The XOXO New Adult Collection: 16 Full Length New Adult Stories

by Brina Courtney

“Yeah, but why would Katelyn listen to Alicia? She kept calling her my girlfriend and said I was cheating.” I set my head in my hands and instantly wish I didn’t. “Fuck this hurts.”

  “I told you.”

  I shake my head. “How did you know?”

  “The hole in the wall was all the evidence I needed.”

  “Perfect.”

  “Anyway, after Katelyn came over yesterday I started piecing some shit together. I went back through old band photos from the early days, shit Sam used to bug me with and I found one of you and Alicia.” He hands me the photo. I stare at her, cognizant that this is really the first time I’m seeing her since that fateful day. She’s a blur in my life, but now I have something to show Quinn if he ever asks.

  “Sam took these.” He hands me a stack of Alicia and I from the night we made Quinn. I can see a lot of Quinn in her, with her smile and the way her nose wrinkles when she’s laughing. If circumstances were different, I’d probably date her.

  “And I don’t know who took this one, but I’m willing to bet Sam didn’t expect me to have it.” Liam hands me a photo. He doesn’t need to stay anything. The picture speaks for itself.

  “Is that money?” I ask.

  “Looks like it.”

  “Why would Sam give Alicia money?”

  Liam shrugs. “To drug you.”

  “Son of a bitch.”

  I get up and pace. Every part of me hurts right now, and there isn’t shit I can do about it. It seems ever since I met Sam Moreno, my life has been nothing but turmoil. If it wasn’t band business, she was up in my personal life like she owned me. And maybe she did, and I was just too dumb to understand my contract. I don’t know, but drugging someone and having it result in a pregnancy is the lowest someone can go. Seems like it wasn’t just Liam’s life she was hell-bent on ruining.

  “This doesn’t help me.”

  “I know,” Liam sighs. “But at least we know why Alicia did what she did.”

  “Do we? I don’t know shit, except that Alicia somehow knew where to find Katelyn and gave her a bunch of phony photos.”

  “That’s not all.”

  I stop in my tracks and look out the window. Liam clears his throat. “What else?”

  “Josie says that Alicia told Katelyn that you guys are still together.”

  I nod. “I figured as much, with some of the things Katelyn was saying to me. Thing is, Liam, Quinn doesn’t know Alicia, so if I’m in some type of relationship with his mom, don’t you think she’d be around?” I push off the counter and walk back over to photos. “Show me the years of pictures of us together as a couple. Wouldn’t we ever venture out of the house as a family?” I lean over the table, careful not to put any pressure on my hand. “She believes this, not me.”

  “So what, you’re going to leave? You’re going to take Quinn out of school and go back to L.A.?”

  “I came here for her and she doesn’t want me. It would be one thing if we hadn’t been together, but I’m in love with her and I can’t... I won’t sit by and watch her be with someone else.”

  “You love her?”

  “You know I do.”

  “I know, but this is the first time you’ve admitted it.” Liam sighs and I know he’s thinking about what the future is going to hold for the band. “Can you at least do me a favor?”

  “Sure,” I agree.

  “Wait until after the wedding. It’s just a few weeks away and I could use my best friend here, especially after Josie dropped a bomb the other night.”

  I nod. Staying until the wedding is the least I can do. “What’d she say?”

  “Nick’s back and we’re having dinner tonight with him and his new wife.”

  Liam doesn’t wait for my reaction. He starts packing up the photos. He leaves a few of the ones of Alicia and me on the table. I don’t know whether I should thank him or not, but I suppose it will be nice when Quinn asks about her. I can at least show him a picture of the both of us before the night turned into a haze.

  “Anyway, he’s back and Josie wants to be friendly. I want to hate the guy, but can’t because my son likes him, and bitched all throughout football on how bad it sucked that Nick wasn’t his coach.”

  “So what are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to go to dinner and play nice in the sandbox.”

  “Lucky you,” I say, ducking before Liam can hit me with the box of photos.

  I arrive at Liam and Josie’s with my hand wrapped in a nice black cast. Liam is going to love it. I’ll have to find a way to either play with one hand or figure out how to hold my drumstick. Somehow I think taking a break isn’t an option.

  Quinn jumps into my arms as soon as I’m through the door. He holds me tight. His head is pushing into the crook of my neck. I’ve never done this to him. He’s always known where I am and when I’ll be home.

  “I’m sorry, Quinn. I should’ve called.”

  “It’s okay, dad, I was scared though.”

  “I know, buddy. I won’t do it again. I promise.”

  He looks at me, his eyes puffy. I can tell he’s been crying. He may look tough on the outside with his black eye, but deep down, he’s still just a little boy. He leans in and whispers, “Peyton is downstairs waiting for you.”

  “Do you mind if I go down there?”

  He shakes his head. I set him down and ruffle his hair.

  “What happened?” he asks as he looks at my cast.

  “Very stupid adult stuff,” I say with a shrug. He’ll see the damage at home and ask why. I won’t lie to him, but there’s not much to tell. It’s not like he knew Katelyn and I were together. I never got the chance to tell him. “I’ll be back in a bit, or just come downstairs when you’re ready.”

  I walk into the studio and find Peyton banging on my drums. She’s wearing headphones that are too big for her, but she’s having fun. She smiles at me. I have to paste on a smile because it’s killing me that I’m not going to be a part of her life anymore.

  “Whatcha doin’?” I ask, pulling up a stool next to her.

  “I’m practicing.”

  “Well, you sound wonderful.” I’m rewarded with yet another smile, something I’ve rarely seen from her.

  “Harrison?” I look up to find Noah and Quinn standing in the doorway.

  “What’s up?”

  “We have an idea and we need your help.”

  Noah and Quinn step into the studio and shut the door. Noah tells me their idea and I ask Quinn and Peyton if the both of them, as well as Elle are all in on this. They nod. I can’t help but smile at how enthusiastic they are and agree to help them.

  CHAPTER 34

  Katelyn

  “You’ve come back early, why?” Mr. Powell hands me a cup of coffee. I was only in Los Angeles for a few days, but the temperature difference is enough that I’m cold, even though I love Beaumont in the winter.

  “I missed the girls.” That is what I’m going with. He doesn’t need to know the sordid details of what happened with Harrison and me. Truth is, I’m not sure how to explain it. All I know is my heart is breaking all over again, but I have vowed to myself that I’m not going to let it affect me. I need to be strong for the girls. This bump... or whatever you want to call it, will pass.

  “They missed you, especially Elle.”

  “Not Peyton?”

  Mr. Powell leans forward and sets his cup on the table. “Peyton is hurting, Katie, and she’ll do whatever she can to make you suffer for it. She spent most of her time in Mason’s room and when I’d check on her, she’d ask me to tell her a story. I spent a glorious day remembering my son with his daughter.”

  I wipe at my face. Listening to Mr. Powell talk about Mason and Peyton makes me ache to see Mason just one more time. To tell him how I feel and how much we love him.

  “Elle talks about Harrison a lot,” he adds.

  My heart stops at the sound of his name. It’s been two days and he hasn’t called. I half expected him to show up this mo
rning to mow my lawn, but I guess I severed that relationship when I told him to leave.

  “Does that bother you?”

  Mr. Powell shakes his head. “I thought it would, but she speaks so highly of him that I’m proud you’ve found someone to help fill the void that Mason has left.”

  I’m left silenced. I don’t know how to respond. I sip my coffee, thinking about how I can change the subject. I can’t tell him that I’ve ended things with Harrison. I just can’t.

  “I think you and the girls should move in here.”

  “What?” I choke out.

  “This is too much house for me. It’s a four-bedroom home and I can’t maintain it. I don’t want to sell it either, so the only logical thing if for you and the girls to move in and when you take the next step with Harrison, he and his son will fit nicely in here. This house needs a family, not an old man.”

  His words throw me. I never thought he’d be accepting of another man the way he is and to suggest that we live together, blows me away.

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  He smiles although it doesn’t reach his eyes. “You say yes.”

  “Where will you go?”

  Mr. Powell rubs his hands down the legs of his pants. “I was thinking of travelling some or I could live at your place.”

  “We’re really pregnant!”

  “Very,” I say showing him the picture.

  “Why does the baby have two heads?” I shake my head. Sometimes he’s the poster child for dumb football players, I swear.

  “Twins,” I say quietly. We can’t afford one baby, let alone two.

  “I made two babies?”

  I roll my eyes. “Yes, Mason, your super human sperm created not one, but two babies that have taken over space in my body.”

  Mason fist pumps. I don’t think he understands the magnitude of what’s happening here.

  “You know two babies means double everything.”

  “I know, I can count.”

  “Of course you can.” I sit down on the couch and cradle my head. I don’t know how we’re going to make it. We live in a two-bedroom apartment with Josie and Noah, there’s no way we can add two more of everything there. “We have to move.”

  Mason sits down next to me and pulls me to him. “I talked to my dad the other day. He and mom suggested we move into the house until we can save for a down payment on our own place. He says that we can take what we’d spend in rent and put it away.”

  “Is that what you want to do?” The thought of living with the Powells doesn’t exactly appeal to me, but living with them is better than living with my parents.

  Mason shrugs. “I don’t know, think about it. Mom would be there to help with the babies and you know she wants to.”

  I nestle into the side of his neck. His thumb is moving back and forth along my abdomen. “We’ll never have alone time.”

  Mason adjusts and pulls me into his lap. “Seriously? I’m fairly sure you and I have had a lot of alone time in that house. For all we know, these guys were created there.” He pulls up my shirt and kisses my stomach.

  “If you think we should move to your parent’s home, then I’m okay with it.”

  “I do. Just think about how much fun Mason Junior and Mason Junior Junior will have there.”

  “Oh my god, Mason, we are not naming our children that.” I punch him lightly in the shoulder.

  He pulls me into a hug. I cling to him as if it’s last time I’ll hug him like this.

  “You know the girls spent their first Christmas here.”

  “And others,” he adds.

  “After Mason died, I realized I wasn’t going to be able to make the house payments by myself and Liam helped. He told me that I can’t lose the house that holds all of their memories of Mason, but this is where we brought them home too.”

  “You’ll move in?”

  I smile widely. “We’d be honored.”

  I sit in my car and stare at his house. It’s dark and his car isn’t in the driveway. I suppose I’m thankful he’s not home, because getting caught lurking in the shadows is something I definitely don’t want to happen. I don’t know what I’m doing out here. What I thought I’d find.

  I feel as if I’ve deceived Mr. Powell. I should’ve told him that Harrison and I are no longer together, but I couldn’t bring myself to say the words. They sound easy in my head, but I’m not capable of saying them out loud because that would make this all too real and I’m not sure I can handle that right now.

  My thoughts run away as I ponder all the things he could be doing now. Is he at the bar dancing with some woman that he doesn’t plan on knowing the name of? Does he hate me for leading him on? That’s how I feel right now. I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Looking for any excuse to kick him out of my life and that’s what I’ve done.

  “Mommy, what are we doing?” I look in my rear view mirror at Elle and close my eyes to erase the thoughts of Harrison.

  “Nothing, mommy just had to stop and think for a minute,” I say as I put the car in drive and make my way over to Liam and Josie’s to pick up Peyton.

  I open the door to Liam and Josie’s house and am met with just the sound of the television. Usually this house is loud and boisterous, especially when the kids are all here. Elle runs past me into the living room and shrieks.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Coloring,” I hear Peyton respond. My heart stops and my stomach falls. I close my eyes and pray that she hasn’t done too much damage to Josie’s living room wall.

  My steps are tentative. I’m afraid of what I’m going to find when I walk into the room. Both girls are laughing as I enter. Harrison catches my eye briefly before he turns away. My mouth drops in shock. Peyton is sitting on Harrison’s lap with a marker in her hand and Elle is sitting next to him.

  I walk around the front of them to get a better look. Both my girls are coloring on Harrison, filling in his tattoos, bringing them more to life than they already are. “What are you doing?” I ask in shock, repeating Elle’s earlier question.

  Peyton sighs. “Coloring.”

  “I see that, but why?”

  “Because Harrison is a real life coloring book.” Harrison laughs along with Peyton. Her laughter is music to my ears. He’s found a way to make her laugh, and I can’t even thank him.

  I look at Harrison, who isn’t looking at me. I just want to see his green orbs so I know that this is okay, but he’s focusing on the girls. He’s ignoring me, and rightly so after what I’ve done.

  I stand back and watch Peyton interact with Harrison. He moves when she asks him to and even holds the markers for her. I don’t know what happened while I was gone, but something changed for them. I’m not sure how I feel about it now that he’s not going to be around, but I know I like that she’s responding to someone other than just Liam.

  Harrison looks relaxed and he’s clearly enjoying himself, pointing out places that have been missed. I try not to stare, but can’t help it. He has both my girls wrapped around his finger like he was meant to be in their lives.

  “What did you do to your hand?”

  For the first time since I’ve been here, he looks at me. His lips are in a thin line. I recoil and shrink back into myself. I have to look away for fear I’d start crying under his gaze. He doesn’t answer, but goes back to paying attention to the girls.

  “Are you going to answer me?” I ask again. I know my tone is demanding, but I can’t help it.

  “Don’t do this in front of the girls,” he says quietly. Both of them look at me, confused. I don’t know if he’s trying to placate me or what, but it’s not working. Peyton glares at me before she goes back to coloring. “I’ll be right back,” he says to them. They groan and huff, but let him get up. I watch as he leaves the room, knowing I should follow, but I can’t make my legs and feet cooperate.

  Both girls are staring at me, wondering what just happened. I have no idea how I’m going to tell them that Har
rison won’t be around anymore. I finally relent and go look for him. I square my shoulders when I find him at the kitchen sink. He stands with his back toward me. I want to reach out and touch him. Trace my fingers over the newest ink placed on his arms by my daughters, but I can’t. I have to let go and move on. We aren’t right for each other.

  “Harrison,” I say, alerting him to my presence. I see his back visibly stiffen and wonder how he went from being comfortable to this awkward stance so quickly. Is it that easy to just shut off emotions?

  He sets his glass down hard. I jump at the sound of it hitting the counter top. He leans forward, even farther away from me. “What do you want, Katelyn?”

  I want to yell out that he’s the one I want, but I can’t. I won’t be something he keeps on the side. I need to be everything to him. I need to matter.

  “What happened to your hand?” I ask again, more for curiosity than anything. He holds up his casted hand, one that has been colored with gold and silver markers and twists it in the air. He doesn’t turn around to address me and that bothers me.

  “I hit a wall and broke it in two places. Anything else you want to know about me?”

  “N... no,” my voice is quiet as the word gets stuck. He pushes away from the counter and walks to me, stopping when we are shoulder to shoulder. There’s no eye contact. There’s no touching.

  “All you had to do was trust me.”

  He walks away without looking back, without waiting for me to catch up. He talks about trust, but I can’t, not with what I’ve been told. Not with what I’ve seen. Photos don’t lie, do they?

  I walk back into the living room, but stop at the entry and watch Harrison interact with the twins. They’re being their usual selves by acting like monkeys and he doesn’t even care. He’s not fazed by them in the least. He tickles them and their laughter is music to my ears. He’s bringing it out of them in droves.

  Why can’t life be as simple as laughter?

  CHAPTER 35

  Harrison

  It’s been three weeks since shit hit the fan and my life imploded. Twenty-one days since a malicious lie ripped out my heart out and destroyed my chance at happiness. I can’t even count the hours, because there are too many. All I know is that I hate the emptiness I feel each day when I wake up, and the loneliness that threatens to consume me at night. There hasn’t been a moment that I haven’t thought about revenge. I’ve waited for Alicia to call or show up, but she hasn’t, and today I’ll see her in court. I really want to ask her why. Why go through the trouble of destroying my life if she wasn’t planning on showing up like she told Katelyn and Josie she was?