her. Audrey’s still running the office, but no one doubts Reina’s in charge. She doesn’t say it, because she doesn’t have to. We all just know.

  Ares

  “You can go in now, Ares,” Alex says, looking at me warily as I stride past her. I know I look a little crazed, but that’s because I am. Being that she’s one of Rose’s best friends isn’t working in my favor, either.

  “Hello,” Audrey tells me when I walk into her office.

  “I’m glad you’re not pretending you don’t know why I’m here.”

  “The women of the Society come first. You have to know this.”

  “I’m your friend, Aud. Or at least I thought I was. I’ve helped you personally, as well as helping all of you.”

  “I consider you one of my best friends.”

  “And yet you helped her take me down. You’re all over that statement she released.”

  “Yes, I helped her, but it wasn’t done to hurt you. She’s protecting herself.”