Swirl

  “Take off?” he asked. “Take off where?”

  “I’m on a plane with Keon and Kirsten. We’re coming to see you so I need to get off the phone. I’ll call you just as soon as I can,” I said.

  “Okay, babe,” he croaked. “Hey, Bri?”

  “Hmm?” I said, glaring at the attendant. Her arms were folded tightly across her chest and I could almost see flames shooting out of her nose.

  “I love you,” he whispered.

  “I love you too, Jayce, bye.”

  I ended the call and tucked my phone away into my purse. “Sorry,” I muttered.

  The flight attendant narrowed her eyes and shook her head as she stalked up the aisle to the front of the plane.

  “At least we know he’s okay,” said Keon.

  “Yeah,” whispered Kirsten. “I’m glad you talked to him.”

  “Me too,” I said. Even though I was relieved to hear his voice and know he was okay, this situation was like ripping a Band-Aid off a fresh wound. But this time … I’d rather bleed than take a chance on not having Jayce in my life.

  I ran off the plane as soon as the door opened. I was focused on one thing and one thing only and that was getting to Jayce. I whipped out my phone and hit his number just as soon as I had enough bars to complete the call.

  “Hey, babe,” he moaned.

  “Hi, hun, where are you? We’re about to hop in a cab and come to wherever you are.”

  “I’m back in my hotel room right now. Room 208 at the Intercontinental Towers on Lincoln Avenue.”

  “Got it, we’re on our way,” I said.

  “Okay, I’ll call down and let the front desk know to let you in. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it to the door,” he said.

  “Do you need us to bring you anything?” I asked.

  “Nope, you’re the only thing I want right now.”

  “All right,” I said. “I’m on my way.”

  I ended the call and walked with my friends to the lower level of the airport to flag down a cab. We jumped in the first one we saw and gave the driver the address. The cab smelled like cigarettes and my hand touched something sticky on the seat.

  Please let that be candy or something not related to a body fluid of some kind.

  The driver maneuvered the streets like a madman and we had several close calls with the back end of other cars. He slammed on the brakes in front of the hotel, and I wanted to kiss the pavement when I got out of the cab.

  I headed for the front desk and plopped my purse down on the counter. “I’m Brianna Davis and—”

  “Yes, ma’am,” said the attendant. “Mr. Kanoi said we were to expect you and two other guests. Here’s the room key and I trust you’ll let us know if you need anything during your stay.”

  I nodded and clutched the key card to my chest. Jayce is here, and I’m about to see him.

  “This might be a bad time to bring this up, but did you at least ask Jayce where Vivianne is?” asked Kirsten.

  “No,” I said as I reached out to press the button for the elevator. “I guess we’re about to find out firsthand where she is.”

  I shifted my weight from one foot to the other as we waited for the elevator. Damn, maybe we should have taken the stairs.

  I pressed myself inside the elevator before the doors fully opened. Beads of sweat formed on my upper lip as it shot up one floor. They opened and I made a beeline for room 208. My knuckles were poised to give a few taps on the door and I realized I didn’t need to. I slid the key into the slot and waited for the little red light to turn green. The automatic click of the door unlocking made my heart skip two beats.

  “Jayce,” I called out nervously.

  “Hey, beautiful, I’m in here,” he said.

  I braced myself and pushed the door open. My mind scrambled to mentally prepare itself to see him. I cleared the foyer area and rounded the corner to face a king sized bed. Jayce was perched on the edge of the bed, bandaged and bruised. His smile widened and he opened his arms.

  Part of me wanted to tackle him and never let go, and the other half stood frozen in place. A firm nudge from behind me helped move things along. I stepped forward and eased down next to him. Our hug was brief, but to simply feel his skin against mine made this trip out here totally worth it.

  “Hey, guys, c’mon in and have a seat. Where are your bags?” he asked.

  “Well, somebody was in such a hurry to get to you, we didn’t pack any bags,” said Keon. He wiggled his eyebrows at me and plopped down in a chair by the window. Kirsten followed him over to the seat and made herself comfortable in his lap.

  “Wow,” he murmured. “I feel so loved right now.” He wrapped his arm around my hips and I leaned in against his shoulder.

  God, he still smells the same.

  “All right,” said Keon. “I guess I’ll be the first to bring up Queen of the Crazy People. Where is she and how long do we have before she comes back?”

  My skin pimpled at the reminder of her existence.

  “Where is she? Hell, I don’t know. And if I had to guess, she’ll never come back,” replied Jayce.

  “Say what?” said Kirsten. “You get hurt and she skipped out on you when you needed her the most?”

  “No,” he said. “It’s a lot more complicated than that. Let me get comfortable first, and then I’ll explain.”

  He slid off the bed and clutched his side as he hobbled toward the headboard. I jumped up to beat him there and pulled the sheets back.

  “Thanks, babe,” he said. He winced as he settled down into the bed and I pulled the comforter up high on his chest. He reached out and patted the spot next to him. I eagerly obliged and nestled myself next to him, trying to keep from leaning against him too much.

  “Well,” he groaned. I could tell just moving around from one end of the bed to the other took a lot out of him. He needed to take a pain pill or something and simply relax.

  “I really tried to be there for her, but in the end it just didn’t work out. The whole baby drama really weighed on my mind. I talked to some of the guys on the team just to get a clear picture of the pros and cons of what it means to be a ball player. They have this love, dedication, and passion for the sport that I simply don’t have. But no matter how much love they have for football the one thing they all agreed on is they wished they had more time with their families. It made me think about all the things I’ve missed so far and the baby isn’t even here yet. Of course Vivianne didn’t see things that way.”

  Of course not, as long as she has a credit card in her hand and diamonds everywhere, she’s perfectly happy.

  “I gave her an ultimatum of my own. I told her we could open a business together instead of me playing ball and being away from her and the baby. She wigged out and said that’s not what we agreed on. In the end, I told her I planned to have my contract reviewed again to see what steps I needed to take in order to get out of it. I let her know we could work together and move forward or I would take her to court for my rights to the child. In her own special kind of way, she told me I don’t have any rights because there’s no baby.”

  “Wait a minute, Jayce,” said Keon. “What do you mean no baby?”

  He gave a dry laugh and tried to shrug his shoulders. “You heard me. There’s no baby. I figured she was lying, but I wanted to be understanding. I noticed her belly wasn’t getting any bigger and she always had excuses for why she never told me about any doctor’s appointments. She finally confessed and told the truth. I mean there was no reason for her to keep up the charade any longer.”

  “That … bitch,” I murmured.

  “She knew I would do anything she asked just so I could be with my child, so she lied to get what she wanted. All of this happened right before the game and my mind was still trying to wrap itself around everything. I wasn’t all that upset about the nonexistent baby because I had a hunch she was making it all up. What pissed me off is I initially believed her and ultimately turned my life upside down for nothing.
In the end I wasn’t focused on what was going on around me. Luckily, the hit I took wasn’t as bad as it looked.”

  “Really?” I asked in disbelief. “Because it looked like you were dead.”

  “No,” he chuckled. “Knocked unconscious? Yes. But not dead. Few bruised ribs and a lot of soreness. But I’m better now that you’re here.”

  I smiled and leaned in to kiss him. His lips were smooth, soft, and familiar. After a few exaggerated coughs from Keon, we finally broke up our lip-lock.

  “What would you rate that, babe?” asked Keon.

  Kirsten laughed and crossed her legs. “I’ll give them a seven on a scale of one to ten.”

  “A seven?” I repeated, pretending to be offended.

  “Hey,” she said, tossing her hands up in the air. “I’m being generous considering your boyfriend is dealing with an injury.”

  “Whatever,” I said, throwing a pillow at them both.

  “I’m going to call down to the front desk and get a room for you guys,” said Jayce.

  “Thanks, cousin,” said Keon. “We need to find a store or something so we can get some clothes.”

  Jayce dialed the front desk and got everything arranged. We agreed to meet in a couple of hours and order room service. The door had barely closed behind them before Jayce had his lips pressed against mine again.

  “Wait … wait,” I moaned, leaning away from him.

  “What?” he asked, cupping my face. “I don’t appreciate our kiss being rated a seven, I want all tens.”

  He tilted my chin up and I leaned out of the way again. “Let’s talk first … please.”

  “All right, babe, let’s talk,” he sighed.

  “How are you really feeling?” I asked. “Honestly?”

  The façade started to slowly peel away and I could clearly see the hurt and anger in his eyes.

  “Honestly? I’m pissed the fuck off, Bri. This is actually the second room they had to give me, because I broke several things in the other one. Vivianne robbed me of time I could have been spending with you. I allowed her to manipulate me into playing ball again. Even though I didn’t want her, I wanted the baby, a baby that never existed,” he said.

  He clamped his eyes closed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I thought the love I used to have for Vivianne was enough, but after being with you, nothing compares.”

  “Why?” I murmured.

  “What?”

  “Why doesn’t it compare? I mean … Vivianne and I are nothing alike,” I said.

  Jayce twisted his face into a pained expression as he wrapped his arm around my waist. “Of course you’re nothing alike. You’re so much better than her. With Vivianne, loving her came with a set of rules and I tried to play the game for a little while. Buying stuff for her is a requirement of the relationship. But you value time and people above everything else. I’ve watched you grow and change so much. I know what I want, and what I want is you.”

  Hot tears rolled down my cheeks and I quickly brushed them away. “Jayce, I don’t think I need to tell you how much this killed me. If you really want me and want to move forward then let’s do it. But I need to let the guy I’ve been seeing know what’s going on. He’s a really great guy and I honestly don’t want to hurt his feelings,” I said.

  “Of course,” he said, resting his chin on top of my head. “Let him down easy and tell him he doesn’t have a snowballs’ chance in hell with you.”

  “Oh really? Are you jealous, sir?” I teased.

  “Absolutely. And from what I hear, I have a good reason to be jealous. I know if Keon liked the guy then I need to be worried. There’s something I want you to know.”

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “I didn’t touch her,” he said. “Not once. In fact, we never even slept in the same bed. She definitely wanted to, but I couldn’t bring myself to go that far.”

  “Jayce?”

  “Hmmm?”

  “After today, I don’t ever want you to mention Vivianne or even say her name again. Let’s leave her in the past.”

  “You know the best way to do that?” he asked, his fingers slowly stroking up my arm toward my breasts.

  “How?” I sighed.

  “You. Me. Naked in this bed right now,” he hissed.

  “And run the risk of hurting you even more? No, sir. Plus, I need a shower.”

  “You go shower, and I’ll do some light stretching. Come back in nothing but a towel,” he whispered. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll let you get on top and do most of the work.”

  I scurried out of the bed, got tangled in the sheets … and nearly fell. Nothing, not even falling out of the bed was going to stop me from getting back to my man.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  As soon as I got back in town, I called Darren to let him know how everything turned out. Luckily, he took everything in stride just like I thought he would. I was definitely floating on cloud nine. Jayce managed to get out of his contract, but things weren’t able to get back to normal just yet. He still had weeks of physical therapy to endure and I stayed right by his side during each appointment. I felt guilty considering he hurt his back and leg that night in the hotel room with me.

  “Don’t go in to work today,” begged Jayce.

  “I have to, hun, and you better be still before you hurt your back again,” I laughed, darting out of the bed. “You know I have to take care of the bills today.”

  “Do it from home then,” he suggested.

  “I’ll still need to leave to get the documents for the accounts. You’ll see me later for dinner remember?”

  “Yes,” he replied. “Make sure you’re dressed and ready to go. Our reservation is at eight.”

  Jayce insisted on planning a “fancy fun night” for us. I was excited to see what he arranged.

  “We could stay home and just relax,” I suggested.

  “No, I worked really hard to make tonight special,” he said. “Hurry up and leave so you can hurry up and come back.”

  I jumped in the shower, got dressed, and headed for the coffee shop. “Good morning, Leani,” I said, waltzing past her and into the office. I’d had an extra bit of pep in my step since Jayce came home.

  With my shoulders hunched over the desk, I slipped into accounting mode. Drip Drop had been doing so much better financially in these last few weeks.

  Maybe we need to have a customer appreciation day or something?

  A knock on the door drew my attention away from the ledgers. “Hey, Bri, is Jayce here?” asked Keon.

  “Oh, no, he’s not here. Where did you come from? Aren’t you supposed to be off today,” I asked, dropping my pen on the desk.

  Keon’s eyes flickered from my face and then down to his phone. “Yeah,” he said slowly.

  “Is something wrong?” I asked. It was rare for Keon to fidget, but he was definitely doing a lot of it right now.

  “Yes … no … well, I thought Jayce told you?” he stammered.

  “What?” I asked, jumping out of my chair. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” he replied, making me seriously doubt the truthfulness of his response.

  “Okay, Keon,” I snapped. “Check the house, he’s not here, and he hasn’t been here.”

  “All right,” he muttered, glancing back down to his phone.

  I narrowed my eyes and watched him leave the office.

  Follow him.

  I had no clue where the voice came from, but I grabbed my keys and darted out the door behind him.

  Here I am sleuthing again. Something I haven’t done since I interrupted my ex-fiancé’s wedding.

  I rounded the corner going toward Jayce’s house and slammed on the brakes. Luckily, no one was behind me because my little car would have been completely wrecked. I rubbed my eyes and opened the door to get a better look at what was in the driveway. A black drop-top Jaguar with a personalized plate on it was parked in front of the garage. The car by itself was disturbing enough because I knew i
t was not something Jayce would drive, but it was the damn license plate that sent a steady stream of rage through my body. VIVI was scrawled across the back of the car and I set my mind to “seek and destroy.”

  I turned around yanked open the back door to my own little dingy car. Jayce and I attempted to learn how to play tennis a couple of weeks ago, and right now the racquet was about to become my new best friend.

  Just as I raised it over my head the front door opened and Keon ran out. “Bri, no!” he shouted.

  I swung and missed the car by inches, because he swooped in and tossed me over his shoulder.

  “Calm down,” he yelled. “It’s not what it looks like I swear!”

  Jayce appeared in the doorway and jogged over to help. “Bri!”

  I could hear them both calling my name, but I felt like I was having an out of body experience.

  This explains it all. There’s nothing he can say to explain why Vivianne’s car is here. Look at me! Out here embarrassing myself for this man.

  I managed to slip free from the tree-trunk-like arms trying to restrain me and ran for my car. My foot pressed down on the gas pedal long before I ever shifted the car into drive. Black smoke billowed out and I threw the car into the right gear. Jayce and Keon ran to keep up but it was too late, I was already halfway down the block.

  My phone rang, I pressed ignore and considered tossing it out the window.

  I’m done trying to make things work. Fuck this. Vivianne can have him.

  Kirsten’s ringtone started and I snatched the phone off the seat next to me. “I don’t want to fucking talking about it!” I yelled.

  “Whoa, whoa … wait a minute, calm down. Talk about what? I called to see what time I needed to come over and do your hair and makeup for tonight,” she said.

  “To hell with tonight,” I growled. “I’m not going anywhere, especially with Jayce.”

  “Take a deep breath and tell me what happened,” she said.

  “Keon came in the shop acting weird, I followed him home, and Vivianne’s car is parked in the driveway.”

  “How do you know it’s her car?” she asked.