Arrogant Playboy

by Wolf, Alex

  I do my best not to laugh, but it was delivered with perfect timing. Just the thing I needed to break me out of this romance bullshit that was making me feel things.

  “Yep.” That’s all I say in return, still looking forward.

  Dex grins and we slyly fist bump down at our sides.

  Deacon heard all of it and grins, then catches Quinn giving him the death stare. Her, Abigail, and Paisley must’ve witnessed the entire thing. All three of us straighten up.

  The three women shake their heads.

  “Women, always out to ruin a good time,” whispers Dex.

  Something about the moment. I don’t know what it is, but I feel more relaxed and at ease with my brothers next to me than I have in a long time. My whole life I always felt like the odd one out, but this is different. It’s like I belong here, with them. Maybe I need to just try a little harder on my end at this whole family social thing, and not so much on the work end.

  Jenny finally makes it down the aisle, walks up to Decker, gives him a kiss on the cheek, whispers something in his ear, then stands next to him as his best man. Or best lady. Whatever it is, she’s there and she deserves to be.

  The music cuts off.

  At the request of the pastor or priest or whatever, everyone stands up.

  Here Comes the Bride comes on, and the doors at the back swing open.

  There’s a spotlight or something behind Tate as she walks in, because all I can see is a silhouette of her at first and then the light fades away and she comes into focus.

  The crowd gasps, as crowds do at weddings, and her father walks her up the aisle.

  Camera flashes go off all around the room.

  Tate really does look amazing, and it’s weird at the same time. I’m so used to her in her skirts, busting balls, talking shit, but right now she looks like she could be a princess in a Disney movie—with cowboy boots on.

  She’s beaming and her hair is done up. She doesn’t look like a fierce attorney who says fuck every other word. She just looks—happy. As much shit as her and Decker give me, and how rocky our relationship has been since she arrived, one thing is true. She makes him happy.

  I turn and look at Decker, and fuck me, I thought it would be bad, but it’s really bad. He looks like he can’t even breathe, but he’s smiling through the whole thing. It’d be so easy to make fun of him right now, but I can’t even process one-liners to give him shit because I get it. I know that feeling intimately.

  That feeling of being so reliant on someone else to make you whole. That feeling when you think about what it’d be like if they left or were taken away and you can’t even fathom it. Life would cease to exist without them. A feeling that’s completely helpless, yet utterly addictive.

  Decker does his best to wipe a tear away with his shoulder and beams right at Tate. She does the same right back at him, and fuck my ass, love is a pretty powerful thing if it can make these two cry in front of five hundred people.

  The bridesmaids are already done for. Makeup ruined. They’re clutching their bouquets to their chests and swooning.

  I glance over at Dad. He’s not crying, but it’s as close as I’ve ever seen him come to it.

  Tate’s dad walks her up and let’s go of her arm. He walks over and shakes Decker’s hand, says something to him, and walks over to Tate’s mom.

  I had always thought at this part of the wedding the Dad always gave the daughter away, but at the rehearsal they’d asked Tate if they were doing that and she said, “Fuck no. My Dad doesn’t own me. He supports whatever decisions I make.”

  Yeah, she’s definitely Decker material.

  Standing here, watching them together, promising their lives to each other while I steal glances at Paisley, it’s all surreal. It’s like some of the weight lifts off my shoulders. Strains with the family, shit at the firm, it all seems so meaningless right now. I can’t believe it took a wedding of all things to make this shit clear.

  The rest of the ceremony is as you’d expect. They do the things you’re supposed to do and say the things they’re supposed to say. Decker is choked up on his words at first, but eventually comes out of it. Flashes go off all around when they kiss.

  Jenny let’s out a, “Whooooop, Dad!”

  Everyone laughs.

  It really is pretty perfect.

  They announce them as Mr. and Mrs. Collins, and I can’t believe Tate didn’t hyphenate her name. I thought for sure that would happen. I’m almost positive Paisley will insist on it. I really don’t give a fuck. She can call herself whatever name she wants as long as she comes home to me every night.

  I look over at her, ready to get her out of that dress and beneath me, wrapped in some sheets.

  We follow Decker and Tate up the aisle, each of us waiting our turn and then walking with our women. Paisley and I bring up the rear as people cheer and clap.

  Thank fuck, it’s time for the fun part.

  The reception.

  Donavan

  I’m over by the bar, three scotches in, feeling much better. Everything is perfect. I can’t believe there hasn’t been one hiccup. Nobody has made a scene. Champagne is flowing.

  Mom and Dad are dancing, making fools of themselves. I literally can’t believe that’s my father out there, doing the chicken dance with Jenny and Mom. I have to blink a few times to make sure I’m not seeing things.

  Jenny drags Paisley out to join them. I decline.

  I could do it better than all of them, but I still have some dignity left. Fuck that.

  Guests pass by, some I barely know, some I’ve known for years. I make the small talk, do the networking that keeps them sending business my way. Weston Hunter and his ilk stay across the room from me. At least they’re smart. I might get boozed up enough to say more than I should. The night is still young, though. I might be turning over a new leaf with my family, but those assholes in Dallas can suck my dick, taking credit for everything I’ve built.

  Paisley grins back at me, shaking and twisting her ass like it’s Octoberfest.

  I watch them all for another second or two, then head to the bathroom. It’s time to break the seal. After I finish up at the urinal, I wash my hands and head out the door. There’s a guy I’ve never seen before in a tux, standing there like he’s waiting for me. He has this smug grin on his face.

  I glance around, making sure there’s nobody behind me.

  “Can I help you with something?” What’s this guy’s fucking deal?

  “I have something for you, Mr. Collins.”

  “Do I know you?”

  “It’s a wedding gift.”

  I snicker. “Wrong brother. There’s a table somewhere in there.” I start to walk past, and he shoves an envelope into my chest.

  What the fuck?

  I take it.

  “Compliments of Bennett Cooper.”

  My jaw clenches. The guy just walks off, right out the front of the building. I stare down at the envelope that says Donavan Collins on it, clear as day.

  What the fuck? Why is he stirring up shit at Decker’s wedding?

  I know I shouldn’t open it. I should wait until later, but fuck. What if it’s a subpoena? I don’t know why he would subpoena me to court for something. I don’t have anything to do with Cooper. His beef is really with Dexter and Decker over the Wells Covington shit. There’s plenty of crime to go around the world, enough for both of our firms to not butt heads.

  I head off to an empty table in the back away from everyone else.

  When I pull the documents out, there’s a note on top, handwritten.

  For your enjoyment, BC

  The second my brain processes the first page of information, my heart squeezes in my chest. Then, rage takes over. Everything around me turns red and I might kill someone. I don’t know if I can contain it this time.

  Paisley

  We’ve already done the chicken dance and moved on to the Electric Slide. I can’t believe how much fun I’m having, but I really need to get back
to Donavan. He walked off a few minutes ago toward the bathroom. Maybe I can go find him in the hallway and get a second or two alone with him, without a crowd of people asking us when we’re getting married or his mom telling me how much my back will hurt carrying a baby.

  I take two steps toward the tables, and he’s marching right at me. His face is red, like a hot iron, and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him look like this before. His eyes zero in and he glares right at me and I feel about two feet tall.

  He knows.

  It’s the only explanation for the way he’s coming at me.

  Not yet. God, please. Tomorrow. I was going to come clean and tell him everything tomorrow. This can’t be happening right now.

  I start to turn and walk off, let him follow me away from everyone else, so he doesn’t blow up in front of the entire wedding party, but there’s nowhere to go. I slam into a crowd of dresses and tuxedos and try to push my way through.

  I manage to make it over to the edge of the room, by the wall with minimal people around when a firm hand grips my forearm from behind.

  I don’t want to turn around. I don’t want to see him look at me the way I know he’s looking at me, but I have to.

  Before I can face him, his mouth is next to my ear.

  “What the fuck did you do?” He growls the words in my ear.

  Tears are already rolling down my cheeks and it’s like my throat is closed off. I can’t do anything but shake my head at him and start walking toward the front of the building, trying to make my way out of the room.

  He’s on my heels, visibly shaking, like he’s doing everything he can to restrain himself from blowing up, but I know he won’t be able to.

  He speaks through gritted teeth, but still manages to halfway yell. “What the fuck did you do?”

  We pass Dexter and Deacon. They see what’s happening, and they run over and try to restrain him, but he breaks through them and comes after me even harder. Now, everyone around is staring.

  I finally make it through the crowd and out the front door.

  Donavan bursts through the door a second later, his brothers on his heels. “What the fuck did you do?” He screams the words this time.

  I turn around and I just want to die. The way he’s glaring at me, half rage, half agony, about five feet away.

  I want to say so many things, but nothing will come out and I just cover my mouth and shake my head while tears stream down my face.

  “You still fucking work for that asshole?” His voice carries down the street he yells it so loud, and Tate and Decker come up from behind and stand there behind him with Deacon and Dexter. “You pretend to be in love with me and fucking spy on our firm?”

  “No.” I barely get the word out, through the sobs. “It-it…” My throat is completely closed off and it’s like there is no oxygen, like I have a plastic bag over my head.

  Dexter and Deacon come up from behind and try to pull him back inside, but the entire Collins family glares at me while they do it.

  I spot a cab in my peripheral vision and immediately take a step toward it, but Donavan yanks away from his brothers and comes after me. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

  Just then, flashes go off and there are photographers taking pictures. They’re probably from major publications in town, here to cover the wedding, like things couldn’t get any worse.

  I cover my mouth and run for the cab. I don’t look back, I just sprint, even though it feels like I’m moving in slow motion. Donavan gets to me right as his brothers are on his heels.

  Before I can get in the cab, he grabs me by the wrist and growls in my ear. “You make me sick. I loved you. Fuck you, Paisley.” More flashes go off as the photographers run toward us.

  His brothers yank him away, but the second he says those words my heart shatters into a million pieces. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.

  As I get in the cab, he’s standing there, his chest heaving up and down, with Deacon and Dexter in front of him, blocking his path.

  He yells over their shoulders, “Never thought you’d be the type of person to fuck someone for a paycheck! You know that’s prostitution, right? Bennett Cooper is your fucking pimp!”

  I slam the door shut just as he says it, and as much as I don’t want to look out the window at him, I do. Maybe because I’m punishing myself. Maybe because I just want to see his face one last time, even if he hates me now. I just want to grab him and hold onto him and not let him go until I can convince him it was real, and I didn’t mean to hurt him like this. But, I can’t.

  I was supposed to be able to tell him everything after the wedding, and let him go off the deep end, but then he’d calm down and talk to me, and we’d see if we could salvage something out of this. That was how I saw it all playing out in my mind, away from everyone else, no spectators. Just him and me. Now, he hates me, and he’ll never trust me again. Maybe there was a chance if I’d told him first.

  How did this even happen? Why did I ever even give in and try to rekindle things with him? It was so shitty. I should’ve just stayed away from him as much as possible and did what I had to do.

  I somehow manage to say my address to the cab driver, and I sink down in the seat. Bile creeps into my throat and I feel like I might puke everywhere.

  One thing is certain, we are done. There’s no coming back from this, and I can never show my face in their building again.

  The worst part of this whole thing is…

  I still love him. Even more than the first time.

  Paisley

  The next day, Dad comes over after I ignored five phone calls.

  “Come in.” I yell it from the couch.

  I couldn’t get up if I wanted to.

  He walks in, takes one look at me, and sits down on a chair. “You okay? I’ve been worried.”

  I shake my head. “No.” I try to keep it together. “No, I’m not okay at all.”

  “Well, what happened? Did Donavan do something?”

  “No.” I break down into tears. “I did something, Dad. Something terrible.”

  He rushes down to my side and halfway hugs me from a kneeling position. “Oh, Pais.” He smooths down my hair.

  I sniff and it’s difficult to even get words out, but finally, I tell him everything that happened. Once he’s consoled me to a point where I can have a conversation, he sits back down on the chair. “I guess I’m just confused. Why did you do it?”

  I don’t want to tell him, because he’ll feel awful, but I know he won’t let this go. “The reason most people do dumb shit. Money.”

  It takes him a second, and then the recognition appears on his face. “For me, and Grandma and Grandpa? That’s how you’ve been paying for everything?”

  I nod. “I had two salaries coming, one from Cooper one from Hunter, and Cooper has been paying for Grandma and Grandpa. It was all set up through a trust, so it’d look like it was my capital I cashed out, but it was him taking care of it. He let me keep all my equity in an off-shore account.”

  He lets out a long sigh. “Oh, Pais.”

  “I know I screwed up, okay? It was stupid. I just…”

  “It’s not stupid, sweetie. I get why you did it.”

  “Y-you do?”

  He nods. “Of course.”

  I wipe my tears away with my shoulder. “I just wanted what was best for you guys. I never thought all these feelings would come back. I didn’t think I still loved him, but I do.”

  “So that’s why you had to go work there. I thought something was off about that.” He nods for a second, like everything is clicking into place and making sense, then stares at me. “Pais, I’m proud that you wanted to take care of your family. I really am, but I could’ve told you this would happen. I wish you would’ve talked to me first and I’d have told you this would all blow up the way it did.”

  “How could you have known?”

  “Because I know you. C’mon, sweetie. I knew the first time you brought him home from
law school he was going to be my son-in-law one day. Love blinds us, but everyone else around can see it clear as day.”

  “I think part of me agreed to do this for Cooper because I hated what Donavan did to me. And part of me wanted him to feel just an ounce of that pain, but as soon as I started working there…” I can’t even finish my sentence. I just stare at the ground and shake my head. “Am I a sociopath? How could I do that to him?”

  “Pais?”

  I glance up to him. “Yeah?”

  “You’re not a sociopath. Sociopaths don’t feel remorse like this. And that makes me happy.”

  “What?”

  He nods. “Yeah, I’m not happy because of what you did. It was wrong and you know that. But this reaction you’re having, and the fact you wanted to take care of your family, it lets me know I raised a good human being. Yes, it hurts now, but you’ll grow from it and learn from it.” He pauses and sighs. “I held onto a lot of hate too when it came to Donavan. And I shouldn’t have. He screwed up and you screwed up. It’s what people do. You’re a good person. Beat yourself up a little, but don’t do it for too long. Okay, sweetheart?”

  I shake my head. “I know I’ll get through this, like I always do, but it doesn’t feel like it’ll ever end. Like I’m always going to have this void in my life. This hole in my chest.”

  Dad comes back over and sits down on the couch and hugs me for a while. “The pain will always be there, but it’ll slowly fade and grow duller. I promise.”

  I know he’s right, but it doesn’t feel like it.

  Donavan

  It’s been about a week and a half since the blow up. I haven’t seen or talked to Paisley and that’s a good thing, because I didn’t get to say everything I wanted to say to her. Thank fuck Tate and Decker have been on their honeymoon. I thought Tate was going to shove a foot up my ass for yelling at her outside the yacht club, but it took everything I had to remain as restrained as I was. It’s not my fault all those photographers were taking a goddamn smoke break. I made sure to buy every copy of the paper I could find in a five-block radius of the firm and throw all of them away. Last thing I need is Decker framing a goddamn copy as a constant reminder.