by Kylie Walker
“It’s just too horrible,” Meghan said.
“Just tell me,” Abigail said. “You are making me even more worried by not saying what happened.”
Meghan finally met Abigail’s gaze. Her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. She looked as if she had been crying for a while.
“Meghan...” Abigail trailed off in a whisper. “Whatever it is, you can trust me.”
“Do you promise not to hate me?” Meghan’s features twisted into merciless suffering. Suddenly Abigail realized the cause of her friend’s grief. She saw it reflecting in her shimmering eyes. It was tearing Meghan apart.
“Of course,” Abigail responded and patted Meghan’s knee.
“I did something horrible,” Meghan said. Her shoulders slumped as she turned into herself.
“What was it?” Abigail’s senses were heightened. She braced herself and expected the worst, especially because of Meghan’s current demeanor.
Meghan lifted her chin and stared at Meghan with numb eyes. “I kissed him.”
Abigail blinked and looked at Meghan curiously. “I’m sorry?”
“I kissed him.”
“Kissed who?” Abigail shook her head and felt her eyebrows knit.
Meghan let out a labored sigh. “Lucas.”
Abigail shot up like a dart from the couch and peered down at her friend. Shock waves rippled through her body. “You did...what?”
Meghan gave Abigail begging glance. Her chin began to tremble along with her bottom lip. She was close to tears again. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know it was him until it was too late.”
“What are you talking about?” Abigail racked her brain trying to figure out when Meghan might have had the opportunity to kiss her current love interest. “When did this happen?”
“At the party last weekend,” Meghan whimpered.
“I can’t believe this.” Abigail shook her head. Her mind was muddy. She was suddenly sweltering. “He kissed you?” Abigail stared at Meghan, hoping that this exchange was all just a bad dream.
“Well it was dark,” Meghan blurted out. “I didn’t know that it was him. I had so many cocktails. Everything was fuzzy. There was a warm body next to me in the hallway. I would never have kissed him if I had known. I would never do anything to deliberately cause you pain...”
Abigail didn’t listen to the rest. Meghan was rambling on now. Abigail clutched the sides of her head to pacify the throbbing in her temples, but it was no use. She shut off her ears. She didn’t want to hear any more of what Meghan was saying right now.
She absentmindedly shuffled to her bedroom and closed and locked the door behind her. She could hear Meghan calling out to her. Meghan knocked a couple of times, but Abigail didn’t let her in.
“I just need to be alone for a few minutes,” Abigail said from behind the sealed door.
She lifted the blankets up over her head, wishing there was a way to shut the entire world out. She felt like her entire life was crashing down around her and pelting her with painful things.
She didn’t want to feel devastated by this news, but she didn’t know how else to react. She needed to take a breather, and then she would figure this problem out. Of course, she would give Lucas a chance to explain his side of the story, but she couldn’t face him right now.
She couldn’t face anyone.
Chapter Twelve
LUCAS WAS STRUMMING on his guitar, not playing anything in particular.
The band was together in a backstage room, getting ready for the show they’d play tonight. He’d woken up feeling good about tonight’s show. They had a couple new songs to play, and he was confident the fans would fucking love them.
He had that excited, nervous feeling bubbling up in his gut. The same one he got when Abigail took off her clothes or looked at him with that way she had. He loved it when he was able to connect to the energy of the audience. Of course, that’s what it was all about anyway. If they weren’t giving people inspiration with their sound and their lyrics, then what was the purpose?
Lucas slid his fingers up and down the silky chords. He already had calloused fingertips. He didn’t even notice anymore. He began to sing. He closed his eyes and drifted away to a new part of his soul where only happiness resided, and the music took over his heart.
In the background, he heard the other band members follow along with his tune. They were in sync, unified as they should be. Everything was falling into place with fantastic rhythm. Lucas was lost in the moment. He was in the zone. He hoped that once he got on stage, that he would feel this same incredible height of musical bliss.
He noticed that after a few minutes though, that his band members stopped playing, the song trailing off. Feeling the mood snap, Lucas frowned and looked around. That’s when he noticed that everyone had their eyes focused in on the doorway.
His heart skipped a beat when he noticed Abigail standing there in the doorway.
She was wearing black skinny jeans with holes in the knees. She had on a white tank top and a gray cardigan. Her arms were crossed, and her eyes looked dark. His heart did that annoying flip-flop thing it always did when he saw her.
Yet, there was something a little ominous playing across her features. This wasn’t a social call. He steeled his jaw. What the hell was this all about?
He rose and strode over to her, all too aware of his friends watching their every move.
“Abigail?”
The glower on her face deepened.
She said nothing.
“Everything okay?”
She gave a slight shake of her head. Her voice was hard. Unbreakable. “We need to talk.”
That’s when he saw the hurt and anger in her eyes. Her face was pale, her eyes slightly puffy as if she’d been crying. A light of realization turned on in his mind. Fuck. He’d hoped.
Yeah, he’d hoped wrong. It was nothing. It was inconsequential to him, so it should be to her, too. Her face said it was anything but. He gave a cursory glance behind him at his band members. Each of them looked curious and amused.
“Can it wait until after the show? We’re busy right now.”
She cocked her head at him. “It won’t take long.”
Fuck this. He didn’t want to be angry, but she was pushing him at a time he really didn’t need any shit. He’d meant to talk to her about all this. But it wasn’t a big deal—nothing happened—so he hadn’t seen the need. And here she was, one wrong word away from a fit.
“Fine,” he said tightly. “Let’s go to my dressing room.”
He led, she followed. For the first time since he’d met her, a chill hung between them. The normal heat that wrapped around them whenever they were together was nowhere to be found. The feeling that he’d fucked up bad was like a weight in his gut. A couple of months ago, he wouldn’t have cared about this shit. But now, he did. He didn’t want Abigail pissed at him. But he’d done nothing for her to be pissed about.
It was nothing.
He closed the door and turned to meet her gaze. He waited for her to initiate conversation. She seemed to be having trouble getting her words out. With a slow gaze, he took in how sexy she looked. The sleek lines of her neck that he’d like to explore with his tongue, the fullness of her breasts filling out her shirt. Even though she was visibly smoldering, she was still sexy as hell.
“I spoke to Meghan last night.”
He tensed.
“And?”
“Is it true?”
He clenched his jaw. She crossed her arms and leaned her head back.
“Did you kiss her?”
He scratched behind his neck, stomping down irritation that welled hot inside him. He didn’t have time for misunderstandings and accusation. For God’s sake. “It’s not what you think, Abigail.”
The color drained from Abigail’s face. “Oh my God. So, it’s true?” Her voice was now a high pitched squeak, but she appeared as if she was trying to keep her emotions in check.
“Yes.”
She put her
hands up, palms out at him. “I don’t need to hear any more.” She feistily spun on a heel and turned her back to him and grabbed the door handle. Her long hair whipped around with her. Lucas put a hand on her arm to stop her.
“Stay right here.” His voice was like stone. She visibly tensed and whipped him an incredulous look over her shoulder.
“Excuse me?”
Lucas took a step toward her, wanting to touch her but holding back. “I said stay here. I’ll tell you what happened.”
“No, I don’t really want to hear it. You kissed my best fucking friend. Done deal.”
“Hear me out.”
He didn’t deal well with tantrums from women. Usually, once they got irrational or clingy, he’d boot them out on their ass. But she was different. Not a single bone in his body wanted her to leave. Still, it was hard to hide the irritation brewing in him.
When Abigail slowly turned around, her eyes looked tortured, and grief struck. “Why should I?”
“Because it’s not what you think.”
“Then what is it?” Abigail slapped her arms by her side in apparent exasperation. “I mean, I know we never talked about being exclusive or anything, and I am not expecting you to be at my constant beck and call, but Meghan is my roommate and best friend. Naturally, you can see why I’m upset. I feel like a boundary has been crossed. Why her? Why not a stranger?”
He wanted to make her understand as quickly and with as little fuss as possible. “I didn’t know it was Meghan.”
Abigail slowly raised her chin until she was staring at him with that dire look of longing that made his heartache.
“I didn’t know it was Meghan,” Lucas said more firmly as if he could make her believe by the tone of his voice alone.
“How could you not know?” Abigail was practically wincing as if their conversation was making her skin crawl. Lucas knew exactly how she felt because he’d felt the same when he realized the woman who’d approached him in the dark and sank her lips onto his wasn’t Abigail.
Lucas took a deep breath. “It was very dark in the hallway. She was extremely drunk. And I do mean wasted drunk. I assumed that she was trying to find the bathroom. She was bumping up against the walls. Then she knocked into me. For a split second, I thought it was you. But I knew you hadn’t had that much to drink. She wrapped her arms around me and kissed me. I pushed her off. Done.”
Abigail looked to the floor.
“I flipped on the light switch and realized it was Meghan. She looked at me in horror and fled. That’s all there was to it, Abigail. It was really nothing.”
Abigail looked at him quizzically. “Why didn’t you just tell me that? Your silence makes it feel like you were trying to hide it.”
“I didn’t want to end up doing this.” He waved his hand back and forth between them. “I did nothing wrong, so I have nothing to explain.”
“So, you just assumed it would be better to keep it from me?” Abigail gawked at him as if she were dumbfounded.
“Not exactly,” he said, gearing up for his defense. “I mean, I said I didn’t kiss her back. She was so drunk that she just kind of fell into me.” He gestured with his hands dramatically, trying to recreate the unfortunate scenario as it had unfolded. “She pressed her lips to mine. She didn’t look at herself. She looked lost inside the booze. In fact, I was surprised her eyeballs weren’t swimming.”
“I don’t like being lied to,” she mumbled.
“I didn’t technically lie to you,” he said and made a bold move towards her. He took her hands in his and felt relieved when she didn’t instantly jerk away from him in response.
“You concealed the truth,” she debated.
“Yes,” he nodded. “And for that, I’m sorry.”
“I am not expecting much from you,” she began with a deep breath and a profound gaze into his eyes. “I won’t ask much from you either,” she said. “But if something like that happens where my best friend makes a pass at you, regardless of how drunk either one of you are, then I expect to be respected enough to be told about it.”
He gave a nod. “Understood.”
Abigail rubbed her temple and briefly shut her eyes. She still looked stressed out about the situation, but her demeanor was slightly calmer. She looked torn as if she wanted to give him another chance, but her mind was diligently telling her to just give up. He knew what it felt like to throw in the towel and shut off all the things that he was passionate about, but he didn’t want to give up, not on her. A little voice inside him said she was important, and he couldn’t just let her bail out of his life. Okay, he’d fucked up. He should have told her about the kiss. He should have realized how she’d feel about it and confront it face on.
“Thank you for agreeing with me,” she said. She glanced around the room. Her color was coming back, but she was still slightly shaken over the whole ordeal. He empathized with her struggle.
“I’m sorry for hurting you.” Lucas tenderly squeezed her hand. “How can I make it up to you? I promise I have nothing going on with Meghan. It was a simple mistake. It could have happened to anyone. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Abigail’s demeanor shifted, and her eyes lightened. “I guess that is true.” Finally, she cracked a meager smile. It wasn’t much, but Lucas would take anything he could get with her at the moment.
He relaxed his shoulders and glanced at his closed dressing room door. “I need to get ready to go on stage now.” Regret hit him hard. He didn’t want to leave her upset or angry at him. Fuck, he really didn’t want to care how she felt, but he did. Now he’d be carrying this drama with him while he was performing. Shit. He never used to worry about stuff like this. But no one had ever been this important to him before.
“Okay,” she said with a slightly disappointed frown.
“Do you want to watch the show from backstage?” He asked with a smile. “The angle is pretty amazing.”
She gave him a warmer toned smile. “I appreciate the offer, but I think I might have to pass for tonight.”
Lucas leaned back and let out a groan as he pretended to pluck an arrow from his heart. She didn’t smile, and he felt like a ton of bricks tanked in his middle. She was really, really ticked at him.
Her expression went serious again. “I’m going to go home and think things through.”
He nodded. If the woman wanted space, he was obligated to allow her that privilege.
“Thanks for clarifying everything for me.”
“No problem.”
Tension strung between them, hard and insistent. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. No, this wasn’t right. They shouldn’t have this tension between them. It needed to stop right now.
“Good luck on stage tonight,” she said.
“Abigail,” he said. He was about to say more, but she put up a hand to stop him. He was tempted to grab it in his own and pull her up against him for a kiss. But her face hardened, and he knew he had no choice but to leave her alone if they’d ever have a chance to make things right again.
He wanted to kiss her, but he would wait and give her some time to digest everything that had happened, even if it did boil down to being just a simple misunderstanding.
Abigail turned to leave, but he called her back before she completely unlocked her grip in his hands.
“Wait.”
“What?” She turned around and stared at him with those big, gorgeous eyes of hers. She melted his heart and did things to his brain that he couldn’t explain.
“I want to give you something.” He reached into his pocket. The next few things he did were involuntary, but they felt right. “Here.”
He extended his hand and held an extra key to his apartment in his outstretched palm.
She reached for it hesitantly and gave him a puzzled glance. “Why are you giving me a key to your apartment?”
“I want you to have it.”
“No.” She diligently shook her head. “You don’t have to make a gesture li
ke this just to prove you are trustworthy. I am finally starting to understand. It was a simple mistake. Just like you said. It could have happened to anybody.”
He heard the doubt in her voice, which made him want to make it up to her even more. “I feel like it’s the best way to reassure you that you can trust me.”
“Okay...” Abigail trailed off as if she still thought there might be a catch, but she didn’t protest his offer any further.
“Any time, day or night, you will know where to find me. I will be there for you. Just open the door and make yourself at home. I want you to be comfortable with me. I want you to be happy. My door is always open.”
“Thank you.” Abigail’s cheeks were flushed, and she eyed him with skepticism.
“Now you have access to my life, and you never have to feel like you are in the dark about our relationship ever again.”
Did he really just call what they had a ‘relationship?’ He wasn’t sure how to process the revelation, but he did know that it didn’t scare him anymore to think of Abigail as something more than a one-night stand or a fling that he would get bored of. The key represented the security he wanted her to feel with him.
“I’ll think about using it. For now, I’ll hang onto it,” she said and screwed the key around her own keyring.
When she turned around to leave again, this time he didn’t stop her, but he noticed the subtlest hint of a smile on her face. Her cheeks had flushed.
Maybe she was willing to give him another chance and trust him after all.
Chapter Thirteen
LUCAS JIGGLED THE KEY into the lock of his penthouse apartment. He half hoped that he might find Abigail there, waiting for him to return. He imagined her in a silky black nighty or something, with her legs wide open, inviting him in for a delicious snack. He smiled at the prospect.
That would be a wonderful treat to come home to. He was sweaty and exhausted, but he always had time to tussle in the sheets with Abigail. He would never turn her down. She was far too much of a prize to let go.
The apartment was dark when he walked inside. He couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed. If Abigail was inside somewhere, she would have a light on or two at least. He switched the foyer light on first, illuminating the modern space.