by J. S. Cooper
Chapter Four
“Hey, can I speak to you for a moment?” I walked up to my new friend Liv and tapped her on the shoulder. I looked around the room to make sure that Henry wasn’t in the room. I didn’t need him trying to make the moves on me in front of everyone. Liv was married to Henry’s brother, Xander, and I was hoping I could get some information out of her about Henry before I made any decisions about what I was going to do next.
“Sure, Lacey. Just a second.” She smiled at me as she finished drinking the glass of wine in her hand. I stood there and kept a pleasant smile on my face as I waited. I could see Eliza staring at me from across the room. Eliza was dating Liv’s brother, Scott, and that was how I knew both Liv and Henry. I was happy that Eliza had found an awesome guy, but it made me feel a little left out and lonely. Especially now that I was hanging out with Eliza, Liv, and Liv’s best friend Alice, who was engaged to Liv’s other brother Aiden. And knowing that Liv was married to Xander, Henry’s brother, had me really curious. Xander had the same twinkling green eyes that Henry had. Their eyes seemed to devour you when they looked at you and I had to admit that they both made me feel faint in the knees when they looked at me. Not that I was interested in Xander or him in me—he loved Liv with all his being and that was obvious to everyone—but he had the same charm that Henry had. Only Henry seemed to have it in spades.
“Okay, done,” she said and put her glass down. “What do you want to talk about?” She looked at me curiously.
“Can we go in my room?” I said quietly as I noticed Henry entering the room and she nodded, her expression concerned. I felt bad that I was being so stealthy, but there was no way I wanted to have this conversation out in the open. I walked out of the living room and down the corridor to my bedroom quickly, closing the door behind Liv as she followed me inside.
“Your room is gorgeous,” Liv said with a smile as she looked around. “Henry really has such a beautiful house.”
“He does, doesn’t he?” I nodded in agreement. “He’s really lucky.”
“Yeah, he is.” She looked at me with a genuine smile. “I’m so glad that Eliza and you were able to make it this weekend. I’m glad she and Scott were able to sort things out. It’s been clear as day to all of us that they should be together.”
“That who should be together?” Eliza and Alice burst into the room, both of their faces curious as Eliza closed the door and grinned at me. “You and Henry?”
“No.” I went red at her comment. Liv and Alice were both looking at me curiously, huge grins on their faces. “Uhm, what are you guys doing in here?” I asked and looked at Eliza, trying to change the subject. I hoped she didn’t open her mouth too much. I didn’t want the other girls to know that I’d been crushing on Henry.
“Obviously we’re here to find out what’s going on.” She grinned at me. “As soon as I saw you and Liv walking down here, I had to know what was going on.”
“We were talking about you and Scott,” I said quickly. “Liv was saying that she was glad you and Scott were back together.”
“Yeah.” Liv grinned over at her. “You and my brother are a perfect pair.” Then she looked over at me and wiggled her eyebrows. “And what’s this I hear? Are you interested in my brother-in-law?” She winked at me. “I can see why if you are. Henry is gorgeous.”
“I don’t even know him.” I went red and then collapsed down on the bed and sighed. “Who am I kidding? I think he’s hot. Really hot, but I just don’t know if it’s a good idea to pursue my interest.” I made a face at the girls. “I feel like he’s not a serious sort of guy.”
“What do you mean by serious?” Liv asked me curiously. “Like book serious?”
“Like relationship serious,” Eliza answered for me. “Lacey’s unsure if Henry is the sort that wants a girlfriend or if he just wants to have some fun.”
“Oooh.” Liv nodded understanding. “Yeah, I can see that.” She looked thoughtful for a few seconds. “Honestly, I don’t know him that well, so I’m not really sure what sort of guy he is.”
“He does look like a player though,” Alice said and made a face. “Not that I know him or anything, but he’s super rich and he’s gorgeous.”
“Yup,” I agreed. “He has everything going for him. He really doesn’t need someone like me in his life. What do I have to give him that would make him want to commit to me? Not that I’m looking for him to commit to me or anything. I mean, I don’t even know him that well. Maybe I’m just overthinking everything.” I sighed and sat up. “You guys can ignore me. I’m just driving myself crazy.”
“That’s because you think he’s sexy.” Liv grinned.
“And you want to do him,” Eliza added, and we all started laughing.
“Let’s be real here, girls. Who wouldn’t want to?” I almost shouted. “He’s frigging hot!” I closed my eyes and thought of Henry and his cocky sexy smile and could feel myself melting. “Why, oh why does he have to be so hot?”
“I’m taking it that something might go down this weekend then?” Liv asked with a smile, but I shook my head quickly.
“I don’t know. I don’t know.” I licked my lips nervously. “I’m not really a one-night stand kind of girl.”
“I know, but maybe you can also have some fun. Just see what happens,” Eliza said and gave me a look. “Unless you think there’s a chance that you’ll get hurt, then you should definitely just stay away.”
“I mean, after Steven, I’m always scared of getting hurt. You know how it is when you get your heart broken.”
“He was a douchebag,” Eliza said. “I’m so sorry he hurt you. You deserved better than him.”
“Yeah. I mean, I’m over him now. I just don’t want to go through pain like that again, you know?”
“Heartache sucks,” Alice said and made a face. “There’s nothing worse than a guy screwing you over. Trust me, I know.”
“Yeah, it feels like you just want to die,” Liv said. “It sucks. I take it you had a bad breakup?”
“Yeah, my last relationship ended really badly.” I made a face. “And I’m just not sure what Henry wants. He’s been flirting with me a little bit, and I’m not sure if I should flirt back and engage with him or if I should just ignore him. I’m so confused.”
“What do you want to do?” Liv asked me, a thoughtful expression on her face.
“I want to kiss him,” I said honestly and blushed. “I just want to know what it feels like to have his lips on mine. Oh my God, I sound like a little kid, don’t I?”
“No, you sound like I felt when I first met Xander,” Liv said with a smile. “All I could think about was being with him, morning, noon, and night even though I thought he was a cocky jerk.”
“Really?” I asked her, surprised by her words. “But he seems so nice. I never would have thought he was cocky.”
“Haha, trust me, Henry has nothing on Xander. Both of the James brothers seem to think they are God’s gift to women.”
“Hahaha, that’s so true.” I burst out laughing at her words. “Henry seems to think he’s a sex god or something, and that I should be on my knees in admiration of him.”
“Oh yeah, I can see that,” Liv said and we both just smiled at each other. I knew then that she was a kindred spirit. She understood what I was going through, having had her own issues with a James brother. Though for some reason I felt like Henry was going to be an even bigger challenge than Xander had been. Henry just seemed to be the biggest alpha male I’d ever seen.
“Anyway, we should go.” Liv gave me a winning smile. “I think we all need to make ourselves beautiful for dinner.”
“Yeah. I definitely need to have a shower,” Alice said as she ran her hands through her hair. “I feel all sweaty.”
“Yes, I need to clean up as well.” Eliza grinned. “I don’t want Scott to think that I’m a scrub.”
“Haha, he would never think that.” Liv started laughing. “He’s lucky to have you in any form you come in, and I’m pr
etty sure that none of those forms are a scrub.”
“You’re too sweet.” Eliza shook her head, beaming at the compliments. “But trust me, when I wake up in the morning, I look like the Loch Ness Monster.”
“I can confirm that,” I joked. “And I can say that because I look like her hairier cousin, Big Foot.”
“Big Foot that needs Nair, stat,” Eliza quipped and we both started laughing. Liv and Alice gave us an amused look and started laughing as well.
“You two remind me so much of Alice and me,” Liv said with a grin. “I’m so glad that we’re all friends now.”
“Yeah, we’re double the trouble,” Alice said with a grin. “The guys better watch out.”
“Yes, I need to change as well. We need to look hot tonight. These guys need to think we’re the hottest girls in the world.”
“Well, we are, aren’t we?” Alice said and gave me a wink.
“Don’t we wish!” We both started laughing uncontrollably, somehow our moods were both unreasonably high.
I wondered if that was a good or bad sign for the night. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been so excited about a guy. I couldn’t remember the last time that I’d wanted to be with someone so badly. Had craved them like a fish craved the water. Henry was a charismatic, enigmatic man. A man I was both intrigued and scared by. I didn’t know what he wanted. Didn’t know what he needed. What his end game was.
And a part of me didn’t care. A part of me wanted to just see where it went. A part of me just wanted to go with the flow and let myself float through knowing him. It was something that made absolutely no sense to someone like me. Something that I wasn’t used to. I wasn’t normally a go-with-the-flow sort of girl. I was a girl who wanted the answers. I was a girl who needed to know where I stood at all hours of the day. And I certainly had no clue where I stood with him. No clue whatsoever. It was something that I found confusing. That I could so easily get over my fears was something I’d never expected, but I was excited by the possibility of having a new and adventurous man in my life. I knew that the experiences that he could bring to my life would be like no other.
I just hoped that I wouldn’t end up broken by the end of it.
“We don’t need to wish,” Liv said with a grin as she and Alice both headed toward the bedroom door. “We’ll see you guys at dinner, yeah?”
“Of course, we wouldn’t miss it,” Eliza said as she headed toward the door as well. “I’ll see you later, Lacey.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “And don’t stress about Shane. He’s your ex for a reason. Let him do and think whatever he wants to do. Don’t let it affect your relationship with Scott. It does seem like he’s following you around though and trying really hard to get you back. I sure hope he doesn’t turn up this weekend.”
“I know,” she said with a wary smile. “He’s definitely not worth my time or energy. I’m glad to have this weekend away, where I can just focus on Scott and not think about Shane at all. I really hope he doesn’t show up. I don’t even know why he wants me back so badly. I’m not sure if he has good intentions or not.”
“Yay, good-bye to bad rubbish,” I said and made a kicking movement. “He was, and still is, a real jackass.”
“You can say that again.” Eliza made a face, and I grinned at her.
“He was, and still is, a real jackass.”
“Haha, oh, Lacey.”
“Oh, Eliza.” I laughed and reached over and gave her a hug. “We’ll get through this weekend, I promise.”
“I sure hope so. Here’s to us, and here’s to Scott and Henry.”
“Oh, Henry,” I groaned and made a face. “What am I going to do?”
“You’ll figure it out. I promise.” She gave me her pinky. “Trust me, it’ll work out.”
“I hope you’re right.” I laughed and then flapped my hands at her. “Now scoot, I have things to do.” She ran out of my bedroom and I looked at the contents of my suitcase to see what outfit would be best for the evening. I wanted Henry to want me and to think I was the hottest girl he’d ever seen—but I didn’t want him to think I was easy. I had to play it just right; which was going to be hard because I wasn’t even sure what I wanted.
***
“Wow, just wow.”
Someone was mumbling behind me as all of us stood in the hallway of Henry’s house, feeling dazed and confused. I stared at Eliza in shock. I felt for her and what she must be going through. The sudden appearance of Shane, Eliza’s ex, at the front door and his confrontation with her still had us all reeling.
But it was what he’d just revealed that had me more in shock. I couldn’t believe it. I just couldn’t believe it. I never would have guessed. Never would have known. I knew that Shane had shown up here to make trouble for Eliza and Scott; I knew that. But he’d also succeeded in stirring up trouble for her and me. Eliza had slept with my ex back when we were in college. How could I forgive her? How could she have done this to me?
I never thought that I’d ever question my friendship with Eliza. I never thought that she’d ever been anything but a best friend to me. I guess I thought wrong. I thought we knew everything about each other. I thought we had no secrets. Best friends aren’t meant to have secrets. Best friends aren’t meant to keep things from each other. I didn’t want her to think I was okay with what she’d done, even if it was in the past. I understood why she hadn’t told me, but I still didn’t think it was cool. Not at all. I couldn’t believe she’d slept with my ex-boyfriend. And kept it from me. How could she not have told me that she’d slept with Steven? I felt like my whole world was upside down. If I couldn’t even trust Eliza, who could I trust? I would have trusted her with my life. I would have bet good money—in fact, I would have bet all that I had—that she would have never done anything like that to me. I was still in shock.
And I never would have known if Shane hadn’t shown up at Henry’s house. Even if it had been a one-time thing. Even if it had been a mistake. I couldn’t believe that she’d never told me. I couldn’t believe that she could have crossed that line. I never would have done something like that to her. I never could have slept with someone she’d dated. And then to not tell me. How could she do that? How could she have betrayed me like that? How could we be best friends if she could hide something like that from me? I felt like my whole world was tumbling around me and I had no clue how to make it better.
***
“Are you okay?” Henry looked at me, his face a sea of concern. I wondered if he was being sincere or if he was just a really good actor. What did it matter to him if I wasn’t okay? He wasn’t my confidante or my friend. I was nothing to him.
“I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” I shrugged, trying to ignore the pain that was running through my body. I stared at him and blinked rapidly, trying to stop the tears from pouring from my eyes.
“Maybe because you and your best friend just fell out?” His lips thinned as he surveyed my face. “Are you upset that she slept with your boyfriend? Do you still love him?”
“What?” I looked at him for a few seconds. “What do you mean, do I still love him?” I made a face at him. That was a weird question to ask. I hadn’t dated Steven in years, but I suppose that Henry didn’t know that. He didn’t know that Steven and I had never even had sex and that while I’d thought I was in love with him for a short time, it had been puppy love and I really couldn’t care less about him. I cared much more about the fact that Eliza had been keeping this secret from me for years.
“Is that why you’re upset? Are you jealous?” His voice grew deeper and his eyes narrowed. “Do you feel sad because you wish you were still with him?”
“What?” I couldn’t believe him. “I don’t wish that I was still with him. Why would you think that?”
“Do you wish you were still having sex with him then?” He almost snarled. “Is that why you look like you want to cry?”
“You’re such a jerk!” I shook my head, my mind reeling at his words. Was that a
ll he thought about? Sex? “I can’t believe you’re speaking to me like this. The world doesn’t revolve around sex.”
“You can’t believe that I’m asking you direct and straightforward questions?” He raised an eyebrow at me, and his green eyes looked into mine mockingly. “Or you can’t believe that I’m calling you out on still holding onto sexual fantasies in your head about your jerk of an ex-boyfriend?”
“Those aren’t appropriate questions. No, I don’t still love him, and no, I don’t wish I was having sex with him still. And my fantasies are whatever I want them to be.” I didn’t tell him that Steven and I had never had sex. He didn’t need to know that. “And it’s none of your business if I was having fantasies about him anyway.”
He looked annoyed at my response. “I’m just concerned about you. I would like to know what I can do to make you feel better. It is not healthy to have sexual fantasies about an ex. Maybe I can help.”
“If I said yes, I want your help, how would you help me?” I made a face at him. “What if I said yes, I desperately missed him and wanted him back, how would you help me?” I asked him, now rolling my eyes. “What would you do to get him back for me?” I looked directly in his eyes, challenging him to give me a good answer. Any answer would have worked. I was pretty sure he didn’t have one, good or bad to give me.
“Are you delusional?” He raised an eyebrow at me. “You think I would have helped you get him back?” Henry chortled. “Really, Lacey, you think that?”
“You said you want to help make me feel better.” I shrugged. “And if you thought I was still into him, wouldn’t that be what you would have done to help make me feel better?”