Love Me Like You Do: Books That Keep You In Bed

by Fields, MJ

  After dinner, we all head out to the veranda for coffee and dessert, and the boys smoke cigars and drink an expensive bottle of whiskey Papa opened. It is a wonderful evening.

  I get up and walk over to the outdoor fireplace to escape the cigar smoke while Mamma and Adriana are talking of redecorating our apartment.

  “I like him.” Cross joins me, away from earshot of the others. “I tried not to, but he is charming.”

  I turn and face him. “He is wonderful, isn’t he?”

  “You deserve a man like him in your life, Tesoro.”

  I laugh a humorless laugh. “You mean, one who will actually get on a plane and fly across the ocean for me?”

  His expression changes from sincere to offended. I just had to open my big mouth and ruin a nice moment between us.

  “Gabby, I didn’t know where you were.”

  “What? That’s ridiculous.”

  “It’s not. I came here the night of your party to talk to you and to make sure you were all right. Your mother wouldn’t let me see you. She said you were upset and had gone to bed with a headache and that, if I wanted to talk to you, I could come back the next day for Sunday brunch and talk to you then. I didn’t want to leave, but I looked up, and your bedroom lights were out, so I thought maybe you actually were sleeping. I went home that night and figured everything out in my head and what I was going to say to you.

  “Then, when I got here the next day, you were gone. All your mom would tell me was that you’d decided you needed time away and that, if I cared about you at all, I would give you the space you needed. I expected you to be gone a week, or two at most, not over two years. I called you every damn day until your voicemail was full, and I could not leave any more messages. You never returned any of my calls. Then, one day, the number was just disconnected. I asked Nicco where you were, and all he would say was that you were staying with a relative overseas. And, by the second month, I just gave up. I thought maybe it was for the best.”

  My mind is whirling with all this new information. Mamma got me a new phone with a Paris number about a week after I left. My old phone didn’t have international calling. I never understood why she didn’t just add that to my old number. I guess I know why now.

  “What did you figure out?”

  “What?”

  “You said you went home and figured everything out and what you wanted to say to me. What did you figure out?”

  “Does it even matter now?”

  “It matters to me.”

  He looks around the patio. We have caught the attention of several people. Mamma, Adi, and Tony in particular.

  “Not here. This is Antoine’s time.”

  Nicco stands with his phone in hand. “Hey, Cross, Angelica just texted that she and Marianna are on their way. We should probably head out.”

  With that, he gives me one more small smile. “Have fun tonight, Tesoro.”

  Then, he and Nicco head inside.

  I turn my eyes to my mother. What did you do, Lilliana? I can’t decide if I’m angry with her or grateful. Was he going to crush my heart even more that day? Did she save me from that, or did she ruin everything?

  She looks back at me and smiles, and I know that, either way, she did what she did out of love.

  Seventeen

  Brie - Present

  After the Mexican Mardi Gras party dies down and everyone leaves, Dawn and I are left to clean up since Kelsey and Bradley retired about an hour ago.

  “She owes us,” Dawn grumbles as she empties half-full cups and throws them away.

  “Oh, she is going to be paying all month long.”

  After all the beads were tallied, I barely squeezed out a victory with one strand more than Kelsey. She is now on roommate laundry duty for the next four weeks. Victory is sweet.

  “Yeah, congratulations, by the way. Exactly what happened out there for you to walk in after Jake, wearing all his beads, huh?” She wags both eyebrows at me as she perches on the arm of the couch and waits expectantly.

  “Nothing scandalous, so don’t get too excited.”

  “I don’t buy it for a minute. Spill.”

  I give in and settle on the couch next to her. It’s only the two of us for now. Daniel gave a guy who had obviously drunk too much a ride home. He’ll be back soon though.

  “A kiss.”

  “He gave you all his beads for a kiss?” She whistles low. “Must have been some kiss.”

  “It was pretty amazing, but I am not sure he thought so.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know. He practically ran back into the house to get away from me.”

  She starts laughing incredulously. “Are you serious? That boy has been doing everything in his power to get your attention for months. No way he was scared away by a kiss. I bet he just didn’t want to take advantage, being as he was completely sober and you, my friend, were swaying.”

  This is true. He has been very persistent even though I throw up walls at every turn. Him taking off so abruptly made no sense at all. Perhaps he was just trying to be a gentleman.

  “It’s better this way anyway. I was only kissing him to get out of having to do you heifers’ laundry. I don’t have the time or energy for any romance in my life.”

  She pensively looks at me for a moment, and then she places her hand on my knee. “Look, Brie, I don’t know what went on with you in New York before you got here. Daniel just said you had been through some bad shit and that you wanted to get away and start over. The way you acted when you arrived, I figured it’d had to be pretty bad, because you were so shut off and had this fort around you. We didn’t want to pry, so we let you have that and assumed that, if we provided a safe place for you in our friendship, you would open up when the time was right. But, in the last few weeks, you have let your guard down more and more, and I have seen you smile and laugh and enjoy your life a little. I think you might be healing, and maybe Jake Mason is supposed to be a part of that healing.”

  “I can’t let him be a part of anything.”

  “Why? You know what? Maybe that’s too much responsibility. Maybe he is just supposed to be a fun, sexy distraction. Dating doesn’t have to be so serious and heavy, you know.”

  “Maybe …”

  “My point is, you are too damn young to let whatever happened before steal all your joy. Have a fling, or hell, have a couple. Kiss all the boys. Just live, Brie.”

  It all sounds so simple. Maybe, if she knew my whole story, she would understand why I’m so protective. Why I can’t act like every other twenty-two-year-old on the planet. I am not ready to divulge all my secrets yet though. I want to, but I just can’t. Not because I don’t trust her. I do not trust myself. I have dammed off my past, and I’m terrified that, if I open the gate even the tiniest bit, the floodwater is going to start rushing in and drown me. So, I lay my head on her shoulder and give her what I can.

  “You might be right, but I’m not that girl. I am the girl who gets her heart all tangled up in every relationship. It was mangled the last time, and it just hasn’t had time to heal properly. But I hope it will one day.”

  “Just promise me, you will try. Baby steps is all I ask.”

  “Okay, Dawn, I can give you baby steps.”

  She pops a kiss on the top of my head and stands back up. “Good. Now, let’s get this mess cleaned up and get to bed. I have a feeling we are going to be nursing some major hangovers tomorrow. Junk food and Netflix all day long for us, missy.”

  I love her. I really love her.

  * * *

  “He’s doing much better; don’t worry.”

  I called Melanie to check on the baby as soon as my eyes opened this morning.

  “Does he still have a fever?”

  “A low-grade one, yes, but that’s probably because he is fighting the ear infection. We have to give the antibiotics time to work.”

  “I don’t know. He is so little. How does a seven-month-old even get an ear infection? I do
n’t like him taking antibiotics either.”

  Truth is, I don’t know much about infant sickness. I took the infant care classes, but that’s all I have to go on. All I know is that he started acting a little lethargic when I was babysitting the other night, and he wouldn’t take his bottle. Then, about an hour later, he was very warm to the touch. It terrified me. I kept thinking maybe there was something I did or didn’t do that he needed from me. I feel so guilty that he is unwell.

  “You worry too much, Brie. This is normal. If I were concerned, I would take him straight back to the doctor.”

  “Okay. As long as you are sure.”

  “I am, and I have got everything covered here, so you enjoy the day with your friends. And, if he is feeling better by Friday, you can come keep him while Rick and I go to dinner. Deal?”

  “Sounds like a plan. And I’m available if you need me anytime before then.”

  “Thank you. He is such a lucky little guy to have so many people who love him.”

  We disconnect, and I head into the kitchen to grab some breakfast. My head is pounding, and I can definitely feel the residual effects of the hurricane margaritas. Maybe not the brightest idea we have ever had.

  Dawn and Daniel emerge from her room about an hour later, looking very much worse for wear.

  “Why are you being so loud in here? Are you angry with those pots and pans or what?” she asks as she slides into one of the barstools at the island, holding her head.

  I place a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast in front of her, and she groans.

  “Eat. You’ll feel better.”

  “I don’t think I ever want to eat again,” she says as she pushes the plate away.

  Daniel pushes it right back in front of her. “Oh no, you don’t. It’s your fault everyone is in this condition in the first place. Now, eat this greasy breakfast, so you can recover.”

  He is not hungover. He stayed sober last night, so he could watch over us girls. I guess he saw the repercussions of the hurricane margaritas coming a mile away. Smart man.

  We hear yelling coming from Kelsey’s bedroom a few minutes later. Bradley comes storming out the door, pulling a T-shirt over his head and grabbing his shoes from the mat beside the door. Kels is hot on his heels.

  “I’m not putting up with this accusatory shit, Kelsey. Just because I say I need a weekend to myself doesn’t mean I am cheating on you.”

  “It did the last time you needed a weekend,” she throws back at him.

  “I told you, I did not and have not cheated on you. I haven’t spoken to Tonya since that night at the club.”

  “Then, why was she blowing your phone up last night?”

  Dawn and I give each other an eek look, and then we move closer to the living room entrance, so we can hear and see the fight better. Daniel just continues to stuff his face, unfazed by the commotion.

  “I have no idea. Maybe she is delusional. Maybe she was texting the wrong number. How the hell should I know? By the way, I’m still pissed you were going through my phone while I was passed out. I don’t do that to you. Want to know why? Because I fucking trust you.”

  That’s a low blow. Of course he trusts her. She hasn’t given him a single reason not to trust her. He, on the other hand, has been squirrelly as hell lately.

  “I looked at your phone because it was going off rapid fire at three a.m., and I thought maybe it was an emergency, you jackass.” She is now throwing his wallet and keys at him from her bedroom doorway. “What I find instead is a text from Tonya, saying how much she misses you and wants you to sneak out and come to her apartment. Then, she sends a titty pic and offers to let you make good use of them.”

  I look at Dawn with wide eyes, and she just starts shaking her head. We knew this was coming. We hoped we were wrong. Apparently, we had him pegged. I just hope Kelsey is able to stay strong this time.

  “I told you, Kels, she is delusional. How is that my fault?”

  “I’m not buying the innocent act this time, Brad. God, I can’t believe I was so stupid. I knew you were lying, and I chose … I actually chose … to pretend like you weren’t. I have become one of those pathetic women I hate.”

  He starts to walk back toward her. “I am innocent, baby. I love you. Only you.”

  “Stop,” she commands as she throws her hands out in front of her and tightly closes her eyes.

  At that, Daniel finally gets up. I can see that he has been paying attention the entire time and is more than ready to intercede if Kelsey needs him to.

  “This is not love. Get out!”

  He just stands there, looking like a lost puppy, and for a split second, I actually feel bad for him.

  “Get out of my house!” she screams at the top of her lungs.

  That sets Daniel in motion.

  “Come on, Brad. You heard her; it’s time to go.”

  “Stay out of this, Daniel. It’s between me and Kelsey.”

  “It’s over for now, buddy. She wants you out; you have to go. Now.”

  He stands there, staring at her for a few more seconds. Then, he turns to go. His parting words are harsh. “Fine. You know what? I was getting tired of you anyway. You are doing me a fucking favor.” He grabs up his things and steps out the door.

  “Oh, and, Kels, don’t bother calling and trying to get me back. Remember, when you are lonely and crying in your pillow because no one else wants your high-and-mighty ass, that you wanted this.”

  So the wrong thing to say.

  Dawn jumps to her feet. “Her?” She laughs hysterically and then turns to me. “Did you hear that, Brie? He thinks she is the one who is going to regret this?” She bends over, laughing dramatically. “You think no one will want the beautiful, sweet, blonde homecoming queen? Are you still drunk? Buddy, she will have ten guys lined up outside this door before you pull your tired-ass Mazda into your driveway. Good luck getting any respectable girl to touch you once she learns any part of you has been up inside that whore Tonya though.”

  Seething, he turns and stomps down the stairs and out of sight.

  Dawn walks over and shouts after him, “Good riddance, asshole,” and slams the door.

  We all just stand there, silent for a moment.

  Then, Kelsey says, “Netflix and junk food, right?”

  “Yep,” we all say in unison.

  “Great! Let’s do this.”

  So, we all pile in the living room in our pajamas and start a Game of Thrones marathon.

  Eighteen

  Gabby - Past

  Classes started this week. It feels good to be in the city on a normal schedule again.

  Antoine stayed for three weeks. We had a fantastic time, showing him around New York, taking him to Broadway shows, going to Yankee games, and just enjoying our time together. When he left, we reaffirmed our decision to see other people but to stay in touch. It was hard seeing him off because I think we both knew that this could be the last time we saw each other. In a lot of ways, he was my first love. The first love who loved me in return, that is. So, he will always be dear to my heart.

  Now, Adi and I are headed to the Hamptons for one last weekend getaway. The warm weather will be coming to an end soon, so we are soaking up all the lazy, sunny days we can. Tony and Stavros have rented a beach house for the weekend, and just about everyone we know is coming out for the party.

  When we reach the house, we claim one of the rooms upstairs and dump our bags. We change into our swimsuits and head straight for the ocean. A lot of guests are already set up on the shore, and Tony has music playing and the grill going. There is a line of coolers filled with chilled bottles of beer and wine, and a few of the boys are playing volleyball in the sand. I throw my towel onto a lounger and remove my cover-up. I hear a whistle and look over to the volleyball net. The game has stopped, and all their eyes are on me and Adi.

  “Hi, fellas.” Adi lowers her sunglasses and waves.

  They all grin and resume their play.

  We lie there all afternoo
n, soaking up the sun and enjoying the party.

  At one point, I am lying on my stomach, and I drift off to sleep. I awake to a pair of hands on my back. I yawn as I come up to my elbows and look back. I see one of Lorenzo’s friends, Jeremy, sitting on the edge of my lounger.

  “Hey, Gabby. I think you fell asleep. You need to turn over soon, so you don’t burn.”

  “Thanks,” I say as I bring my hand up to shield my eyes from the sun, so I can look at his face.

  He is handsome in a boyish kind of way.

  “Want me to rub some sunblock on your back?”

  “Sure.”

  I hand him the lotion from my bag, and he gently smooths it over my skin.

  “I was wondering,” he says while he is applying the block, “if maybe you would like to go to dinner with me sometime.”

  I look over in Lorenzo’s direction and say, “What does Lo think about that?”

  “He said, over his dead body or mine.”

  “But you asked me anyway?”

  “Yes, ma’am. The way I see it, a date with you is worth the bodily harm.”

  “Well, how can I refuse when you are willing to risk a painful death?”

  “Is that a yes?”

  “That’s a yes. For dinner. Just dinner.”