"Liv," I call to her.
"Yes." She walks back into the room in pajamas and collapses onto the bed with me.
"I'm telling him in the morning but let's just not bring it up to him again."
"Okay," She replies through a yawn.
Chapter fifteen
"Turn that damn alarm off!" Olivia slaps over at my side of the bed. She is a complete bitch in the mornings. I switch my alarm off and hop out of bed to begin getting ready. I look in the mirror to find dark circles under my eyes from a restless night and world’s worst bed head. I have exactly ninety minutes before Mr. Punctual pulls into the driveway to take me to lunch.
I pull Olivia's robe from the door and wrap it around me. I forgot how cold it is in November in New York. One more thing I despise. I don't have enough time to shower so I will have to work with what I have for my hair. I pull my brush from the drawer along with my make up bag.
I decide to switch off my phone until after William drops me off at the airport. I don't want Kellen to call me while I'm at lunch and be forced to lie to him in front of William. Yeah, that would go over great! A knock on the door jolts me back into my ugly reality.
"Miss Henson, there's a young man here for you."
I jerk my shoes on and grab my suitcase and purse before running down the stairs. I hope to myself that everything goes as planned today a quick lunch with William and back home to talk with Kellen.
"Audrey¸ do you have a coat?" William says as I come into sight.
"Yes." I walk over and pull it from the closet near the front entrance and tug it on. He takes my hand and leads me outside. As soon as the front door opens the chilling wind slaps me in the face, making me just want to go back inside and crawl in bed. Instead I’ll endure this lunch with William to get back to California faster.
His driver greets me and opens the back of the Bentley. I climb in after William when he notices I’m visibly uncomfortable he turns to face me.
“I didn’t ask you to lunch as a chance to win you back,” he assures me.
“Good to know.”
“You were a big part of my life. Someone will be joining us today.”
“You didn’t!” I whip my hand to the door. “Pull over.”
“It’s not Vivian.” I immediately calm down and turn to face him. “I’ve been dating someone and I would like you to meet her.”
I stare blankly at him waiting for him to continue. My mind swims with the possibilities of why he has been working with my mother and why she has been so intent on getting us back together.
“She’s an intern at your company. No, your mother doesn’t know.”
“Wow,” is all I can come up with after several moments of silence. If anyone got wind of this he could be terminated. So why is he telling me?
“I want you to know that I’ve moved on. Also, she asked to meet you.”
New York traffic hasn’t changed since the last time I visited. The car ride has been agonizingly slow since William dropped the bomb of meeting his girlfriend for lunch. I can’t help but think the worst as we get close. Finally, the driver pulls into a quaint café and lets us out.
I follow behind him as he walks over to a corner booth in front of the window. I get a glimpse of a red-headed girl in her early twenties shifting nervously in her seat. She notices someone approaching and stands to greet us. William kisses her on the cheek, I offer my hand but she pulls me in for a hug. I stand there shocked as she pulls back and takes a seat by William.
“I’m Rachel. It’s so nice to finally meet you, Audrey.”
“It’s nice to meet you also, Rachel.” I smile back but I can’t hide my surprise. She isn’t what I was expecting and I’m grateful for this. It’s refreshing to be myself.
“William tells me you’re in college in San Francisco.”
“That’s true. Where did you go to school?”
“NYU, I’m in my last semester.” She lowers eyes on the table. “I’m an intern at Henson; you’re kind of my boss.”
“I’m not taking that position when I graduate,” I assure her. She looks relieved and William looks confused.
“That’s why she’s training me,” he says thinking out loud.
“On a completely different subject, are you really dating Kellen Reeves?” She asks.
“Yes, I am.”
“I’m a huge baseball fan.” She grins and looks at William, “I’m taking you to all the home games this season.”
I can’t help but smile at them. Though she is the last person I ever thought I would see with William, she’s absolutely perfect for him. I’ve never witnessed him this laid back and happy. I glance around the small café and wonder if she’s brought out a side of him that I was never able to.
“Maybe you can visit California. Kellen gives me tickets all the time. I can introduce you to some of the team.”
“That would be awesome!” William shifts uncomfortably, probably because he didn’t hit it off with Kellen last time. In all fairness that was my mother’s fault.
If Kellen sees that William is happy with Rachel, all will be fine. I would like to think that one day we could be friends again. William and I go far back, I knew him before I knew Olivia. The three of us were close at one time, until we started dating. That thought makes me frown.
After lunch William and Rachel both ride with me to the airport. I walk into the airport with a huge smile on my face after an unexpectedly great afternoon with them.
Chapter sixteen
I check my phone once again as I exit the plane in San Francisco. No messages. I pull my bag behind me toward the exit to catch a cab. I push the door open and warmer air greets me. I look up the strip for a vacant cab when I notice a white Range Rover pulling in to park on the side. I notice the windows are rolled down so I walk over to see if it’s Kellen finally here to pick me up.
“It’s me,” he says when he sees me walking up slowly.
I open the back door and toss my purse and carry on in the back seat before I take my seat in front. He doesn’t say anything and barely looks in my direction as he pulls onto the busy street.
"What's going on?" I ask finally as he pulls into his driveway after a long drive.
"I called and texted you trying to find out when I needed to get you from the airport but your phone went straight to voicemail. I called Olivia to ask her when you would be back. We had a nice chat."
"I was going to tell you...”
"Tell me what?" He shouts at me, interrupting my lame excuse.
"That I was going to lunch with him," I state the obvious. He can be so hard to follow sometimes.
"Are you dating him?" His light blue eyes dance around my face looking for reassurance. Is he serious? I let out a breath not wanting to have this same fight with him. I turn to see him punch his steering wheel leaving a dent in the center.
"No, and I can’t have this fight again." Did he really think I went back to New York to get back together with William? Does he know me at all? “Can you just take me home?”
“Where’s Olivia?”
“She is staying in New York for a few nights. I can call a cab.” I reach for my purse to pull out my phone but he stops me.
“You aren’t staying alone. Come on.”
Kellen walks ahead of me and leads me into the dining room where his family is seated at the table for dinner. They each look at me in surprise. Great, they all know what happened. I can only imagine what they think of mine and Kellen's roller coaster relationship.
"This is a surprise. It's good to have you, Audrey." Lori breaks the silence and gets up to properly greet me with a hug. Kellen’s uncle and Chloe wave and try to mask their surprise. This is going to be the most awkward dinner.
"I hope you’re hungry," Lori says as she hands me a plate.
"I am. Thank you this looks wonderful." She smiles at me in response and immediately dives into conversations with Chloe about colleges she's applying to for the fall semester. I try to be attentive and
answer when I'm expected to but my mind is not in this conversation right now. I wish Kellen would have taken me home instead of making everyone uncomfortable with our ongoing problems.
"That was great, Lori. Thank you so much. If you’ll excuse me I think I'm going to shower and lie down."
"Of course, you must be exhausted."
"You can take my room. I’ll sleep on the couch," Kellen says without bothering to look up at me.
Talk about a slap in the face. I nod and walk into his room. I set my small suitcase by his bed side table and grab my things for a shower. His single picture frame on the table catches my attention and brings a smile to my face. It’s a photo of us from Halloween. He was furious with my outfit but he said the picture of me in it is okay for his eyes only.
I reach for the shower knobs and jump in as soon as the water starts to fall. His massive shower is empty without him in here with me but the fact that he still has my picture makes me feel better. He obviously still cares, if only we could get on the same page. I sigh at that thought. When my fingers start to prune I reach for the towel to dry off. I pull on Kellen's shirt and throw my hair into a ponytail as I do every night. Footsteps in Kellen's room bring me from my daydream and I let the curiosity get the best of me.
"Is that you?" I poke my head out of the door before I step out
"Yeah," he's grabbing clothes and his guitar. He was obviously trying to sneak in while I was in the shower so he didn't have to see me.
"Are you going to talk to me?"
"Not tonight.”He walks out of the room without glancing in my direction. So he hates me, but hate is still a feeling, right?
I hear him strumming his guitar from down the hall and I just want to go in there to see him. But I remain standing and staring at the door. I collapse into his huge bed and the heaviness of my eyes gets the best of me. Somewhere between consciousnesses I notice the guitar has stopped and someone has gotten into bed next to me. I fall asleep with a heavy arm around me but I'm too tired to react in any way before I drift peacefully to sleep.
∞
"Good morning, Audrey!" Lori beams at me from the couch when I come out of Kellen's room. She's a morning person and I'm not used to that after living with Olivia for four years. Olivia's not exactly a morning person, or an afternoon or night person either.
"Good morning." I take a seat on the far side of the couch from her to allow myself time to wake up.
"Kellen and Chloe went out for breakfast. They should be back any time." I nod. My stomach drops at the sound of his name. I pull my bottom lip in my mouth and begin to chew anxiously. Kellen said he wouldn't talk to me last night but I know at some point today we will have to talk. He can't avoid me all day, right? I know when I explain to him that William took me to meet his girlfriend he will understand.
Chloe’s voice is followed by an intoxicating and familiar male laugh that stops as soon as he comes into my line of sight. I have a pang of jealousy for Chloe’s ability to make him laugh right now. Just take me home, already, I want to tell him.
"Come on," He demands and leads me toward the secluded room where I first heard him playing his guitar.
I look around the room for the first time. His guitar occupies a corner. There is a chair and small sofa, but what draw me in are the small baseball trophies and pictures that decorate the room. I want to look at each of them but I know that’s not why he brought me in here.
"Sit." He motions toward the chair and shoves his hands in his pockets. He looks perfect in his grey, long sleeve thermal and loose fitting jeans. His serious demeanor and demands thrill me to my core even though I wouldn't admit that to him.
"I need to know if you're done with William."
"He and I were done years ago."
"And yet here we are." He casually leans his weight into the wall and his blue eyes burn with accusation.
"How's your friend that visited last week?" My temper flares. Why am I on the hot seat when he's done a lot worse things than I have?
"You'll have to be more specific." The corner of his mouth turns up with a cocky lopsided grin.
“He invited me to lunch to meet his girlfriend! I hope you feel like an asshole!”
I shoot up from the bed and stalk over to the door but his large hands reach my wrist before I can leave. He hooks his arm around my waist to pull me in close to him. He gives me an apologetic smile and I can see in his eyes that it's sincere I get goose bumps on the back over my neck when he starts to run his hand through my hair. His light blue eyes dance around my face and his expression is completely serious as he contemplates something. I wish I knew what was going on in that gorgeous head of his.
"Can we just start over?" He finally breaks the long silence.
"Start over? You want to go back to how we were when we first met?"
"Not that far." He shakes his head at me and pulls me close to him so he can whisper in my ear. "I have four weeks of making up to do and I don't care who hears us."
My cheeks flush deep red. How can I be so embarrassed and turned on at the same time? This man in front of me never fails to amaze me. He brings my lips to his slowly and cautious as if I may change my mind. His full lips push my mouth open and his tongue begs entrance into my mouth as his fingers tangle in my hair, tugging me closer to him.
"Let’s go to my room." He pulls away from me to look into my eyes.
"I have four weeks of making up to do. I don't care where it's at." I quote him adding my own touch to it. He didn't need any more convincing his mouth crashed hungrily into mine as soon as the words left my mouth.
He kicks his pants off in record time and does the same with mine. I pull the hem of his shirt up, caressing his defined muscles as I tug it off. He lifts me up and lays me down on the small couch his lips never leaving mine.
I watch as he slowly tears the foil square package and rolls it into place. When he enters me he leans down to capture my mouth. “Say you won’t see him again,” he whispers in my ear, nipping and biting while he does.
“It’s not like that, Kellen.” He groans in frustration but doesn’t push it any further.
His pace quickens and I feel the muscles in my core tightening. When my body begins to quiver his mouth meets mine again, capturing my moans before anyone can hear. After his release he collapses on top of me out of breath. “I’ll take my time tonight,” he promises.
Chapter seventeen
I come down off of my Kellen high as the reality of things come crashing down on me. His family is here and they probably heard us.
"I'm never leaving this room." I look over at Kellen who is squeezed in between me and the back of the couch.
"Mmm, fine with me." He starts a trail of kisses on my neck completely missing my point.
"Stop, you're family is right outside!" My face is flushed with embarrassment.
"You didn’t say that ten minutes ago,” he chuckles. “They don’t know what was going on in here.”
I give him my best glare to show him I'm being serious but my face fails me when I instantly break into a huge grin I can't possibly stay mad at him after what just happened.
"They haven’t even been here, Audrey. Come on." He tosses me my clothes and he starts pulling on his jeans. The site of him dressing makes me pout; he laughs and shakes his head at me.
"What if Chloe and her boyfriend were in this situation?"
"She's like my little sister. She doesn't date and she damn sure isn't going to have sex," he laughs.
"Yeah, okay." I give him a look that says you’re stupid and grab his hand. "Let’s do the walk of shame."
Going out to shop, you have the house to yourself. –Lori
The note was taped on the door. I didn't know it was possible to blush so much until I met Kellen. He shrugs and starts walking through the empty house completely unaffected by this.
“I told you that they weren’t here,” he says. "Are you hungry?"
"Yes!"
My stomach growls at the tho
ught of food. I look over at him rummaging through the cabinets in search for food and wonder how I ever left him. He didn't bother to put his shirt back on. He only wears his low rise jeans exposing his ripped upper body. He looks like domesticated sex on a stick if that's possible. I giggle out loud.
"I can't wait to fight and make up again," he teases.
"No we aren't fighting again!" I say in an offended tone.
"Give me a week, I'll fuck it up." That earns him an eye roll. "Did you see your mom?" He changes the subject.
"No," I sigh.
"Have you decided what you're doing when you graduate?"
"I'm not moving back to New York." I bury my face in my hands from the stress this conversation is bringing back. "I don't know what I want to be when I grow up."
"You don't have to decide right now. Take time off when you graduate."
"Easy for you to say," Kellen apparently always knew he was going to play baseball. From an early age when he started he fell in love with the game and strived to make it a career. I wish I had ambition and a passion like he does.
"Move in with me. The season will just be starting when you graduate and you can just come to my games and travel with me."
"Kellen, we just got back together. Let's slow things down." I can't hide the shock on my face or in my voice. Did he seriously just ask me to move in with him? And he wants me to travel with him instead of finding my own career. I'm not getting lost in his shadow and being at his beck and call.
"Just say when." He leans over and presses his full mouth on mine for a quick peck.
My phone vibrates from my pocket dragging me from my near anxiety attack of Kellen asking me to devote my life to him. Olivia's name flashes on my screen.
"Hey Liv." She sighs in response. "What's going on?"
"I'm at the airport," she snaps.
"You're coming home?"
"Yes." Her tone is snappy and cut to the point. Olivia always wants to be dramatic and make me drag information from her. I'm used to her odd venting technique.
"What happened?" Kellen gives me a concerned look while he adds more food to my plate. He must be worried about Adrian. To say that Kellen and Olivia don't get along would be the understatement of the year.
Forever Careless Page 9