Hothead (Irresistible Book 4)

by Stella Rhys

  No.

  No, no, no, no.

  I already knew I didn’t need to watch that. First of all, Drew wasn’t in the video and all I could see was a shaky, blurry image as the cameraperson ran to a body lying bloodied at the foot of a suburban driveway.

  It could be fake.

  It could be real.

  You don’t know the whole story. Just don’t.

  The last thing I needed was more questions, especially at a time when Drew didn’t necessarily owe me the answers. So walking my laptop upstairs, I placed it on my desk in my room, leaving it there before going back down to wait for Drew on the couch.

  I still felt a weirdness hanging over me as I lay there, dozing in and out of sleep. It prickled over my skin and kept jolting me awake.

  But at some point, I remembered seeing Drew’s face on the screen again – still leaning on that dugout railing, still standing next to Ty. They were laughing big about something or another, and just the sight of that smile was enough to curve the ends of my lips before I drifted off to sleep.

  20

  DREW

  By the time I got up in the morning, Evie’s bedroom door was already open and she was already gone for whatever work meeting she had. Apparently I was disappointed because I found myself standing in her doorway for a second, staring at her empty bed.

  After last night’s game, I’d watched more tape with Lou and wound up getting home past 1AM, which meant Evie was already passed out hard on the couch. I’d said her name a few times as I emptied my pockets on the kitchen counter and laughed to myself when she didn’t stir at all.

  The TV was on and wrapping up post-game coverage of the night’s win, which meant she’d been watching the game by herself.

  Unexpected.

  Also unexpected was the little black thing she slept in. It was short and silky, and I was forced to watch it flutter up her thighs as I carried her up the stairs to her room. It was like walking a tight rope as I made my way up the steps while sliding my eyes all over her body.

  By the time I got to the stadium, I was still thinking about the way she exhaled as I put her in bed. She didn’t wake up at all but when her body hit the mattress, she rolled onto her side and immediately curled up to her pillow.

  Then she let out that breath and smiled. Like she was in a fucking Ambien commercial. She was peaceful in a way I didn’t think was real, and I was still switching between laughing at the memory and agonizing over it when I got a text from an unknown number.

  Hi Drew. Sorry about texting and please don’t tell Tim but I’m just so proud today and I couldn’t have done this without you. Wish you could’ve been here.

  P.S Christopher says hi. He still loves his Uncle Drew.

  My eyes darted over the words just before the picture came in.

  When I processed the faces in it, the whirlwind of emotion was instantaneous, and I knew I’d failed to suppress the first second because Diaz peered over at me from his locker. But he said nothing and I thanked God for that because I needed a second.

  I needed a fucking second to digest that Abby Lillard had graduated from Temple University today.

  Holy fuck. I wanted to smile but I couldn’t, because as innocent as she probably was in the whole mess with her brother, it wasn’t like I could look at her without thinking of him. I couldn’t even be happy about the fact that I’d put her through college. I’d sent her check for tuition exactly a week before my shit with Tim went down, and I still remembered her refusing to cash it for awhile and being scared that if she did, it meant she was on my side and not he brother’s.

  “Jesus,” I muttered when another picture came in – this time of her holding Christopher.

  I smiled. Kind of. It was a tense, conflicted one, but it was a smile nonetheless because this was my favorite kid in the world.

  Christopher Drew Lillard. Tim’s son. I took him on his first trip to Disney, I was there the day he was born, he was named after me, and aside from Pattie he had to be the one Lillard I missed most.

  As quickly as it came, my smile disappeared.

  Fucking hell.

  Four years later and I was still haunted by this family. I was still hounded by the press to give quotes on Pattie’s death. On the incident with Tim. I still had opposing teams’ fans use their names to heckle me when I was in the dugout or on the mound. I tuned most of it out but it was impossible to completely ignore, and I fucking hated the days when I had to wonder if I’d ever actually move on from them.

  Sitting in front of my locker, my elbows on my knees, I stared at my jersey. I stared at the number twenty-one I’d been wearing since my rookie year, tapping my left foot and trying to shift the dark thoughts in my brain to something else before the game started.

  But a few minutes passed and it didn’t work.

  I stared into space for a little longer. Then picking up my phone, I sent a text.

  ME: What are you up to

  I watched the ellipses blink for a bit. It took awhile before her reply came in. I shook my head as I kept watching it go in and out. What the fuck was she doing?

  EVIE: Hey. Sorry typing slow I’m walking and texting. What’s up? Did I forget we had something today?

  ME: I would have opened with that if you did.

  EVIE: Oh. Excuse me then.

  EVIE: In that case to answer your question I’m just shopping for something to wear to the thing tonight.

  ME: What thing?

  EVIE: Hillary’s restaurant opening. Merryweather where we went for lunch

  My eyebrows pulled tight. I wasn’t sure what I was even frowning about so I tried to jog my memory on what I knew of that restaurant. It came up surprisingly quickly. Right

  Both Evie and her ex had done work for that place.

  ME: Mike going to be there?

  EVIE: Yes. Yay for you getting his name right. I owe you a gold star.

  ME: You owe me several gold stars. What time is the thing

  EVIE: Starts at 8 and goes on till forever bc there’ll probably be an after party. But I’m only making an appearance for Hillary then I’m dipping

  EVIE: Why do you ask?

  ME: Go there late. I’ll meet up with you at 10:30

  No idea why I said that. Aside from the fact that I had a day game tomorrow, tonight’s game was bound to end at or past 10PM, which meant I’d have to book it to get to the restaurant from the stadium in time. But considering Evie slept at grandma hours, I knew I’d have to throw out the earliest time possible.

  EVIE: If you’re offering to come with because you think I need protection from Mike you are sorely mistaken

  ME: I’m not worried about that. I’ve seen his scrawny ass and your naked one. I’m pretty sure you could squat him.

  EVIE: Except it was pitch black when you decided to steal my panties off me so technically you haven’t actually seen my naked ass

  ME: I haven’t but I’ve felt every inch of it. If I described it to a sketch artist he would draw it to a tee

  EVIE: Omg

  EVIE: What on earth did my ass do to warrant a police sketch?

  EVIE: Something something being wanted for a spanking?

  “What’s going on with you? You’re laughing now?” Diaz asked as he looked at me.

  “Leave me alone,” I said, a leftover grin on my lips as I replied to Evie.

  ME: You get the gold star for that one. Now stop texting while you’re walking. See you at 10:30 tonight.

  21

  DREW

  It was closer to 11PM by the time I got to the restaurant, which definitely felt different than the last time I’d seen it.

  The last time I was here it was quiet, sunny and mostly empty, but tonight there were candles on every table, indie folk on the sound system, and a good fifty to sixty buzzed to drunk people standing around dirty, plate-littered tables, engaged in animated conversation.

  Definitely not the type of nightlife I was used to. If I was out and drinking at 11PM, The Lumineers weren’t
exactly my soundtrack of choice, but to each their own. I wasn’t here to party anyway. I was here for Evie.

  The usual eyes flew to me as I angled through the crowd, but the setting was intimate enough that no one yelled my name or mobbed me for pictures. They just kept watching as I made my way to the group of women Evie was talking to.

  My eyebrows lifted when I got closer.

  She was wearing red lipstick tonight. And she looked fucking stunning. The first thing I saw was her big smile as she burst out laughing over something that was apparently funny enough for her to be the last of the group to notice me.

  “Um, Evie...” The redhead to her left kept her unblinking eyes on me while smiling nervously and tapping Evie. “Sweetie, I think someone’s here to see you.”

  “Drew! Thank God you’re here!” She surprised me by bursting over and throwing her arms around my neck. When my hand touched nothing but skin, I realized her dress was completely backless. Whoa, whoa.

  “Hold on a second. Let me see this,” I muttered. Evie’s friends giggled and nudged each other as I held her hand up for a moment to step back and get a full look.

  I wasn’t doing it for show. I genuinely needed a second to process that body in that coffee-colored dress. She was completely covered in the front but when I turned her around, her naked back was on full display. If it weren’t for the bow tied around her neck, I would’ve thought she was walking around topless with just a skirt on.

  I shook my head before facing her front once again.

  “God, you look fucking beautiful,” I said, getting to enjoy about a second of her smile before her friends burst into a loud chorus of “awww.”

  Jesus.

  “Thank you. I didn’t think you’d get here till late,” Evie said breathily before introducing me to all her friends. I forgot all their names on the spot. “And you know, um… you know Hillary,” Evie said, suddenly fumbling and eyeing her redheaded friend as she gestured toward Hillary. Hillary didn’t seem to notice because she smiled brightly.

  “Hey again! So happy you could come, Drew.”

  “Thank you for having me,” I smiled back just as another familiar face came damned near shoving through the crowd behind her.

  Mike.

  “Drew! My man. Happy you made it,” he said with a broad smile, offering a hand over Hillary’s shoulder.

  “Thanks. Good to see you,” I lied as Evie leaned her gorgeous back into my chest. Despite her outward calm, her body was trembling a bit. I frowned. I could tell from the way she grabbed my hand and squeezed it twice that she was trying to tell me something. I had no idea what it was thus far, but I was on alert.

  “Drew. Buddy. What happened the other night?” Mike frowned, leaning on Hillary with an arm tossed over her shoulder. I didn’t have to fake the smile that quirked my mouth as I ran my hands down to Evie’s waist.

  “You’re going to have to be more specific, because a lot of things happened the other night.”

  It was supposed to be just a joke for Evie but she blushed so hard the girls read the situation fast and gave a scandalous “oooooh.” Mike bristled.

  “I’m talking about that crazy loss. That had to be the worst outing of your career, right?”

  “It was. Thankfully, it was my first loss this season.”

  “Well. It’s a long season.”

  “It is. I’ve been playing awhile in this league so I know firsthand,” I laughed while sliding my hands down to Evie’s hips. “Luckily, I have this secret weapon right here.”

  There was another “awww” from the girls as Mike sneered.

  “Well, I know firsthand that Evie doesn’t know a football from a baseball, so I don’t know how she comes in any way handy.”

  “She’s more of a lifesaver in the sore muscle department,” I said, rubbing Evie’s hips to calm her down. I could feel her breathing deep, shaking a little less now.

  “Oh, her massages, right?” the redhead gasped. “They’re so frickin’ good. And that’s so perfect for you as an athlete! Oh, oh, you should get her a job at the stadium!”

  “Jesus, no.” I grimaced so hard the girls burst out laughing. “Trust me, my teammates would love that but she’s strictly mine.”

  “Well, we’ll see how long that lasts,” Mike chuckled as the circle fell promptly quiet. The girls’ eyes were wide, and Hillary visibly cringed. Despite the palpable awkwardness, he went right on. “I mean, Maddox, I think anyone who’s been on the Internet knows you’re not exactly a one-woman kind of guy.”

  Evie stiffened in my arms. The girls were covering their faces at this point but I gave the prick an easy laugh.

  “Believe it or not, tabloids are sometimes bullshit. Some people get just brave with what they say when they’re hiding behind a computer screen.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Mike scoffed.

  “Come on. I’m sure you’ve said things on the Internet that you’d never have the balls to say in person. You could be standing right in front of the person and still be too scared to say shit.”

  Based on the redhead’s giant snort, I assumed she’d seen his post about me on Facebook. I wore a placid smile as I cocked an eyebrow at Mike. I was challenging the little shit to prove me wrong and call me overpaid to my face, but all he did was grunt, clear his throat and look away.

  Then it was silent for a bit, Evie and the redhead exchanging looks I couldn’t read.

  “Anyway, I could never be a professional masseuse,” Evie finally said to break the awkward silence. “I only bust out my A game for my man.”

  “Yeah, I remember that,” Mike said.

  This motherfucker.

  Hillary up and left as Evie hugged my arms tight around her waist. She gave my forearms a quick but firm squeeze, and this time I read what she was saying. I got this one.

  “Trust me, it takes a whole other level of strength to rub this one down,” she laughed good-naturedly, beaming up at me before returning her eyes to Mike. “I mean Drew’s all muscle. So it’s literally night and day between you two.”

  Jesus.

  Savaged.

  Mike went red as Evie’s friends failed at suppressing their fits of laughter.

  “I’m gonna find Hillary,” he muttered, that forehead vein beating with a life of its own as he turned around and left.

  I was pretty sure Evie could be nothing but pleased with herself after that, but once we excused ourselves from her girlfriends, she took my hand and tugged me into the kitchen. By now, it was only the dishwasher in there and he gave barely a look in our direction before going back to own thing while nodding to the music on his headphones.

  “Evie. What?” I frowned when I saw her hands trembling as she rubbed them over her face. “Jesus, baby. What happened?”

  She took a few seconds to answer, and I didn’t realize I’d turned to hunt down Mike till she grasped a handful of my shirt and pulled me away from the door.

  “Hillary might be living with him,” she blurted. I stared at her.

  “What?”

  “My friend Kate with the red hair. She’s the manager here and before you came, she told me something. And I’ve just been trying to hold everything in and act normal, but – ”

  “What? What did she tell you?”

  “She said she saw the address on some of Hillary’s mail. It’s my address. I mean not mine. But the apartment I spent forever finding for me and Mike.”

  Jesus.

  Now I was the one dragging my hand down my face. I didn’t need to know more to know what was probably the full story. Mike left Evie for Hillary. Considering how closely they worked, he’d probably been with sleeping with her before the breakup. It would explain why he refused to fuck Evie.

  “I can’t believe this,” Evie whispered, furiously wiping at her tears. When I collected her hands in mine and tipped her chin up to face me, she curled her lip and turned away. “Don’t make fun of me for crying. I know what you want to say, Drew. That I should never trust anyone. Ev
eryone’ll screw you over at some point. You’ve said it. I get it.”

  It was definitely the told you so moment I lived for, but as much as I loved to prove myself right, I couldn’t bring myself to gloat right now. I didn’t know Mike or Hillary, but this story didn’t surprise me because it was just what I knew of people in general. That said, Evie was blindsided. Again.

  I looked at her big wet eyes. That wobbly lip. I thought of how she just curled up in her bed last night and just smiled so peacefully in her sleep. Despite all that, I was still itching to use this time to evangelize her. To bring her into the no-trust club. After all, misery fucking loved company.

  But there was a small part of me that didn’t want to make her world as dark as mine. It was a sliver, but it refused to fuck her up the way I was fucked.

  And for the first time in my life, I listened to the little voice instead of the big one.

  “Evie, you made your appearance and you ended on a high note. Let’s just go home. I’ll pour you a glass of wine, we’ll watch a movie on the couch and we’ll forget this whole night even happened.”

  “That sounds nice.” Her voice was shaky, pitiful. She continued avoiding my gaze as she wiped her tears. “But I feel like – I feel like I need to know for sure. I need to talk to Hillary. I mean I’ve known her since college. She used to make me care packages because I didn’t have money for groceries. She’s been such a friend to me for so long – there has to be an explanation. Right?”

  “There isn’t, Evie. Please. Don’t do this to yourself.”

  “I feel like I can’t trust anyone,” she spoke over me.

  “Welcome to the club.”

  Whoops. I slipped. The words just came out. And as they did, I watched her cry again, this time into her hands. Her shoulders shook and she tried to stifle her sobs but I heard them, and as I did, I flipped the switch I did whenever women decided to cry in front of me. It generally worked like a mute button so I could comfortably skip this part of the conversation.