by Eva Luxe
My mom shook her head and left the room. There was nothing worse in this household than having my mom upset with my dad. My dad glanced at me with an expression I couldn’t read before he left the room, too.
I was left on the couch, feeling like I had been hit by a bus. Or a train. Or both. My dad had hurt Brad for what had happened; for being with me. He’d threatened him long ago, but this was assault. Would Brad press charges? Would he sue? Part of me wished he would, just to teach my dad a lesson, but that wasn’t the answer to any of this.
Still, I felt guilty. I felt like this was all my fault. If only I hadn’t gone out to drinks with him, hadn’t let him walk with me. We could have carried on with our lives blissfully unaware of each other, happily building futures without each other. Now? We were irrevocably intertwined, at least, in this.
Now that I knew what my dad had done, I felt like it would be better if I answered Brad’s calls after all. I doubted he would still be calling. I’d put my phone on mute and left it in the bedroom because he wouldn’t stop. I went to the room and found my phone. There were a few missed calls from him, but that would probably be the end of it.
My phone rang in my hand, and I jumped, not expecting it. It was Brad, trying again. He didn’t give up. I wasn’t sure if I loved it or hated it about him.
This time, I answered.
“Brad,” I said softly.
I didn’t want my dad to hear, and I didn’t know what to expect from the conversation.
“Oh, my God. You answered. Please don’t hang up on me. Just hear me out.”
I thought about it only for a moment before I agreed. I would hear him out. He deserved that much from me, especially after my dad had hurt him.
“Okay,” I said.
“I’m so sorry. About everything. This isn’t what I wanted at all. I wanted to protect you from them, and now, you’re right out there, all over the news. I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”
“I guess I asked for this,” I said. “I was upset that you wouldn’t let me choose. Now it’s done. It’s out there.”
Brad sighed heavily. “It’s still not how I wanted any of it to happen. I just wanted to be with you.”
I swallowed hard and nodded, even though he couldn’t see me.
“I’m sorry my dad hurt you,” I said.
Brad chuckled. “It’s no big deal. I’d get hit for you any day.”
It was flattering, but if it was real, it wasn’t as sweet as it sounded.
“Where did he hurt you?” I asked.
“He gave me a bloody nose, no more. Don’t worry about it. I’ve had bloody noses before. It’s an occupational hazard.”
He was sweet for being so nonchalant about it, but I hated that he’d gotten hurt because of me.
“I want you to come to Miami with me,” Brad said. “We can get away from here, and back to my home turf where it’ll be easier for me to protect you while we’re together.”
Holy shit.
That was a big proposition. He must really be serious about me.
We were both silent on the line. I had no idea what to do. Going to Miami with him sounded so glamorous. He’d described his life there and it had sounded like a completely different world from any one that I knew. Don’t get me wrong, I loved being in Colorado— it sure beat boring Laramie— but my life there was rather lonely and boring.
And I had no money to finish school now that my dad was done paying. I thought about what it would be like, being with a famous football player and going to luxurious parties. But also, always being in the limelight. Was being with him going to be a public nightmare again?
“I don’t know if I can go with you,” I finally said. “Last night caused so much trouble. I don’t know if I can live like that, in the spotlight with the whole world having an opinion.”
“I’ll do everything I can to protect you,” he insisted. “I told you, it’s different back home. I have security, including a personal bodyguard named Jerry whom I know and trust very well to be on the lookout and chase away anyone not welcome. There’s a charity event coming up I’d love to take you to, and the entire security service is all set up for the night of the event.”
I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. So much had gone wrong already. I wasn’t speaking to my dad at all, now, unless we were having a screaming match. My finances were a big question now if I had to pay for them and I didn’t get a good job, and I had no idea how I was going to move forward when the world had basically seen me naked.
“I don’t know, Brad,” I said. “I’ll have to think about it.”
Brad took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. He sounded exasperated. I wondered if he was irritated with my reaction to the scandal, and if this was normal to him. Well, if it was, he would have to accept that none of this was normal to me.
“My plane leaves on Saturday at ten in the morning. I need to know by four in the morning, okay? I hope you decide to join me, but if you don’t, I’ll understand.”
When we ended the conversation, I was emotional and confused. Brad seemed so relaxed about the fact that his naked ass was plastered all over the news. Did this kind of thing happen to him often? I couldn’t deal with it. I couldn’t face this kind publicity and the repercussions that would no doubt follow.
I heard a knock on the door, and my mom stepped into the room. She sat down on the bed with me.
“Don’t take your father seriously,” she said. “We’ll pay your student loans. He’s just angry.”
“It’s unfair,” I said. “How am I supposed to live my life? I’m not a child anymore, but he’s acting like I need to be put in a glass box.”
My mom nodded. “He’s scared you’ll get hurt, and I don’t blame him. Seeing you on television like that is scary when you’re a parent. One day, when you have children of your own, you might understand.”
“Maybe,” I said. “But I won’t do this to them. I won’t lock them up.”
My mom nodded. She looked around the room.
“I was glad for you when you left the house to go study,” she said. “You are a free spirit, Carly. You should go to Miami if that’s what you want.”
I looked at her, shocked. How had she known?
“I put two and two together. I heard your conversation. And don’t worry, your father didn’t hear.”
“I don’t know if I want to go,” I said. “When he asked me first, it was exactly what I’d wanted. I care for him. I think I love him. I think I’ve always loved him, Mom. But I don’t know how to do this. I can’t live my life on display like this. Not even if he’s a great guy.”
My mom nodded, thinking about it. “It will be a big change, a risk. Sometimes a sacrifice. But if you love someone, maybe that’s what it takes.”
“I don’t know if I love him. I used to, but I was a kid then. Now? I don’t know. Sometimes, I think I do, but then something like this happens, and I realize how different we are, and I wonder if the person I’m in love with is still the person I remember from back then and not the man he is now.”
“Do you want to know what I think?” my mom asked. I nodded. She wasn’t always on my side, but she always had my best interests at heart. “I think Brad deserves a chance. He’s following his dream. He clearly loves you and has never forgotten about you after all this time. The media isn’t his fault.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know if that’s a good enough reason,” I said.
“It’s not,” my mom said. “But how you are when you’re with him is a good enough reason.”
I looked at my mom, confused. “Why?” I asked.
“Because I haven’t seen you this happy in six years, honey. You’re glowing again; it’s like you’ve come alive again. That means something to me. The only thing holding you back is this indecisiveness and I can see that in you, too. You should decide on happiness. You deserve happiness. And if Brad is the man who can give it to you, you should give him a chance to prove to you that he can look after y
ou.”
My mom hugged me, took both my hands, and squeezed them in hers.
“It’s your choice, Carly,” she said.
She got up and left the room. I lay back on the bed when I was alone, unsure what to make of it all. How was I going to decide? Giving him a chance to prove he could protect me was one thing, but what if he failed again? What if something went wrong and he only sat there, looking the other way, waiting for something or someone to drag me away again?
He wasn’t the same kid anymore, I told myself. He’d changed.
But had he changed enough?
Chapter 18
Brad
I loaded up my car, ready for the drive back to the airport. It was still dark outside, and the news vans were still outside, but no one seemed very interested in my packing. Maybe they had gotten the sensation they’d been looking for, and they were only sticking around because they had been told to do so.
I was done. I was tired of the media messing things up for me. I had had a good run in my life, barely in the papers for anything bad, while someone like Jacob had been a constant topic. But I wasn’t in the mood anymore. I didn’t know how he’d done it for so long. It helped to have someone understanding and with the know-how like Kina on his side. Jacob had gotten his happy ending, despite the difficulties in his life. I wished it would be the same for me.
But I wasn’t counting on it. I hadn’t heard from Carly at all. She wasn’t coming to Miami with me, then. It was a damn shame. I wanted her to see my life now, to show her off as the woman I was interested in, to dress her up and spoil her in the lap of luxury that I now lived in. For a short time in my teenage years, she had been the first and only person I’d wanted to share all my victories with, and now, I had found that I wanted it again.
This time, though, it was different. And this time it looked like it wasn’t going to happen. We never seemed to have the right luck. We were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Star-crossed lovers, as they said. Was I being dramatic? Yes. But I was heartbroken, and it was hard for a man to be heartbroken without looking soft.
“Are you all packed?” my mom asked me, but it didn’t sound like my mom. I turned and found Carly standing behind me with a bag. I looked up at the camera crews and reporters, still seemingly asleep.
“I climbed the wall if you must know,” she said, and she smiled in the dim light, a beautiful smile.
“You’re coming with me,” I breathed.
Carly nodded. “I thought I’d give you a shot. You never know until you try, right?”
“Right,” I said, grinning like a fool. I couldn’t help myself.
“I’ll be your date to this charity event, but I’m not making promises for anything beyond that. I still need to think about what we should do from here. And that means no sexy stuff, or else I won’t be able to control my emotions.”
“Sure,” I told her. “Thanks for coming.”
I didn’t even care about her conditions; I was just glad she was here. I told myself to give her space and time to decide. It would be hard to keep my hands off her, but I’d respect her wishes.
I took her bag from her and found a space in the car, securing it. My mom appeared, and she was smiling, too.
“Have a safe trip,” she said. “And come home soon.”
I hugged her. When I let her go, she squeezed Carly’s arm.
“It’s good to see you around here again.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Williams,” Carly said.
My mom shook her head. “Lydia, please. It always was and always will be.”
I chuckled. It felt like it used to when we were kids again, when Carly was here talking to my mom as if she was the queen and my mom insisting that Carly was like a daughter to her.
“Now, get going you two, or you’ll miss the flight.”
We got in the car and pulled out of the driveway. A few camera flashes went off, and Carly turned her face away, not letting them see who she was. She was learning already.
I had thought a van would tail us to the airport. For the first couple of miles, I checked my rearview mirror again and again. I didn’t want to risk anything, to have any more incidents that could scare Carly away.
After a couple of miles, I relaxed. It looked like we were in the clear. The worst that could happen was that they would get a photo of Carly getting on the plane with me. That wouldn’t be a bad thing, showing them that it hadn’t just been a fling, that it was something a little more serious. If anything, it would be good for Carly’s image.
The drive to the airport was just over two hours, like a mini road trip, and being in the car together was fun. There was something about being confined in a small space together, not forced to make eye contact, that bred familiarity. We talked about everything and nothing, and I enjoyed having her with me.
The flight back to Miami was quick and without hiccups, and we landed on time. We collected our bags and headed out to the parking garage where I had left my Aston Martin. I had recently bought myself the DB11, and I felt like a million bucks driving around in it. The R8 I’d used in Laramie hadn’t quite matched up.
“Oh, my God,” Carly said when she saw the car.
I chuckled. “What?”
“This car is so you. You’ve always been crazy about Aston Martin.”
I grinned, nodding. The Aston Martin was a car on steroids, a thrill that shook you to the core, and for someone who loved a thrill, this was exactly the way to scratch that itch. I opened the door for Carly, and she sank into my leather seats. What a woman, what a car.
The whole way, Carly’s face was split into a grin. She had indulged my love for cars, listening to me rave, but she’d never cared about them. Now, it looked like a different story. Maybe she’d met her match.
It was good to be in Miami. I weaved through traffic, driving the roads I knew so well by now, and I enjoyed showing the city off to her. Being on the coast had a different feel than being in Laramie, and Carly looked at everything with awe. I crossed the bay on Broad Causeway, heading toward North Beach where I owned the penthouse in one of the luxury apartment buildings there.
“I can’t believe this is your life now,” Carly said when we stepped into the elevator and I hit the penthouse button.
“It’s something to get used to,” I said. I saw it as my reward for working so hard. I enjoyed living like this, being able to do whatever I wanted to, whenever I wanted to, no matter the cost. But there were some things money couldn’t buy, like being with Carly, and having her here with me meant more than anything.
When I unlocked the door, Carly walked into my apartment, eyes wide. It was a grand apartment. The foyer alone was the size of my mother’s living room. I had gotten a decorator in, and the whole place was done in whites, grays, and blacks, with different splashes of color for every room.
It was clean, minimalistic, and beautiful without being too much. I had pictures of famous football players throughout the years against the walls and fake plants so that I didn’t have to water them.
“What do you think?” I asked when Carly had walked through the living room to the chrome and marble kitchen.
“I think you have good taste and a clever interior decorator.” She winked at me and giggled. I laughed and took her hand. She looked at me with eyes that seemed cerulean blue.
“Let me show you the best part,” I said and led her to my bedroom.
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” she said, looking at my bed.
I shook my head. “Not that, princess. This.”
I turned her to the window. It stretched from floor to ceiling and wall to wall, and the view of the ocean, the beach, and the palms was my canvas. When the sun was just right, the sky was clear, and there were only a few puffs of clouds in the sky—like today—it was breathtaking.
“Oh,” Carly breathed and said no more. I watched her looking at my spectacular scenery, and I found something that was more beautiful to look at than the scenery that millions of dollars
had bought. She was a dream, her dark eyelashes framing those sea-blue eyes, her lips perfect for kissing and her skin smooth as porcelain.
When she looked at me, a smile crept onto her face like a sunrise.
“What?” she asked.
I didn’t know what to say. So, I cleared my throat and turned away.
“You can have any room you like,” I said. “I have four spare bedrooms.”
“Do you have a lot of guests that stay over?” Carly asked.
I laughed. “No. It’s just me. But this place had five bedrooms, and I couldn’t find a reason not to take it.”
She smiled. “You’ve always been the kind of guy that does something because you can.”
I nodded. She knew me so well.
“What about here with you?” she asked, turning to the room and looking around.
“You don’t have to do that, you know,” I said. “You can sleep in another room. I won’t be offended.”
Carly shook her head. “I came here with you. I want to stay here with you.”
I smiled and pulled her closer to me, breaking that barrier. She closed her eyes, face turned to me, and I kissed her.
“Now,” I said when I broke the kiss. “I have a dress for you for tonight.”
She looked surprised. “Really?”
I nodded. “I had to order it last minute because I didn’t know if you were coming with me, but I called and asked your mom what size you were and got something I think will look perfect.”
“I can’t believe it,” Carly said, laughing. I nodded and walked to the closet where the service had put it for me.
“We need to get ready,” I said.
Carly took the dress from me and disappeared into another room. I turned to my closet and retrieved the tux I was going to wear. It was a classic tuxedo with a bow tie. It was custom made, and there was silk in the weave so that it had depth, rather than that it shimmered. The lapels were darker than the rest of the suit, and the shirt was a crisp white.
I looked in the mirror. My hair was short enough to lightly style with gel and do no more. When it had been longer, I used to comb it back, but I’d cut it after a concussion that had needed constant tests to monitor. I liked the shorter style.