You Don’t Know Me: A Stand Alone Romance

by Faleena Hopkins

  I slide my hands in my pockets to stop myself from taking her hand and causing more trouble. I don’t think she wants me touching her right now, and I don’t blame her. But the look of awe on her face is kind of hilarious because she’s trying so hard to act like she’s not impressed. She’s still really pissed off, and wondering where Jenna is, too, I’m sure. I’m about to clue her in, but it’s Jack she turns to. I shut my mouth as I see her look to him for answers. Maybe this is where they get over their bullshit.

  But Jack’s tongue is sharper than a Japanese blade. “Yeah. It’s a private jet. Pick your jaw up.”

  Rue glances down to the asphalt and blushes deep red. I jog up to her, angrily throwing Jack a warning look. His eyes flicker a second, searching my motive, but he smirks to me, and starts up the stairs. He thinks I’m acting all of this. That’s fine. For now.

  I explain to Rue, “Your bags and your friends are going to be there. They’ll have taken care of that.”

  Her eyelashes slowly rise up and she looks at me, embarrassed at Jack’s treatment of her. She looks lost, and anger sparks inside my gut. She bites her lip, afraid of sounding stupid as she says, “But Susan lives here…in New York.”

  “Then they’ll have made sure she’s gotten home safely. I promise.”

  “Oh.” She gazes up at me. Something happens inside my chest that feels like pain. It hurts me to look at her. She’s frowning, too, not wanting to forgive me for abandoning her back there. She turns to the mobile staircase, but I stop her by grabbing her hand.

  Jack scowls down at us from the top, waiting. “Come on!”

  I growl over the airport noise, “Give me a second!” He hesitates, surprised at my tone, but goes inside. Rue’s got anger vibrating on her body, but she listens to me as I tell her with conviction, “I’m sorry for what happened back there. I didn’t know he was going to be there. I didn’t set you up. Okay?” I grit myself against the future, saying hoarsely, “I know you feel you’re alone in this and there’s no one to protect you. But I’m here. I need you to know I’m here. I will protect you. I was silent back there at the loft. I won’t do that again. You understand?”

  Surprised, she stares at me. Reaches up. Touches my chest. I swear I can feel it all the way through to my spine. “It would be horrible to lie to me, Alec. You understand?”

  I wrap my hand over hers. Press it into my chest. I don’t want to let it go, but I know I have to. I know Sean will never let this happen without a fight. Jack wants it to happen for all the wrong reasons. I want nothing more than to run. “Yes.”

  Reluctant and guarded, she searches my eyes and the veil of anger fades away from hers. She smiles just a little. We release each other and turn to board the plane. After she’s walked up a couple stairs above me I go to grab her hand but stop just short. She doesn’t know and keeps walking up, gracefully pulling up the bottom of her gown so she doesn’t trip. The wind lifts her hair, and she glances back to me and smiles hopefully. I return the smile, but inside I’m wondering how we’re going to make it through this in one piece. I’ve been around too many bad things, too much abandonment and heartbreak to believe it’s even possible.

  Everyone knows there are no happy endings.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Rue

  Jenna and I exchange a look promising details later as I take the plush expanse of gray leather next to hers, feeling hope after what Alec just said. I glance to Sean, wondering if he’s still mad. He nods a curt welcome from where he quietly sits with his ankle over his knee, his handsome elegance looking like he belongs in a plane like this. But my fears are realized because his soft, warm eyes are now hard, icy blue. I’m going to have to win him over again. That is, if I want to. The jury is still out on that. Both of my new brothers have thorns I couldn’t see at first.

  Where normal planes have seats all facing the cockpit, this one’s like a long living room Chris Martin and all of Coldplay would be kicking it in, each holding a glass of five thousand dollar Scotch.

  Everything is gray and silver.

  Three round, shiny tables with mirrored glass tops are bolted to the floor. By the front of the plane is a projection screen for a movie from what I’m imagining is an extensive library to rival AMC’s collection. Our luxurious chairs swivel, or lock into place, depending on what’s going on with the plane. Along one side is an elegant bar with dark tinted-glass, the shelves designed to hold bottles in place regardless of turbulence.

  I stare at Jack’s back as he helps himself to a whiskey. Realizing there must be venom in my stare, I glance at Sean, and find him watching me.

  No expression.

  No sign of how he feels.

  Dear God, what am I going to do with these two?

  Jack plunks one ice cube into the glass and side-eyeballs me over his shoulder before taking a seat.

  I sigh and meet his glare. “Couldn’t find a bigger plane?” Jenna looks like she wants to kick me under a table. “What? I’m just joking.” I take off my coat and lay it over the arm of my chair just as the pilot opens the door to the cockpit.

  “We’re ready for takeoff, sir,” he says to Jack, though we’re all looking at him. Then he locks eyes with me with a curt tip of his head, the top of his pilot’s cap briefly becoming visible. Behind him, his co-pilot’s back is to us as he pushes a zillion little buttons and nobs.

  There’s no way they know how to work all of those things.

  That terrifying thought launches into my brain. Suddenly, I’m positive we’re all going to go down in flames. My hands clutch the armrests and I sit very straight.

  “Great. Let’s go,” Jack says casually, as if we’re not about to die a horrible death. He glances to me and knits his eyebrows. “What’s up with you?”

  “Nothing. I’m fine. What? Don’t I look fine?”

  “No. But that’s normal.”

  “Shut up, Jack,” I mutter, buckling my seatbelt too tightly. It’s got a silver, fuzzy cozy on it, and I look at it, and then to Sean, feeling the fire boil in my blood again. “Why does the pilot talk to Jack over you? Is it because Jack might punch him if he doesn’t get the respect he thinks he deserves… but doesn’t?”

  Sean’s eyes don’t even twitch. He just watches me.

  Jenna buckles herself in, mumbling, “Rue, you’re really enjoying stirring things up tonight.”

  I ignore her, still staring at Sean. He inhales deeply, like answering this question is the last thing he wants to do. “Jack hired him. He sees him more as the boss.”

  “Well, that’s a joke,” I say, rolling my eyes.

  “You know what’s a joke?” Jack growls, downing his whiskey and setting it on the round table near his leg.

  Sean puts up his hands, but it’s Alec who speaks up first. “Okay. That’s enough. You guys are acting like kids.”

  “They’re acting like brother and sister,” Sean says, evenly.

  Both Jack and I snort at the same time, and glare at each other.

  I cut my chin cockeyed and raise my eyebrows. “I guess I’m just thinking about the pilot and the driver and the waiter all having to do what the great Jack says, and that makes you…” I point at him. “…think that I have to do as you say, too. I’ve been living on my own for a long time. And yet here I am, carted back to the West Coast as though you’re my keeper!” I lean forward, my eyes holding his as I slide in the knife. “All because you wanna run home to Momma.”

  His jaw clenches and his lips tighten.

  Sean drops both feet squarely on the floor, glancing to his brother for the eruption that’s about to come.

  Alec sighs and gets out of his chair, walking to the bar, the tense air too much for him.

  Jack and I are in yet another staring contest and I’m not letting the asshole win. His eyes glint green fury and after a moment of deciding how he’s going to make me pay, he pushes a button on his chair.

  The pilot’s voice sounds through the intercom. “Yes, Mr. Stone?”

  “
Change of plans. We’re going to Ibiza.”

  “What?!” Sean exclaims, grabbing the gray armrests.

  I blink, surprised and wondering why this would be Jack’s penance.

  Jenna asks, “Where is that? I forgot.”

  Alec twists the cap on the bottle of Bookers before placing it back in its home. “It’s an island off the coast of Barcelona.”

  The smile in his voice pulls my focus to his face and I meet his eyes with an excited look. From behind Sean and Jack’s back, he winks at me.

  Jenna looks as excited as she did when we both got picked to dance in the Usher video. “Holy shit,” she mumbles. “Oh my God.”

  I laugh and sit back in the seat, shaking my head. Spain? I’ve never been to Spain! I’ve never been to Europe at all.

  “Jack, you really want to do this?” Sean’s leaning over to him.

  Jack cuts his eyes to his brother and answers, “We’ve got the gas for the trip all ready to go. Do you have somewhere better to be?”

  From the look in his eyes, he doesn’t. But for some reason, he’s not happy about the plan. Sean turns and asks my best friend, like maybe she’ll tip the scales, “Jenna, do you have anywhere you need to be?”

  Jenna blinks like someone just threw something in her face. She laughs, unlocking her chair and swiveling around in a circle. “Um, YEAH!!! I need to be in Ibiza!!”

  Chapter Thirty

  Sean

  The D.J.’s remix of I’m So Fancy has the whole club losing its mind. A lot of women are topless, as usual. So are the men, including our crew, but Rue and Jenna’s mini-dresses preclude them from joining in.

  It’s just as well.

  I don’t want to see my sister’s boobs.

  I don’t want to see women’s breasts at all.

  They’re fine; they just do nothing for me.

  The thought slips out of my mind as quickly as it came in so I can dance with the others, letting the energy of the place take me away.

  Space Ibiza has been heralded as the top club in the world. We’ve come here at least a hundred times. Great lightshow. Lots of gyrating bodies. Sweat dripping. Booze pouring. Pills popped. Cocaine being snorted right out in the open.

  But we gave that up years ago after one of our friends overdosed and died at one of our house parties, so when it comes Rue’s way just before midnight, and Jack encourages her to take it, I knock it out of the guy’s hand, powder flying, and take a punch to the jaw for my trouble.

  Two hundred dollar bills wagged in his face later to pay for the lost dust, and we’re thick as thieves. But still I have to turn down another offer for a line. “No man. I’m good. Thanks.”

  “Suit yourself,” he mutters, eyeing me suspiciously as he leaves us, moving through the crowd to offer his gift to any takers.

  Jack exits with a gleam in his eye, and I watch him until I can’t see him anymore, wondering if he’s going to give it a rest and have some fun.

  I’m getting really sick of this thing he and Rue have going on. I know it’s not her fault who she is, where she came from, and what she’s been given, but if she would just stop rising to his bait, maybe he’d stop throwing it at her.

  Ah, forget it, I tell myself, dancing and laughing with the others. I wish as I’ve wished so many times in my life that I could do what the people around me are doing. There’s a guy to my right I have to avoid looking at. He’s been doing everything in his power to get my attention for a couple hours now. I don’t want our crew to catch me looking longer than I should. And not as long as I want to. Everyone around us who isn’t dancing, is making out.

  Guys on girls. Guys on guys. Girls on Girls.

  Switching partners with the switching songs as the D.J. spins whatever makes the room shake the most.

  It’s torture.

  It’s always torture for me here. That’s why I didn’t want to come. I want to join the free. I want to go to that guy and grab him by the back of his head and plant a kiss on him in front of the whole room.

  It fucking kills me.

  But there is no privacy in my world. I can’t trust people to keep quiet were I ever to take the chance to satiate my needs in private. Celibacy is the worst way to live. It’s unnatural. We’re not meant to never touch another body, never get close to someone–so close that for at least a little while, you become one. I’ve never been in love. And I’m still a virgin.

  A fact Jack and Alec must never know.

  The music fades in the middle of a beat, and the room reacts with annoyed confusion until we hear Jack yell loudly across the room, “WHO WANTS A DRINK?” Alec, Rue, Jenna and I, all look behind us to see Jack on the bar – in jeans, no shoes, no shirt – cupping his hands around his grin as he yells, “DRINKS ARE ON ME!!”

  A thousand people go ballistic. I laugh hard, from deep in my belly, throwing my head back. I yell over the music as the volume rises again, “Looks like you finally had a good impact on him!”

  She shakes her head, saying with feeling, “No, he just didn’t want to be one-upped. Has he ever bought a room drinks before?”

  I shake my head and yell, “No! Never! We heard about what you did after we arrived in New York, and I have to admit, I was a little jealous I wasn’t there to see it! Or that I never thought of doing it myself!”

  She laughs, happy for the praise. “Sean?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m sorry for my tantrum. I was being a jerk. I want you to know, I’m having a great time. Thank you.”

  I grab her and give her a hug. She squeezes me tightly and kisses my shoulder. Jenna and Alec are pleased and as we continue dancing in our little circle of four, Rue’s energy lightens enormously. Pure joy emanates from her as she dances, her body moving like it’s made of water. You have to watch them, her and her friend. The songs shift and without even looking at each other, they shift with them, always in sync as though they choreographed it.

  After awhile, Jack rejoins us, eyeing them. “Hey,” he says to me. “Did you see that?”

  “You have fun?”

  “It was pretty cool, yeah. This is Sophia.” He’s towing a topless, blonde Australian girl who’s got a beautiful body. I glance down to admire her long skirt just as she smiles at Jenna.

  Jenna’s eyebrows rise as Sophia saunters over and touches her hair, sliding a lock behind Jenna’s ear, standing really close to her. We’re all watching, and Jenna cuts her eyes to Rue who shrugs that she doesn’t know what’s going on. The Aussie smiles and leans in with her tongue sticking out a little. Jenna stares at it a second, then takes it between her teeth, and they kiss. Jack chuckles at Rue’s face, watching her act like it’s not a big deal even though it’s clearly shocking the hell out of her.

  “What’s the matter, Rue? Afraid of a little girl on girl?” Jack calls over. Her eyes flash, and she laces her fingers into the blonde’s hair. Sophia releases Jenna and looks at Rue with a sexy smile. Rue cuts her eyes to Jack and kisses the girl full on, nice and slow and long. Alec gets a fierce look in his eyes like he might yank them apart. He meets my look of warning and turns to walk away.

  Sophia responds eagerly to Rue’s kiss, slipping her hands around my sister’s back. Jenna turns her back on them, dancing normally like nothing is happening out of the ordinary. This interests me. I’m wondering if she’s hiding what I’m hiding. Acting like she doesn’t care. From Rue’s nervous reaction to the Aussie’s fumbling with her zipper, trying to pull her dress down and make her topless, too, I know Rue’s never kissed a girl before. Or maybe she’s just nervous because it’s in front of us. But Rue looks to her friend for help, and gets no eye contact. I look over at Jack and realize what’s going on.

  “Alright. Alright.” Alec storms in and angrily pulls them apart, the muscles of his arms tightening, sweat glistening on his chest in such a way that it’s hard not to look at.

  “Alec, stop it!” Rue says, and jerks her arm out of his grip. He glares at her, spins on his heel and takes off. She stares after him l
ike she’s going to follow him, but stops herself when she sees Jack’s face. She doesn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing she’s upset. Smiling at him like everything is fine, she keeps dancing, saying, “This place is a blast.” Nervous laughter. “But I need another drink.”

  Jenna and Sophia kissing again, my suspicions confirmed. I jerk my head toward the bar.

  “We need to let it die down after Jack bought the round.” She looks over and realizes what I already know: it’s slammed with no signs of slowing until everyone’s got a fresh glass. Also what I know? That Jack brought that Aussie over here on purpose, and Rue played right into his hand. This round, he won. Hands down.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Rue

  The few hours I passed out on the plane, weren’t nearly enough, then we checked in here at Aguas de Ibiza, the most gorgeous hotel I’ve ever been in. We ate breakfast around the pool, took a short nap, ate a quick meal, and then off to that club. Up until Alec left, it was so much fun, but the last couple hours have been brutal.

  Now I am exhausted. I face plant onto the bed.

  I don’t even have the energy to ooh and ahh at the pretty room. I just made a beeline for the bed. Problem is, so did Jenna and that girl. They’re kissing and moaning next to me, and all I want to do is sleep.

  “Jenna!!” I cry, voice muffled by the top of the cream-colored duvet cover. “Why didn’t we get separate rooms?! Or at least two beds? Fucking Jack.” Teaches me not to pay attention, but when we walked into hotel reception yesterday morning, I was too in awe that I was in Spain to think Jack wouldn’t give us a room with two beds. Who thinks of stuff like that until it’s too late? And aside from the Hyatt we booked in New York, I’ve never in my life reserved a room in a hotel.