Intensity

by S. Briones Lim

Chapter 19

  Cash walked across the VIP room naked as the day he was born. Ruthie couldn’t help but stare as the muscles in his ass contracted with each step he took. There was no inch of his body that wasn’t toned, firm and muscular. Every assumption and fantasy most of his fans had about his body was true tenfold. Cash Walker was the embodiment of the female fantasy and there he was, in the flesh, just inches away from her fingertips.

  Realizing that she was literally drooling, Ruthie tore her eyes away from his physique. It was a hard thing to do, but somehow she managed. A sudden wave of insecurity washed over her and she found herself reaching for her shirt. The leather couch groaned as she practically did a nose dive for her top, which was crumpled in a heap on the floor. If Cash Walker was perfection, he probably expected it back. She knew she was far from it and wanted to cover herself up before Cash realized his mistake.

  A hand shot out, grabbing her wrist. “Hey! What are you doing?” Her eyes followed the arm up until she was staring into Cash’s striking baby blue eyes. His grin was blinding.

  She gulped, “Um, just getting dressed?”

  “The fun’s not over yet!” Cash exclaimed. He sat down and slid his body next to hers. Ruthie cringed, imagining his skin chafing against the cold leather couch.

  “It’s not?”

  “What do you think of me? A one shot kinda guy?” He laughed. He handed her a bottle of water. “Drink this. You’re going to need to stay hydrated.”

  ***

  “Ruthie, Ruthie, wake up.”

  Ruthie blinked her eyes. Her mascara had long since caked, and prying her eyes open was both uncomfortable and difficult, yet somehow she managed to open both eyelids. It took a few seconds for her vision to focus, but once it did she found herself looking into Cash’s eyes. “What time is it?” she asked. She automatically reached for her throat, which felt dry.

  “I told you to drink up.” Cash snickered. He reached over and handed her a new bottle.

  Ruthie struggled to sit up and noticed that Cash was fully dressed. Her mouth dropped open. She ignored the water bottle dangling in front of her face and pushed her way past Cash. She grabbed her clothes in a feeble attempt to cover herself up. “How long have I been asleep?” She paused, realizing she no longer heard the pounding bass of the music outside.

  “Just an hour or so,” Cash said simply. He stepped aside and thrust his hands into his jean pockets. A small smile tickled the corner of his mouth as he watched Ruthie’s desperate attempt to dress herself.

  “Come on, man! We have to go!” Jude, the security guard, stuck his head through the curtain, causing Ruthie to yelp and fall backwards. In what had to be the most ungraceful move of her life, she found herself on the ground with her skirt halfway around her ankles. Jude rolled his eyes. “It’s not the first time I walked into—”

  Cash raised his hand and glared at his body guard. “We’ll be there in a minute.”

  “Fine, but it’s my ass on the line, not yours. Hurry up, you have to get to the airport in a few hours. I don’t want Brian chewing me out again.”

  Ruthie’s face burned in embarrassment as she stood up and finally fastened the button on the back of her skirt. “You should have woken me,” she muttered, unable to lift her eyes from the ground.

  “Now why would I disturb such a beautiful sight? Why would I waken a beautiful angel from her slumber?” His voice sounded like smooth silk, and if it wasn’t for Ruthie’s embarrassment, she would have probably jumped him all over again.

  “You still should have woken me up. First of all, it would have prevented Jude from seeing my bare ass.” She snapped her fingers in the air, unable to hide the irritation brewing inside.

  Oblivious, Cash merely shook his head and laughed. “I’m sure it’s not Jude’s first time seeing the female figure.”

  “It was his first time seeing mine!” she whined. She smoothed her hair and finished dressing.

  Cash walked over and wrapped his arms around her waist. He leaned over and gave her a tiny peck on her ear. “Thanks for last night, Love. I have to say it was the best night I’ve had in a while.”

  Once again Ruthie’s face burned. There was no way Cash could have missed the heat emanating from her face. “I had a great time, too…” Her face dropped when she realized this was probably goodbye. “Well…it was fun,” she added weakly.

  “I’ll have Brian work out the details with you about next week, okay?” Cash ran his hand through her bedhead, smoothing out the edges.

  “What’s next week?” Ruthie blinked. Did she miss something?

  “New York!” He laughed. “Wow, I must have really rocked your socks off last night if you forgot such a big thing like that.”

  “Well, honestly I didn’t think you’d still want me to go.” Ruthie bit her lip and winced.

  “Why not?” Cash asked curiously.

  “Well…”

  “Because we already slept together.” Cash sighed and nodded his head in understanding. “Did Brian say something to you?”

  “What? No.” Ruthie blinked in confusion. “Why would he say something?”

  “Never mind,” Cash replied quickly. “Anyway, I said I wanted to take you to New York and I meant it. Did you really think I could get to know you and not want more time with you?” He reached over and grabbed her hand, bringing it to his lips. “Say you’ll still come.”

  Ruthie forced herself to swallow, though her throat still cried out in pain. She blinked in excitement. “Of course I still want to come! I just didn’t know if you still wanted me to go.”

  “Don’t go doubting yourself on me,” Cash said. “It’s very unattractive.”

  Ruthie’s eyes widened. “Oh! Well…”

  “Come on, we both have to go. Got a flight to Atlanta to catch,” he said, ignoring her. “I’ll drive you back to the House of Rock myself. That’s where you left your car, right?”

  “Shit!” Ruthie gasped. She shut her eyes and rubbed her temple. If her car was towed she’d never forgive herself.

  ***

  The sun blinded Ruthie as she and Cash walked to her red convertible. To Ruthie’s relief, she hadn’t been towed though she had good reason to believe that it wasn’t by luck; rather Cash had something to do with it.

  “Drive safe,” Cash said. He pushed her against the side of the car and planted a soft kiss on her cheek.

  Though her heart did a little flop, she couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. Why wouldn’t he kiss her on the lips? Shameful that she had turned into an insecure school girl once again, she did her best to smile. “I’ll see you next week. Have a safe flight.”

  His hand wandered down to hers and he gave it a slight squeeze. He quickly turned and began walking towards his burly bodyguard, who began yelling, “Come on, man! Let’s go!”

  Ruthie gaped after him, taking in the sight of his perfectly tailored jeans and sexy, messed hair. With a deep breath, she sighed and turned to unlock her car. She needed to call Celine and dish about the previous night’s events. She was bursting at the seams and desperately needed to vent, scream, squeal and most of all, she just needed to hear her best friend’s voice. She grabbed the tan covered phone and stared at the smudged screen. With her thumb, she wiped away a gunk of beige foundation that covered the earpiece. She couldn’t explain it, but as much as she needed to talk to Celine, she couldn’t bring herself to call her. Ruthie quickly stashed her phone away in the cup holder and started her car. She took one last look at the building before driving away.

  The two hour drive home flew by in a blur. Ruthie took each exit, each turn, and each stoplight on auto-pilot. Before she knew it, she found herself pulling up to her parking space. Still gripping onto the wheel, she took a deep breath. With her car still running, she sat in the seat, trying to figure out what was wrong with her. There was a heavy feeling settling in her gut—one she couldn’t shake. She began to wonder if it was shame, but she knew deep down it wasn’t. Sure, she was never one to have se
x on the first date (not that what she and Cash had was a date), but doing so didn’t make her a bad person, did it?

  Realizing that she was actually afraid of confronting Celine, she psyched herself up enough to leave her car. Like ripping off a Band-Aid, Ruthie ran to her front door and quickly unlocked it.

  “Celine?” she called out.

  Nothing.

  “Celine?”

  Silence.

  “After all that and she’s not home?” she muttered to herself. Like a pound of bricks, she felt her stomach drop. “She’s not home?”

  She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, swiftly dialing her friend’s number.

  “Answer. Please answer,” she chanted to herself. She felt stupid for worrying, but she couldn’t shake the bad feeling. Brian was an old friend. He wouldn’t have done anything to hurt Celine, right?

  “Hello?” Celine’s high pitched voice answered.

  “Oh, thank God!” Ruthie breathed. “I’m glad you’re okay!”

  “Why wouldn’t I be?” Celine asked in confusion.

  “Well, you weren’t at home…”

  “My luggage is there,” Celine replied in a cold tone. After a brief pause, she took a deep breath and added, “Sorry to worry you.”

  “It’s fine,” Ruthie said quietly. “Where are you?”

  “Having breakfast with Noah.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. Why are you so surprised?”

  There was an awkward pause, which both women found strange. They never had awkward pauses. Ruthie was the first to break it. “Can I talk to you when you get home? I just really need to vent a bit.”

  Celine sighed. “Of course. That’s what I’m here for.”

  “Okay,” Ruthie replied with relief.

  “I’ll see you later.”

  Celine hung up abruptly, but Ruthie decided to ignore it. The important thing was that she was okay and she was with Noah! All her worry about Brian was for nothing.

  ***

  Later that afternoon, Celine walked into the apartment. It was eerily quiet, with no sign of life or energy. As if worried to wake a sleeping baby, she tip-toed through the living room.

  “What are you doing?” Ruthie called out from the kitchen. She lifted an eyebrow as she watched her best friend sneak into the apartment.

  With a yelp, Celine spun around and grabbed at her graphic tee. It was one of those silly shirts with a cereal brand logo plastered on the front. The bunny on front looked ridiculous as her chest heaved up and down. “You scared me!” she gasped.

  “What are you doing?” Ruthie repeated. She shook her head in amusement and walked into the living room. She sat down on her white couch, sinking into the fluffy cushions and placed two steaming cups of cocoa on her coffee table. “You’re just in time.”

  “Is this an inquisition?” Celine asked, walking over to the couch. In an attempt to create an aura of normalcy, she plopped down beside Ruthie and placed her feet on the table.

  Ruthie laughed, feeling her muscles relax. She had no idea why she was so nervous to see Celine, but as she eyed her friend she knew she had nothing to worry about. With a grin Ruthie replied, “No, just a show and tell.”

  “Ew.” Celine made a face and reached out to grab the mug. “You don’t have like a souvenir condom or anything, do you?”

  Ruthie’s mouth dropped. “If you weren’t holding a cup of cocoa while sitting on my white couch, I would so hit you right now.” For the first time since the past Friday, Celine felt herself let out a genuine laugh. Ruthie, however, frowned. “Celine, are you mad at me?”

  Celine blinked in surprise and hurriedly placed the mug back on the table, afraid she’d drop it. “What? No! Where would you get an idea like that?” she asked, though she knew exactly why.

  “Well, you are acting a bit strange…”

  Celine shook her head. “I guess just meeting Intensity and seeing Brian was way too much for me. Not to mention I was worried for your well-being.”

  “You don’t think I can handle Cash?”

  “It’s not that I don’t think you can handle him—wait, why are we talking present tense?” Celine eyed Ruthie carefully.

  “Well…” Ruthie’s voice trailed off.

  “Spill it, bitch.” Celine raised an eyebrow as she retrieved the mug of cocoa from the table. She had a feeling she’d need something to cover her face. Having always been a person to wear her heart on her sleeves, she wasn’t the best at keeping her facial expressions in check.

  “He invited me to New York next week!”

  “Wow!” Celine exclaimed flatly. “That’s something.”

  Ruthie’s face fell at Celine’s obvious lack of enthusiasm. “Aren’t you excited for me?”

  “It’s not that! It’s just that he’s a celebrity…”

  “So, automatically he wouldn’t be into me?” Ruthie crossed her arms. She attempted to act angry, but failed miserably. A look of hurt flashed over her face.

  “No! It’s not that!” Celine repeated.

  “Then what is it?”

  “He’s a celebrity, Ruthie.”

  “I think we’ve established that.”

  Celine placed the mug back on the table and took Ruthie’s hands into hers. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt. He’s really not a good guy.”

  “I know.”

  “You do?”

  Ruthie shot back. “He’s a great guy.”

  “How would you even know? You don’t even know him that well,” Celine pointed out.

  Ruthie shook her head in frustration. “Because I slept with him and he still wants to see me!”

  Dead silence filled the room. Celine opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t even think of anything to say. If what Brian said was true, Ruthie was bound to get burned by the guy. The fact that she had already slept with Cash only meant the healing process would be that much harder. Celine’s mind drifted and she couldn’t help but wonder if she needed to buy some stock in Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. She had a feeling she was about to dish out a lot of money buying Cherry Garcia.

  Ruthie frowned at Celine’s shocked expression. “You obviously knew what we did. You just made that joke about Cash’s condom.”

  “I was kidding,” Celine replied, still in shock. “I didn’t think…I wouldn’t have thought…”

  “That he would go for me?” Ruthie said angrily.

  “No! It’s just you always were a ‘just say no’ to one night stands type of girl!” Celine brushed her hands through her straight strands and took a deep breath. Deep inside she knew she should tell Ruthie about Brian’s admission, yet Brian had told her under the pretenses of their little childhood game. It was a secret. It wouldn’t be right to break that understanding and it wasn’t her place to tell Ruthie. Besides, it’s not like Ruthie would believe her, anyway.

  Desperate to change the subject, Ruthie rambled on, “Can you believe he’s taking me to New York? Remember how much we always wanted to go and visit MTV’s studios?” Realization dawned on her. “Wait! What if you come with me?”

  “Seriously?”

  Ruthie frowned. “Well, yeah. That’s why I suggested it.”

  “I’m surprised you’d even want me there. Wouldn’t I just be a cock blocker?”

  “You were the one who left me, remember?” Ruthie’s face softened. “Come on! It’ll be really fun! Intensity has a few gigs while they’re there. We can go sight-seeing in the meantime.”

  Celine shook her head in frustration. She knew that no matter what she said or did, Ruthie would need to learn firsthand about playing with fire. She’d just have to be prepared to pick up the pieces when that fire burned her.

  “When are you going again?” Celine asked, rubbing at her temples. She felt a hint of a headache coming on and knew she needed to relax quickly.

  “Next week some time. Cash said he’d text me.” Ruthie couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed that she didn’t have an actual, concrete date to
give her.

  Celine sighed. As much as she wanted to allow her friend to dance through flames, she knew she would never forgive herself is she allowed Ruthie to go at it alone. Begrudgingly, she admitted, “Well, I actually received an email from my agent. There’s a writer’s conference taking place next weekend and the author she booked had to bail out the last minute. She was wondering if I could make it, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to…”

  Ruthie’s eyes lit up. “Please go! Please!”

  “I have so many things to do for my wedding…”

  “Do it in New York! What better place to get ideas than the Big Apple? Center of all fashion!” Ruthie squealed in excitement. She grabbed at her fluffy orange throw pillow and hugged it close to her body. She was worried that if she didn’t squeeze something, she’d burst into hysterics from happiness.

  “Isn’t that Paris?” Celine joked. She forced a smile. “I won’t be looking for my dress there or anything. I want my mom and sister to be with me when I go dress shopping, but…”

  “But?” Ruthie egged her on.

  She shut her eyes. She knew she’d regret it, but she felt as if she had no choice. “Fine. What’s one weekend, right?”

  “Yay!” Ruthie squealed and threw herself against Celine, hugging her tight. They’d never been so close to having a fight before and she was relieved the animosity had vanished.

  Celine, however, wasn’t ready to partake in the excitement just yet. “Just promise me, you won’t leave me alone. Specifically, when we’re with Intensity.”

  Ruthie blinked and took a step back. “Are you really that worried about being with them? Or should I say being with Brian?”

  Celine blinked and shook her head, but Ruthie wasn’t buying it.

  Ruthie pursed her lip. “It did have to do with Brian, right? That’s why you wanted to leave.”

  Celine wrinkled her nose, knowing she couldn’t lie anymore. “Yes, it had to do with him.” She sighed and threw herself against the couch. “I just felt weird being around him. It felt like I was cheating on Noah…almost.”

  “You’re being ridiculous! You weren’t cheating on him by hanging out with a crush from high school. Like I said, he’s our friend. Nothing more. He’s always been just a friend.”