by Alexis Leia
“Prank calls aren’t the cause of immediate panic. But I will tell you if they happen again”, she said.
“But I’m glad they woke me up, because I got to hear this beautiful ballad. You have an incredible voice, and the music is... magical.”
He felt humbled and proud at the compliment, because he appreciated her opinion most. And if she knew the song was about her, and that her magic inspired it, she would most definitely know how much she meant to him. But it wasn’t the time to tell her that yet.
“It’s still not finished.”
“When you finish it, I want to be the first one to hear it”, she said and put a quick kiss on his lips before getting up from his lap.
“Where are you going?” he asked her, following her to the bedroom where she started collecting her clothes from the floor.
“I should go home before the snow gets any deeper”, she said.
He started feeling panicked, and he couldn’t even explain why. He only knew he didn’t want her to go.
“Stay”, he said softly, making her head snap up and her eyes widen.
“I - Are you sure? I don’t think that’s a good idea”, she said, her voice concerned.
He approached her and put his arms around her waist.
“I want you to stay”, he said, staring deep in her eyes.
She hesitated for a second, searching for something in his expression, maybe the sign of lying or hyperventilating, but he felt nothing but absolute certainty that it was the right thing.
After she was done analyzing him, she dropped her clothes and returned his embrace.
“I’ll stay. But I have to text Annie. She’ll kill me”, Selene said and groaned, making Chris chuckle.
Her best friend would definitely give her shit about all of it, but Chris couldn’t care less. Selene wanted him, and that was the only thing that mattered.
“How badly is she pissed at me?” he asked her, actually curious about it.
“Yesterday she talked about creating a nuclear bomb with your name on it, tying you up to it, and dropping both you and the bomb in the ocean”, Selene muttered in a casual tone, leaning her head on his chest.
Chris threw his head back and laughed loudly. Annie was batshit crazy, but she was fun to have around.
“I have a plan for her”, Chris said and chuckled at the worried expression on Selene’s face.
“Don’t worry, I won’t choke her to death. Jackson and you would be very pissed at me. Just a little prank, though”, he explained. Selene relaxed and made her way to the bed, where she snuggled under the covers, only the top of her head and nose peaking underneath.
“I know all about your pranks. She will lose her shit”, she said, her voice muffled under the sheets.
He joined her in the bed and pulled her closer, making her put her head on his chest again. And everything was right in the world in that moment.
“It’s about time to for someone to make her lose her shit. Aren’t you going to text her?”
“Oh true”, she said and reached behind her to get her phone from the nightstand. She frowned when the screen light hit her eyes, and Chris found it adorable.
“Ugh, she already knows I’m here. Damn, she has a colorful vocabulary. But remind me to text Emmet in the morning”, she said wryly after reading her best friend’s text.
“Why?” he knew he sounded like a jealous jerk, but he and Emmet had some differences to settle, and it wouldn’t be easy.
However, the guy obviously meant a lot to Selene and Chris would respect that, no matter how much Emmet aggravated him, and no matter how many times he decided to put him behind the bars. The latter was Selene’s fault anyway.
“I need him to spread the word around about rabid wild dogs”, she said like that explained everything.
“What are you talking about?”
“People who saw you leaving the station today looking all bloody and torn up have started to ask questions. So I told them you wandered too deep in the mountain, and that the rabid wild dogs attacked you in the woods.”
For a moment he was left speechless, but when the surprise passed, he laughed loudly.
“That’s good. But it would’ve been better if you told the truth about me beating the shit out of a guy who tried to mess around with you. That way everybody would know not to think of my woman”, he told her possessively.
“I’m giving you an eye roll behind my closed lids. Now shut up and sleep”, she ordered and fell silent. He chuckled for a little while before doing exactly what she said; he fell into the most peaceful of sleeps.
Selene stayed in his bed the next night, and the night after that, sleeping on his chest where she belonged.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Hey, man. When are you coming to L.A.?” Jackson asked him when he picked up the phone while leaving the house, where he spent most of the time producing, creating demos and – a bit less exciting – paperwork. He forgot how good it felt to simply create music without any pressure, or how it felt to wake up without thinking about the daily schedule.
“The day after tomorrow, on Thanksgiving. I told you already”, Chris said and sat behind the wheel, driving towards the school; he promised Sam he would pick him up.
“Yeah, well, I think I should warn you. The paparazzi are camping in front of your house here”, Jackson said.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You don’t read the tabloids there? Or watch MTV? Or even turn on your internet?”
“Spit it out, I don’t know what’s going on”, Chris warned, having a bad feeling.
“Turns out, the Grammy-winning country singer Mona Walker announced she was having a baby with her music producer boyfriend. She didn’t want to reveal who it was, but people aren’t stupid; everybody knows you two were going out for a while. So yeah, there’s at least a dozen paparazzi in front of your house, waiting for you to come out and give them a photo or two.”
Chris hit the brakes so hard the tires squealed and the car stopped dead.
“Are you fucking kidding me?! She can’t be pregnant, I never went bareback with her”, Chris yelled as panic started flowing through his veins.
“She posted an Instagram picture of herself holding a positive pregnancy test and captioned it: Music + Love = A miracle”, Jacks said in a grim voice.
Chris got out of the car and heard the bell ringing inside the school. He paced in circles, still not believing his ears. But then his brain began working and he cooled down.
“We weren’t exclusive. I knew she was sleeping with others, and so was I. I don’t believe a single thing she says.”
“Neither do I, but how are you going to explain it to Selene?”
“Fuck”, he groaned and he could already imagine Selene telling him to fuck off and breaking up with him.
“What if I don’t tell her? At least for a while until I find out the truth.”
“Yeah, fucktard, that’s a great idea. And while you’re at it, make sure she stays away from TV, newspapers, magazines, and other media. This shit is everywhere”, Jackson wryly said.
“Fine. I’ll tell her. Shit, I’ll deal with it when I come there. Just tell the paparazzi I’m away on a trip or something, get them the hell away from my house”, Chris said and looked through the crowd of kids for Sam.
“You got it. How’s... Annie?” Jacks asked, sounding a little hesitant.
The day after Chris had returned to Mountainview, his best friend had to go back to Los Angeles, which absolutely sucked, not only for Chris, but for Jackson and Annie too. Jacks didn’t want to reveal any details, but their breakup wasn’t nice, and Chris could tell that his best friend suffered. Annie, on the other hand, refused to talk to Chris about it, which made sense, since she still hated his guts.
“I think she’s okay. She’s come up with new ways of killing me. Her newest idea is to lock me inside the basement with sewer rats and set the room on fire”, Chris said and expected a burst of laughter fro
m Jackson, but his best friend remained quiet.
“Jacks? What’s going on?” he asked him.
“Nothing. Just leave it”, Jackson fired back, and Chris knew better than to push him some more.
Jackson was fair to him when it came to Selene, he didn’t put his nose where it didn’t belong, and he would return the favor.
“Alright, man. Anything you need, you call. Got it?” Chris said, letting him know that he was there for him.
“I know. I’ll deal with this shit here until you get back. But don’t fall for stupid lies. Mona just wants you to fall in her trap”, Jacks warned him, reminding him of the fucking complication his ex fling was.
He rubbed his face with his hand and exhaled loudly.
“We’ll see everything once I get there. See you soon”, he said and hung up the phone.
Sam was walking towards him and Chris made himself change the murderous expression he wore to something more neutral so he wouldn’t scare the kid away.
“Hey, buddy. How was school?” Chris asked as he crouched down to greet the boy.
Sam lifted his arm and gave Chris their regular high-five greeting. Chris avoided making too much physical contact with Sam, because Selene told him how he wasn’t fond it. He didn’t want to make the kid uncomfortable in any way, especially not now since Sam accepted him as his friend completely.
When Chris had returned three weeks ago, Selene told him there was someone who wanted to see him again. When they showed up in the foster home, which was the first time Chris stepped foot inside that place since the day he left, Sam was the one to open the door. Both him and Sam got a little emotional seeing each other, especially when Chris told him he was going to stay in Mountainview for a while. Sam tried to pull it off casually, but his excitement could have been seen a mile away.
“Boring”, Sam said and sat in the car.
“It’s funny how you say the same thing every time I ask you about school”, Chris said and started driving to the other side of town, to the Town Hall where Selene was having her meeting with potential investors for the resort project.
She’d asked him if he could pick her up after taking Sam from school, because she didn’t like driving her old car on the heavy snow and ice. Then they had a fight, because he told her he was going to buy her a new car; she refused, he insisted, and it went on and on, until they had damn hot makeup sex, which solved absolutely nothing. Well, it was solved in his mind; he already ordered a car for her as a Christmas present.
“What do you want me to say? I see stupid people?”, Sam said, making Chris laugh.
“You watched The Sixth Sense? Aren’t you too young to watch horror movies?”
“Aren’t you too old to ask stupid questions?” Sam fired back, and Chris really shouldn’t find that so damn funny, but he did. However, he was a responsible adult here, and he had to set some boundaries.
“Watch it, dude. I’m sensitive about my age and your arrogance”, Chris said in a light, but warning tone.
“Sorry”, Sam apologized, sounding sincere.
“Apology accepted. Let’s pick up Selene.”
“She said we’re having dinner at your place tonight, and that you’re cooking”, Sam said as he munched on his banana he pulled out from his backpack.
“Did she? Well, I hope you like Chinese food, because takeout is the highlight of my cooking.”
“You can’t cook?”
“Let’s just say there’s a gazillion other things I do better than cooking. And if you don’t want to spend the next week having a terrible case of nausea, you won’t try anything I make”, Chris laughed.
Sam looked deep in thought about that, until his face lit up.
“Cool. When I want to ditch school, I’ll just eat something you cooked.”
“Uh-huh. No way, buddy. I won’t let you ditch. Stay in school, don’t do drugs, and all that adult advice I should give you”, Chris said.
“I think you forgot one.”
“Which one?”
“Use protection”, Sam said and grinned slyly, almost making Chris cause a traffic accident.
“Uh, yeah. That too, but not until you’re eighteen. Actually, scratch that. You’ll be needing that advice after you turn twenty one, and not a day earlier”, Chris said, acting like Sam was his kid and he had any say in the kid’s life decisions.
But Chris cared about this kid and didn’t want him to fuck up his life. Even though you didn’t necessarily have to be young to screw up in life; if Mona was telling the truth, then shit... Chris didn’t know what he was going to do.
“Oh, c’mon Chris. Chill out. There’s Selene”, Sam said and pointed a finger at the redhead who stood in front of the Town Hall, talking to a familiar man in suit who stood too close to her for Chris’s liking.
“Let’s go to her”, Chris said.
They walked over to Selene, who looked extremely professional in her long coat and black suit, with her hair tied up in a tight bun. She talked to the man and laughed heartily as he put a hand on her forearm.
Chris approached her, put an arm around her shoulders and spoke directly to her, ignoring the man. Maturity = nonexistent. He didn’t give a fuck.
“How did it go, baby?” he asked her intimately, clearly making a statement.
“It’s still going. Chris, meet my new investor, Sebastian Rodriguez”, she said.
Sebastian was almost as tall as Chris, a good-looking guy with blonde hair, green eyes and a killer smile. Chris knew him.
“Sebastian? Your company is based in L.A., right? You do investments and reinvestments”, Chris said, shaking the guy’s hand.
“That’s right. Christopher Ledford, right? Haven’t seen you in Los Angeles for a while now, although the tabloids have gone crazy over the last juicy gossip”, Sebastian said.
“What gossip?” Selene asked, her eyes darting from Chris to Sebastian. Shit.
“Nothing, babe. It’s just shit they talk about all the time”, Chris said, hoping Sebastian would get the fuck away from here as soon as possible.
“So, Mona Walker is not expecting your child?”
Dead silence. Chris could hear his heart drumming in his chest, and his gaze was focused only on Selene. Her eyebrows were raised, her mouth was gaping open, and she let out a disbelieving laugh.
“Mona is pregnant?” she asked in a dangerously calm voice.
“According to her, she is.”
“Did you know about this?” Selene asked Chris, her voice unchanged.
“Found out a few minutes ago”, he admitted.
“Alright. I think I should go. Selene, make sure you come to Los Angeles as soon as possible. We still have details to settle. Chris, it was good seeing you”, Sebastian said and headed over to his furious sports car parked illegally on the main square.
The guy obviously saw Chris’s murderous stare and decided to run away as soon as possible, which was damn smart, considering how Chris was feeling at the moment. As adults and business people, they should have no interest in sharing gossip. And although Chris didn’t see an ounce of malice on Rodriguez’s face, he still resented him for stealing the chance to tell Selene on his own terms.
“You’re having a baby?” Sam asked him in a disgusted voice. The kid obviously knew who Mona was, because Selene had told him all about the parking lot incident.
“You’re not helping, kid”, Chris said through his teeth and turned to Selene, who looked shrewd.
“Were you and Mona exclusive while you... you know, hooked up?” she asked him.
“No”, he immediately replied, not really ashamed of his previous life, but not exactly proud either.
Selene was the only woman who made him have eyes only for her, and he didn’t even think about hooking up with someone else since the moment he came to Mountainview.
“Huh. Okay”, she said and stared walking toward the car, with her briefcase in her hand.
Chris and Sam shared a confused look before Chris ran to catch up with
her.
“Okay? Aren’t you mad? Aren’t you gonna dump me?” he felt utterly fucking shocked at her reaction.
“Don’t give me ideas”, she said and explained her logic.
“You weren’t exclusive, so she probably slept with other men. That means the baby could be yours, but it’s not for sure. If the crazy woman is even pregnant, which again doesn’t have to be true, since she’s a pathological liar”, she said.
Chris hugged her hard, lifting her up from the floor and placed a hard kiss on her lips.
“So you’re not breaking up with me?”
“No. We have to wait and see if she’s really knocked up and if it’s even yours. I hope you used protection, you dumb, horny bastard”, she whispered the last words, because Sam was close and she didn’t want him to hear that. Funny, since Sam told him almost the same thing not long ago.
“You’re amazing, you know that?” he told her, placing a stray strand of hair that fell over her face behind her ear. He kissed her gently, with both of his palms on her gorgeous face.
“Ew. Get a room”, Sam said and sat inside Chris’s car, making them both laugh.
“Wait while I get some bagels from the bakery. It’s across the street. I’ll be right back”, Selene said, leaving Chris stare at her, wondering how the hell did he manage to have such an amazing... girlfriend? He guessed it was the right title.
He followed her as she looked to the right and to the left before stepping on the concrete. Then suddenly, a car stormed down the street in great speed, without any sign of slowing down.
Chris’s entire life flashed in front of his eyes as he watched Selene walking slowly over the street, unaware of the car that was going to hit her and kill her.
“Selene!” he yelled, and before he could even think about it, he ran toward her, faster than he had ever run. She lifted her head up, a soft smile on her lips and looked at him running.
Just before the car reached her, Chris lunged through the air and knocked her down. They both escaped death by a mere inch. He was sprawled on top of her, protecting her from everything. But when the danger passed, he rolled off her and saw her looking shocked and confused. He sat next to her as he helped lift her up in sitting position.
