Chapter 3
BETH
“Michelle, I love you,” I say then turn back to puke in the toilet of the upscale club she made me go to.
She holds my hair back as I let it loose again. “God damn, Beth! You’re throwing up more than went in you!”
Finally, I stop gagging and feel like I might be able to stand up. “Help me up. I need to go home.”
Helping me up, she takes me to the sink and runs the water. Her wet hands run over my hot face. “You really are a mess, Beth. I shouldn’t have taken you out.”
I nod. “I know. I miss him so much. I love him so much. And I love you, Michelle. I just want this to end. I want all the pain to go away.” The room is starting to spin again and I lean over the trash can and dry heave as there’s nothing left inside me.
Michelle puts her arm around me. “Come on. I’m spending the night with Jake tonight. You can bunk with his roomie, Ty. He can hold you and take that jackass off your mind. No more drinking, though.”
I nod and lay my head on her shoulder. “Maybe he will help me get over, Channing. I need something. I need help, Michelle.”
She opens her purse and pulls out a small tube of toothpaste and a toothbrush. “I bought this for myself, but you need it more.”
With a weak smile, I take it from her and brush my teeth. With the taste of puke out of my mouth, it makes it easier to stop the dry heaving. After I wipe my mouth, I turn to her and throw my arms around her in a tight hug. “I love you, Michelle.” Then the tears start.
“Oh, for the love of, God, Beth! When did booze start making you so damn sappy?” She pushes me back and grabs some toilet paper from an empty stall and dries my eyes. “We need to get the hell out of here.”
I sniffle and hang on to her as she takes me back out into the loud as hell club. The music is pounding, and its making me feel awful. The guys who brought us here are waiting at the table and the one named, Ty, looks at me.
“Fuck! What the hell happened to her?” he asks as Michelle glares at him.
“She was sick. We should go.” She moves me from her side and places me under his arm.
He’s tall and kind of skinny. He has blonde hair and I think his eyes are blue, but I haven’t really looked into them. He smells kind of stinky with a cheap cologne.
Not like the cologne Channing wears. His is expensive and smells that way. But this guy might help me start to get over Channing.
Please let me get over Channing!
Ty’s lips touch the side of my head. “Come on with, Daddy, and let me get you all snug in my bed, Baby.”
Yuk! That sounded creepy!
But I have to move on. Leave Channing and his perfect way of talking and holding me, in the past. Where it belongs.
I will never have another guy that great. Never in a million years would I be given that chance again.
No, I’ll have to settle for average, skinny, kind of smelly guys who talk in ways I find unattractive. Running my arms around his waist as he holds me around my shoulders and walks me towards the door, I try to hang onto him and keep myself upright and walking.
At least he’s strong enough to make sure I don’t end up on the floor. That would be humiliating.
“Hold up!” I hear some man say.
Ty keeps on walking and then we suddenly stop. I pull my head off his chest and peer at the man who’s stopping us. “Where do you think you’re taking her?”
I move my hair out of my eyes and look at the tall, handsome man. “Hey, I know you.”
He nods and I know I know him but am not sure from where. “I know you do. So, what are you doing, Beth?”
“Cole! That’s your name!” Then I burst into tears. “Cole! He fired me! Fired me! His fucking father told him lies, and he believed them and then he fired me!”
His hand moves to rest on Ty’s shoulder. “Hey, buddy. Let me take her.”
Ty shakes his head. “No, fucking way!”
“I have to insist,” Cole says and puts his hand on mine which is resting on Ty’s skinny stomach that has no abs at all.
Channing has lots and lots of them…
He pulls at my hand, but Ty won’t let me go. I look up at Ty. “I should probably let him take me home, Ty. I think you plan on trying to get some action tonight and I’m not up to it. And I don’t think I even want to.”
Ty’s eyebrows go way up. “I spent fifty bucks on booze for you! You’re going home with me!”
“I didn’t ask you to,” I say as Cole pulls at my hand.
“Look, kid. I got you,” Cole says. He pulls out his wallet and hands Ty a hundred-dollar bill. “There, paid with interest. Now go home or go find some bimbo who’s drunk and take her home, but this girl is going with me.”
Ty takes the money and puts it in his pocket but doesn’t let me go. “Thanks, and no way is she going anywhere but with me, mister.”
“Let her go,” I hear and my knees go weak. I fall against Ty as the man I heard walks up behind Cole.
“Channing…” I try to pull away from Ty, but he keeps a tight grip on me.
“I said, let her go,” Channing says. “I’m taking her home.”
“Really?” I ask. Then look up at Ty. “Let me go. I’m going with him.”
“What kind of shit is this?” Ty says as he continues to hang on to me. “I’ve also spent a couple of hours on you. I want what I have coming to me.”
Channing glares at him. “And what do you think you have coming to you, kid?”
“A piece of her fine ass.” Ty doesn’t say anything after that.
Channing’s fist meets Ty’s cheek bone and Cole pulls me to him as Ty finally lets me go and falls backward with the punch. Then I see Jake and Michelle who must’ve finally noticed Ty and I are not following them.
“What the fuck?” Jake shouts. He pulls his fist back and is about to punch Channing.
“No!” I scream as his fist moves through the air to sucker punch the love of my life.
Channing avoids the hit by moving a bit to the side then pops Jake with a fist to the mouth. Michelle starts screaming and lunges at Channing. “Mother fucker!”
I look up at Cole. “This is getting out of hand.”
He smiles at me. “You think?” Then he whistles, capturing the attention of Michelle and the two guys. “This is over.”
Jake holds his hand over his bleeding mouth as Michelle looks at me. “You are not going with these guys, Beth. Come on.” She reaches out for me to take her hand but I shake my head. “What do you mean, no? Can’t you remember what this asshole did to you?”
I nod. “But I really want him to take me home, Michelle. Sorry.”
Channing moves past them to my side and takes my hand and pulls me away from Cole and the crowd that’s gathered around us all. Michelle yells something as I leave with him but I can’t hear her.
All I hear is the sound of Channing walking away and taking me with him.
It’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard!
Chapter 4
CHANNING
She smells like honeysuckle and barf. And I can’t believe how good it feels to have her hand in mine again. But I have to remind myself of what she did to keep her from getting under my skin again.
But as we walk out the door I find I have to wrap my arm around her waist to steady her or she might fall. “How much have you had to drink, Beth?”
“Too much,” she says then hiccups. “Thank you for rescuing me.”
“You shouldn’t get yourself in situations that need me to rescue you.”
Her body leans into mine as she wraps her arms around me. I can feel her breathing in deeply. “I know that, Channing. I’m sorry.”
Placing her in my car, I lean in to fasten her seatbelt as she’s clumsily pawing at it. “This isn’t like you, Beth.”
This close to her, I can see red lines which run from her eyes all the way down her cheeks as the make-up she had covering them is mostly washed away. The urge to kiss the
m is strong.
I fight it, though and move back out of the car, closing the door.
“She is a gold digger, Channing,” I tell myself out loud so I can hear the words.
Sliding in behind the steering wheel, I look over at her. She has lost weight. “I’m getting us hamburgers, French fries, and chocolate shakes and taking you home to eat them.”
“K.” She looks out the window and runs her hands over the leather seat. “I miss this.”
“Yeah, the car is very nice. I bet you do miss it. I bet you miss the expensive clothes, jewels, and perfumes too. I bet you miss all the things my money bought you.” I grit my teeth to try to stop myself from getting too pissed at her. She is drunk after all. It won’t do any good, anyway.
Her head swivels around and her eyes are all shiny with tears I think she’s about to let loose. “Not any of those things. Just being around you. Breathing the same air, you are. I enjoyed what you let me use, but that’s not what I’m talking about.”
She is good! No wonder I fell for her shit!
“Even drunk you keep up the appearance of a woman who’s anything but a gold digger.” I turn into the fast food place and pull up to order. “Two double meat cheeseburgers all the way with mustard. Two fries and two large chocolate shakes, please.”
“That’ll be twenty-seven, eighty, sir, please pull up,” the lady on the speaker tells me.
“Gold digger? What the hell, Channing? That’s what you think I am?” She looks at me with her red-rimmed eyes that look as if she’s been crying non-stop.
“Why else would you go to my father if it wasn’t to blackmail me?”
“I did not go to your father. He’s lying to you.” She looks out the window and looks back at me. “Do you see that car?” She points out her window at a black Cadillac that’s just pulled in and parked in the parking lot adjacent to the one we’re in.
I look at it then squint to see if I can make out who’s inside. “My father has a car just like that.”
She looks back at me. “I saw that car a lot the last week we were together. It followed us around a lot. Is he in it?”
“It’s too dark to tell.” I stare at it. “It’s too late. I’m sure it’s not him. Even if it is. Maybe he’s out. No big deal.”
“Funny how it’s the same as your father’s.” Then she undoes her seatbelt and gets out of the car and starts walking up to it.
The sound of a horn fills the air as she walks right in front of a car that’s pulling into the parking lot. I yell at her to get back in but she keeps walking toward the black car.
Then it pulls out of the parking spot and drives off. She spins around and comes back to the car and gets in.
“You could’ve been killed, Beth! What the fuck?” I yell at her.
“How much you want to bet it was him, Channing?” She looks at me like she didn’t just do anything stupid.
“So what if it was, Beth? Fuck! You don’t even look like you were almost hit by a fucking car.” My hand is shaking as I grip the wheel and pull forward.
The lady hands me the drinks and the bag of food and I hand her the money and leave. Beth looks at me and her seatbelt isn’t even on. “I think he saw us together. I think he told you that because he doesn’t like to see you happy. That’s what I think.”
I glance at her. “You don’t even know him, Beth. And put your damn seatbelt on!”
Heading out to my house, I see her looking around as she fastens her seatbelt. “My dorm’s the other way.”
“I told you I’m taking you home. I’m not taking you to where that idiot roommate of yours can do you more harm.”
“Channing, what does that mean?” Her eyes glisten with what looks like hope.
“It means until you’re sober, I want to be sure you’re alright. You almost ended up in that kid’s bed. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.” I pull onto the street that leads to my house.
“So, you showing up tonight at the club was just, so I didn’t have sex with someone else?” She taps her fingers on her leg.
I look at her fingers. “That dress is too short. Is it your friend’s? Did your friend tramp you up and take you out to get over me or were you ever really into me at all? Is this girl the real you? Are you some party girl who’ll fuck anyone?”
Her head snaps as her mouth drops open. “Channing! You know the real me. I have to tell you that you taking your father’s word over mine is a real red flag to me. The man has caused you so much pain. I haven’t done a thing bad to you. Yet, you believe him over me. Seems to me, it’s me who should wonder if you were lying about your feelings you claimed to have for me.”
“I love you, Beth!” I shout at her. “I mean, loved you.”
“Then how could you put me out the way you did? How could you not give me a chance to talk to you? You just pushed me away like we had nothing between us. It shows me I can’t ever trust you. That’s what hurts the most. What we had is completely over because you have trust issues.” She looks away. “I’m glad you came to get me. I needed this closure. I needed to tell you this is over for me too. Wait. Why did you come? How did you know I was there?”
“Cole saw you and called me.” I pull into the garage and press the button to close the door behind us.
“And you came because why?” She looks at me with real confusion spread over her face.
Her beautiful face is streaked where tears have chapped her perfectly peach cream colored skin. Tears she cried so many of that it did that to them.
“Why did you cry so much, Beth?” I run my fingertip over one red line. “Was it because of the loss of me or the money?”
Her hand moves to take mine and holds it to her cheek. “It was only because of you. The money means nothing to me.”
“You said you needed to make money, though.”
She laughs. “Who doesn’t?”
My heart pounds as I look at her. If she was truly a person who only cared about my money, then why so many tears?
She releases my hand. “So, you’re going to keep me here for the night or what?”
I grab the bag of burgers. “Grab the shakes and come inside.”
As I get out of the car and head to the door I see her getting out and she stumbles a little toward the door.
Oh shit! I forgot she’s still drunk!
I walk back to her and put my arm around her to steady her. She grumbles, “I can do it. I don’t need your help.”
Opening the door to the kitchen, I say, “You do need my help, Beth. You’re still drunk.”
I help her to the bar in the kitchen and set the bag on it and take the drinks that she’s about to put down on their sides. Then pick her up and place her in the tall bar chair.
“There you go. Let me get this stuff out and get some of the weight you seemed to have lost, back on.”
She looks at me from under drooping eyelids. It won’t be long before she passes out. I have to get some of this in her system before that happens. “I’m not hungry,” she slurs. “And I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to be here. Now that I’m here, I don’t think this is a good idea. I don’t want to fight with you.”
“I’m not going to fight with you, Beth. I just want you to eat and then sleep and tomorrow I’ll take you back to your dorm.” I take a bite of my burger and watch her just stare at hers.
Picking up a fry I put it to her lips. “I’m not…” I put it in, anyway.
“Chew, Beth.”
She does and then picks up her milkshake but only holds it. So I pull a piece off the burger and place it to her lips. She opens them and takes the bite. After she swallows she looks at me. “Why are you being so nice?”
“Just eat.” I hand her another fry. “Then I’m helping you take a bath and putting you into one of my T-shirts.”
She picks up the burger and takes a bite. “I can take a bath without your help, thank you very much.”
“The condition you’re in is why you need my help. Don’t mak
e a big deal out of it. I helped you take plenty of baths and showers if you can remember that far back.” I dip one of her fries in ketchup and feed it to her.
“You and I took a shower together four days ago.” Her deep green eyes meet mine as I hold out another fry for her. She takes it from me and chews it slowly. “I don’t want your help.”
Her face is so thin and I can’t help thinking that she had to have felt something for me to get so upset she’d not eat in three days. “You need it.” I put the straw to her plump lips.
She drinks some of the shake then pops the straw out. “You are a hard man to be around and not fall for.”
“Am I?” I wipe away the bit of chocolate that got away from her mouth.
Her sweet mouth that used to bring me so much pleasure and satisfaction. Her lips that are so soft and supple underneath mine. They glided easily over my…
“Channing, don’t.” I look up into her eyes. “I can’t take that. I can’t take you looking at me like you want me.”
I look away. “I don’t. I only want to make sure you’re safe. That’s all. Don’t read any more than that into it, Beth.”
“What you did was too hurtful.” She looks at the burger and pushes it away.
“How do you think I’ve felt, Beth? What you did felt like a stab in the back. Do you know my father came and took all of her things? I managed to give the car to the person I wanted to, but all the things I planned on donating to charity, he took.” I pick the burger up but she shakes her head.
Then her eyes narrow as she looks at me. “Give me a fucking lie detector test if you want. I didn’t tell the man a thing!” Her hand moves back and forth between us. “The thing we had going, is so over. You’ve proven yourself to be a person who’s so quick to judge, so quick to think the worst of a person. A person you claimed to love. You tossed me away without ever giving me a chance to defend myself.”
The way she keeps telling me this is over is pissing me off. “I’m the one who ended it, so stop trying to make it like you’re the one ending what we had. If it was anything real at all. I mean, on my part it was. It was completely real, but your part? Well, that had to have been made up for you to do what you did.”
The Shameless Billionaire Series: Billionaire Romance Box Set (An Alpha-Male, Billionaire, Bad Boy, Bad Girl, Romance) Page 114