by Petrova, Em
But he definitely needed to leave.
“Let go of me, Mike. You’re hurting me.”
“Am I?” He squeezed harder. “I’m sure it’s nothing like the way you’ve hurt me. Guess I was a fool to think there was more between us.”
A car door slammed in the distance. She hoped the neighbor across the street wasn’t watching this display. He’d call the police in a heartbeat. Then she’d waste time talking to them instead of meeting Ally.
“Mike, stop it. Let go!”
She struggled against his grip, determined to get her point across without scaring her sister in the process. She didn’t want Cori to witness this. If he didn’t release her soon, she’d put her self-defense training into play.
Just as she prepped herself to grab his shoulders and ram her knee in his crotch, the pressure of his fingers was gone. So was he. By the time she’d realized what had happened, he went chest to chest with someone else. When she locked eyes on Theo, she felt a wave of relief.
Then Theo planted his fist in Mike’s jaw.
***
A steady throbbing formed in Theo’s hand, but he ignored it. He waited for Mike to get to his feet and charge him with fist bared and ready. Stupid son-of a bitch was lucky he’d stopped at one punch. The instant he heard Cassie pleading with him to let her go, nothing but red filled his vision.
Mike was finally on his feet. He wiped the blood from his lower lip and looked at it before looking at Theo. “Fucking prick. You want a piece of me?”
“Bring it, motherfucker. I swear to god, if you get in my face, I’m going to break yours. This is not the night to fuck with me.”
In a split second, Mike’s attitude appeared to change. He raised his hands defensively then retreated a couple of feet from Theo. “I’ve already lost enough because of you. I’m not losing anything else.” He scoffed at Cassie, then he glanced back at him. “She’s all yours, man. She made it perfectly clear. Just make sure you wrap it, friend. Glad I did. You never know when she’ll be off fucking someone behind your back.”
It was the final push Theo needed to fall off the deep end. A brief crack filled the air. Grunting followed, and before he realized what he’d done, he’d punched Mike again. Cassie’s former lover stumbled down the steps backwards. He landed on his ass and grabbed his face. It didn’t take long to notice the deep red streak staining his fingers. Blood trickled down the back of his hands, but there was no sign of where it originated.
It didn’t matter. By the time Theo was finished, Mike would be bleeding in several places.
As he lunged forward, Cassie’s hands curled around his arm and held him back. “Theo, don’t. He’s not worth jail.”
“I don’t care. If he ever touches you again, he’ll be taken away on a gurney. The body bag is optional.” He did his best to break her grip but didn’t want to hurt her. Instead, he glared in Mike’s direction and pointed his finger at him. “You’re not my friend, and I sure as hell don’t need any advice about her from you. She and I grew up together. I know her better than you can imagine, so let me offer you some advice. Stay the fuck away from her. It won’t end well for you if you don’t.”
“Like I said, she’s yours.” Mike swiped the blood from his nose and departed as quickly as his feet would carry him.
Once he was out of sight, Cassie released her grip and walked around to face him. “What are you doing here? How did you know where I lived?”
“Jesse flirted with your receptionist earlier this week and got the information. I wasn’t going to use it, but I had to see you. Why the hell was Mike here? Did he hurt you?” He examined her body when he noticed a red ring around her upper arm. “Son of bitch. Did he do this?”
“I’m okay, Theo.” Her hand covered his. “Mike was here because I texted him about meeting up outside Midnight Blues. I wanted to tell him we wouldn’t be hooking up anymore. He showed up here instead because he’s on suspension.”
“Why didn’t you tell him over the phone?”
“Because…” She released a sigh. “He sent flowers earlier with this note about being my permanent guy. I wanted to tell him in person that I wasn’t interested.”
“He sent flowers?”
“Yeah.”
Her answer was like a punch in the gut, but he didn’t say anything. The only thing that mattered was that she was okay. She was more than okay. She’d ended her casual fling with Mike.
While he didn’t want to make presumptions, he hoped like hell that he was the reason she’d ended it. Had she made up her mind about them? It seemed like she had, but she hadn’t told him as much. If she were anything like him, she was waiting for the right moment.
Sometimes they never came. Sometimes they were stolen.
He refused to let his chance slip away. As he pulled her body close to his, he cupped her cheek and leaned closer. “I know you weren’t a couple, but you guys had a casual relationship. Why did you end it?”
“Because it was never meant to last this long. I never had any intentions of being with Mike for the rest of my life. Granted, I wasn’t looking for something serious. Then you and I crossed paths, and the rest…well, you know the story.”
“Does this mean you’ve decided what you want us to be?” He wanted to kiss her when she nodded, but he hadn’t forgotten about what happened at Jonah’s. She needed to know the truth.
“Cassie, there is something else I need to tell you.”
“What?”
“I uh… I never asked Jonah to come out with us tonight. I went to his suite to talk to him before I came here. He had a girl with him, but I didn’t know who, so I started giving him seven kinds of shit about Ally.”
“So he isn’t interested in her anymore?”
“Of course he is. The girl in his room was Ally.” He hesitated on saying more when he noticed her eyes grow wider.
“They were together? In his suite?”
Her excitement was evident. It killed him to have to tell her the rest.
“Yes, but he hadn’t talked to her about how he felt or what really happened with Paula. She ended up leaving after she overheard us discussing the date. Our conversation made it sound as if he was interested in her only because he wanted to sleep with her. I’ve messed up everything.”
He prepped himself for her anger. He wasn’t sure if she would yell and scream or give him the silent treatment. He didn’t like the former, but it was better than the latter. He hated to be ignored.
“Theo, stop. You haven’t ruined anything. I’ll talk with Ally and explain what happened. Trust me. She won’t stay upset. If she and Jonah were already together, then I have no doubt they’ll work things out. They love each other.”
“And what about us? Have I ruined any chance of us being together?”
She parted her lips to answer just as the front door swung open. A young woman stepped out on the porch and turned to close the door. “What is all the ruckus out here?”
“It’s nothing. Go back inside,” Cassie demanded, but the woman didn’t listen. When she finally turned around, Theo froze in place. It felt as if someone had shoved a knife in his chest. A knot formed in his gut as the last skeleton in his closet rattled its bones.
Fuck. What was she doing here?
“Well, if it isn’t Theo McCabe.”
“Don’t start your shit,” Cassie warned her. Then she turned back to him. “Sorry about that. You remember—”
“Cee-Cee? Yeah, I remember her, but how do you know her?”
Confusion covered Cassie’s face. “Cee-Cee? What are you talking about, Theo? This is my little sister, Cori.”
Time stood still. The skeleton wasn’t rattling in his closet anymore. The son of a bitch had leapt into the open and crumbled into a pile of rubble. All that was left was to bury it. Might as well dig a hole for himself too.
Once Cassie learned the ugly truth, he’d be lucky if she didn’t bury him alive.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The seconds tic
ked by as confusion spiraled within Cassie. Even though Mike had departed from her life, the tension was far from over. Theo’s rigid body was proof of how much remained. So was Cori’s. They kept gawking at each other, as well as her.
Had Theo mistaken her for someone by the name of Cee-Cee?
“I told you that you wouldn’t recognize her, Theo.” Her teasing failed to produce a smile. Instead, he shook his head and gazed down.
“You’re right. I didn’t.” His shoulders slumped, then he closed his eyes and cursed softly.
Panic swept over her. He was acting strange. She didn’t understand why Cori’s presence changed his mood. “What’s wrong, Theo?”
His mouth opened, but nothing came out. When he opened his eyes, they were still aimed toward the ground. His muscles flexed as he pulled her closer. “Cassie… I… I didn’t know…Fuck.”
He released her and pivoted toward the steps. His hand rose as he placed his fingers to his temples.
Every nerve in Cassie’s body was on fire. So much confusion bent her mind. She could barely form thoughts, let alone words. “Theo… What’s going on?”
He didn’t answer.
Before she could ask again, Cori’s hand warmed her shoulder. “Cassie, I know what’s wrong with him. It’s another reason why I came to talk to you. I was about to tell you before the doorbell rang.”
“Tell me what?”
As Cori began to speak, Theo glared in her direction until she pressed her lips together and turned her head. Theo didn’t.
“Last Friday, when me and the guys left to hang out with a couple fans…your sister was one of them.”
A knot formed in her stomach. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know it was Cori. She looks nothing like I remember. You said yourself that I wouldn’t recognize her.” He shot another piercing glance in Cori’s direction. “Maybe if she’d been honest and told me her real name, I would have figured it out. She said it was Cee-Cee.”
Cassie faced her sister and raised her brows. “Why did you give him a fake name?”
Cori reminded her of the proverbial cat with a feather sticking out of its mouth. She kept shifting her focus from Theo to Cassie. Finally, she sighed. “When I realized he didn’t recognize me, I wanted to keep it that way. I had a huge crush on him when I was younger.”
The confession caused Theo’s mouth to gape. So did Cassie’s. “So what exactly were you planning to do?”
Cori couldn’t meet her gaze. Instead, she moved closer to the banister. “Nothing happened, Cassie.”
The news brought a wave of relief, but the feeling ebbed when she noticed Theo staring at her. “Cori’s right. Nothing happened between us…but we came close.”
Her legs grew weak. She managed to make her way to the rocking chair near the window and eased into it. Theo followed but remained a few feet away.
“Are you okay?”
“I don’t know… I think I need to hear the rest before I decide.” It was a lie. If her gut instincts were right, whatever she was about to hear wouldn’t be easy to digest.
“Cori’s friend dragged me into a closet at the club and…she uh…”
“She blew him.” Cori interrupted. “I found them not long after it happened and made her leave.”
Was this the worst of it? She could handle the fact that some girl gave him a blowjob, so long as it wasn’t her sister. She’d been with Mike the same night, at least physically…
“Is that it?” She prayed they would say yes, but both shook their heads. Her heart did a nosedive.
“The reason I invited Theo to the club was because my friends and I go there a lot. We know about the closet. If it’s unlocked, it’s free to use for whatever, so long as no money is being exchanged.”
Cassie bowed her head. She couldn’t look at either of them. If only she could shut off her ears and ignore them completely. The only thing keeping her in her seat was the fact they both claimed nothing happened between them. What more would they have to say?
“What else happened?”
When they regained her attention, it was Cori who answered first. “I went inside, locked the door, and made out with Theo.”
The rocking chair moved back and forth as Cassie stared in the distance. She gripped the arms tight as she gritted her teeth. As if seeing Theo leave that night hadn’t bothered her enough, learning it was with her sister rocked her to the core.
“I swear I didn’t know it was her.” Theo’s voice shook as he spoke. “If I had—”
“You said nothing happened.”
“It didn’t.”
“So what stopped you?” She choked on her words as her emotions went haywire.
Theo lowered his gaze. His throat wobbled as he cleared his voice and answered, “You.”
“Me?”
“Yeah,” Cori grumbled. “He called me by your name.”
All the emotions she was holding back exploded. She was on her feet and moving toward her sister. “Cori, I need you to go. I need to speak with Theo. Alone.”
“Fine. Call me when you’re ready to talk.” Cori got as far as the edge of the porch before she turned back around. “I don’t know what you’re going to do, but I have to say this. I may have crushed on him when I was younger, but you’ve always been the one. I saw it then. I see it now. Don’t let what happened ruin what you both want.”
“And what’s that?”
“Each other.”
Her sister didn’t waste another minute. She hurried down the porch steps and proceeded to her car. The words she said still rang through Cassie’s mind. Cori was so set against her and Theo hanging together when they spoke earlier this week. Something had happened to change her mind.
Once Cori backed out of the driveway, Cassie felt Theo’s eyes weighing on her. She hugged her chest and turned around, but she didn’t look at him. She couldn’t do anything but imagine him and her sister in a storage closet at a club with their hands and mouths all over each other.
“I can’t believe you were on the verge of having sex in a nightclub closet with my baby sister.”
“I was drunk. I wasn’t thinking. It’s not like I went in there intentionally with either of them. I wouldn’t have been there if I’d known it was Cori.”
She finally glanced up. “Why did you call her by my name?”
Theo rubbed the back of his neck and studied the door. “I uh…” His hand lowered. “I’ve been obsessed with you since I was a kid. I already told you this. I never thought I’d have a chance with you, so I did what I could to deal with it.” His gaze shifted. “I pretended whoever I was with was you.”
Her face heated. She didn’t know whether to be offended or flattered. In reality, she was just as guilty. “I left Mike’s last Friday in the middle of the night and came home. You know why?” She waited until he looked at her before continuing. “Because I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Seeing you leave with someone else bothered me. I didn’t know why. Even after you left, you remained on my mind. I was so consumed in my thoughts that I imagined I was fucking you instead of Mike.”
“Did you tell him that?”
She shook her head. “I understand fantasies, Theo. I even saw your face when I came. I couldn’t escape it, and I couldn’t lay beside Mike with you on my mind. It felt wrong.”
His jaw clenched as he backed toward the porch rail. “So thinking of me felt wrong?”
“No. Being with Mike felt wrong. It’s one of the reasons I ended things.”
For a moment, she thought he’d walk back over to her. Her response caused his lips to lift just enough for her to notice. Part of her wanted him to come closer and wrap his arms around her. The other part was glad he didn’t flinch. But he did part his lips to speak.
“So where do we go from here, Cassie?”
“Why does it have to go anywhere? You’re leaving Savannah next week. I’ve heard your band, Theo. Your career is going to explode. You won’t have time for anything else. A
t least we made some good memories. You can take those with you.”
This time, he did move. He was standing in front of her before she could avoid his advancement. “Don’t do this. You were ready to be with me before you found out about Cori. I didn’t sleep with her. I didn’t even know it was your sister.” His voice cracked. He cupped his hands around her face and forced her to look at him. “Please, Cassie.”
“I need time to process this.”
“But I’m leaving next week.”
“I know… Maybe we should use this time apart to make sure this is what we want. Once you’re on the road, you may change your mind.”
“No!” He shook his head vigorously. His muscles flexed as he held her face between his palms and leaned closer. “I don’t need time apart. I won’t find anything out on the road. I won’t even be looking. Please, Cassie. Please don’t do this.”
She tried to break free of his grip, but he wouldn’t let her go. “Women gravitate toward you. It’s only a matter of time.”
“Stop saying that! It’s never going to happen. You’re the one I want.”
“If that’s true, a few months apart won’t matter, will it?”
His body grew stiff. The heat of his hands faded as they lowered to his side. Then he slunk away. “I’ve had years to realize what I want, but hey, what’s a couple extra months. Right?” Sarcasm weighed heavily in his words. Anger and confusion lit up his face. He pursed his lips as though he would continue his argument on why they shouldn’t take a break, then he slumped his shoulders. “Fine. I’ll respect your right to figure things out for yourself. Just know this. I’m not the one walking away from us. You are.”
As he retreated down the steps, she rushed to the top one. “I haven’t walked away. I just need time.”
A forced laugh left his lips as he hesitated halfway between the porch and the driveway. “That’s what you say now, but I know how this turns out. I was stupid enough to think I had a shot with you. I lost my first chance. Now I’ve lost this one too. By the way, I’m the one who sent the flowers.”