“Fuck,” she grunts with wide eyes.
“Yeah,” I agree with a scoff.
“So, this wasn’t some kind of testosterone bullshit, you legitimately deserved it,” she states.
I nod my head, but I don’t have to reply as she pulls out her phone. She hits a few buttons before I hear a call coming through her speakerphone. It rings a few times before Jace’s voice is heard. “Shit, Cami,” he says with desperation. “I’m… fuck. How are you?”
“You need to come and get Caden from The Dark Room,” she says in a tone that tells me she doesn’t want to hear a damn thing Jace has to say. After all, it’s only been a few days since he tore her to shreds and from the way he’s been sulking around, he’s regrets it, really bad. But I’m afraid the damage might have been done.
“Huh?” he grunts in confusion.
“You need to come and get Caden,” she repeats slowly while also pulling her bitch card out on him. “Cole just beat the crap out of him. He’s not good to drive.”
“What the fuck is going on, Cami?” he snaps in frustration as he still hasn’t got any answers.
“Caden’s been fucking Imogen,” she says bluntly.
“Shit,” he says. “I’ll be there soon.”
She hangs up before he has a chance to piss her off any further and looks to me again. She presses her lips into a tight line before her expression turns thoughtful. “Well,” she says. “At least someone is having sex around here.”
With that, she pockets her phone and disappears back inside.
As I sit and wait for Jace, my newly cracked phone lights up with a text message. I open it up and I’m not surprised to see her name across my screen.
Imogen – I’m sorry.
Without responding, I lock my phone and slide it back into my pocket, right where it should have been to start with.
Chapter 15
Imogen
I pull up to my parents’ place for our weekly family lunch and the first thing I notice is Cole’s truck parked in the drive. I cringe as I see it. Just the thought of walking in there and not knowing how it’s going to go is intimidating.
It’s been nearly a week since he found out and nearly a week since he’s spoken a word to me. He called me that night and absolutely lost his shit. The betrayal was thick in his voice and I couldn’t do anything except sit there and listen to his pain.
Shit, I must be the worst sister in the world right now. He must truly hate me.
It’s been really hard. He usually makes an effort to speak to me every single day, whether it’s just a quick text checking in or a visit. Not having him talking to me for so long is gut-wrenching, but the one thing I know about my brother is that when he needs his space, you better give it to him.
With a sigh, I get out of my car and make my way inside. I walk straight into the kitchen and the first person I see is mom. She turns at hearing the door closing and I see the look of pity right across her face. “Oh, honey,” she sighs before wrapping me in a tight hug and holding me close. “I always knew you had a thing for that boy.”
“I don’t have a thing for that boy,” I reply but let her keep holding me.
“Mmhmm,” she murmurs as though she doesn’t believe a word I say, and honestly, I’m not quite sure I do either. “For what it counts,” she says. “He would have made an incredible husband.”
“Mom,” I groan. “It’s not like that between us.”
She pulls me back but holds onto my shoulders. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you, Imogen. That man adores you and always has. It would have been like that had you allowed it.”
I let out a huff. I don’t want to hear it, not because I don’t want my mother scolding me for my reckless actions, but because everything she says is true. Caden has always adored me. He’s always treated me like I was his world, even when he was being an ass with my brother growing up, he’d always make sure I was ok. I guess I just don’t want to face facts. It was supposed to be about sex, nothing else.
“Can we not talk about it?” I practically beg, but really, I think if she keeps asking I might finally shed the tears I’ve been holding onto.
“Alright,” she says, “But be warned. Your brother’s out back and he looks furious. I’m certain he’s going to want to talk about it.”
“I know,” I groan. “I owe him an explanation.”
“That, you do,” she agrees. “You should have been honest with him.”
“I know,” I groan, getting frustrated at the way she’s pointing out the elephant in the room.
“Go and talk to him,” she says. “I want to get lunch cooked and it will never happen with you in my kitchen sulking around. I want your differences cleared up by the time lunch is on the table,” she adds. “I’m not having any cussing while we’re sitting down as a family.”
“Fine,” I groan before peeking out the kitchen window to the backyard.
Cole sits on the couch with a beer in hand, but from the way it dangles from his fingers, he’s not interested in drinking it. Just great. Cole is a party guy. He’s up for a beer anytime, except when he’s wanting to keep a clear head, and there’s only one reason for that right now. He wants to give me hell.
I step out of the kitchen and take a deep breath. I have to face him sooner or later. As I make my way outside, I pass Rylee. “Hey,” she says stopping me with a slight cringe, probably wondering if it’s going to be awkward between us since she bombarded me at my home. “How are you?”
“Honestly, I’ve been better,” I tell her. “I don’t like when he’s upset with me.”
“I know,” she sighs. “I’m sorry about the other night. I just… he’s my person.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure I would have done the same thing in your position,” I tell her before looking around her to see Cole’s eyes narrowed on me. “How’s he taking it?”
“Not good,” she cringes. “He has the shits with the world. He’s upset that I didn’t tell him when I first suspected it and he’s been a broody ass since Tuesday. He hasn’t spoken a word to Caden since he tried to knock him out and he’s even going as far to train Xander at his gym instead.”
“Shit,” I cringe. “I’m sorry. Did he really try to knock him out?”
“You don’t know?” she questions.
“No,” I say. “Caden hasn’t spoken to me all week. I’m sure he wants to sort things out with Cole first.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not going to get better for any of you until Cole can come to terms with it and to do that, he needs to talk to you.”
“Yeah, I know,” I tell her. “I’m going to talk with him now.”
She reaches out and squeezes my shoulder. “Alright, good luck,” she says before disappearing inside.
I step out the back door and turn to face Cole. His eyes are already flaming and he gets to his feet. “Well,” he starts. “If it isn’t my backstabbing little sister.”
“Cole,” I say. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh, now you want to talk?” he snaps with an impossible amount of sarcasm. “What happened to talking a fucking year ago, Imogen? It’s been thirteen months. Thirteen months you could have come to me, but you didn’t. You lied right to my fucking face.”
“Cole,” I say, trying to get him to calm down, but I know he won’t stop until he gets it all out.
“He’s my best friend,” he says. “Why him? Were you trying to get at me for something? Did I piss you off?” he lets out a curse before starting up again. “Do you want to be with him?” he questions, throwing me completely off.
“No… I, um.”
“Shit,” he curses. “It’s a yes or a fucking no, Imogen. Do you want to be with him?”
“I don’t know,” I finally admit. “It just happened. I wasn’t trying to get at you or anything like that. I feel like shit that I didn’t tell you, but I was scared.”
“Scared?” he grunts, cutting me off. “I’d never fucking hurt you.”
“No. Not sca
red of you. I was scared you’d make me stop.”
“Of course, I would have made you stop,” he yells as though it’s so damn obvious.
“Exactly my point. I like spending time with him and I wasn’t ready for it to be over,” I explain. “It just happened, alright? I was drinking and it happened. Neither of us had the intentions of hurting you, and you’re right, I should have told you straight away.”
“Yeah, you should have told me,” he says as the rage begins to fade from his eyes. Disappointment and hurt flash across his face and tears my heart to shreds. “I thought we could always tell each other the truth.”
At that, the tears that I’ve been holding onto finally break free. “I’m so sorry,” I cry. “I just…” a sob rips from my throat. “Don’t hate me. Please, don’t hate me. I couldn’t take it.”
“Fuck,” he curses before rushing to me. He wraps his warm arms around me and holds me close. “I could never hate you. I’m just hurt that you kept it from me and went behind my back. You know, if you truly liked him, I would have got used to it eventually.”
“Yeah, right,” I scoff into his shirt while also using it to dry my eyes.
“It would have been hard, but if it meant that you both were happy, then I would have dealt with it.”
I pull out of his arms and try to get myself together. “You know, I love you, right?”
“I know,” he says. “I love you too.”
I cringe as I look up at him, a little unsure if I should be asking, but I need to know. “Are, um… do you think you’ll sort things out with Caden?”
He shakes his head and presses his lips into a tight line before finally taking a sip of his drink. “I don’t know, Imogen. He’s my best friend, but I can’t look at him without wanting to knock his lights out. Every time I see him, I see you and him, and it kills me.”
“If it helps, I was the one who asked him not to say anything. He wanted to tell you so badly, but I wasn’t ready.”
“I figured,” he grunts. “It’s not like him to keep secrets from me. That’s all you.”
“Yeah,” I agree.
He lets out a breath and I know the worst is over. We’re going to be ok. “So, um,” he says with a cringe of his own. “You two… Were you guys actually together or was it just a” cringe, “physical thing?”
Jesus, save me now.
“It was just physical,” I tell him, unable to meet his eye.
“And you don’t want anything more?” he confirms.
At that, I look him straight in the eye. “Honestly,” I say. “I don’t know.”
I manage to make it through lunch without pissing off any more of my family members and finally get myself home only to end up at a bar with Izzy, completely and utterly wasted.
After hearing from Cole that things are still rocky with Caden and will be for a while, I can’t help but feel responsible. It’s my fault that all this happened. Caden is risking losing his best friend because I was a horny bitch.
Fuck.
It’s that thought that has me throwing back another shot.
“You know,” Izzy starts which has me sliding my eyes across to her as she throws back a shot of her own before cringing at the burn. “I knew all along.”
“What?” I shriek. “That’s not possible. Nobody knew.”
“I knew,” she slurs proudly. “But good for you. I’m so jealous. Caden is fucking hot. I need to find me a man like him. I can only imagine how good the sex is.”
I ignore her running comments and focus on the important stuff. You know, apart from confirming just how good the sex was. I mean, mind fucking blowing. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I question.
She gives me a look which tells me she just knows me that well. “Because I knew you’d tell me when you were ready. I just didn’t expect it to take so damn long.”
I roll my eyes at her comments. “When did you work it out?”
“Right at the beginning when you stopped sleeping around. You know, the night those guys were offering you a threesome.”
“What?” I gasp. “I was always going to say no to that. It’s hardly a massive indicator that I was screwing my brother’s best friend.”
“First off, you would have said no to the threesome, but you would have taken one of the guys home, and secondly, I only knew there was a ‘someone’ at that stage. I didn’t work out that it was Caden until I noticed the way you looked at each other.”
“Huh?” I grunt. “What do you mean?”
“Well, before, it was always innocent, but then you’d start lighting up when he was in the room and every time you looked at each other, your eyes would sparkle. It was dazzling,” she says. “Anyone with two eyes would have been able to tell that you two were falling for each other.”
“Whoa,” I grunt. “Slow the fuck down, cowgirl. We weren’t falling for each other. It was no strings attached, wild, dirty sex.”
“Denial,” she says, mimicking the voice of Bruce from Finding Nemo.
I roll my eyes. I am not in denial. I was the one actually experiencing the wild sex fests. I know firsthand what it was, and I know there was no falling going on. At least, not from me. If Caden was doing this so-called ‘falling’ I would have known about it. I mean, sure, he might have had a bit of a crush on me, treated me nice and took care of me, but I’d know if a man was in love with me.
I indicate to the guy behind the bar. We’re going to need a few more shots down this way.
Needing to move on from the whole ‘falling’ thing, I turn to Izzy with a grin. “We had sex in your bed.”
“What?” she demands, but all I can do is grin. Her eyes narrow and she slowly shakes her head as a grin of her own rips across her face. “You little hussy.”
Chapter 16
Caden
I walk through the door of Rebels Advocate and come to a startling standstill.
Shit.
He’s here.
It’s been nearly two weeks and I haven’t seen or talked him. All his training sessions have been at Xander’s gym and he’s been training his other fighters later in the afternoon when he knows I’m not there as I usually do the early morning clients.
I’ve been dreading this moment since the night he found out about Imogen. I have no idea how he’s going to react. Am I going to get punched again? Am I going to get the silent treatment, or does his being here mean he’s ready to talk?
I should have looked out for his truck in the parking lot, at least that way I could have saved myself from looking like a stunned moron in the doorway.
As if sensing my presence, his eyes flick to mine and I see the rage still deep within them. I cross off ‘ready to talk’ from the list of possibilities. Maybe he just realized it doesn’t look good for business if he’s not here to actually help train our fighters.
Not able to handle seeing him look at me that way, I cast my eyes away and walk around to my office. I dump my phone and keys down on my desk, let out a heavy sigh, and sit down. Today is going to be a trying day. I feel it in my bones. Not to mention, I haven’t seen or spoken to Imogen either and that alone has a heavy feeling settled within my heart.
I fucking miss her.
She hasn’t texted and I know it’s out of respect for Cole, but I just need to hear from her to make sure she’s ok. I’m sure this whole thing couldn’t be easy on her and I’m sure she knows she could always call if she needs, but I’m not about to go and call her until I’ve sorted shit out with Cole.
Needing to keep my mind off the whole situation, I go through and reply to all my emails before double checking my schedule. I have Brandon’s session this afternoon and I find myself oddly excited. That kid has really grown on me. He’s like a little fucking ray of sunshine, though, the only negative that comes with it is that Imogen isn’t here to enjoy it. I know she has a soft spot for the kid too.
It pains me to know what he’s gone through. Each session he reveals a little more about his prior life and I hate that he�
�s had such a shitty upbringing and I’ve found myself, on multiple occasions, wishing I could give him something better. The kid needs some good memories to grow up with, something positive which he’ll be able to share with his own kids one day.
The day drags by, fighters come and go, and I manage not to get my nose broken by my best friend.
The only thing to make me feel somewhat human is when Brandon walks through the door for his training session, though, I’m not going to lie, I’m disappointed when it’s only Susan and Katia accompanying him. I didn’t expect Imogen to be here, but I had hoped. She didn’t show up last week and something told me Brandon was also disappointed by it.
Brandon runs over to me and instantly gets straight into it. “Can you teach me those jump spin kick things? I saw it on YouTube.”
“Slow down,” I laugh. “You’ve got a bit to learn before we can start that stuff,” I tell him.
His face falls and it kind of breaks my heart so I promise him that I’ll show him a few things that I know he’d find cool. We get stuck into our session and I put him through a quick warm up before I ask if he’d prefer to train in the ring today seeing as though Cole has Xander doing circuit training right now.
Brandon’s face lights up as though I’ve just granted all his wishes at once. We head over and it takes all of about two seconds for him to slide himself through the ropes and get himself situated in the center.
I grin as I walk up to him. Since our first session, we’ve been using the punching bag, but being in the ring, he’ll have to aim his shots at me and I hope he has come far enough that the act of turning your fist on another human being doesn’t have him freaking out on me.
The last thing I would ever want to do is damage any of the progress Imogen has made with him, but sometimes all a boy needs is a man in their lives who can push them in the right direction. I like to think of myself being that kind of person to Brandon, and I think if anyone asked him, he’d agree with me.
I give him a combination to work on and I grab a set of pads. We get straight into it and I’m pleased to find he’s doing great. He has a look of absolute concentration on his face and I try my best not to grin at it. We’ve been working on relaxing and letting the moves come naturally. I don’t want him thinking so hard about it. He needs to be able to free his mind so he’s aware of the things around him, especially if he were in a fight. He needs to be aware of his opponent, not just his own moves.
Caden: Rebels Advocate (Book 2) Page 11