Chapter Fifteen

 

Stand up for something you love. Even if it means you stand alone. – Unknown

 

Drew

 

My cell’s nagging ringtone wakes me up and I lift my head, glance down to find Fable snuggled against me, warm and naked and fast asleep. Her arm is draped over my stomach, her cheek pressed against my pec, her silky soft hair in my face. Hell no, do I want to answer that call. They can wait.

I have my girl sprawled all over me, fast asleep. Why would I want to end this anytime soon? My phone stops ringing only to start again and I reach out, grabbing it from my bedside table to see who it could be.

The word Dad flashes on the screen and I answer the call, trying my best to keep my voice low so I don’t disturb Fable. “Hey.”

“Can you talk?” He sounds frantic. Freaked out and upset.

“Sure, give me a minute.” I disengage myself from Fable’s grip and she murmurs in her sleep when I slide away from her. Quietly I climb out of bed, grab my sweats and slip them on before I head out into the living room. “What’s going on?” I ask.

His breathing is ragged before he starts speaking. “Adele cheated on me. I know it. I’ve seen proof. We’re finished. Through. I won’t put up with her lies any longer.”

I fall onto the couch, my skin going ice-cold at his words. “What sort of proof have you seen?”

“I followed her. She went to the country club, told me she was going for golf lessons. Some lessons.” He snorts. “She met up with the golf pro, dragged him into a private room and kept him in there for hours. Hours. When they finally came back out, he had shit-eating grin on his face and she had a fresh fucked look about her.” He groaned. “I confronted them.”

“Ah, Dad.” My heart hurts for him. At his pain, the humiliation of what he must’ve endured. And for him to confront Adele and her sidepiece…damn, he must’ve been enraged.

“She went crazy, son. Crazy. Crying, hysterical, full of denials. All of them lies, all of them.”

“Where are you now?”

“At the house. I kicked her out. Left the country club, raced home and tossed all her shit out onto the lawn. She followed me, raged at me in the front yard and swore she was going to call the cops. So I did it for her.”

Closing my eyes, I scrub my hand over my face. My dad’s imploding marriage was one big fucked-up mess. “You called the cops?”

“Sure did. And I asked them to escort her off the premises since she wouldn’t leave. Considering my name is the only one on the mortgage, legally I have that right even though we’re married.” He pauses. “I met with my lawyer today and we’re proceeding with the divorce. The papers are being drawn up. She should be served in the next few days. I’m done.”

“Really.” My voice is flat and full of doubt. I can’t help it.

“Really. I know you probably find it hard to believe but I’m dead serious. She has wronged me so completely there’s no way she could ever come back from that. I can’t trust her. I’m done.”

If he only knew what happened between Adele and me, he’d probably be done with me too. I can hardly stand the thought. Besides Fable, he’s all I have. “Has she bothered you lately? Like in the last twenty-four hours?”

“No. I’ve not heard from her at all. I figure she’s staying with her fucking golf pro. Let her go see how uncomfortable her life will be, living with a punk-ass kid working a shit job? She’ll figure out real quick he wasn’t worth screwing up our entire marriage over.” The bitterness in Dad’s voice is overpowering. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard him sound so angry.

“If you need to get away from all the crap, come up here and hang out with me. I have the extra bedroom or you can grab a hotel room. Spend some time with me, clear your mind,” I offer. Fable probably won’t be pleased. She’s not a huge fan of my dad but I’ll worry about her later. I need to help him. He sounds off. Consumed with anger, and that can’t be healthy.

“I appreciate the offer, but no way am I leaving this house. With my luck she’d move her pretty ass back in here and never leave. Then she’d get me on squatter’s rights or some such shit. I can’t have it. I’m staying put,” he says determinedly.

I bite back the sigh that wants to escape. “Well, know the offer still stands.”

“I appreciate it, son, I do. I just can’t believe…” His voice trails off and he releases a shuddering breath. God, I hope he’s not crying. “I can’t believe she would do something like this to me. After everything we’ve been through, everything we’ve shared together, she goes and does something like this. It’s unbelievable.”

There’s nothing I can say. I can’t console him. I want him to run as far and as fast away from Adele as he can. But he loves her. For whatever reason, he loves her and now he’s hurting from her betrayal.

Imagine if he found out what I did to him. I think of Vanessa. I still don’t know the truth. No way do I want to go to Adele and demand the truth. She’d tell me one thing and Dad another.

Sick, twisted bitch.

I talk to Dad for a few minutes longer. More like me letting him rattle on for a while over how much she betrayed him while I listen and make the appropriate noises where needed. He can’t stop talking about it. He’s starting to repeat himself, saying the same things over and over, his voice full of fire, his anger and sadness so strong I feel it settle over me like a heavy, wet blanket.

But then I glance up and catch Fable standing in the hallway, her hair sticking out all over the place, my dark blue comforter wrapped around her naked body, her expression hesitant.

“Dad, I gotta go. Call me if you need me.” Before he can reply I end the call and go to her, slipping my arms around her and pulling her in, the bulky comforter preventing me from getting too close. “Hey, you’re awake.”

“I woke up when you slipped out of bed.” She rests her hands on my bare chest, stroking my skin. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah.” I wish she would drop the damn comforter so I can touch her for real. “It was my dad. I guess the divorce is back on.”

Her hands still. “And that’s a good thing, right?”

“Definitely. I want her out of our lives for good. There’s been a lot of back-and-forth, though. I don’t know if I believe him.”

“What happened to make him want the divorce again?” she asks.

“I guess he caught her cheating on him. As in, he followed her and watched her hook up with a guy, then confronted her later.” Dad’s acting like a man possessed but I guess when a person’s been wronged so completely by the one they love, that person can tend to do crazy things.

“Wow. Sounds awful.”

“I know. My dad…he’s really upset.” I smooth my hand over her hair, trying to tame the wayward strands. I desperately want to change the subject. “You look pretty in my comforter.”

Fable rolls her eyes but her cheeks turn a delicate pink. “I think you’d say I look pretty in anything.”

“You’re right.” If I could I would forget about all of my problems and lose myself in her. She’s the only thing that feels right and normal in my entire universe.

“I should go,” she says softly. “I promised Owen I’d be home when he’s done with school. Plus I’m going out with Jen tonight and I need to get ready.”

Jealousy flares in my gut and I tamp it down. I’m being ridiculous. Like a macho asshole who never wants to lose sight of his woman and that’s not cool. I trust her.

I just don’t trust any other guy who gets near her. I mean, look at her. She’s beautiful and she’s all mine. One mistake on my part though and I could lose her. Look at what happened last night.

I push last night’s argument firmly out of my mind. Dwelling on my mistakes is pointless.

“Okay.” I kiss the tip of her nose. “How did you get here, anyway?”

She shrugs, a little smile curving her lips. “Jen came by my apartment to pick me up earlier so I could go get my paycheck from the restaurant. Once I was there, I jogged over.”

“You jogged?” I had no idea she had it in her. Though her body is bangin’, there’s no denying it, she’s never mentioned she likes to run.

Of course, there’s plenty I don’t know about Fable. She’s still a mystery to me. One I want to examine and take apart, learn every bit of her piece by piece.

“Yeah.” She leans in and presses her lips to the center of my chest. My heart skips a beat, as if it could literally feel her kiss. “I have all sorts of secret talents.”

“I’ll say,” I mutter, enthralled with the way she’s touching me. So easily, as if we’ve been together forever.

Laughing, she withdraws from me and starts toward my bedroom. “Maybe if you’re lucky you’ll discover more of my secret talents later tonight,” she calls from over her shoulder.

I frown. “What are you talking about?”

More laughter, the musical sound washes over me, filling me with happiness. “You’ll see.”

I’m left still pondering that remark hours after she left.

 

Fable

 

I feel good. Like the best I have in ages. Jen and I went out to dinner at some new place downtown where they serve the best appetizers ever. We laughed and laughed as we gushed over the delicious food, knowing Colin would absolutely kill us if he caught us in there.

We were coconspirators and that was fun. The only time I’ve ever felt truly part of a team is with Owen and somewhat with Drew. With Drew, our relationship is still so new, so fragile, I’m afraid sometimes to push too hard.

Tonight, I plan on pushing hard. Tonight, I feel free.

“So tell me more about your hunkalicious boyfriend.” Jen’s dark eyes are sparkling. We’re at one of the local college hangouts. It’s two stories, the bottom level a very casual restaurant/burger joint, the top level has a huge bar and dance floor. They don’t let anyone underage upstairs, which totally bums me out. I’m literally writhing where I sit in the booth, my body overtaken by the muted throbbing beat that comes from upstairs.

“What do you want to know?” I play coy on purpose, stirring my straw in my glass of soda. I sort of wish for harder stuff. Jen’s a little buzzed, I can see it in the flush in her face, the light in her eyes. I’m less than six months away from my twenty-first birthday and not that I’m a party girl or anything, but it’ll be nice to be able to booze it up whenever I want.

“How’d you meet?”

Such a simple question that requires a not so simple answer. “It’s sort of hard to explain.”

“He’s gorgeous, you know. And popular as hell, you little shit. You told me he was no one I knew. Everyone in town knows Drew Callahan.” Jen sips from her drink, her lips curved in a smirk. “Is he amazing in bed or what?”

Jen gets a little liquored up and she’s making all sorts of crazy statements. I don’t even know how to answer that. I’m used to girls accusing me of stealing their boyfriends, not of friends asking how my boyfriend is in bed.

“Your cheeks are red so I’m guessing the answer is unbelievable.” Jen shakes her head, a wistful expression on her face. “I miss sex.”

I’m slightly taken aback. I totally had it pegged that she and Colin were doing the nasty, as my brother so eloquently states it. “By that statement, I guess you’re not having it?”

“Nope.” Jen shakes her head. “I know what you’re thinking. I bet you assumed Colin and I are together.”

I still say nothing because yeah, I sure did think they were together.

“Well, we’re not. He’s just a friend.” She glances around, like someone’s lurking in the background and might hear us. “If I told you something, would you promise to keep it a secret?”

“Sure.” I swear I have a sign around my neck that says excellent secret keeper.

Jen leans across the table ominously and lowers her voice. “Colin was my older brother’s best friend.”

I frown. “Was?”

A pained expression crosses her face. “My brother died. In Iraq a few years ago.”

“Oh.” I reach across the table and give her hand a squeeze. “I’m so sorry.”

She shrugs, though the hurt is still in her gaze. “It was a few years ago, and everyone was completely devastated, especially Colin. Danny’s death…threw my family completely off. We all splintered apart and I ended up running away. I couldn’t go back home. There was just no way I could stay there with all that pain and misery surrounding me. So I ended up here. Working dead-end jobs, trying to keep my head above water.”

Sounded familiar. At least I’m not alone. I’m thankful for having Owen, and even my mom to a point. She’s awful but she hasn’t flat-out deserted us.

“I’m working one night a few months ago and Colin just…walks in. Like out of nowhere. Told me he’d been looking for me, he had a job lined up and a place to stay if I want it. I figured he worked for The District, you know? Was like the restaurant manager or whatever. When I realized he owned the place—that he owns multiple restaurants and he’s filthy rich, I couldn’t believe it. He’s done so much with his life.” The dreamy look on Jen’s face was unmistakable.

She’s crushing majorly on her dead brother’s best friend. I freaking knew it. I just didn’t realize they had a past connection. A really strong connection that runs deep.

“Are you in love with him?” I ask quietly.

“What? No!” Jen shakes her head, trying her best to make a quick recovery.

But I know a liar when I see one.

“He’s like family to me. Like another big brother,” she insists, her eyes locking with mine. “Don’t tell anyone, okay? I don’t want any of the girls at the restaurant to know. Plus, Colin doesn’t want anyone to know either. He doesn’t want to look like he plays favorites.”

“But you live with him. Everyone knows it.”

“He’s done this sort of thing before. Letting his employees live with him.” She shrugs. “He just wants to make sure everyone’s okay and has a roof over their head. He asked me about you, wanted to make sure you weren’t living in a shack somewhere.”

“He knows where I live.” I proceeded to tell her how he texted me, then came by my place to pick me up.

“See how nice he is? He just wanted to help you out.”

Jen’s so enamored of Colin he can do no wrong. I always wondered at his motives with me. Not that he was ever sleazy but he was certainly extra attentive. Far more attentive than any other boss I’ve ever had.

But maybe Jen was right. Maybe he looks out for those he worries about. I can’t fault him for that. He’s like a protective big brother.

“Enough talking about me. Let’s talk about you and your sexy boyfriend.” Jen grabs her glass and sips from her drink, all easy-breezy again. “I’m surprised he let you out of his sights tonight.”

“I deserve a girls’ night out, don’t you think?”

“Of course you do. So do I. So does every girl.” Jen grins when the music changes, a fast, heavy beat that has me moving in my seat again. “Did I happen to mention I know the bouncer upstairs?”

“No. Really?” I stop seat dancing. “Think he’d let me in up there?”

“As long as you promise not to order anything from the bar, I bet I could convince him.” Jen laughs when I clap my hands in excitement. “I didn’t figure you for a dancer, Fable.”

“I love to dance.” I just rarely do. When do I have time to go out clubbing? Oh, and who with? “I work a lot so I don’t get out much.”

“Well, let me work my magic and get you in there. This should be fun.” Jen whips her phone out of her pocket and starts texting, presumably the bouncer upstairs. I glance around the room, waiting anxiously for Jen to figure out a plan. She’s so nice, so easygoing and fun. I’m so glad I agreed to go out with her tonight. I needed this. Needed a taste of freedom, a taste of friendship.

Noticing Jen’s still tapping away at her keyboard, I pull my phone out and send off a quick text to Drew. He replies within seconds.

Having fun?

As much as I can without you here, I reply. Which is sort of the truth. All of a sudden, I miss him.

Give me a break.

I smile as I type a question.

Do you like to dance?

Not really.

I laugh softly. I’m not surprised. He is so not the dancing type.

“The bouncer can get us in,” Jen says, breaking through my Drew-induced mental fog.

I glance up from my phone with a grin. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope. But we need to get up there now, before the floor fills up and they start turning people away.” Jen tilts her head toward my hand, where I’m clutching my phone. “Texting hunkalicious?”

Why does everyone call Drew nicknames? Owen and Lover Boy. Jen and Hunkalicious. I should call him something like Drew Bear or Drew-bee. Something silly and dumb and just for me. He’d probably die of mortification if I tried.

“Maybe,” I say with a shrug.

She smiles. “You should have him come pick you up.”

“But what about you?”

Jen shrugs. “I’m going to swing by the restaurant before I go home. Colin just messaged me and asked me if I would.”

Ah, I get it. Colin snaps his fingers and Jen comes running. I can sort of relate.

Focusing all my attention on my phone again, I type out a quick message to my hunkalicious boyfriend.

You should come and watch me dance.

Where are you?

I tell him, ending it with, want me to tell you what I’m wearing so you can find me?

Baby, I could find you anywhere is his immediate reply.

Smiling so hard my cheeks hurt, I tuck my phone into the front pocket of my jeans and smile at Jen. “Let’s go upstairs.”