Hot Mess

by Emma Hart

  She slid her dark eyes my way. “That’s kind of creepy.”

  “It’s not like I’ve been sitting here with binoculars. The house is right there. It’s not like you can miss it.”

  “Sure you can miss it. Just don’t look.”

  “Blaire.”

  She laughed, flipping her braids over her shoulder. She dragged on the cigarette then stubbed it out. “And you didn’t call her? Or text her? Or, you know. Go over there?”

  “I don’t have her number.”

  Another laugh.

  Why was I talking to her again? I should have told her to send Alex over with Adalyn, but here I was.

  “I had no intention of having it when she came here, and when I put mine in her phone, she joked that if I wanted her number, all I had to do was ask for it.”

  She sighed heavily. “And you didn’t.”

  “Obviously not. But I also didn’t think it’d be two days before our paths crossed. Plus she’s been here a week so I thought we’d discuss a longer-term rental plan, but she just sent the money to my bank account this morning.”

  “You’re charging here?”

  “Blaire, she was a stranger when she showed up here. Yes, I’m charging her. It’s my business.”

  “All right, I’m just sayin’.” She moved the ashtray out of the way and picked up her mug of coffee. “Why didn’t you go over there and check in?”

  “I was going to, but it felt awkward. And she’s been dealing with a lot. When she was here three days ago, she found out for sure it was her ex who sold the tape.”

  “Sold it? What a motherfucking sleazebag.”

  That was one way of putting it.

  “I know she was reporting it to the police on Friday and then speaking to her agent or whoever to figure out her next moves. I didn’t want to go and distract her, because if Ari knew I was going over there…”

  She chuckled, looking at the girls. “Yeah, you’d never get her away. I’m here. Do you want me to run over and see if she’s okay?”

  I stared at her.

  “Hey, I like her. I think she’s cool. It wouldn’t be weird if I went over there. Only you, considering you can’t seem to figure out if you’re attracted to her or not.”

  “I can safely say I’m attracted to her, Blaire.”

  “I would be, too, if I swung that way.” She winked at me and got up. “I’ll be ten minutes. Tell Adalyn I’ll whoop her ass if she’s naughty.”

  I rolled my eyes because we both knew I would do no such thing.

  Blaire and I had been friends since I’d moved to Creek Keys, when she’d taken the ‘weird English kid’ under her rather quirky wing. Then she met Alex when he came on vacation—and he never left.

  I sat and waited for her to return like a lost bloody puppy. She did, within a few minutes, and sat back down on the step next to me.

  “Well?”

  She tilted her head to the side, watching as the girls ran down to the waves. “Don’t go in too deep!” she yelled at them. “Knees only!”

  I winced and rubbed my ear. The woman could shout for America, that was for sure. “Blaire. Focus.”

  “Sorry. She’s fine. She’s just been really busy. She said she was on the phone to the police for four hours on Friday and two hours to her lawyer before that. Not including the ten million calls to her sister who’s checked in every thirty minutes.” She paused. “I think that was an exaggeration, but she really didn’t act like it.”

  “From what I understand, they’re really close.”

  “Uh-huh. Yesterday she was on and off the phone with her agent and publicist. Apparently, she’s been given the green light to post a video that basically says it was published without her knowledge, but no further comment will be given while there’s legal shit happening.”

  “Very technical.”

  “Shut up. She’s trying to figure out the best way to do it without giving too much away to her younger fans. I had to hide her laptop because she was about to throw it across the room.”

  “You hid her laptop?”

  “Yeah. She went to the bathroom, and I put it in the dryer.”

  “Let’s hope she opens it before she starts it,” I muttered. “So now what? Is she holing up until she figures something out?”

  “Nope. I’m taking your daughter for a few hours, and you’re going to go over there and help her.”

  “Blaire.”

  “No.” She shook her head so vigorously she almost whipped me with her braids.

  “Put those away.” I gathered them in my fist and set them so they hung over her shoulder—the one farthest away from me. “You’re gonna take my eye out.”

  “Good. Then you might use your ears instead.”

  “Why are you taking Arielle?”

  “Because.” She touched her hand to my knee. “You clearly like Elle.”

  “Oh, Jesus, not you, too. I just had this rant from my aunt last night.”

  “Oh, I’m not gonna Elsie you.” She laughed. “But part of the reason you don’t date is because you always have Arielle. You have no time to build relationships. It was so much fun the other night when we hung out. We haven’t done that since Christmas.”

  “You have to work. You can’t just take Ari so I can have a life.”

  “Actually, I’m on vacation for the next two weeks, so I can.”

  “You’re self-employed.”

  “Fine, so I’m working from home. Same difference. You know that.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Theo, if you like her, spend time with her. She clearly needs a friend right now—”

  “You could be that friend.”

  “No. We all know I’m not that patient. Besides, you like her. I can see it in you. So what if she’s going to leave? Have a fling. Is it going to kill you?”

  “What is your obsession with me being in a relationship?”

  “I want you to be happy.”

  “And you don’t think I’m happy with the way my life is?”

  “I didn’t say that,” she said slowly. “Just because you’re not unhappy doesn’t mean you’re happy, Theo. You can exist in an ambivalent state where you are both, yet neither.”

  “What am I? Schrodinger’s Cat?”

  “Maybe. Do you meow when you’re hungry?” Blaire grinned, her white teeth gleaming. “Look, I’ll take Arielle now and she can hang out at our place until after dinner. The girls can help me make spaghetti. I’ll bring her home around seven-thirty. That gives you a good six hours to spend time with Elle and just… I don’t know. Figure out if you can see something going somewhere.”

  “I think you’ve lost your mind, woman.”

  She turned and pressed her hands either side of my face. “And I think you’ve yet to find yours, sir. But you’re my best friend and I want you to be happy. If I have to make you do it, I will. Now, I’m going to kidnap your child.”

  There was no way I was getting out of this, so I simply sighed and let her run down the beach toward the girls so she could bribe them with her spaghetti.

  It was bloody good spaghetti.

  Thirty minutes later, Arielle and Adalyn were bundled in the back of Blaire’s car and were waving goodbye to me. After a quick shower, I made my way over to Elle’s place and walked up the back deck.

  I peered through the doors. She was sitting cross legged on the sofa with her phone held out at arm’s length.

  Well, she hadn’t found her laptop yet.

  I waited until she threw her phone down on the sofa and buried her face in her hands, then knocked. She jerked up, turning my way, and got up. She came over and unlocked the door before sliding it open to let me in.

  “Did Blaire send you?”

  “Blaire forced me is probably the more accurate wording,” I said slowly. “She kidnapped my child.”

  “I am absolutely not surprised. Come in.” She walked to the kitchen. “Do you want anything to drink? I don’t have any fancy English tea, but I do have cold mineral water.”
r />   I fought a smile. “The water is fine.”

  She pulled two bottles from the fridge and handed me one. “So why did she send you over?”

  “She updated me on everything from the last couple of days. She thought I could help you with your video.”

  “I can’t make a video. The angle is all wrong on my phone, and all my editing software is on my laptop that Blaire hid.”

  “It’s in the dryer.”

  “It’s in the—why is it in the dryer?”

  “Because Blaire’s weird.”

  She put down the water and walked into the utility room. Sure as shit, she opened the dryer door and pulled out her laptop. “Well, shit. That is weird. But it worked. I guess I don’t want to stab it with a butter knife anymore.”

  I laughed as she put it on the kitchen island. “Always a bonus,” I agreed. “What’s going on?”

  She sat on one of the stools and sank her fingers into her hair. “Well, we reported it to the police. Surprisingly, they accepted the report as evidence, and after three or four hours on a video interview with Bethany—that’s my lawyer—they finally decided they had enough to bring him in for questioning.”

  “That’s good, right?”

  “No. He’s not at his last known address, and the last place his debit card was used was at a gas station in Canada. He has family there, so I told them what I knew last night, and they’re now looking for him.” She reached for her water and played with the cap. “My lawyer said I was allowed to make a public statement as long as I make it clear there is no comment to be made because of legal proceedings, so that’s what I’m going to do. Problem is, I don’t know how to do that. So many of my viewers are kids like Ari and they don’t need to know about this. I have no idea what to do, Theo. I need to address it, but I want to protect the kids, too.”

  I sat on the stool next to her and exhaled. That was a lot of emotion for one person to be holding inside like that. A lot of emotion to be dealing with, and that was only what she was handling right now.

  I wished I could make it easier for her. Take some of that turmoil away.

  Shit.

  Blaire was right.

  There was something about Elle that made me want to know her, and now I was here, that I had this time, I was going to do just that.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN – ELLE

  “Why don’t we take a walk? Get out of the house?”

  I frowned at him. “How can that possibly help me right now?”

  “Because you’ve done nothing but talk on the phone for two days. Is twenty minutes walking up the beach with me going to kill you?”

  “No, but what if someone calls me?”

  “You’re leaving your phone here.” He stood up and held out his hand. “Come on. Fresh air will do you good. Think about something else. Get some perspective.”

  “I guess. You’re going to make me, aren’t you?”

  “Even if I have to haul you over my shoulder, grab your keys, and lock you out.”

  Well, there were worse ways to be forced into a walk on the beach.

  “Settle down, Prince Charming. I’ll go willingly.” I spun on the stool and followed him to the back door. I locked it behind us, then stepped down after Theo onto the beach.

  He offered me his arm, making my heart skip a little. I hooked my hand through his elbow and let the sand flow between my bare toes. It was hot, but not so warm that it was too much to bear.

  It was nice to walk and get fresh air. The fact that Theo didn’t ask any questions nor expect me to speak was even better, and we walked the entire length of his stretch of the beach. I listened to nothing but the crashing of the waves, the cawing of gulls as they flew over the coastline, and the occasional shout from the tourists who were staying in his other properties.

  We turned at the end and went back in the direction of our houses. Since we’d switched sides because we’d literally turned around, I slipped my hand from his arm and walked the six or feet to the water. It was cold as it crawled over my feet, and I kept my head down to follow the coastline.

  Theo stayed close to me, but he still didn’t speak. It was almost as if he knew I needed the silence, but that I also needed company.

  It made my heart swell.

  That kind of understanding… it was a rare thing.

  I stopped when we were close to my house. “Did Blaire really kidnap Ari?”

  “Yep.” He stepped into the water right next to me, hands in the pockets of his shorts. “Bribed her with spaghetti. She makes the best spaghetti in the world.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. Her mum is Jamaican, but her dad is half-Italian. She’s one the best cooks I know. Her spaghetti is like this weird Italian-Caribbean fusion that sounds gross, but is amazing.”

  “Remind me to invite myself to dinner one night.”

  Theo laughed and nudged me with his elbow. “Adalyn—her daughter—is obsessed with you. Unless you want another risky nine-year-old running around town…”

  “I’m sure it’ll get out sooner or later. I’d prefer later, but…”

  “Then don’t tell Adalyn. Besides, I’m pretty sure Blaire is girl-crushing on you, so all you’d have to do is ask her, and she’d probably show up with an entire pot of it for you.”

  “I don’t see the issue here.”

  “I’ll ask her if you promise to share.”

  I snorted. “Get your own.”

  “I keep trying. She tells me she wants me to wash her car as payment, even if I buy the ingredients.”

  “You have a weird friendship.”

  “No kidding. I don’t know how I’ve put up with her for fourteen years.”

  “Fourteen years? Wow. When did you meet?”

  Theo cupped my elbow and gently pulled me back as the waves came up a little higher. “I was the weird English kid in school, and she adopted me. That was that.”

  “A bit like she did to me at the bar.”

  “Exactly like what she did to you at the bar. It’s kind of her thing, and I’m used to it. Also, I knew she was going to do it to you.” He peered over at me with a ghost of a smile on his face. “What about you?”

  “What about me?” I looked down and kicked at a small pebble.

  “You’ve only mentioned your family and He Who Shall Not Be Named.”

  “Okay, now you’re just insulting Voldemort.”

  Theo chuckled. “Don’t you have any friends missing you?”

  The pit of my stomach dropped. “You might find this hard to believe, but I don’t really have any friends.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yep. I live a pretty solitary life. Don’t get me wrong, I know tons of people. Both in and outside of my business, and I guess I consider a few vloggers my friends, but nobody I can call up for drinks like you can.”

  “That’s… sad.”

  “Basically. I’m kind of lame. And believe me, millions of views doesn’t make up for a lack of a social life.” I kept my eyes on the waves as they crept up higher, well above my ankle now. “A lot of my friends moved in Mitch’s circle, and when I broke up with him, they went with him.”

  “That’s brutal.”

  “That’s life,” I replied honestly. “People who work a lot have to sacrifice a lot. For me, that was a lot of personal relationships, and look where it’s gotten me.”

  “Dramatic, but understandable.”

  “Dramatic?” I laughed hollowly. “I guess so. I’m just wishing I made different choices than the ones I did.”

  “I think everyone feels like that. I sometimes wish I’d made different choices, but then I wouldn’t have my life now. Sure, I don’t get to go out, and I lost my twenties because I became a single dad when I was twenty-two, but I have the most wonderful daughter out of those decisions.” He stepped toward me and pushed my hair from my face. “Your decisions led you here, Elle. To a place where you can change the decisions you’ve made. Where there are people who care about you.”

  “L
ots of people care about me, Theo, but it’s because of who I am.”

  “I wanted to avoid you because of who you are. Then I got to know you. I’m not here because you’re Elle Evans, vlogger of things I don’t understand.”

  I met his eyes, fighting a smile.

  “I’m here because you’re just Elle, and I happen to kind of like this version of you. Despite all my efforts otherwise.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “That’s on you. I still don’t have your number.”

  “You still haven’t asked. That’s not my fault. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.”

  Theo’s lips twitched. “Can I have your phone number?”

  Laughter bubbled inside me. “No, sorry.”

  “What the fuck?”

  “I don’t have my phone, and I don’t know the number anyway.” I grinned, patting his cheek. “You’ll have to wait.”

  He sighed, but I could see he was trying not to laugh at me.

  “Besides, I thought you were here because Blaire made you.”

  “Eh, I’m not good at the dating thing. I’m out of practice.”

  My eyes widened. “Are you saying you want to date me?”

  He barked out the laugh he’d been holding in and pulled me out of the almost knee-deep water. “See? Not great. But there’s no need to look so surprised.”

  “I’m not surprised. I’m shocked. I can be that.” Yep. I could be that. One hundred percent shocked.

  “I’m really attracted to you, Elle,” he said quietly. “Have been since I saw you. I don’t know how long you’re gonna be here for, but for as long as you’re here, I’d like to spend time with you.”

  Wow.

  Wow.

  I smiled shyly, pushing my hair back from my face, and turned to walk back to the house. “I don’t mind your company,” I admitted. “And as for being here… I sent you money for another week this morning. I meant to do it on Friday, but—”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “I wanted to extend for a month. I like it here. It’s quiet and calm and slow-paced. I think it might do me some good to get away from my normal life.” I peered over at him with a small smile. “Besides, I have no idea what’s going to happen when I eventually go back to New York, but for now, my sister is sending my belongings down to me.”