by C. L. Stacey
“I’ve had a lot of time to think…” he starts off. “I don’t think you’re a piece of shit, Caleb. That was harsh of me to say, I’m sorry.”
I shake my head. “We’re good.”
“Just like that?”
“What more do I need?”
“Wasn’t expecting it to be this easy.”
“We’ve been friends a long time, Aryn.” I tighten the screw on one of the panels. “I never wanted that fight. What good will it do me by stretching out the forgiveness part?”
He taps the butt of his screwdriver against the hardwood. “The news about the shooting at Jackson’s penthouse took me by shock. Then I got to thinking about what could’ve happened…”
“It didn’t. I’m fine.”
“You saved their lives, Caleb. You’re a hero.”
I laugh. “No, I’m really not.” Craning my neck, I peek over to where Ayli’s passed out on the couch. “Please don’t ever say that in front of Ayli. Kids will believe anything you tell them.”
“Have you talked to Ari at all while she’s been out here?”
“Twice,” I admit.
“How badly did I fuck that up for you?”
Taking responsibility for my own actions, I put an immediate stop to his little guilt party. “You didn’t. I fucked that up myself.”
“Did you mean to?”
“Of course I didn’t mean to,” I half-growl, the secure hold I thought I had over my emotions having slipped through the cracks. “I never dreamed of hurting Ari. What happened only happened because I thought we were done. I thought she left me.”
With a look of regret still glued to his face, Aryn stares at the lone tool in his hand. “She didn’t leave you. I took her.”
Running a hand over my forehead, I stop working to give Aryn the conversation he needs to have. “You thought you were protecting her. I gave you no good reason to believe in me before. You were right, I didn’t treat women with very much respect. But you need to know that I wouldn’t have done what I did if I wasn’t as serious as I was about your sister.”
“I’ve lived my whole life thinking that there was this impossible hole I’d never be able to fill, and then Ari came along and patched that up for me. She made everything seem… better. I know how much it must’ve hurt you to find out that I’d been keeping it from you for so long, but I had no other choice, Aryn. I needed to see it through for myself. You would’ve done the same if you were in my position. Anyone would’ve.”
He nods in understanding. “I get that.”
“Who I was before… the selfish boy who would’ve fucked anything with two legs…” I quote him, and he cringes at the sound of his own words. “I was never that man with Ari. While it lasted, I was completely faithful and devoted to her. Only when I thought we were over did it all go to hell. I would never have hurt her otherwise.”
Guilt takes its unforgiving hand around my heart again, squeezing to the point of pain. “I was in love with her. I am, and I think that I will always be, in love with your sister.”
Leaning against the back of the couch, Aryn regards me silently for a few beats. “You know, she stopped talking to me after we returned to New York. The only reason she walked out with me that day was to protect you. She didn’t apologize to me for sneaking around, not once. When she finally decided to say anything to me at all was when she told me she was coming back here for you…” He pauses. “My sister is smart. She was raised strong. She was taught to always be honest, it’s why she sucks at lying. She saw something great in you, something I was too blind by my anger to see. I’m sorry. Sincerely, I am.”
Hearing my friend admit all of that, and then to receive an apology from him… means more than he’ll ever know. It takes a lot for a person to admit that they are wrong, I know all of that couldn’t have been easy for him to say.
“I forgive you. I was never planning to hold a grudge for long.” I shrug it off.
He nods. “That’s a relief.”
“But I’d like to ask you something, a question that has been eating away at me since the day you left with her.”
“Ask.”
“How’d you find out?”
The question brings out an interesting reaction from Aryn. With a thoughtful expression, Aryn’s head jerks back, like he’d just come to realize something for the first time.
“What was that?” I ask.
“Nothing, it’s just…” A small laugh passes through his lips. “It’s been almost two years, and Ari’s never asked me that.”
I shrug. “Maybe she didn’t feel like opening old wounds. I don’t blame her.”
“Huh.”
“Well? How’d you find out?” I ask again.
“After Christmas dinner at my parents’ house that year, she left to go to a ‘party,’ and that’s when a friend came by with a gift for Ari. When I told the girl that she’d just missed her, that Ari was on her way to attend some party, the friend looked confused by it. She told me that she came by to drop off the gift because Ariana specifically stated that she wasn’t going to make the company’s holiday bash. That’s when I knew that something was up. Ari doesn’t usually lie to me unless there’s a new guy in her life. I wasn’t introduced to Randy until they were about two months into the relationship. Anyways, I asked the friend if Ari had a new boyfriend I didn’t know about. Then she looked at me, awkwardly laughed, and said that she was certain Ari was seeing you. She assumed I knew about it, given my close friendship with you. Then she ran off when she saw the shock on my face,” he finishes.
Already having a guess in mind, I ask, “What was this friend’s name?”
“Uh…” Aryn’s eyes roll toward the ceiling, searching. His tongue pushes up against the roof of his mouth, making a clear N sound, and I feel my blood boil beneath my skin. “Na-Na-Naomi?” He makes a face. “No, that’s not it. Natalie? No, that doesn’t sound right, either…”
The fucking bitch.
I pull my phone from my pocket, type her name out in the internet search engine, pull up a picture, then I shove it in front of Aryn. “This her?”
“Yea! Yea, that’s her.”
“Natasha,” I refresh Aryn’s memory.
“Yes! That was it.”
“I have to go.” I stand.
“Whoa, Caleb, everything okay?”
“No.” I grab my jacket off the back of the couch.
“Should I be worried?”
“I’ll call you.”
Schemers, scammers, plotters, deceivers, cheaters. They’re all one in the same.
Each one singlehandedly screws over another for their own personal gain.
Natasha’s been scheming, plotting to destroy, and she got what she wanted by outing Ari and me to Aryn. What did she hope to gain in the end? Wild—not so much—guess… me.
Something is very fucking wrong here.
My phone rings on my desk, drawing my eyes to the screen. Jackson.
“What’s up, Jax?”
“You sound awfully calm,” he notes.
“I’m working,” I lie.
“Are you not aware of what’s going on?”
“Jax, while I do love our weird little chats, you need to cut to the point of this call. I’m busy.”
“Your girlfriend’s boyfriend fucked up,” he says, and I stop everything I’m doing.
“What are you talking about?”
“Turn your TV on and flip the channel to E! News, they’re reporting about them now.” I pick up my remote and power on the flat screen. An old clip of Ari walking the red carpet with Brody fills my screen and I walk over, turning the volume up. “The boy cheated on her while in Malibu two weekends ago. The woman came forward, leaking pictures of their weekend together,” Jackson beats the reporter to it, filling me in.
My fingers wrap around the remote in my hand, the plastic creaks when I make a tight fist around it. Engulfed by my rage, I’m drowning in a sea of violent thoughts of Brody. I pause to think before acting prem
aturely. If I give myself away to Jackson now, he’ll come right over to babysit me.
Inhaling a steady, calming breath in through my nose, I force myself to lie. “She’s not my girlfriend anymore, Jackson. What’s the point of your call, exactly?”
There’s a pause in the line. I’d pay good money to see Jackson’s dumfounded expression right now.
“I thought that—”
“No,” I cut him off. “I went to visit her that same weekend, actually. I told her that I was done holding on.”
“You did what? Why?”
“Does it matter?”
“I told you to wait and come up with a solid plan. I never told you to give up the girl, are you stupid?” Jackson spits.
“What the hell do you care?”
“You’re one of the very few friends I have, why the hell wouldn’t I care?”
Taken aback by Jackson’s sudden admission, now I’m the one to stand with a dumbfounded expression. He’s claimed me a friend once before, while in a dire situation. I was sure that he was just overly emotional over what was happening with Lexi.
“And you’re in love with her, Caleb,” Jackson goes on. “Why the hell did you do that?”
“I thought she was happy.”
“Not so much anymore, I imagine.”
Watching the woman on my screen continue to report about the shocking scandal, I find myself hanging by a thread. “What would you do if you were in my position?” I ask, genuinely curious.
The man’s been engaged twice in this lifetime, he obviously knows what he’s doing. Advice from him won’t hurt. I can’t promise to take it, but I’m currently wide open to suggestions.
“I’d take back what’s mine.”
That’s not at all what I was expecting to hear. I’ll take it.
Bethany comes running into my office, short of breath when blowing through the door. She turns her head toward me, still watching the flat screen, and then she utters a curse under her breath when I motion for her to come over with my finger.
“Jackson, I have to go. I was in the middle of something pretty important, and I need to get back to it,” I lie again.
“Don’t do anything stupid—”
“I’m fine,” I insist.
“Doubt that.”
“Believe it.”
“Call me when you need me to clean up your mess, bitch,” he doubts me again, but he doesn’t stop me.
“Bye.” I hang up, and then I turn to face Bethany. “Get someone on this. Now.”
“I already have.”
“Find out where she is.”
As usual, Bethany’s already ten steps ahead of me, and she readily provides me with yet another timely response. “Brody rushed her off the studio lot when paparazzi started swarming their set. He’s taking her back to his house.”
“Get me an address.”
This is where she chooses to stall. “Mr. Carlisle…”
My phone call with Jackson already set me back, taking up valuable time, and now Bethany is dragging. I’m not a patient person to begin with. I’m really more a ticking time bomb. To hit another wall when there are pressing matters concerning Ari’s safety, I feel something inside of me snap, and then I explode. “Bethany!” I interject with a shout, startling her and causing her to jump back. “I know I told you that I’d never fire you, but now is not the time to put my loyalty to the test. Get me an address.”
Without another word of protest, Bethany hands over a small scrap of paper. I quickly take it before she changes her mind.
“The number written under the address is the code to get through his front gate,” she informs me. “She thinks that I’m on the way to pick her up.”
“Thank you.” I immediately take my leave.
Neither of us has spoken a single word the entire drive. Brody, I’m sure, is letting his own guilt tear him apart. While I sit here pissed at the thought of what I now have to look forward to for the next God knows however long.
The paparazzi are not going to let this go any time soon. They’re going to be everywhere I go, begging for information, praying for a reaction they can sell.
This is exactly what I didn’t want to happen when starting this whole thing with Brody. I didn’t want this life. He may be used to all the attention, but I’m not. I have issues with personal space, which reporters and photographers have zero regard for.
We’re about five minutes away from his house when Brody’s hand closes around mine. “I’m so sorry,” he whispers a sincere apology.
Leaning my head back against the leather seat, I stare out the window without uttering a single word to him.
“Babe, say something. Please.”
“You should’ve been more careful,” I say.
“It meant nothing.”
Three words that take me back to a very painful time in my life. Tears threaten, burning with my fight to keep them from falling. Bringing my eyes to a soft close, I breathe through it, willing them away.
As soon as Brody parks, my hand goes for the handle on my door. He’s at my side of the car before my feet even touch the ground. I close the passenger door and make way for the house, but Brody pulls me back to him.
His hand comes to cup around my cheek, but I pull away to avoid being touched.
“I need some space, Brody. I can’t do this anymore.”
Disagreeing with my decision to give up, Brody shakes his head. “I messed up, I’m sorry.”
Annoyed with the situation and with him, I stand firmly by my decision. “All of this is going to follow me around for the next couple of weeks. This is exactly what I didn’t want.”
“I’ve been telling you for weeks now to stop pushing me away. This isn’t what I wanted, I didn’t want—”
“That didn’t really stop you from sleeping with her, though, did it?”
“I love you… When will that ever be enough for you to just trust me?”
We both turn to look when a car speeds up the driveway before skidding to a stop just a few feet away. A black Escalade.
The sight of Caleb stepping out of the car sends me into a panic. “Caleb. Don’t…” I warn.
Caleb’s fist comes flying, landing hard against Brody’s mouth. Brody tries defending himself, but Caleb keeps coming down on him. My throat is raw from me screaming to try and get through to him, but he doesn’t hear a single word of it.
“All you had to do was make her happy.” Caleb shoves Brody back, pinning him against the car with his forearm bearing down on Brody’s throat. “All you had to do was not fuck up!”
When Caleb brings his fist back up, I swing my purse against his back. “Caleb!” I scream at the top of my lungs.
Finally getting through to him, Caleb stops, fist suspended but not following through.
“Leave us. Right now,” I order him. When he doesn’t release Brody right away, I lay down another. “Walk away, Caleb!”
“I’m taking her back,” Caleb declares to him.
I squeeze my eyes shut when Caleb brings his fist down. Then they fly back open when the sound of shattering glass fills my ears.
Caleb just punched straight through the passenger window of Brody’s car.
Fat red beads form over his fist, trails of blood soon trickling to the gravel driveway.
Another trip to Bree. Another call to Jackson.
Turning away from Brody, Caleb takes me by the arm with his clean, unwounded hand, dragging me toward his idling car.
“Ariana, wait… Where are you taking her?” Brody calls after us, but Caleb ignores him.
Opening the passenger door, Caleb finally meets my gaze. “You’re not safe here. The paparazzi will set up camp outside that gate, and then they’ll tail you everywhere you go. They don’t know where you live. Let me take you home.” When I don’t argue, he tugs on my hand to help me inside, then he rounds the car to his side.
Brody taps his hands against the window, and I press the button to let it down. “I’ll fix this,” he
promises me. “I love you,” he tells me again, and it doesn’t feel any better than the first time I heard it. His words hold no weight whatsoever. “I’ll fix this, Ariana. I will.”
Caleb slams his door and puts the car in reverse. “Watch your toes, Hollywood,” he warns before easing off the brake.
For the first half of the drive, Caleb’s on the phone with Bethany, laying out plans for damage control, for hiring security to protect me. Then he mentions issuing a public statement about my breakup with Brody, and that’s when I decide to speak up.
“Stop,” I say.
“Let me call you back.” He hangs up, turning to look at me. “What was that?”
“You don’t get to speak for me, Caleb. This is my relationship, I will decide when and how to address the public.”
Caleb falls silent, eyes aimed on the road ahead. “You’re considering staying with him,” he states rather than questions.
I say nothing.
We’re pulling into my driveway after traveling fifteen minutes in complete silence.
When my hand goes to the handle, Caleb stops me with a question I was hoping he wouldn’t ask. “Why are you giving this asshole a free pass for cheating?” When I don’t provide him with an answer right away, he asks another. “Does he have something on you, Ari? Tell me, and I’ll find a way to get you out of it.”
“No, it’s nothing like that.”
“So, it’s easy for you to forgive him for something you found impossible to forgive me for? Is that what you’re saying?”
How insanely stupid…
I turn, fixing him with an incredulous stare. “Do you really want to go comparing yourself to him?”
“Yes, I do.”
“I thought you were done talking about us.”
“That was when I thought you were happy, Ari, this is horseshit!” he shouts. “Are you listening to yourself? Who the hell are you right now?”
I turn to stare out the windshield, shaking my head. “You have no right to question the decisions I make in my relationship—”
“I have no right?”
“No, Caleb, you don’t.”
“The boy cheated on you, Ari. Bottom line. Plain and simple. What the fuck do rights have to do with this?”