Penny’s fists hit Cole’s chest, at the same time a sob, broke out of her lips. He allowed her to have a few good hits before pulling her into his arms. She tried to struggle out of his embrace but quickly gave up, when he didn't budge to let her loose. Her shoulders were trembling as she let go of her sobs. In all his years of knowing the woman, he had never seen, or heard her, freaking out in the way that she just had. He had never seen her this worked up, it was absolutely killing him.
"I did love you, I loved you so fuckin’ much! I'm so sorry! I should have... I just… I keep trying to fix it… fuck Penny Lane, you just won't let me. I don’t know how to…” Cole tried, and failed, at putting his racing thought into words that would make her finally understand, his, side of things.
There were so many things that he needed to say to her but he just couldn’t find the words. He never could, with her. No amount of words, where gonna be enough, anyway. Nothing that he could say, would ever be good enough. Because the truth was, he, wasn’t good enough for her, and he never had been, and maybe, he never would be, either.
“Do you wanna hear me say it, is that it? Because I’ll say it. I’m sorry I let you fall, okay?! I’m so, fucking sorry!” Cole tried, ready and willing to drop to his knees, and beg her to accept the apology, once and for all. Instead, when she didn’t react, he leaned in, kissing her cheek, feather soft, before he finally letting loose of her.
"Just go, please, just get out. I can’t do this with you tonight, Cole." She whispered, with the shake of her head, as tears continued to slip down her cheeks, without her permission.
“Penny, please just,” Cole pleaded out, a last ditch effort to buy him just a little, more time.
“Stop it! Just get out Cole, right now!” She hissed, her eyes hard on the floor beneath her feet.
That’s what killed Cole the most as he turned his back and headed for the door. It was the fact, that she couldn’t even look him in the eyes. After all they had been through together and she couldn’t even give him that much.
Chapter 15
A ble wrapped the hotels, too small towel, around his waist as he heard a loud banging on the door. He smirked, looking through the keyhole to find his friend on the other side.
"Let me in, fuck head!" Cole yelled into the door, holding up
two large bottles of Jack Daniels.
"Hey man, wasn't expecting you, come on in!" Able greeted, swinging the door open wide, to let his bestie inside.
"Yeah, well, here I am." Cole shrugged, not sounding himself.
By the tone of his voice and the heavy slump of Coles' shoulders, Able could tell something was up.
"That's yours, this is mine. Two rules, we don’t leave this room, and we don’t talk about women. Are you with me brother?!” Cole challenged, handing over one of the bottles of Jack.
Able took a deep breath before giving a solid nod, ripping off the cap on his personal bottle of jack.
“Fuck it, let’s do this shit!” He announced, toasting his sullen looking friend, before pressing the bottle to his lips, for a deep chug. He didn’t have any other option. When your best friend shows up with booze and a heavy looking heart, you don’t ask questions, you just drink.
The shifting of Cole’s weight had the table that he was currently laying across, crashing to the floor.
"Fuck my life…, I'm too old for, this shit!" Cole groaned, from his place on the floor. “Oh God no, go away sun, go, go away!” He whimpered out, trying to shield his eyes, as the midday sun seeped into the room. "Ab, Abe, Able, are you alive brother? Are you in here, man?" He questioned with caution, as he glanced around the trashed hotel room. His eyes locked for a moment on the door where he found a dresser and several chairs stacked up against it. Apparently, someone was making someone else, stick to the rules. "Able?' He called out, once again, still stumbling around the room, trying to locate his clothing. Currently, he was in nothing but his boxers and his trusty cowboy boots. They had been a gift from Penny a million years ago. He never went anywhere without them. After a few moments, a pained mumbling sound had Cole opening the bathroom door, to find Able passed out in the tub.
The majority of his boxer-clad body was covered in black sharpie marker, mostly dicks and curse words, but a few song lyrics seemed thrown in, as well. Coles' head was pounding, way too hard, to try to figure out which specific song they were from, though. He watched on with a raised brow as Able scratched his balls before rolling over into a fetal position, still clutching his empty bottle of whiskey.
“Oh, thank, God!” Cole sighed out with the roll of his eyes. All was well, his friend was at least alive and breathing. By the smell of the bathroom, Cole hadn’t really been too sure.
Making his way back into the main room, he managed to spot his pants hanging over the balcony and his shirt hiding in the ice bucket. He got dressed, only as quickly as his body would allow, before setting off on the customary, ‘morning after a drunk night,’ phone search.
As he began to move around the furniture, he smirked, glancing down to find Able’s phone, laying under a pretty much destroyed, lamp shade. Hoping his own phone wasn’t dead or smashed, somewhere in the room, he decided to use Able’s to call it. Quickly swiping right, he punched in Able’s password, the fucking guy never changed it. The original airdate of the first episode of South Park. The man, sure as hell did love him some low brow cartoons. Just yet another one of the charming, odd, traits, that made up his best friend.
Cole’s smile, quickly faded, however, as his eyes narrowed on Able’s home screen. He blinked hard, not believing what he was seeing. Bile rose up in his gut. He didn’t want to believe it, but there it was, right in front of his eyes. His Penny Lane, smiling like a fool, her eyes shining with a light that Cole hadn’t seen in years. He refused to accept it. Maybe it wasn’t what it looked like. Maybe they had just met on the street somewhere, maybe she was just a fan of his who had bugged him for a pic. Cole knew that was a lie, Penny didn’t have any fucking clue who Able Grace was. Quickly, he flipped to the messages, finding her number saved under Livi. His heart raced, his nostrils flared. Cole wasn’t sure if he was gonna lay down and cry, or hit his knees to puke. He had the worst urge to kill someone but he wasn’t sure who. It took everything he had in him, not to let out a scream as he paced back and forth, scrolling through their interactions on Able’s phone.
How had he been so blind to it? How had it passed by him, unnoticed? His girl and his best friend; how had he not seen the signs? They were right there in front of his face, the entire time.
‘Livi’… Olivia… his Penny Lane, they were all the same woman, his woman.
Able Holden Grace… her Holden, was his Able, hell, was the entire worlds, Able. His head was spinning, his gut twisting, as he pieced it all together. The second it fully hit him, his stomach heaved, giving him only enough time, to snatch the ice bucket off the top of the mini fridge, before blowing chunks. When he finally stopped dry heaving, he quickly ditched the bucket, turning his attention back to Able’s phone. Dialing his own number fast, he hit send with an anxious prayer sent up above. His request was granted as, his, phone started sounding off. He found it shoved under what was left of the mattress. He tossed Able’s phone off the balcony with a, ‘fuck you, asshole’, whispered to the wind before turning on his heels, making his way toward the bathroom, ready to throttle, the ever-loving shit out of his friend, for fucking around with his girl. However, just outside the door, he stilled, his hands on either side of the frame as he leaned his forehead, ageist the grain of the wood.
“Damn it!” He hissed, knowing he had no right to do, what he so badly, wanted to.
Able had no idea he had betrayed him. He didn’t know and neither did Penny. No one did, except for Cole at this point. This was a fucked up situation, by all accounts. Cole took a deep breath and let it out fast, still wanting to smash Able’s face but knowing that he wasn’t going to. That man was his best friend, he loved him like a brother. He needed out of th
is room and he needed out now. He needed time to try to process all this new information. He needed to think it all out before he went and did something stupid. Something, he knew, he would regret in the long run.
"Hey man, chill the fuck out!" Dwayne barked, hoisting himself up off the floor, yet again.
After hours of sparring it out with Cole, he found that the man was still being, way too aggressive.
"Learn how to fuckin’ block!" Cole shot back, going after him again.
Dwayne had had enough, though, for one afternoon. He wasn’t sure exactly what Cole's problem was today, but things were starting to get dangerous.
Quickly, Dwayne went in for the kill, flipping Cole into the air, before sending him crashing down to the mat beneath their bare feet. After pinning him with his body Dwayne leaned down into Cole’s, beat red, face.
"You're done, go home! You’re not in the right mind set to be here today!” Dwayne informed in a hard tone, his eyes locked with Coles.
"It's my fucking gym, asshole! I can fire your ass for this shit!" Cole screamed back, trying to struggle free.
“Go for it, but it’s not gonna change the fact, that you're not right for training… or whatever the hell it is we’re doing here. Get your head out of your ass! This isn’t a game! I’m not getting hurt, just because someone pissed in your Fruit Loops this morning!" Dwayne scoffed with the shake of his head, as he released Cole before pushing himself off the mat. He offered Cole his hand, but the still angry man simply swatted it away before leaping off the mat with a show-off move.
"Go fuck yourself!" Cole announced, with a cocky, throw of his hands into the air, before stomping his way to his office.
Dwayne was right, Cole knew he was. He was, way too worked up to be safe on the mat. He couldn’t help it, though. His head was still reeling from finding out about Penny and Able. Between that, and the fight that he had had with her the night before, he felt like he had been hit by a Mack truck.
He couldn't stop thinking back over the past week. He couldn't stop replaying it in his head. Snatching Penny's phone with T.J. and reading Holden’s messages out loud... scratch that, they were Able’s messages. Giving Able advice at the bar. Jesus, he had told him to fuck her and ditch her. He had told Able all about Penny, told him everything, and neither had a clue, that they had been talking about the same woman the entire time.
For the life of Cole, he couldn’t stop picturing that love sick smile that Able had worn that night in the bar. It was plastered onto his face, the entire time, he was going on, and on about his Livi, no, Cole’s Penny Lane.
It burned him right to the bone, thinking about how happy Penny had been for the last few days, and knowing, it was his own best friend who had her feeling that way. Able had been the one to put that spark back in her eye and that skip back in her graceful step. Cole had been trying to do that for years and then Able just walks in, and in a matter of days, boom, she’s trying to burn breakfast and picking fights with him.
What the fuck was he supposed to do, now? No way, could he let Able take his girl, best friend or not. He couldn't lose Penny, not like that, not anyway. He needed her. On the other hand, he couldn't tell Able that, his Livi, was really Penny Lane. Even if Able bowed out, even if he said he would never see her again, it would still be between them. A wedge would be placed in their friendship.
Their friendship was important, not just because friends rock, but because their friendship, was actually a huge money maker. Whether they had meant for it to happen or not, their careers had been linked together, on screen and off. The Brothers In Murder movies, did so well, because of their on-set chemistry, and that chemistry, was forged through an off-screen friendship that was thicker than blood, at this point. They were still signed on to make two more films together for the franchise. Them breaking up, wouldn’t only suck, it would cost them millions, not to mention the bad press that a scandal like this would create. Two celebs, best friends, fighting over one woman, ya, the media would eat that shit up and rip all three of them to shreds.
What he needed, was to find a way to make Able stay away from Penny without him ever finding out who she really was in the first place. It was the only way.
Cole just wanted everything to go back, like it was before Penny and Able, ever, ran into each other. Sure, Penny seemed happy enough with Able, and a better man than Cole, might see that and bow out, letting them be together if that’s what made them both happy. But, he never claimed to be a better man. Besides, her happiness was, sorta fake, anyway. She didn't even really know who Able was. She thought he was Holden, the photographer, not Able, the blockbuster mega star. Able had lied to her right from the start. Before, Cole could understand why, but this wasn’t before, this was now, and this was involving his Penny Lane. She didn't deserve to be lied to, she never had.
Cole figured, that if anything, he was breaking this thing up, for her own good, No way, would she ever want to be with the real Able Grace. She hated celebrities, hated fame, and everything that came along with it. Cole had heard her say it a million times over. She would have never fallen for Able, if she had known the truth, of it all. She wouldn't want to be stalked by the press, or to have her picture plastered all over the front page of the Star. Penny would never be able to cope with that type of life. The hate from his female fans alone would have her running for cover. She liked being able to go unseen. Her life was a relatively quiet one. No way in hell, she would want to give that all up, just to be picked apart on Entertainment Tonight.
Damn him, if Able would have just been truthful, right from the start, none of this would have happened. Penny would have just ditched him, after their first night at the coffee shop. This was all Able’s fault really, for pretending to be someone he wasn't in the first place. Not that Penny was any better, she had gone and lied as well. She was a dancer alright, but she forgot to mention that she did it bare ass, for dollar bills. Able never was the kind of guy that would date a stripper. He was way too emotional, too possessive, even. No way, would he sit back, while his woman worked a pole, in front of a bunch of horny ass men. He was the kind of guy, that liked to take care of his woman, and that just wasn’t Penny. She would never let him take care of her, she just wasn't that kind of girl. Cole would know, he’d been trying to do, just that, for years now.
All the stupid dates, made sense, now. Able was testing her, seeing if she was just out for his money. Cole knew the trick, very well, hell, he was the one who had taught it to Able, for Christ sake. When you’re famous, you can't trust anyone. So, Able had been taking her on cheap dates, clocking her reaction, and of course, Penny passed the test with flying fucking colors. She was the most, low maintenance woman, on the planet. Of course, Able fell for her; why wouldn't he? She was just his type, smart, funny, talented, and beautiful. She was every man's type. Just like Able, was every woman's type. He was a handsome dude and women always went stupid for his dorky, dark, artsy personality. Cole knew Able, well enough to know that the man didn’t have a clue, as to why chicks were always hounding him. Able, couldn’t see his own draw but Cole could. Able was caring and kind to everyone. He would go out of his way, to make sure that everyone around him, had a smile on their face.
A Smile, like the one Penny had in the picture on Able’s phone. Fuck. Cole, let out a tension-filled breath as he dropped into the leather of his office chair. With his elbows on the desk, and his palms scrubbing his sweaty face, he racked his brain. He had to figure out a way to put an end to this mess, and, he had to do it without, either of them, finding out about their common link… him. Cole knew that he was being selfish. He knew he should just let it play out on its own, but he couldn’t. He loved Penny too much for that to happen.
"What!" Cole barked, hearing a soft knock on his office door. "Sorry man, but you told me, to tell you whenever Miss Lane came in, well, she just came in." The gym manager informed, looking a bit scared as Cole glared his way. The pressure cooker too much, the man gave a curt nod before slamm
ing the door shut.
Setting her gym bag down on the bench, Penny glanced at the empty space around her. She liked it here, She came here as often as she could, which, wasn’t as often as she would like.
Cole had given her a key to the back door so that she could come and go, as she pleased. It was a pretty large room, located off the back of the gym. The walls were filled with mirrors and a metal bar went around the edges of the area. She was sure, that they must use it for classes other than to teach dance, but she had never seen anyone else back here, so she really wasn’t sure. It had a bench that you could sit on, and a small fridge in the corner, that stayed stocked, with water and snacks. Off to the side was a bathroom, equipped with a shower stall, and a changing room. She wasn't sure why they had it, considering the gym had a large shower room on the side, but she was happy they did just the same. She liked that she could get cleaned up after she rehearsed. In the center of the room a pole set, one just like in the club she worked at. It was the club, actually, that had her here. She used the space to practice her routines. And, on very rare occasions, sometimes, she just danced. The way she had been trained to, not the way she got paid to.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place Page 26