by E. L. Todd
“But, I love you, Blaise.”
“No, you don’t,” he snapped.
“Yes, I do!” She came to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I do.”
He pushed her away. “We don’t even have sex anymore.”
“Let’s do it now.”
“No,” he said quickly. “That’s not what I’m implying. There’s nothing here.”
She held her hands together, clenching them tightly.
Blaise avoided her gaze, unable to look at her. He asked her to move in after he knocked her up. It was the right thing to do and he knew he needed to take care of her. But after she had a miscarriage, it changed everything. The relationship was meaningless, just a mistake. He had to get rid of her.
“I’ll change,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”
“Danielle, nothing you say will change anything. I want you out in the morning.”
The tears fell down her face like a waterfall. She sobbed deeply, her wails echoing throughout the house. “I’m scared. You’re the only one who can protect me. If I leave…he’ll find me.”
He sighed, hating listening to her cry.
“I don’t have anywhere to go. I’ll be homeless…” She sniffed loudly. “And Evan will hurt me the first chance he gets. You’re the only reason why he stays away. He’s scared of you.”
“Stay with your girlfriends.”
“I can’t do that,” she said through her tears. “He’ll come in the middle of the night. No one cares about me. I have no one to look out for me.”
Blaise gripped his hair. Her psycho ex-boyfriend had it out for her. Blaise already beat the shit out of him once, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t attack Danielle again as soon as she moved out. Like last time, he would beat her, putting her in the hospital. Danielle slept with Blaise when they were still together. And Evan was still pissed about it. But Blaise had to be strong. He couldn’t let Danielle ruin his life forever. “You can stay here until you get a job and get your own place.”
The volume of her tears died down at his words. “Please don’t do this to me. He’ll kill me!”
Blaise crossed his arms over his chest then looked around the room, at anything but her. He hated living with her, seeing her every day, but he couldn’t leave her vulnerable. He was a man and he needed to protect her. His father would be disappointed if he did anything else. “I won’t let him hurt you.”
She wiped her tears away then came to him, her arms outstretched.
Blaise pushed her away. “I mean it, Danielle. We’re done.” He tried to break up with her so many times, but she never accepted the end of their relationship. He wasn’t going to let it happen again. She might still live there, but that didn’t mean they were still together. Initially, he stayed in the relationship because it was more convenient. If he was going to live with her, he may as well be getting sex out of it. But his loathing had increased to a breaking point.
“But you love me.”
“I thought I did but I was wrong.”
“Don’t be cold.” She stared at him with her blue eyes, wide with tears.
“I’m not,” he said. “I’m just being firm.” He walked into the spare bedroom then shut the door. When they were separated, he took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. He wasn’t sure how he got himself into this mess. Somehow he got her pregnant and their relationship became serious. Then her ex stalked her, beat her, and even after that, he tried to come after her again. His baby’s life was on the line and he did what he had to do to protect it. But now he still protected Danielle. He hated her, couldn’t stand her, but he couldn’t let her get hurt. He kept Danielle’s presence a secret so no one would know she was there. It was important that they kept up the charade. Only his closest friends knew Danielle was there, and in order to protect her, Blaise had to pretend they were still together. If Evan knew there was no love between them, he would take advantage of that immediately. But if Evan did figure it out, Blaise had no problem ripping his head off if he came to the house. He stripped his clothes away then got into bed.
He stared at the ceiling for a long time, thinking about the memories of his past. Something was missing in his life, something wasn’t right. When he felt his lids grow heavy, he closed his eyes and fell into a light sleep. When he felt the covers pull away and a warm mouth press against his groin, his eyes snapped open.
“Danielle, stop it!” He pulled her off him by the arm.
She wiped her mouth and gave him a frightened expression.
“Get out of my room.”
“But—”
“Giving me a blowjob isn’t going to keep me around. If you really wanted to please me, you wouldn’t do it just when I’m upset with you. Now get out.”
“Blaise—”
“Get out of my room or I’ll kick you out of my house. I don’t care if Evan finds you.”
She left the bedroom and slammed the door closed. Blaise locked the handle then returned to bed, trying to forget about the headache that was forming behind his eyes.
5
Blaise woke up early the next morning and attended to his fields. They were planting the cotton seeds and it required a lot of work. His workers pulled the machines out of the warehouse and started the drill.
He met with the biologist and watched him examine the soil. “It’s a little low on nitrogen,” he said, running a test in his briefcase.
“Should I plant more manure?” Blaise asked.
“You need something stronger.”
“So the expensive stuff?” Blaise asked.
He nodded. “If you want the best cotton, you need the best supplies.”
Blaise sighed in annoyance. Farming wasn’t his expertise. He helped his father every planting season but he never enjoyed it. He only did it to help. And now that his father was gone, it was his responsibility to keep the legacy going. If it was important to his father, it was important to him. His dreams could wait. “I’ll order it.”
“You need to get it into the soil soon.”
“Thank you for your time, professor.”
“Of course.” He grabbed his belongings then left the property.
Blaise pulled out his phone and made a few calls. The manure would be there in a few hours.
“Baby!”
Blaise turned toward the porch of the house.
Danielle was smiling at him. “Are you hungry for breakfast?”
He glared at her.
She kept a straight face. “Come on. I cooked for you.”
Blaise knew she was playing nice, in the hope he wouldn’t leave her. “Give it to the dogs.” He got into his truck without looking at her. He had his backpack in the seat and he drove to campus.
When he arrived for his class, he sat in the front row with his computer on the desk. He only had time to take one class a semester and he took it very seriously. Since he wasn’t weighed by other courses, there was no reason why he shouldn’t get an A. It was an economics class so he was interested most of the time. A girl next to him kept glancing his way but he ignored her. He already couldn’t get rid of one girl in his life. He didn’t need another one.
After his class was finished, he drove to Rob’s Bar and Grill and sat in a booth. Ray joined him a second later, looking equally tried.
“What are you doing in town?” Ray asked.
Blaise hadn’t told anyone about the classes he was taking. If it got out, people would assume he was selling the business. The vultures would descend. “I had to get manure for the fields.”
“The nitrogen is bad?” Ray drank from his beer then glanced at the TV.
“It’s always bad,” Blaise said. “It’s just really bad this year.”
“Perhaps your renowned cotton isn’t going to last.”
“My family has tilled that earth for generations. I’ll make sure the quality is continued.”
“Dude, you are so lucky you have the family business. I’m going to school and I have no idea what to do with
my life. I wanted to be a doctor but now I’m thinking about being a professor. I just don’t know.”
Blaise rubbed his fingers against the glass of his beer. “That’s how it should be,” he said quietly.
“What are you talking about?” Ray asked. “You have that beautiful country house and a beautiful woman that lives with you.”
“And I can’t get rid of her,” Blaise snapped.
Ray laughed. “She’s driving you crazy?”
That was an understatement. Only his closest friends knew he lived with Danielle, but he had to keep her secret. Danielle didn’t want anyone to know about the man hunting her. He promised he wouldn’t say a word and he never has. But unfortunately, he couldn’t think of any other excuse why she would live with him. So he had to act like they were still together. “We have our problems sometimes.”
“Throw her out on her ass,” Ray said. “She isn’t your problem.”
Blaise sighed. “I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“She has nowhere to go. I can’t just abandon her.”
“Tell her to get a job,” Ray said.
“I did.”
“Be firm,” Ray said. “So, when did it die?”
“What?”
“The love, or whatever.”
“It never began,” Blaise hissed. “I only became serious with her when I thought she was pregnant. But that didn’t work out.”
“It sounds like a blessing.”
Blaise wouldn’t say that. Danielle had a miscarriage and lost the baby after she was three months pregnant. He didn’t love Danielle but he was depressed that his child had suffered. It still made him upset.
Ray drank from his beer. “Do you think she was ever really pregnant?”
Blaise eyed him. “What?”
“Do you think she lied so you wouldn’t leave her?”
Danielle had done and said a lot of horrible things, but Blaise couldn’t imagine her stooping that low. “I don’t think so.”
“I don’t know…”
“Danielle wouldn’t lie about something like that.”
“Did you ever see any tests from the doctor’s office? Any sonograms?”
“No, I always had something to do for the property. But I know she went.”
Ray didn’t look convinced. “I would call the doctor’s office and find out the truth.”
“I wouldn’t invade her privacy like that. And we aren’t married, so I wouldn’t be able to find out anyway.”
“I’m sure you could offer something…”
Blaise drank from his beer. “Let’s drop it.”
“Okay…” Ray tapped the wood of the table with his fingers. “Are you going to the cornfield party this weekend?”
Blaise shrugged. “I don’t know. To be honest, I don’t really care.”
“Seriously, I feel like you’re an old person. You never want to go out or do anything.”
Blaise laughed. “It seems that way, doesn’t it? I guess the property just takes a lot of my time. Maybe you shouldn’t be envious after all.”
“Too late,” Ray said. “I don’t know exactly how much money you make, but I know you make bank.”
Blaise drank from his beer and averted his gaze. He never told anyone how much he made. People were always weird when it came to fortunes. He kept it to himself, not telling a single soul.
“Is your uncle still after it?”
He sighed. “He’ll never give up.”
Ray rolled his eyes. “The will clearly said you were the recipient of the company. How can you argue with that?”
Blaise shrugged. “Technically, he’s next of kin. He thinks he has a good case. My great grandparents were the ones who started it. So, he’s right that it should belong to him.”
“Too bad your dad was older,” Ray said with a smile.
“I wouldn’t mind just giving it to him.” The words flew out of his mouth before he could stop them.
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing,” Blaise said.
“Then why haven’t you?”
“I don’t think he would take care of the company. He would run it into the ground. I can’t let my family’s legacy turn to shit. He’s a horrible entrepreneur. He would inflate the prices because he’s greedy then dilute the quality to save money. I know how he is.”
“Why don’t you sell it?”
“I can’t do that either.”
“You could give it to a friend.” Ray winked.
“You don’t know the first thing about cotton,” Blaise said with a smile.
“I could get a picture book and figure it out.”
Blaise laughed. “I can’t do that either. I’m stuck with it.”
“I don’t think “stuck” is the right word. You should be grateful you have something so lucrative.”
Blaise had a different opinion but he kept it to himself.
6
When Alex went to class the next day, she felt anxious. She just graduated from college, but she was a student again. She sat in the back row and opened her laptop, typing all her notes on the computer. She didn’t have any classes with her friends, which she was sad about. It would be nice to see a familiar face.
“Are you new?”
She turned and saw the guy sitting next to her. He had brown hair but it had a red tint to it. When he smiled, two dimples were in his cheeks. And his eyes were blue and bright, easily noticeable. “I really stick out, don’t I?”
He laughed. “A little.” He extended his hand. “I’m Gabe.”
She shook it. “Alexandra.”
He nodded. “So, where are you from?”
“New York.”
“Wow. Do they really have amazing pizza there?”
She smiled. “I don’t know. I haven’t tried any here to compare.”
“Well, I’ll have to take you out sometime.”
Alexandra looked away.
“Are you an English major?” Gabe asked.
“Yes.”
“And what do you want to do with that?”
She shrugged. “Be a writer. What’s your major?”
“History,” he said. “And I want to be a teacher.”
“That sounds nice.”
He took his notebook and flipped through the pages. “We should get lunch after class.”
Alexandra didn’t know what to say. The last thing she wanted was to date anyone. Luckily, the professor addressed the class, letting her sink back into her chair without responding. She took her notes on the computer and didn’t look at Gabe. She didn’t want to be rude, but there was no way to reject an offer without being dismissive. She hoped he would just forget about it.
When the class was over, she grabbed her belongings and bolted out of the classroom. When she thought she would escape, she ran into Lana.
“Hey, how’s your first day of school?”
Alexandra looked over her shoulder, seeing Gabe come toward her. “Uh, it was good. I gotta run.”
“Wait. When’s your next class?”
Gabe approached them and hugged Lana. “How’s your first class?”
“A major bore,” she said as she rolled her eyes.
Alexandra stiffened when she realized they were friends.
“Have you met Alex?” Lana asked.
“Yeah,” Gabe said with a smile. “We have English together. We’re just about to get lunch.”
“Let’s go,” Lana said. “I’m starving.”
Now that Lana was coming, Alexandra didn’t feel so awkward. They left the campus and went to a restaurant across the street. Hannah met them a few minutes later. When Gabe sat next to Alexandra in the booth, she was grateful she wouldn’t have to look at him across the table.
Gabe turned to her. “So, what’s in Georgia?”
She smiled. “I came here for school.”
“It must be a culture shock compared to New York.”
“Well, I grew up in Atlanta, so it isn’t that surprising.
”
“Oh,” Gabe said. “I’m glad you ended up here.”
“So, what’s New York like?” Lana asked.
Alexandra shrugged. “Like any other big city. The people there are different. They are frank and blunt about their desires. They don’t beat around the bush like they do here, gossiping behind your back. It’s a great place to get sushi at three AM and a hooker right in the morning.”
Gabe laughed. “And how would you know?”
Alexandra smiled. “I know my way around.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “The subway has the most interesting people. After being used to the wide open spaces, I felt claustrophobic at first. The clubs are really expensive to get into, even if you’re a girl. My favorite time of year is the summer. It’s humid and hot, just like it is here. But the nightlife is so much different.”
Gabe stared at her. “If you love it so much, why did you leave?”
She was quiet for a moment. “I needed to go to school.” She couldn’t think of a better reason.
“I would love to go someday,” Hannah said. “I’ve never left Georgia.”
“We went to Miami for spring break,” Lana said.
“Oh yeah,” Hannah said. “But that doesn’t count.”
“We could go together sometime and I could show you around,” Alexandra offered.
“That would be cool,” Gabe said.
“Have you ever been mugged?” Hannah asked fearfully. “I hear people get mugged a lot.”
“Stupid people who walk down dark alleys at two AM,” Alexandra said.
“So you’ve never been mugged?” Lana asked.
“Well, I have, but it wasn’t a big deal,” Alexandra said.
“What do you mean it wasn’t a big deal?” Gabe asked with a laugh.
“When he took my purse, I kicked him and screamed, making him drop my bag as he ran away. So nothing really happened.”
“You actually fought a mugger?” Lana asked.
“Obviously,” Alexandra said. “I wasn’t going to let some thief take my stuff.”
Gabe nodded. “That’s badass.”
Alexandra averted her gaze, saying nothing.
They ordered their food and ate their meal together. Gabe and Lana talked about the cornfield party like it was the social highlight of the year. Alexandra didn’t care either way. Personally, she would rather stay home and read a book, but she didn’t have much choice.