“She loved him.” I downed the rest of my drink.
“Maybe.” Ellie’s keen gaze held mine. “You should probably go over there. Carter is charming her while you’re sitting alone getting drunk.”
“Ellie, I can’t believe you’re talking to me after the way I treated her. She looks so fucking happy. I don’t want to change that.”
Her hand flew to my forehead and she pressed gently. “Who are you and what have you done with Jase Ford?” She didn’t act like she was joking.
I almost smiled. “I may be an asshole, but I learn from my mistakes. I won’t hurt her again.”
The incredulous look on her face was almost comical. “You mean you’re going to stand by and let another man have her?”
My heart screamed, hell no. I ignored it. “If that’s what it takes to make her happy.”
“You know, Jase, I remember not too long ago I was having some problems with Reed and someone gave me the best piece of advice there is.” She pretended to think. “How did they put it? Oh, yeah. Don’t let this shit fuck it up.”
Despite everything, I smiled. “What kind of an idiot said that?”
“You’re not an idiot, and I’m sending the super advice right back to you. If you love Cora, don’t let this shit fuck it up.”
I watched the asshole brush Cora’s hair from her face and wanted to slam the guy’s teeth down his throat. “You don’t think she has feelings for this guy?”
“Okay, maybe I was wrong about you being an idiot,” she replied, smacking me on the back of the head. “She loves you, Jase.”
I released a breath I hadn’t been aware I’d been holding. “Thanks, Ellie.”
She leaned over and kissed my cheek. “Good luck. Just so you know, I like Carter, but I’m rooting for you. You and Cora belong together.”
God, I prayed she was right. I got up and was shocked as hell to discover my steps weren’t straight. I was drunker than I thought, but I wasn’t going to put off talking to Cori another minute.
Unfortunately, I stumbled on my way to Cori and bumped a little blonde, spilling her beer all over the front of her tight blouse. “I’m so sorry. I’ll buy you another drink.”
Her gaze skated down my body and lit with interest. “Dance with me cowboy, and I’ll forgive you anything.”
I let her pull me onto the dance floor.
Chapter 22
Cora
Jase was dancing with a gorgeous blonde that looked like she could hands-down put every other woman to shame in a wet T-shirt contest. They danced, or maybe swayed drunkenly to the ballad, and I had to stifle the urge to go and rip her hands off of him when she grabbed his ass.
“You okay?”
I smiled at Carter. “Of course.”
His gaze followed mine, and landed on Jase and the wet T-shirt queen. “So that’s him.”
I didn’t bother answering, and I don’t think he expected me to. “You wanna dance?”
His eyes glowed with interest. “Yes, ma’am,” he took my hand and led me to the dance floor, pulling me into his arms. “I don’t mind if you want to use me to make him jealous.”
I leaned back and looked at him. “I’m not using you, Carter.”
“Hey, I know that. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just wanted you know I wouldn’t mind it.” He flashed a charming smile, revealing a dimple in his left cheek.
“I don’t play games. That’s how things usually get screwed up.”
“I can’t argue with that.”
He really was good-looking with dark hair and eyes, a deep tan and lots of sculpted muscles. Women kept shooting me looks of envy, while their admiring gazes stripped Carter and imagined him naked.
I liked him. He was a nice guy, and he didn’t push me for more than I was ready to give. We had fun together, and he seemed to like hanging out with me. The dance ended and we made our way back to the table. I kept searching the crowd for Jase, but I couldn’t find him. The idea that he’d left with the wet T-shirt queen made me want to cry, but I sucked it up and smiled.
That smile slipped when I saw that Jase was waiting for us at our table, looking undeniably sexy and drunk. He looked as if he hadn’t shaved in a week, his eyes were bloodshot, his hair was mussed, and his shirt was wrinkled. I’d never seen him unkempt or so vulnerable. I immediately regretted not calling him back.
Watching him talk to Hunter and Reed, I realized how unfair it was to him that he’d been avoiding his friends because of me. Ellie had gone and talked to Reed earlier, and I was dying to know what she’d said. She was watching us now with a wistful expression I wasn’t sure how to interpret. I reached the table and my breath caught just from being close to him.
“Jase.”
His lopsided smile tripped my heartbeat. “Hi, Cori.”
Several taped pieces of my heart threatened to escape their bindings at the sound of his deep, achingly familiar voice.
“Jase and I were just discussing football,” Amber said, attempting to ease the awkward moment. “This year the team needs a quarterback that can run.”
Jase flashed a grateful smile at Amber. “I agree with that. Any ideas who that should be?”
Amber launched into a long discussion of potential quarterbacks while I figured out how I was going to introduce Jase and Carter. When she was finished, Jase’s gaze snapped to mine. “You never called me back.”
“I’m sorry.” I really was. I’m not sure why I hadn’t except that I wasn’t as over him as I was pretending to be, and the idea of having to fake it with Jase when he knew me so well was unbearable.
“You were busy.” He glanced at Carter, and held out his hand. “Jase Ford.”
Carter smiled tightly but shook Jase’s hand, pretending he had no idea who Jase was to me. “You a friend of Cora’s?” he asked easily.
“Yeah, I am.” Not bothering to ask who Carter was, Jase’s gaze flicked to mine. “Can I talk to you alone?”
My chest tightened, as if all the air had been sucked out. Carter’s hand moved to the small of my back in a gesture of support. Something flickered in Jase’s eyes that made me ache inside.
Carter spoke up, assuming he was helping me. “We were actually about to leave. Maybe another time.”
I felt Jase’s intense gaze on mine. “Cori, please.”
“I’m not sure this is the time.” I looked into his eyes, silently begging him to understand.
Something flashed in his eyes that broke my heart. “Name the time and place. I’ll be there.”
“I’ll call you, Jase.”
“No, you won’t.”
He stepped forward, reaching for me, and I flinched when his hands gently clasped my arms. It took all the willpower I had not to sink against him. Carter glared at Jase, and I realized he had gotten the wrong idea when I’d flinched. His hand clapped on Jase’s shoulder. “Let her go.”
Jase seemed startled at the implication that he was somehow a threat to me.
“Carter, it’s okay,” I said quietly.
“He’s drunk. He can barely stand up. If you don’t want to talk to him, he should respect that.” Carter spoke directly to Jase, and there was no mistaking the authority in his voice.
“This is none of your business,” Jase snarled, shaking off Carter’s hand. “Back off.”
“She’s my business. Cora and I have been friends a long time. Once she was my girlfriend.”
Jase’s gaze glittered with emotion. “Now she’s mine.”
Carter scoffed. “I don’t think she’d agree.”
“Stop,” I said stepping between them, placing my hand on Jase’s chest and turning to him. “I’ll talk to you.”
“Cora, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Carter asked, watching Jase warily.
“Jase would never hurt me.” I smiled at Carter, trying to ease some of the tension. “It’s fine. I’ll just be a few minutes, and then we can go.” Looking at the rest of our table, I saw everyone’s attention focused on us.
Amb
er, Isabelle and Ellie looked worried. Hunter and Reed had both stood up, probably making sure they could get between Jase and Carter fast if the need arose.
I grabbed Jase’s hand and led him outside to the deck, ignoring the tremors from his touch that tingled up my arm. We were alone outside, and it was quiet.
His gaze pinned mine, and I felt the weight of his pain. “You’re really going home with that guy?”
My nerves were raw, and I just wanted to go home and forget tonight. Keeping the emotion out of my voice, I carefully replied, “Since I came with him, yes, I am.”
His jaw tightened. “Are you sleeping with him?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“Like hell it isn’t.” His eyes glittered with emotion. Dragging in a shaky breath, he gentled his voice. “Cori, I know an apology isn’t good enough. But I am sorry. I love you, and I’ll do whatever it takes to prove it to you.”
He took my face between his hands, and I shivered at the touch. “Jase, I know you love me. I know you’re sorry, and I want us to be friends. You don’t have to prove anything to me.”
His brow furrowed as if it took him a moment to process what I was saying. “You don’t understand. I’m in love with you. I want us to be friends, and lovers, and more. I want to marry you.”
I couldn’t have been more shocked if he’d started stripping off all of his clothes. Taking several deep breaths, I finally was able to respond. “You’re drunk, Jase. I think you should go home and sleep it off. We’ll talk later.”
Turning to go, I made it only two steps before Jase’s hand caught my arm and spun me around. His touch was sure and gentle, despite how much he’d clearly had to drink.
“I’m not saying this because I’m drunk, Cori. I love you.”
“Is this because of Carter? You don’t like seeing me with another guy? Look, I’m sorry. I understand how you feel. I’ve never liked seeing you with other women. I get it, but you can’t start saying things you don’t mean because you’re jealous.”
His eyes caught mine. “You don’t believe me.”
“Three weeks ago you weren’t ready for a commitment, and now you think we should get married. That sounds crazy. If you weren’t so drunk I’d think you might have hit your head.”
He stared at me for a long moment, nodded, and closed his eyes. “You’re right. I can see why you don’t believe me. We can talk tomorrow, and I’ll tell you how much I love you when I’m sober.”
I laughed, the sound harsh to my own ears. “I’ve had all I can take for awhile. I can’t do this again tomorrow.”
His hands gripped my arms. I saw the pain in his eyes and heard it in his voice. “Then tell me what I can do to make you believe me.”
I shoved at his chest. “You can’t do anything! I don’t want you to do anything. It’s over. Please, just let Reed take you home.”
“No. I won’t accept that. I understand if you need time, I’ll wait until you’re ready.”
Pushing him again, this time half-heartedly, I wanted to cry. I wanted him to hold me. God, I wanted to believe him.
“Let her go.” Carter pushed Jase away from me.
“I told you this is none of your business,” Jase growled.
“Carter, no!” I cried, but it was too late.
He got into Jase’s face, and Jase balled his fist and aimed for Carter’s jaw. The punch skimmed his cheek, but that was all it took. Fists began flying and people rushed outside to see the fight.
Jase was too drunk to be fighting and was getting the worst of it. I couldn’t stand it. I ran in between them and someone’s fist slammed into my jaw. Pain exploded in my cheek, and I saw a blinding white light seconds before I closed my eyes.
I must have fainted. When I opened my eyes again, I saw Jase face down on the deck being handcuffed by a police officer. Carter was standing off to the side with a paramedic.
“I’m going to take you to the hospital,” a female paramedic told me.
My face hurt, but I was okay. “I don’t need to got to the hospital. I’m fine.”
“Don’t argue. You need to be checked out,” Isabelle told me.
“I have to go to the police station. I can’t let Jase stay in jail.” I noticed that the paramedic had a look of pity on her face, like she thought Jase had hit me on purpose and I was determined to protect my abuser.
“Don’t worry about Jase. Ellie and Reed will take care of him.”
I reluctantly nodded. There wasn’t much else I could do.
Jase
I’d never been arrested before.
Jail was an experience I’d like to not repeat. I was crammed into a holding cell with a dozen other guys, one that kept staring at me and asking what kind of moisturizer I used. He was probably working up the courage to ask for my number when the guard called my name.
Thank God. I needed to know how Cori was doing. When I saw Reed, I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thanks for coming.”
Reed shrugged, as if he’d had no choice. “I’d never leave you here, no matter how fucking stupid you’re acting.”
“I deserve that.”
He sighed. “It wasn’t all your fault. That guy knew how drunk you were, and he was itching for a reason to kick your ass.”
“I feel like I got my ass kicked.” That didn’t bother me near as much as knowing that Cori saw the whole thing. As if she needed another reason to think I was a loser.
Reed clapped his hand on my shoulder. “The charges were bullshit. They’ve been dropped.”
I nodded, feeling like hell inside and out. “I guess Cori went home with him.”
Reed looked surprised. “She went to the hospital,” he said carefully.
Alarm shot through me, and I was instantly alert. “What? Why?”
“You don’t remember?”
“Tell me, Reed,” I said, a sickening sense of dread filling me.
“She got between you and Prescott.” His eyes shot to mine. “Cora was hit. If it makes you feel better I think it was his fist that caught her.”
I struggled to breathe. Cora had been hit. “How bad is she hurt?”
“I’m sure she’ll be fine, but she took a blow to the jaw.”
Holy shit. I doubled over in pain, feeling like I might throw up. Cori was so small and delicate. A man’s fist could do her serious damage. I stood. “I have to see her.”
Reed was already shaking his head. “That’s not a good idea.”
“You don’t understand. She doesn’t need to know I’m there, but I have to see for myself that she’s alright.”
He watched me, as if trying to decide what to do. Slowly, he nodded. “Yeah, I get it. I’d feel the same way if it was Ellie.”
We drove to the hospital, and my gut clenched at the idea that Cori had been hurt enough to have to come here. It was sterile, depressing, and had a strange disinfectant smell.
Reed told me the room number Ellie had given him, and I hurried there. I guess I expected to see Ellie in her room, but I was shocked to see Prescott, holding Cori’s hand and whispering over her. I stepped back outside the room and listened.
“I’m so sorry, baby. I never meant to hurt you.”
“It’s not your fault,” I heard Cori say. “Thank you for trying to help me. Jase doesn’t usually drink that much.”
“You’re defending him.”
“If I’d only have talked to him sooner, maybe none of this would have happened. He doesn’t deserve to be in jail. You dropped the charges, didn’t you?”
“That’s what you wanted so that’s what I did.”
“Thank you, Carter.”
I thought I heard Cori’s voice break. Was she crying? I felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest.
“It means a lot to me that you’ve been here these last few weeks.”
“I want to be there for you.”
I pushed against the wall, unable to hear anymore. Cori was okay, which was all that mattered. That’s why
I’d come. I couldn’t stay and listen to her and her new boyfriend plan their fucking future.
Walking out of the hospital, I didn’t look back.
There was a black lace bra in my bathroom.
Under different circumstances that might not be a problem but given the one I was in, it was definitely trouble. No one had a key to my place, and I doubted I was lucky enough to get a woman robber that liked to strip before she stole the TV. Not that I wanted to see any woman other than Cori strip for me, because I didn’t.
“Hello?” I called, down the hall.
The door to one of the guest bedrooms swung open. “Hey, brother.”
“Lucy?”
“You’ve only got one sister. What have you been drinking?” she laughed. Then her gaze slid over me and her eyes widened. “You’ve been drinking.”
I sighed, rubbing my temples. “Lucy, what are you doing here? I mean I don’t mind that you’re here, but is everything okay?”
Two little with teeth caught her lower lip. “I guess that depends on you’re interpretation of okay. I’m transferring schools and I was thinking I could crash with you just until I get my own place.”
“You dropped out of school?”
“Not dropped out, transferred. Charlie is moving here next month, and I’ve decided I’d like to live in a city with my two big brothers.”
“This is kind of sudden, isn’t it?”
“I promise not to cramp your style. You won’t even know I’m here, and I’m totally cool about things. If you want to have sex with Cora, I’ll get lost until you’re done. If she’s not okay with that, I’ll figure something else out until Charlie is here.”
“You can stay Lucy.”
She threw her arms around me. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“Don’t worry about leaving, not that I’d ever ask you to anyway. But it’s not an issue. Cori and I broke up.”
“What?”
“It’s a long story.”
Her eyes were full of sympathy. “I’ve got the time.”
I smiled and nodded. What the hell, she was willing to listen so I told her everything.
Heaven Page 20