“You look beautiful,” he whispers, and if I didn’t just see him with another woman, I would have been flattered.
Instead, hurt and anger whirls in my chest. The first time Marcus kisses me, even if it’s on the cheek, and it has to be right after he had his mouth all over the brunette.
I pull my arm free and look at the people standing nearby while I try to calm myself.
“Thank you. It looks like the launch is a success,” I say, doing my best to sound normal. I really have no reason to be angry. He’s just my friend.
“Yeah, Carter is happy. Which means the rest of us are happy. Have you seen Jaxson?”
“No, only Carter. I haven’t greeted him yet.”
I walk away from Marcus, needing a few seconds to compose myself.
Chapter 10
MARCUS
Something is very wrong. Willow has been distant all night, and she’s drinking one glass after the other.
She laughs at something Rhett says, which brings my attention back to the conversation.
She places her hand on my arm. “You know Marcus is a player too. He could join you.”
What the hell? I’m confused as I watch Willow finish yet another glass.
“Join Rhett?”
“Yeah,” she smiles up at me, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “Rhett said there’s plenty of hot women here tonight to choose from.” She grabs another glass from a passing waiter and turns back to Rhett and me. “I wonder who’s the biggest player between the two of you.” I frown at her, which only makes her laugh. “Don’t worry, Pretty-Boy. My money’s on you. I’m sure you can fuck half the women here before Rhett convinces one to go home with him.”
I take the glass from Willow’s hand and pass it to Rhett, giving him an apologetic look. Grabbing her hand, I pull her towards the elevators so I can get her to my office before she embarrasses both of us. When she stumbles, I place my arm around her waist to keep her from falling flat on her face.
I can’t believe she’s drunk. What the fuck got into her? She’s never behaved like this before.
I press the button for the elevator when Willow yanks free from my hold. She turns to me, and there’s so much hurt and anger on her face, that it rips the floor from under me.
“I’m not going up with you,” she hisses. She points to a group of people. “Go ask the brunette. I’m sure she’s more than willing to go up for a second time.”
She storms away from me, and before I can go after her, a client approaches me.
“Marcus, I haven’t had a chance to talk to you yet,” Mr. Bradbury says, as my eyes follow Willow out the front doors.
I shake Mr. Bradbury’s hand. “Sir, can you give me five minutes? I just need to call a cab for a friend.”
The elderly man looks impressed as he says, “Of course. I’ll wait for you by the bar.”
I hurry to the entrance, and when I get outside, I see Willow leaning against the side of the building. She has her arms wrapped around her as if she’s going to be sick.
I place my hand on her back. “Let me call you a cab.”
It won’t help if I try to talk to her now, not when she’s had so much to drink.
She moves away from my touch but doesn’t turn around to look at me.
“I can call my own cab. Go back inside.”
I take hold of her arm and turn her around so she’ll face me. When I see the tears, my growing impatience quickly morphs into worry.
“Why are you crying?”
She looks away from me towards the street, then quickly steps forward as she holds up her arm. A cab pulls up next to us, and she rushes toward it.
I grab her hand as she opens the door so I can hold her back.
“Willow, what the hell happened today? Talk to me.”
“What’s the use?” she whispers. “Talking won’t make it better.” She takes a deep breath before she looks up at me. “Don’t worry, Marcus. Tomorrow I’ll be back to my usual old self. Go back inside. Hit on some women. Go have fun.”
She pulls her hand free, and I watch as she climbs into the cab. I keep watching as the car pulls away from the curb and disappears around a corner.
Tomorrow it’s Willow and me. We’re going to talk.
∞∞∞
I hardly slept last night.
Fuck, yesterday was a mess. I spent half the day with Logan and his secretary, going over a merger we’re busy with. When I finally thought I was going to have a pleasant evening with Willow, things went to hell.
I drive to Willow’s apartment, and I don’t care that it’s only eight in the morning, I need to talk to her now.
I find an open space to park on the opposite side of the street. When I switch off the car, and I glance at Willow’s building, my heart stops.
I watch as Willow throws her arms around a man’s neck. He hugs her back, lifting her off her feet as she starts to plaster kisses all over his face. I don’t get a clear look at the guys face with Willow being all over him.
She looks happy.
They hold each other tightly as they walk back inside the building.
I don’t know how long I sit in my car as I try to process what I just saw.
Once the shock wears off, anger and jealousy flare up in its place. I somehow drive back home without causing an accident.
Willow is seeing someone. I’m too late. I can’t believe the second I’m prepared to let someone in, I lose them.
I close my eyes and try to breathe the pain away, but it doesn’t help. I was right to fear opening my heart to someone. It fucking hurts so badly I want to claw the damn thing from my chest.
When my phone beeps, I open the message thinking that it’s Jaxson.
When I see Willow’s name, it only amplifies the ache in my chest.
Willow: I’m sorry for the way I behaved last night. I want you to be happy, Marcus, but I deserve to be happy, too. Right now we’re both miserable, so I’m going to let you go. You will always have a special place in my heart, Pretty-Boy.
I stare at the words until they all blur together.
This is why I don’t do relationships. Losing people hurts too much. Fuck, it’s tearing me apart inside.
I send Jaxson a text before I switch off my phone.
Me: Willow ended things.
∞∞∞
WILLOW
I wipe away the tear, but when Dad pulls me into his arms, it just makes them fall faster.
“It’s going to be okay. Let’s go pack your bag.”
While I’m throwing clothes in an overnight bag, I ask, “Why is it always like this, Dad? Why do we want things we can never have?”
Dad takes the bag from the bed and places his arm around me.
“It’s not the right time. Just because you can’t have it now, it doesn’t mean that it won’t happen at a later stage.”
I called Dad last night. I was a mess and not even talking to Evie would’ve helped. I was so surprised when he called and told me he was outside my apartment. I told him about Marcus and everything that’s happened.
I cried because it hurt so much loving Marcus and having to see him with other women.
“You deserve to be happy, Willow,” Dad said. “You can’t hold onto something that’s not meant to be yours. While you’re pining for this guy, you might miss out on meeting the right man. Trust me, once you meet the one you’re supposed to love, it will make all of this pain just fade away.”
“But how will I know who the right person is?”
“You’ll know because he will be the one you compare everyone else too. He will add beauty to your life, not take it away.”
“I love Marcus, Daddy. I don’t know what to do. Seeing him with another, it felt like my heart was being crushed.”
“All I can tell you is what I would do. I would let the person go. If you’re really meant to be, you will find your way back to each other. But if you continue down this path, you’re only going to end up hating each other. In the end, you hav
e to do what’s right for you.”
It hurt so much thinking of a future that wouldn’t have Marcus in it. But I knew I had to do it. It would kill me if I had to watch him fall in love with another woman and build a future with her.
So I did the most unbearable thing I have ever done.
I set Marcus free.
Chapter 11
MARCUS
~The beginning of the end.~
(Three and a half years later…)
I grab a pack of Tylenol and a bottle of water, then go stand in the line so I can pay for it. Lately, it’s been my lunch every day.
As soon as things quiet down at work, I’ll go see a doctor. In the meantime, the Tylenol will just have to do the job.
I decline a bag and shove the Tylenol in my suit pocket. When I turn to leave, someone takes hold of my arm.
“Marcus?”
We hold up the line as I stare at her, too shocked to react immediately.
Fuck my life.
“Can you wait while I pay? I’d love to hear how you’ve been,” she says.
I take a step to the side, never taking my eyes off her.
Willow.
The woman who drove me to alcohol. Now there’s a time in my life I don’t want to remember. Jaxson threatened to commit me to rehab. That’s how bad things were.
Willow.
We went from being friends to sending each other generic birthday and Christmas messages.
“What’s it been? Four years? How are you?”
It’s been three years and five months. I’ve tried not to keep count, but it’s hard when she sends me a reminder every birthday and Christmas of what I lost.
“I’m good. How are you?” I’m surprised that my voice sounds as if I actually don’t give a fuck, even though I’m the furthest thing from calm right now.
I should tell her to go to hell, but instead, my eyes are glued to her face. I drink in everything about her. She looks exactly the same, still fucking beautiful.
“I’m great. Do you have time to have coffee with me?”
My eyes drop to her smile, and it feels like someone is slamming a sledgehammer into my gut.
That smile.
Fuck, the sun used to rise and set with that smile. Then she ripped it away from me, leaving me in perpetual darkness.
“Sure.”
Wait! What?
Hell no, I don’t want to have coffee with her. Have I lost my fucking mind?
“There’s a coffee shop across the road.”
Yes, I’ve lost my mind. It must be the headaches. What the fuck am I doing following her out of the drug store? Shit, her ass is still sexy as fuck.
“What are you doing in this part of town?”
“I came to see a client. I saw the drug store and stopped for something.”
I’m torn between wanting to spend just a moment in the light with her and walking away before she burns me again.
We find an open table, and place our orders before Willow asks, “How’s business?”
“The business is great.”
I have to snap out of the stupor.
Her eyes drop to my left hand, and for some reason, it makes me angry that she’s trying to figure out whether I’m married or not.
“I’m still single,” I bite the words out.
“You’ll find her one day,” she says, but I don’t miss how her smile falters.
I make a point of looking at her left hands. “He hasn’t proposed yet?”
“Who?” She frowns, which means she ended our friendship for some random fuck.
“This is a mistake.” I get up, and without looking back, I leave her sitting at the table.
Or at least, that’s what I think until she calls after me.
“Marcus, stop!” She catches up to me and grabbing hold of my arm, she tries to hold me back.
Three years and five months’ worth of anger spews from my mouth, and I don’t care that it’s happening on the side of the road.
“What do you want, Willow? You decided to end our friendship. You didn’t even bother discussing it with me first. I fucking let you in, and you sent me a dear-fucking-John message. All for some random fuck? Was that all I meant to you?”
She takes a step back as if I actually slapped her.
“Don’t look so fucking shocked,” I hiss. “I saw the two of you just before you sent the message.”
“Saw who? When?”
I close my eyes as the headache starts to pound against my temples. I can’t do this with Willow. I need to get home.
“I saw you with the guy the Saturday morning after you made a scene at the launch. You couldn’t wait to jump into his arms. I hope the fuck was worth it.”
I don’t have the energy to deal with Willow. I start to walk again, and I’m just about to cross the road to my car when she calls out.
“The only man I saw that day was my dad.”
Fueled by years of rage and hurt, I swing around and stalk back to her. “Do you actually expect me to believe that?”
“I’ve never lied to you. When I got home from the launch, I was upset. I phoned my dad.” She gives me a pleading look. “You saw my dad, Marcus. If you don’t believe me, I’ll call him right now. You can ask him yourself.”
No, that can’t be.
It’s been years since her dad’s played basketball and I last got a glimpse of him. Is she really telling the truth? It feels like I’m being tossed around in a sea of emotions.
“Your dad?” I whisper as the life drains out of me.
“Yes, he came to pick me up so I could spend the week at home.”
I feel nauseous as I realize what that means. I gave up on Willow because I thought she was seeing someone else. If I had known back then the man was her father, I would’ve fought for her. The message she sent me wouldn’t have been enough to keep me away from her.
“Wait a second. Why were you outside my apartment that morning? Why does it matter whether I was seeing someone back then?”
I take a deep breath and do my best to calm down. I can’t believe a fucking assumption is responsible for our friendship ending.
“I wanted to talk to you. I thought if we could clear the air between us, that I could ask you on a date.”
She inhales sharply, and I watch as the blood drains from her face.
“A date?”
“Yeah.”
“But you were sleeping with that brunette.”
Now it’s my turn to be confused. “What brunette?”
“The one I saw you coming out of the elevator with at the launch.”
I still don’t know which brunette she’s referring to. I have to think hard to remember what happened that night. I was working late with Logan.
Oh shit.
“That was Logan’s secretary. We worked late,” I say harsher than I mean to.
“You didn’t sleep with her?” It’s Willow’s turn to look as if the ground has been ripped from beneath her feet.
“No.”
“You wanted to date me?” She looks like she’s about to cry, which I really can’t handle right now. I need to get home so I can puke my guts out.
“Can we continue this some other time? I don’t feel well at the moment.”
“Will you really meet with me so we can talk about this, or are you blowing me off?”
I let out a tired breath. “I’ll call you, Willow. I can’t do this with you right now.”
I cross the road and get into my car. I focus on getting myself home and only make it to the kitchen when the little food I’ve managed to eat earlier, comes back up. I drop to my hands and knees as I empty the contents of my stomach on the floor.
God, it feels like I’m dying.
My stomach feels like it’s being put through a grinder. I close my eyes against the light, but it does nothing to relieve the pulsing ache in my skull.
It takes the last of my energy to clean the floor. I drag my body to the shower and get in with my clothes still o
n. Sinking down to my ass, I lean my head against the cold tiles as the water rains down on me.
“Marcus.”
It feels like I’m being dragged through sludge, and it takes forever for me to peel my eyes open.
“Marcus.”
Jaxson’s face comes into focus, and it’s filled with worry.
“What happened to you?”
I glance around me, and I’m confused when I see that I’m sitting in the shower. My suit is soaked, and the stale taste of bile almost makes me hurl again.
“I don’t know. I think I puked.”
Jaxson helps me up, and I stumble to the basin. After brushing my teeth, I try to remember how I got to the shower.
“Did you eat something bad?” Jaxson asks as he grabs a towel.
“Yeah,” I mumble. Fuck, I’ve never felt so out of it before. Even at my drunkest, I could still undress and get my ass to bed.
I struggle to get the wet jacket off. It’s a blow to my ego when Jaxson has to help me get out of the clothes. I wrap the towel around me and start to stumble in the direction of the bed.
“Dude, I’m taking you to the hospital. You could have food poisoning.”
I sluggishly fall across my bed and mumble, “I’ll be fine. Whatever I ate is already out. I just need sleep.”
“I’m staying the night.” From the determination in Jaxson’s voice, I know it won’t help to argue.
“Fine.” I hardly get the word out as I start to drift off.
∞∞∞
It took me half the morning to convince Jaxson that I’m fine, even though I feel like death warmed over.
I stare at the message I just received from Willow, thinking about what happened between us.
Do we give this thing between us a chance, or do we go on with our lives?
Knowing that she didn’t intentionally hurt me, makes a difference. Hell, we both screwed up. I’m just as guilty as she is. If we didn’t jump to conclusions, we’d probably still be together.
Maybe we should at least try and go on one date, and see how we feel afterward?
Maybe not.
I guess the only question I should be asking myself is whether Willow is worth the chance?
Ruthless (An Enemies To Lovers Novel Book 4) Page 8