Just Breathe

by Rachel Brookes

  Tate: I don’t like this. I don’t like not being with you.

  My heart constricted.

  Tate: My bathroom has a massive shower. I wish you were here.

  My body screamed at me.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  How I survived three weeks without Tate amazed me. It had been a whirlwind of saucy text messages, late-night telephone calls, flower deliveries and a growing anticipation of the night he would get home. He was the first person I heard from in the morning and the last person I spoke to at night, it was the sickly kind of romance that you would see on all of your favorite chick flicks and read in your beloved books.

  Tate was due back in two days. Last night we spoke for three hours on everything he was going to do to me when he got back. It was hot, crazy and devious, and my body couldn’t wait. Every part of me was craving him and the thought of having him back was too exciting to imagine, but tonight I had an important job to do—setting up Lucas and Ali.

  Tonight Operation Get Lucas and Ali to Date was due to commence. The three of us were heading out to La Portio, an Italian restaurant in Hollywood. I used the excuse that I was craving Italian food, which was probably a word I shouldn’t have used because now Jack had it in his thick skull that I was having cravings because I was pregnant…which I wasn’t.

  Work had been stressful, but it was all made better by the arrival of cupcakes and a fresh bunch of pink roses from Tate early in the afternoon. When I got home for the night, I placed the beautiful pink roses on my kitchen bench and pulled out my phone.

  Me: Cupcakes and roses…you are definitely in for a treat when you get home. I miss you! Xx

  I didn’t even have a chance to put my phone down before I got a reply.

  Tate: I haven’t seen you, I haven’t kissed you and I haven’t touched you in three weeks. Believe me when I say YOU are the one in for a treat. I miss you more. Xx

  “Sassy Sav, where are you?” Lucas’ voice sounded through my apartment as he walked through in search of me. I heard him whistling as I waited for him in silence in the kitchen. When I knew the time was right, I jumped out from behind the cupboard with a loud growl sounding from my throat.

  “Holy fucking-shit-motherfucker.” His voice boomed through my apartment as one of his hands clutched his heart and the other smacked down on the kitchen bench in an attempt to avoid collapsing to the floor.

  “You are such a bitch.” He laughed as he grabbed me in a headlock, dragging me toward the living room as I kicked and laughed at him to let me go. He threw me down on the couch before doing the unthinkable—he sat on me and farted. He actually farted on me.

  “You are disgusting. Get off me, you filthy pig!” I laughed and squirmed and punched at his back to try and get him off me but he was relentless.

  “It serves you right for nearly bringing on cardiac arrest.”

  Lucas finally removed himself off my lap and I scooted to the other side of the couch as he smirked at me like he was some kind of king.

  “Seriously, I cannot believe you just farted on me, and here I was telling people you were a gentleman.” Exaggerating and waving away the nonexistent smell, I laughed. “I was clearly mistaken.”

  Lucas sat on the opposite side of the couch and began looking at me suspiciously. As the weeks went on, his attraction to Ali was becoming more and more obvious. Our nights at the bar were becoming more frequent, and we just happened to be there when Ali was working. We were also spending more time with Tanzi and Jack because Ali was staying there. It was quite adorable.

  I watched in fear as Lucas stalked toward me, afraid that I was going to be attacked by another assault of his farts. He stood in front of me with hands on hips while suspicion took over his face.

  “You’re setting me up, aren’t you?” The look on his face was priceless.

  “What? Me? No way!” I grinned. I got off the couch and walked toward my bathroom. He was quick on my heels and flopped on my bed as I fixed my hair.

  Propping himself up on his elbow, he sighed deeply. “I do really like Ali.”

  Looking at him in the mirror I smiled. “And I am going to help get you two together.”

  “You are too good to me,” he replied with a smile. “How are things with Tate?”

  “They are going really great. We talk every day, he emails me constantly, he’s been sending me flowers and he is taking me out on a date on Saturday. He flies home on Friday.”

  “He has such a massive problem with me.” I looked at Lucas and sighed, it was true. For some reason Tate despised Lucas, no matter how many times I reassured him. His jealously wasn’t hidden; from the first moment I had met Lucas there had been an issue, which I couldn’t understand. I was stubborn though, my friendship with Lucas was comforting to me, he made me smile, he made me laugh and I sure as hell wasn’t going to stop being friends with a guy because my boyfriend disliked him.

  As we made our way through L.A in the cab, I could tell that Lucas was nervous, he sat beside me fidgeting and tapping his hands on his knees. Ali was meeting us at the restaurant but she was constantly texting me. Cuteness overload.

  Sliding into the booth at La Portio, the aroma surrounding me was mouthwatering. It was a traditional Italian restaurant and I fell in love immediately. The strong Italian accents surrounding me were amazing. With our meals ordered, I sat back in the booth and smiled at the sight in front of me. Ali and Lucas were in deep conversation and Ali was telling Lucas of all the places she would take him in Los Angeles and he was telling her about San Francisco.

  “I’ll just be a minute.” I excused myself before making my way toward the bathroom. I walked through the busy the restaurant and smiled as Ali came up beside me with a look of happiness on her face.

  “Thank you for organizing this, Sav. I’m so into Lucas but I didn’t know how to move.”

  I looked at her, even though she was related to Tanzi and Tate, she was so different. She was shy, reserved and held her emotions close to her chest. I had barely heard her say two bad words about anyone; she never raised her voice and when she did curse it was the most shocking thing in the world.

  “Lucas is totally into you. I have wanted to get you two together since that first night at the bar, but I have been kind of distracted by your cousin.”

  The moment I walked out of the bathroom and back towards the table, my eyes landed on Lucas and a rush of unease hit me. He was looking like a nervous wreck.

  “Um Sav, Tate just called. I answered the call because I thought you’d want to speak to him. He asked what I was doing answering your phone and I told him we were having dinner. He didn’t give me a chance to say that Ali was with us before he hung up. I think he’s pissed.”

  “Thanks, I’ll give him a call. You two need to decide where your first date will be…without me tagging along.” Giving them a wink, I giggled as both of their faces went a matching crimson color. Savannah Rae, you are a genius.

  I stepped outside into the chilly Los Angeles air and pulled my jacket close to my body. My call went straight to voicemail; I tried another two times, both going to voicemail. I got to hear his deep voice so it wasn’t all that bad. Typing in a quick text I sighed in frustration, disappointed that I didn’t get to speak to him.

  Me: Hey, Lucas just told me you called. I am at dinner with him and Ali. Miss Matchmaker is on fire. They will be dating before Thanksgiving. I miss you so much and can’t wait to see you in two days! Will it be my bed or yours? Xx Sav

  I walked back into the warm restaurant toward the booth. Ali had slid in next to Lucas and they were both looking at Lucas’ phone, flipping through photos.

  Lucas looked up at me as I slid in opposite him and Ali. “Did you reach him?” he asked. I shook my head as I bit into the garlic bread. I didn’t think anything else of it; I had left a voice message and a text explaining what I was doing. I wasn’t doing anything wrong; I was having dinner with two friends, who I happened to be trying to set up. All I wanted was for my friend a
nd my boyfriend to become friends. They had to become friends, right?

  The night was full of laughter and an increase in flirting between Ali and Lucas, but my mind kept drifting back to Tate. I wondered why he hadn’t responded to my text or called me back. I knew there would be a good excuse but I still felt uneasy. Every time I had spoken to him, he was so busy. I remember him saying he had a business dinner tonight, but I thought that would have finished hours ago. When I got back to my apartment it was eleven. I checked my phone but still no reply, he would definitely be sleeping by now. Typing in another quick message, I smiled as I sent it.

  Me: This time in two nights I’ll be back in your arms, probably being way too inappropriate with you and begging for you to take me home. I miss you xx Sav

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Friday! It was finally Friday. It was the day that had been taking over my mind for the past three weeks. In a matter of hours Tate would be back in Los Angeles, life would be great, my body’s cravings would be satisfied and all would be good in the world again. I could barely contain my excitement.

  Today was going so slow. I was getting through my work way too fast. Today was the type of day that I wanted things to go wrong so it would keep me busy and on my toes, but nope, everything was going perfectly fine. I had even begged Mr. Davenport for additional work in an attempt to hurry the day along.

  I still hadn’t heard from Tate. I was now beyond the point of worry; I was downright frustrated. He wasn’t answering my calls or texts and apparently he had been ignoring Tanzi’s and Jack’s also.

  The afternoon was even slower than the morning. I don’t know how many times I had checked my emails, looked at the clock and gone in to annoy Mr. Davenport before five o’clock finally arrived. I was running out of the office before people could even wish me a good weekend. I think my excitement for the night ahead was irritating my colleagues.

  My heart rate increased and my excitement levels were sky-high as I saw Tate’s name flash across my phone screen as Tanzi and I drove back to the apartment.

  Tate: Savannah, I’m going straight to Red Velvet tonight.

  “Your brother finally decided to text me. He is going straight to Red Velvet. I am kinda bummed I won’t see him before,” I pouted, shifting in my seat.

  Tanzi looked at me and rolled her eyes. “He has been so weird this week. I don’t know what’s crawled up his ass and died,” she scoffed. “I’ll meet you at Red Velvet tonight. Jack is taking me out to dinner beforehand.”

  I nodded. “No worries, Lucas and I are going to get there around eight. How amazing is it that Ali and Lucas are dating?” I clapped my hands; my plan to set them had worked out perfectly. I got the text from Lucas the night before saying that he had taken her out for dinner and had made it official.

  Lucas arrived at my apartment at 7:30 and continued to spend the next half an hour gushing over Ali. It was annoyingly cute. I was pacing as I listened to him; I couldn’t wait to get to Red Velvet and kiss Tate in a way that probably shouldn’t be seen in public.

  We greeted Stevie, the burly bouncer, at the door with a smile before he ushered Lucas and me in. I grabbed Lucas’ hand as we weaved through the crowd in fear of losing him in the sea of people. Red Velvet was packed with every bar three-people deep waiting to be served. I had never seen this many people here. My eyes scanned the area desperately looking for Tate. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of being back with him. Three weeks had been too long. Lucas gripped my hand tightly and I looked up at him. When he looked at me, I saw the brown of his eyes intensifying and he nodded toward the other side of the bar and I turned to see Jack pacing toward us.

  I felt my smile instantly fade when my eyes met Jack’s across the madness of Red Velvet. I wouldn’t let my eyes leave Jack’s and I gripped Lucas’ hand tightly as confusion and anxiety swept through me. Jack didn’t look happy to see me; in fact, he looked downright livid I was here. I watched in confusion as he rushed across the packed room, ignoring everyone but Lucas and me.

  Jack’s eyes broke from mine for a moment as he looked over my shoulder. He was looking toward the closed door of Tate’s office. My eyes followed his to the closed door and in that moment the door flew open and Tate stormed out, closely followed by Tanzi. Tanzi was screaming at him but Tate wasn’t having anything to do with her. I looked at Jack and then back at Tate and Tanzi. I smiled at my boyfriend as he walked toward me, his face didn’t move. He was angry and I was more confused than ever. I dropped Lucas’ hand and took a step toward where Tate was coming from but was stopped as Jack grabbed hold of my arm.

  “Let’s get out of here, Sav. Please? You don’t want to be here,” Jack begged from beside me.

  I shook my head slowly. I didn’t understand what was happening. Why was Jack trying to make me leave? Why was Tanzi screaming at Tate? And more importantly, why was Tate looking at me like that?

  I looked at Jack with confused eyes. “Jack, what’s going on?” Then I turned to Lucas. “Lucas, I don’t understand what’s going on.” I looked between the two men standing in front of me; Jack with a look of pity on his face and Lucas looking just as confused as I was feeling.

  “Well, it’s so good that the lovely new couple of the group could join us. It’s great to see that I leave town for three weeks and you start fucking Lucas. Savannah, you really are a piece of work, aren’t you?” Tate sneered in a tirade of anger directed solely at me.

  I looked at him in disbelief. I could smell the alcohol seeping from his pores and he wasn’t steady on his feet. His face was dark but his words were darker. He was glaring at me; my boyfriend was glaring at me. I looked at Tanzi, who was shaking her head in disbelief. Jack was rolling his eyes at his friend and I felt Lucas tense beside me.

  “Man, that was uncalled for.” Lucas moved to stand in front of me, pushing Tate in the process and that was all it took. Within seconds Jack had pulled me back behind him as I watched Tate grab Lucas by the collar and slam him into a nearby wall, causing a group of people to flee their seats. I gasped as I saw Tate’s fist connect with Lucas’ eye, with the noise of fist-to-skin contact echoing around us. The level of testosterone filling the air was overwhelming. All I could hear was the insults and accusations being flung between Tate and Lucas.

  “Tate, stop it! Please!” I screamed but it didn’t help; he wasn’t concentrating on anything but Lucas. Jack held me back as I tried to get to the two men fighting in front of me. I needed to stop this.

  I heard the disturbing sound of cracking bones as Lucas punched Tate’s cheek, instantly blood poured from the wound.

  “Lucas! Please don’t do this!” I begged, but still it didn’t help. I thrashed in Jack’s arms until I was free of his grasp and rushed toward Lucas and Tate.

  I screamed at them, I pulled at their arms but nothing I did stopped them.

  “Stevie, help!” I yelled across the bar. Within seconds, Stevie and the security team surrounded them in an attempt to pull Lucas and Tate off each other. After what seemed like forever, a gasping Lucas and fuming Tate were pulled apart. Both had their fists still clenched. They were bleeding and they still had looks of murder on their faces.

  I pushed my palms into Tate’s chest and glared at him. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. I leave the state for three fucking weeks and I call my girlfriend and she is out to dinner with another guy who wants to fuck her! What the hell am I supposed to think, Savannah? He has wanted to fuck you from day one, and as soon as I am out of town, he gets what he wants.” His words were like razorblades cutting deep into my heart. I opened my mouth to speak but was stopped dead in my tracks.

  “Tate! Baby, what happened?” I turned at the sound of her voice. I watched in complete bewilderment as a blonde, size-0 woman with fake boobs and a face full of overdone makeup strutted toward Tate. Her hand started to caress his face.

  Tanzi moved beside me, grabbing my hand in solidarity. “Fucking slut,” she hissed und
er her breath.

  “Chelsea, it’s okay,” Tate said quickly, his eyes finally meeting mine. He stepped away from her touch.

  I scoffed at his words. Chelsea, his number-one fuck buddy just happened to be in town the first night he was home.

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me, Tate! You think Lucas and I slept together? You did this because you thought I cheated on you with Lucas? I was out to dinner with Lucas AND Ali when you called. I was setting them up.”

  I dropped my eyes from his and took a deep breath. “The past three weeks I have spoken of nothing else but seeing you, Tate. You are such a fucking dick.”

  Looking at Chelsea, I saw red. “Why is she here?”

  “Oh sweetie. This is what we do. He calls me and we fuck. He called me as soon as he got back to Los Angeles, and of course we…”

  “Shut up, Chelsea.” Tate seethed as my blood began to boil and as the color drained from his face.

  I glared at him. “Let her speak, Tate.”

  “Seriously, Sav, please.” His voice was low and wretched.

  “My name is Savannah,” I spat in reply. Looking back at Chelsea, I narrowed my eyes at her and felt the urge to use violence as a means of unleashing my frustration. I wasn’t a violent person so I knew that I was borderline exploding.

  Chelsea threw her head back and laughed. “If you and your pretty little boyfriend here didn’t arrive, I would be riding him hard in his office right now. Just like we always do. He doesn’t want you. Why do you think he keeps calling me? He begged me to come to Los Angeles. Yeah, that totally means he’s in love with you.” Her snarl was vicious and dripping with spite. My urge to slap her pathetic smirk off her face was almost overpowering me.

  “That’s bullshit, Chelsea. That is not what happened,” Tate pleaded as he tried to reach out to me. I moved out of his grasp and stepped closer to Tanzi.

  “Who said anything about love?” I retorted, firing a death of look toward Tate, who looked like a ghost of himself as he watched the drama he had caused unfold.