Deliciously Thick (Naked Brews Book 2)

by KB Jacobs

  I had to try again. “Juliet, listen to me. Drake put out that statement. Not me. I fired him for it.”

  “Well, isn’t that convenient for you? Why did I think it was a good idea to get involved with you? I knew your reputation and that I shouldn’t trust you. I was some naïve, little girl stupidly seduced by you. Hell, I even made it easy for you with my sick kinks. What better way to improve your party boy reputation than by tying a girl up on the roof of your house?”

  She shoved more clothes into her suitcase. “Well played, Triple B. And even better, you managed to do it without revealing even the slightest bit of your skin while I was out there for all the world to see.”

  She was delusional if she thought this entire fiasco didn’t hurt me, too. “Wait a minute. That’s not fair. The BDSM stuff was your fantasy, not mine. We were both up there, both fully participating in that scene. You need to calm down and just take a moment.”

  I tried to keep control of my own temper, now hanging by a thread. I didn’t want to say something we would both regret.

  She turned on me in fury, and I winced. Had my mother taught me nothing? Never ever tell an angry woman to calm down. I was just lucky we were far, far away from the kitchen, or she’d be carving off my balls right now.

  “You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore. You lost that right when you fucked me and then threw me under the bus. What? You missed all the free pussy hanging around your house? Well, congratulations. The party is back on. I’m out of here, so feel free to screw anything with two legs. Again.” Tears dripped down her cheeks, and she dashed at them angrily.

  Her rage didn’t diffuse my growing anger. “Hey, now. You can chill on the holier-than-thou attitude. I haven’t even been tempted by anyone else since you moved in.”

  She snorted out a harsh laugh. “And what? I’m supposed to be flattered by that?” She gave me a derisive up and down perusal. “Even a world class athlete would be sidelined a bit by an injury. Your dick seems to be working just fine now...so feel free...go find yourself a plaything or three.”

  I threw my hands up in frustration. Did she seriously hear the words coming out of her mouth? Did she want me to go screw someone else? I didn’t get it. Last night I’d been ready to commit to forever, but I’d obviously been delusional, thinking she was right there with me with those feelings.

  “You don’t understand. You aren’t the only one who’s lost out in all this. You’re no one to the media. Six months from now, this will all be a distant memory for you. And honestly, all anyone is seeing right now is how gorgeous and sexy you are. Which you should know...I hate.” I bit out those two words. I kept envisioning guys jacking off to the sight of Melissa’s sexy, tight little body right at this moment, and my vision went red.

  I needed to hit something, someone...preferably the jerk who’d taken those photos. How could she think the absolute worst of me? “I’m the one who’s going to pay for this long term. I’m the one who’ll be feeling the pain because all my sponsors have dropped me. You, on the other hand, are overreacting. No one will even remember you in a couple of weeks.”

  She screamed and threw the cup she’d been in the process of shoving into a box. I ducked, although the cup grazed my temple as it flew by, shattering against the wall.

  She stilled. We puffed out hard breaths as anger and adrenaline pulsed between us. I thought she’d finally realized how over the top she was acting when she rushed toward me.

  A hot trickle of blood dripped down my temple.

  But she wasn’t rushing toward me. She dropped to the floor beside the broken shards of porcelain. “It was the only one I had left after the fire,” she whispered as she clutched at the broken pieces of her teacup. She dissolved into sobs, heaving great big, heart-wrenching gulps of pain that tore at my insides.

  My head throbbed, and my chest tightened like a vise was crushing it.

  I reached out, but she flinched when I touched her. She scuttled away.

  “Don’t you touch me! You never get to touch me again. I never want to see your lying, deceiving face again. You’re not the man I thought you were. But congratulations, Triple B, you’re exactly the man the press has always made you out to be. All about the party and the fun...completely shallow, lacking any redeemable value at all. Too bad, that means you’re simply an asshole and a bastard.”

  Every word hit me like a punch to the gut, playing into everything I’d thought about myself in the last ten years. But with her, I’d begun to see a different me, a better me.

  She picked up the handle of the cup, threw the skeleton key that opened the tower door at me, and bolted out of her room, leaving all her stuff there in her rush to get away from me.

  In one fatal blow, it was all gone. She was gone, and my chest caved in.

  I dropped to the floor. Everything that mattered was gone.

  Just gone.

  Chapter 36

  Melissa

  I threw the handle to my last remaining teacup into the passenger seat and gunned William’s engine. How in the hell had I gotten here?

  Top of my class, graduating two years early. I’d breezed through college and had my pick from several top accounting firms. Now I was a homeless, overly glorified office manager with my assets spread all over the internet.

  I banged my hand hard against the steering wheel as a fresh batch of hot tears exploded down my face. Stupid son of a bitch.

  Oh, god.

  He wasn’t a son of a bitch. He was the son of Lauren.

  Lauren had now seen my coochie.

  My head flopped down onto the steering wheel, and I sucked in deep gulps of air. Every breath reminded me just how hard I’d fallen yet again. The tears on my face cooled in the frozen air. Brad humiliated me in front of his friends, but at least there wasn’t any photographic evidence of my shame.

  Being with Anthony now meant every one of my darkest secrets could pop up at any time on the cover of a tabloid for the whole world to see.

  I let a raging scream tear up my throat and echo around the car. “Stupid, stupid, stupid.”

  Anthony’s front door opened, and he stood framed in the bright midday sunlight. Even now, I couldn’t help appreciating his toned and sculpted body. Too bad it belonged to a selfish bastard.

  I threw my car into gear and peeled down the driveway. At the end of the gate, I glanced back in my rear view mirror. He still stood there, staring out from his door. Wiping away more tears, I left him behind and tried to ignore the sound of my heart breaking into a million pieces.

  So what if being with Anthony had made me feel alive for the first time in forever? It no longer mattered that his touch had been like magic, or that he’d made me feel like I was important, or that he’d lived in a fairytale castle turret. I could find my own damn turret.

  At the moment, I’d settle for a clean couch.

  I pulled into the Naked Brews parking lot without even realizing that was where I’d driven William. It was blessedly deserted with everyone off at lunch. I couldn’t take any more catcalls or sympathetic looks today.

  What I really needed was a hot shower and a strong tea with a side shot of vodka. The broken teacup handle caught my eye from the passenger seat. Screw the tea. Maybe Lake had some liquor hidden in the desk.

  I pushed inside and threw my purse onto a makeshift table made from a piece of plywood and two sawhorses.

  Everything was quiet stillness in the pub. The space was really starting to take shape. With the new expansion, we would have a tasting room and a more formal space for parties. Electricity and plumbing were already being roughed in. I made a mental note to ask Lake about inspection appointments with the county. It should have been done last week, but I let myself get distracted by a pair of smoldering dark brown eyes and abs that went for days.

  No more.

  I marched to the office and kicked off my new high heels. Leaving the house this morning, they had made me feel sexy and powerful. Now, they were one more reminder that men we
re assholes. The only ones I could trust existed between the pages of my books.

  Pulling the desk drawers out, I rummaged through old notebooks and receipts in search of a glass bottle. I wasn’t even going to be picky about what was in the bottle so long as it would burn my throat going down and make me sorry tomorrow morning.

  I made another mental note to work on clearing out Lake’s desk. It was an organizational nightmare, but I suddenly found myself with a lot of extra time on my hands and zero desire to go anywhere in public.

  Shoving aside a crumpled, half-empty box of tissues, I hit pay dirt. I pulled out the bottle with amber liquid and held it up to the light. Cheap tequila. I twisted off the cap and took a sniff. My nose wrinkled with the overpowering scent, but this was likely as good as it got.

  I dumped a coffee cup filled with pencils on to the desk and poured myself a healthy shot.

  “To getting out before I really got my heart broken.” I held the mug up in a toast to the empty office and downed the pungent liquid in one swallow. If I kept lying to myself, by the end of the bottle I might almost believe my heart wasn’t already broken.

  I poured another shot and left the office with the bottle and mug in hand. My apartment was probably still a disaster, but no one would bother me up there. I could drink my tequila and get ridiculously drunk without judgmental eyes watching my every move. I preferred making bad choices in private. Exactly why I could never be with someone whose life was a constant stream of cameras and reporters.

  The door to the staircase was shut, and I didn’t have an open hand, so I downed the next tequila shot and hung the mug upside down on the bottle. Because slightly tipsy Melissa was an innovative genius.

  I tugged at the door, but it was stuck. Probably still swollen from the water used to put out the fire. I jerked again, but it didn’t budge. I could just drink in the office, but there was no way I was going to let a stupid door dictate how I was going to live my life. Men and doors would need to step aside for the new Melissa in charge.

  Grabbing the handle in my right hand, I lifted my left foot for leverage on the doorframe. Either I or the door was going down. I twisted the knob and pulled with all the strength in my feeble arms.

  The door shifted and flew open. My hand lost its grip on the knob, and I skidded on my butt down the hallway a good three feet. I held up the tequila. Not broken. I was ready to call that a win, and in celebration, I poured myself another shot. This one went down smoother than the first two, a clear indication that the tequila at the bottom of the bottle was better than the stuff at the top. Or I was getting drunk.

  My apartment suddenly felt so far away. I didn’t have the energy to climb a flight of stairs.

  A car door slammed in the parking lot. Shit. Workers getting back from lunch. I loathed the idea of stairs, but I hated the thought of one of them walking in here and seeing me like this even more.

  Careful not to spill any tequila since the cap was long gone, I braced myself against the wall to stand up. When I let go, my head swirled, and I had to take a quick step back to keep from falling. Maybe I could just crawl up the stairs.

  I took a careful step toward the now open door when something heavy hit me from behind.

  I stumbled forward and barely caught myself before taking a header into the door. Spinning around, I tried to focus, but the room swam in front of me.

  “So you think you’re a dirty girl?” A cold voice spoke behind me, garbled like in a bad horror movie.

  I tried to focus, but whoever spoke danced to the edge of my vision. I couldn’t concentrate enough to keep up with their movements.

  Gloved hands cinched around my neck, and I dropped the bottle and mug in my rush to grab at the hands. They squeezed tighter, the fingers digging into the back of my neck.

  Black dots swam in front of my eyes. I opened my mouth to scream, but I couldn’t force air up and out of my windpipe. I couldn’t get any air down, either. My lungs felt close to bursting from my chest, and I clawed at the hands holding me. My legs swung, trying to connect with anything.

  “I’ll show you what happens to dirty girls,” the cold voice whispered in my ear seconds before everything went black.

  Chapter 37

  Anthony

  Sunday, I headed out to the Edge. After spending an hour on the phone getting chewed out by my mom for hurting Melissa, I needed a release. My life had imploded, but the kids on the high school ski and snowboard team still deserved my best coaching, and I planned to give it to them.

  The Edge was a gigantic wooden structure at the base of the ski mountain. Anyone who came to the mountain passed through it for ski rentals, lift passes, food, locker rentals, or just someplace warm to hang out while friends were on the mountain. Even though we were hitting the end of the season, the place still swarmed with people.

  I really didn’t want to deal with people today. Being Triple B was the last thing I needed. So I ducked my head, pulled my beanie down low, affixed my sunglasses to hide my eyes, and went around behind the building where I knew the team would be congregating.

  Ever since yesterday morning, I’d ignored anything that came close to media news. I simply couldn’t stomach the gossip about Melissa and me. But as I crossed the acreage of the Edge, I kept hearing snatches of conversation about some chick who’d been attacked yesterday. From the sounds of things, she was one of those infamous reality stars. While I hated something bad had happened, selfishly, I was the slightest bit relieved, because that meant our story would blow over even quicker.

  I rounded the corner and spotted the team. My heart lifted. While the last twenty-four hours had sucked, coming out and coaching this team was one of the high points of my week every week. I loved these kids, and they all had so much drive and talent. They inspired me to do better.

  I just hoped I’d be allowed to stay.

  All morning, I’d expected a phone call from the high school coach or principal telling me not to come anymore, because I couldn’t be trusted around minors with my “proclivities.” But the only call I’d gotten like that so far had been from another of my sponsors, canceling my contract.

  A couple of the kids spotted me coming toward the group and began nudging the others. I guess it had been too much to hope they wouldn’t have seen the headlines. I squared my shoulders and tried to put on a smile as I headed toward them.

  The coach hadn’t noticed me as he was discussing something with the team star, but when he realized I approached, he jogged over to meet me. “Anthony, I’m surprised you’re here.”

  “Well, of course. I’ve committed my time to these guys. I’m not going to flake unless you tell me there’s some reason I can’t be here.” I held my breath for his verdict.

  He shook his head. “Of course you can be here. I just figured you’d be at the hospital with Melissa.”

  “Melissa?” Every piece of me froze in terror. “What’s wrong with her? What happened?”

  “I don’t really know, man. She was attacked—”

  I didn’t hear anymore. I took off at a run to my Jeep. It didn’t matter if I did more damage to my almost-healed ankle. It didn’t matter that people tried to stop me as I pushed around them. All I knew was I had to get to Melissa as soon as possible.

  I didn’t even remember the drive from the slopes to the hospital as I clung to the steering wheel, a cold sweat dripping down my spine. All I could focus on was the fear that Melissa was seriously hurt or even dead. How had this happened? Was this somehow related to those photos?

  If this was related, I would never forgive myself for putting her in this position. First because of the leaked photos, and second that she hadn’t been in the protected space of my home. She should have been there where she would have been safe and secure. She was so tiny. The thought of someone hurting her...

  I pulled my Jeep into the circle drive in front of the hospital, making sure not to block the ER entrance at the other end. Beyond that, I didn’t care what happened to my Jeep. I just
had to get to Melissa.

  I was running across the lobby when I heard my name. “Anthony.”

  I turned.

  Lake stood in front of the elevator doors and waved me over. “It took you long enough.”

  “I just heard. How is she? Is she okay?” The doors opened, and I followed Lake. I assumed wherever she went would lead me to Melissa.

  “She’s fine. One of the guys from the construction crew had forgotten his phone at lunch, so he came back to grab it, interrupting the attack. Her neck is bruised, but it could have been so much worse. They’re discharging her soon.”

  “Did they catch the guy?”

  “No, the construction worker concentrated on Melissa, making sure she wasn’t dead, so the guy got away.”

  I clenched my jaw, but the words burst out like staccato gunfire. “Why didn’t you call me?”

  “I promised her I wouldn’t, and she was upset and hurt. I couldn’t go against her wishes. But if you just happen to follow me up from the lobby...well, there’s nothing I can do about that, is there?”

  My gut churned. Melissa was hurt, but she still didn’t want me anywhere near her. The blow of that was almost as vicious as knowing she’d been hurt. “Who attacked her? Did this happen because of those pictures?”

  Lake shook her head. “That’s her story to tell, but the guy was wearing a ski mask, so no one saw his face.”

  The elevator doors opened, and we stepped into the hall. Lake grabbed hold of my arm. “I was worried about her when you two cooked up this scheme for the press, but then something happened. She became happy. I’ve never realized before how much she held in, held back. With you, that changed. Right now, she’s not happy. Fix this, or I will remove your balls with a rusty knife. If you can’t fix it, then you need to step away. She’s already been hurt too much.”

  I swallowed, imagining horrific images of her bloody and bruised. I couldn’t breathe with the need to do something—to hurt him, the person who’d done this to her. “The last thing I wanted was for her to get hurt.”