I take a step back at the same time he asks me if I’m still working at Mike’s bar.
“Occasionally, I’m filling in, but not really.”
We’re about the same height, and he leans in closer and rests a hand on my lower back. “That’s cool. I bet you make great tips.”
Umm, okay, weird. I nod noncommittally and open my stance, breaking contact as I look for my date.
Leo’s scanning the room like he’s looking for me too. I stand on my tiptoes and catch his eye. His features soften, then he takes in the guys next to me and starts toward us.
“There you are,” Leo says when he reaches me. He drops a kiss to my cheek.
I motion to Antonio and Lawrence. “These guys are friends with Jade’s boyfriend.”
Leo nods, wraps an arm around my waist, and says hello.
“Leo Lohan,” Antonio says. “It’s so cool you’re here. Stay and have a drink with us, man.”
“Sorry, another time,” he says, already stepping away and taking me with him.
I wave bye, and Leo ushers us off to the side to a less crowded area.
“Everything okay?” he asks.
“Yeah, I went to the bathroom and ran into him on the way out. You were busy, and I wanted to give you some space.”
“Well, don’t.” He pulls me closer to him and smiles. “I like you all up in my space. Plus, that guy was standing awfully close to my dream girl.”
I push up on my toes and kiss him. “Don’t worry. If I’m going to leave here tonight with someone else, it’s probably Jack.”
He smacks my ass, causing me to yelp. I lace my fingers through his, and we go back to our table. The room gets louder as the night wears on. People are getting drunk, and laughter echoes through the warehouse.
Even Leo has a happy buzz going on. He’s quicker to chuckle and getting handsier by the second. I bat his fingers away as he slips them under the hem of my dress.
He winks and places his palm over my knee.
“I think it’s time for me to get out of here,” Declan says and stands. “Does anyone need a ride?”
“Are you ready?” Leo asks me.
“Yeah.” I get up, and he stands behind me, hands still roaming all over me.
Jack laughs as he watches us. “Shotgun. I’m not sitting in the back with those two.”
Our progress toward the door is slow. Everyone that they talked to earlier in the night stops them to say goodbye.
I’m hanging off to the side, fingers still intertwined with Leo’s, even as he chats with other people. Antonio approaches us slowly.
“You’re leaving already?”
“Yeah.”
“No way,” he says. “Stay. Lawrence gets off in an hour, and then we’re going to hit the bars downtown.”
“Another time, maybe.” I press into Leo’s side.
“Ready?” I ask Leo. I think getting blitzed might be the norm for Antonio. He reeks of booze, and he sways on his feet.
My boyfriend gives me his attention. His brows furrow when he catches Antonio next to me entirely too close. He looks between us. “Problem?”
“Nah, man. No problem. I was just trying to talk Scarlett into coming out with us. The night is young.”
“She has plans.” He kisses me hard and possessively.
“All right,” Antonio says when we break apart. He lifts his hands in surrender. “I didn’t realize she was spoken for.”
Leo lifts our joined hands and shoots him a look that would send a smart man running. Of course, that isn’t what Antonio does. He nods slowly, and a smile tips up the corners of his mouth. “Another night then.”
Leo’s grip on my hand tightens.
“No, man. Not another night.”
Leo’s jealousy is irrational. I’d never go out with this guy, but it eggs on Antonio.
He stumbles. “I just want my turn on the carousel, man.”
Shame and humiliation coat my insides, and I can practically see the wall of red in front of Leo as he steps to Antonio.
“What the fuck did you say?”
Antonio laughs. “She’s not that hot. Does she have a golden pussy or what?”
Leo spews a string of curses as he swings at Antonio.
“Leo,” I gasp as Antonio crumbles, holding his nose and blood dripping down his face.
Jack and Declan grab him on either side, but Leo doesn’t make any move to hit the guy again. His face slowly morphs from rage to shock, and he looks down at his hand.
“I think he broke my fucking nose.” Antonio has the audacity to look surprised that his words had consequences.
“You’re lucky that’s all he broke,” Declan says.
“We need to get out of here,” Jack says quietly. He puts himself between Antonio and us. “Now.”
We’ve attracted an audience, and one of the security guys is making his way toward us. My ears ring, and panic sets in even before they ask Leo to come with them. Jack, Declan, and I follow. I lose track of Antonio, but a few minutes later, the police arrive, and he reappears, pointing at Leo as he holds a wad of gauze to his nose.
The officers pull Leo aside, and I watch on, horrified as they escort him away.
“Oh my god, is he going to jail?” I ask.
“They’re just going to talk to him,” Jack says. “I’m going to follow and call Daria on the way. Declan, can you get Scarlett home?”
I start in the direction Leo went. “What? No, I want to go with him.”
Declan places a hand on my arm to stop me from following. “It’s probably better if you meet him at his place. He needs to get this sorted.”
Leo’s broad back disappears out of view. Declan escorts me outside, and I climb into his sports car feeling numb. He hits the seat heaters and turns down the music. We ride in silence until we get to Leo’s neighborhood.
“Is he going to be okay?”
“Yeah.” He glances over at me and then tries to sound more convincing. “He’ll be okay.”
He pulls into the driveway and stops. “Do you want me to stay until he gets here?”
“No.” I open the door, then remember I don’t have a key or the alarm code. “Except I can’t get in. I don’t have—”
“A key.” He nods, picks up his phone, and within a few seconds, Ash is coming across the street shirtless and shoeless.
“What the hell happened?” Ash looks from me to Declan for answers.
“Let’s get her inside, first,” Declan says. Ash lets me in and disables the alarm. I’ve never seen Ash so scared, and it makes me more anxious.
Declan fills him in, leaving out the worst of it. The things Antonio said were awful.
“Fuck.” Ash runs a hand through his hair. “First he lost his captain position, now this?”
“What?” I interrupt them. “He lost the A?”
A new kind of anguish settles in the pit of my stomach.
Declan’s expression tells me it’s true, and I couldn’t feel any lower. Being alternate captain meant so much to him. I think I’m going to be sick.
“When?” I look to them for an answer.
Ash answers quietly, “Today.”
I squeeze my eyes shut to force the pain and tears back. He lost his A, and now he’s in jail. Both because of me.
37
MY MASTERPIECE
LEO
I’ve never been so happy to be home. Jack stops the car in the driveway and gives me that captain look that says I’m about to get a pep talk. I’m too tired to fight it.
“Did you hurt your hand?” he asks.
My right hand cradles the busted knuckles of my left. I extend my fingers and then make a fist. “No. I’m good.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m fucking sure,” I snap, then apologize. “Sorry. It’s been a long fucking night. I’m good. Thank you for being there, but I just want to go in and see my girl.”
He nods. I can tell he wants to say more, but he doesn’t.
I open th
e car door. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
Light from the TV streams into the living room. Ash is in the recliner, and Scarlett is curled up on the couch. He sees me first and stands.
“Finally.” He comes forward and hugs me, squeezing all the air out of my lungs. “All good? Did you get the charges dropped? Have you talked to Daria or Coach?”
“Everything is fine. Let’s talk in the morning, yeah?” I ask as he pulls back. Scarlett sits up but doesn’t move toward me.
“Of course.” He looks between my girl and me. “Call me when you get up.”
“I’ll meet you out front for our run at five,” I tell him.
“Oh. Okay. Yeah. See you then.” He gives me a two-finger salute.
Only when he’s out the door does Scarlett stand. I kick off my shoes and pull off my T-shirt. I feel dirty from spending the past two hours at the police station, stewing in disappointment and potential battery charges.
She nuzzles into my chest, and I close my arms around her and breathe her in. Damn, it feels good to be home and with her.
“I’m so sorry,” I murmur into the top of her head. I shouldn’t have lost my shit. I don’t regret hitting the fucker, but I wish it’d been in a dark alley, and she hadn’t seen it.
“Don’t be. It’s all my fault.” Her voice is a whisper spoken into the nape of my neck. “Are you in a lot of trouble?”
“Nah. He didn’t press charges.”
She looks up at me. “Why?”
I’m silent, and she adds, “You paid him.”
I swallow down the anger of that fuck getting a dime out of me. “I agreed to pay for his medical bills.” And his silence.
“Leo.” It’s the first time my name has come out of her lips that I haven’t liked the tone. It’s filled with exhaustion and a hint of disappointment.
I kiss her to stop whatever she’s about to say. “It’s fine. It was my fault.”
“No, it wasn’t.” She takes a step back. “None of this would have happened if I hadn’t been there.”
“If we’re going down that line of thinking, it never would have happened if I hadn’t forced you to come out to some bullshit event to appease Daria. It happened, babe.” I frame her face with my hands. “But I’m here now, and everything is okay.”
“It doesn’t feel okay.” She cinches her hold around my waist. “I did a lot of thinking while you were gone. About us and the drama I’ve brought into your life. It isn’t fair to you.”
“Shhh, baby. No more talking tonight. I need you.” I kiss her again. Slowly, she melts in my arms and gives back everything I need to forget about tonight. I pick her up and start toward my room.
In the dark, I undress her slowly, kissing every inch of skin as I do it. Our movements are unhurried, drinking each other in and soaking in every moment. She runs her hands over my shoulders and down my back, drawing our bodies closer.
If I were a painter, I could use color and brushstrokes to bring her form to life with my eyes closed. If I were a rockstar, I’d sing the fuck out of some heartfelt lyrics that I wrote just for her. If I could take photos like her, I could show her just how beautiful she is. The twinkle in her eye when she’s feeling sassy, the color in her cheeks when she’s turned on, and that look of pure bliss as she lies naked beneath me.
Scarlett makes me wish I had all sorts of artistic skills. She deserves all that. I can’t show her what she means to me in any way other than loving every inch of her.
That’s exactly what I do. I make love to her for hours. We don’t say a lot, even as we shower afterward and climb into bed together. Sometimes there’s nothing to say.
Nah, I’m not an artist, but loving Scarlett feels like my masterpiece and I’m just getting started.
When my alarm goes off for my run, only a few hours later, I groan and roll over to silence it before it wakes Scarlett, but when I open my eyes, she’s sitting up beside me, watching me sleep.
“Morning, gorgeous.”
“Hey,” she says softly.
I sit up and wrap my arms around her, placing a kiss on her shoulder. “What are you doing up already?”
“I need to get home.”
“At four forty-five in the morning?”
She gives me a sad smile that makes my heart hammer in my chest without warning. I hold her tighter and glance around. Her bag is already packed and sitting in the doorway.
“Don’t hurry off. Let’s shower, and I’ll make you some coffee.” I take her hand and hold it up, interlacing our fingers and placing a kiss on her thumb.
“No, that’s okay. Go on your run. I don’t want to mess with your routine. I just wanted to say bye before I left.”
“I can’t send you out into the world without coffee.” I stand and pull on a pair of shorts. “It isn’t safe for the other people.”
She laughs lightly and grabs her bag. “No, really. I have to go.”
“Okay. I’ll call you after practice. Do you want to grab lunch later?”
She hesitates to respond, and I can see the uncertainty on her face.
“Dinner?”
“I don’t think it’s such a great idea for us to be seen together for a while.”
“We can stay in.” God, I can’t even imagine how she must feel having the media twist her every move. They’ve been brutal and fucking Rhyse is staying silent.
“Leo, my life is a mess right now and it isn’t fair of me to bring you into it. I don’t want my drama to make things worse for you.”
“If this is because of last night—”
She closes her eyes and shakes her head, sending her brown hair swaying around her shoulders. “It isn’t just that. Why didn’t you tell me about the fight in Seattle? Or that my dad took your A?”
I clench my left hand. The sting of my broken knuckles makes me want to hit something all over again. “That’s on me.”
“You didn’t tell me because you knew I’d feel guilty. You wanted to protect me. That’s all I’m trying to do for you.” She takes a deep breath. “I couldn’t sleep. I keep going over everything that has happened the past few weeks, trying to make sense of it all and figure out how we get through this.”
“We get through it together.”
She makes a strangled sound. “You know that is just going to cause more headlines. I won’t let them use me to get a rise out of you. I think it’s best if we get a little space.”
“Space?” I shake my head. “No, that’s the opposite of what would be best for me.”
“Not forever, just for a little while.” She comes closer and places a hand on my chest. “You are the best boyfriend a girl could ask for.”
Yeah, so good she doesn’t want to be with me anymore. I step back. Rejection stings. It’s been so long since I put so much of myself out there like I have with Scarlett. I know things are tough right now, but damn.
“How long? A day? A week? A month?”
“I don’t know.”
I can see how much she’s hurting, and it’s the only thing that keeps me from begging her not to go. Maybe she’s right in ending things. She deserves more than being raked over the coals for being with me. It’s easy for me to shake off the nasty press, but she’s the one getting the worst of it. Try as I might, I can’t seem to protect her any other way. Some fucking boyfriend.
“Fine. If that’s what you want.”
She lingers for a moment, like she’s not sure what to do now that I’ve agreed, or maybe just not sure how to say goodbye. Numb, I turn to the counter and make my protein drink.
Eventually, her footsteps move toward the door. “Bye, Leo Lohan.”
I stay turned away, and the door closes her on the other side.
Bye, dream girl.
38
HAPPIER THAN I’VE EVER BEEN
SCARLETT
“Oh, honey,” Jade says, petting my hair. “You two can work through this.”
“How?” I wipe my snotty nose on a tissue and fall back onto my bed. I’m
wearing his Boston University sweatshirt that he gave me the first night. I never gave it back, and now I don’t ever want to if it’s all I have left.
Like a good best friend, she came over with donuts and coffee as soon as I called to tell her I ended things with Leo. Paused is the way I’d like to look at it, but who knows when things might blow over. And his reaction. I felt like the lowest of lows. I knew comforting him or trying to ease it would only make things harder. We need a break to let things die down. I hope it isn’t forever, but I don’t see a way past things right now.
“He was so hurt. You should have seen him. He wouldn’t even look at me.”
“Well, you did break up with him before the sun rose. That’s bound to make anyone a little cranky.”
“He went to jail, Jade. Jail.” And still, he wasn’t going to walk away.
“They probably never even processed him,” she says with a wave of her hand, then nods. “But I get your point.”
I fling an arm over my face and continue to let the tears fall. Jade sits silently beside me, rubbing my arm.
It’s been only a few hours since I walked out on him. I wanted to end things last night, but I couldn’t. Instead, I let him make love to me and then clung to him through the night. It was the right thing to do, but it doesn’t make my heart hurt any less.
“Scarlett,” my mom yells from the top of the stairs, “you have a visitor.”
I sit up like a shot.
Jade smiles. “Attaboy, Lohan. I knew he wasn’t going down that easily.”
She scoots off my bed. “I’m gonna duck out and go search for wedding inspiration. Call me later.”
“I will.”
Jade goes out through the basement door, and I change out of my cloud pajamas and run a makeup wipe under my raccoon eyes. Then, I take the stairs two at a time. If I were thinking rationally, I wouldn’t be so excited to see a man I love and can’t be with, but I’m anything but rational right now. Three hours and I already miss him.
Mom’s voice is quiet, and I can’t make out her words, but I can tell she’s chatting with Leo. As I get to the top step, I pause as the deep voice speaks back.
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