Be Here Now: A Cedar Creek Novel (11 page)

Chris’ chuckle was cold. “You wanna talk to her, you gotta go through me.”

“That’s why I’m here.” Chris stopped short, surprised by Jason’s words.

“You’re here to talk to me?”

“I am,” Jason said.

Chris smirked at him. “All right. Let’s go outside. We’ll talk.” Jason could tell by the way he said the word
talk
that talking was not what they’d be doing outside. Chris was itching for a fight. Jason wouldn’t normally shy away from a challenge like that, but again, he needed Chris on his side. He couldn’t risk getting into a physical fight with him and lose his maybe only chance of finding out what the hell was going on.

“I’m not here to fight you, Chris.”

“Oh, I heard what you’re here for. I’ll save you the time and energy. She’s never going to forgive you for what you’ve done.”

Jason was getting frustrated and impatient, not only with the conversation, but also with the accusation. His low and growly voice communicated this as he said, “I did not cheat on her, Chris. You know I would’ve never done that. No way would I have hurt her like that. I loved her, was completely committed to her and our future. No other woman existed for me. She owned me. She still does. You really think that would change and I would fuck the next pussy that was offered because of some stupid fight? You knew me better than that. Yeah, I know I was a complete dick that night for yelling at her and calling her a selfish bitch for wanting to pursue her dreams. I get that. I’ve hated myself for it for the past six years. But you know, man. You know I was going to ask her to marry me. Fuck, you helped me pick the ring.”

Chris hesitated. The fire in his eyes changed and turned contemplative. There had been no mistaking the sincerity in Jason’s voice. He meant everything he had said.

Jason tried to push his advantage. “You gotta help me out here, Chris. You’re right. Loreley won’t talk to me. She won’t believe that I didn’t cheat on her. She hates me too much to even listen to me, to let me explain, and I have no idea why. I’m missing something here. Something important. And I need you to tell me what that is so I can fix it. You know her better than anyone. Please, man, give me something to go on. Help me out,” Jason implored. He was not too proud to beg for his old friend’s help.

Before Chris had a chance to answer him, a commotion at the bar had Jason’s eyes swing that way and grow big and panicked at seeing some slimy guy’s hands and mouth on his Loreley.

“Motherfucker,” he swore and he was off.

“Thanks, but I don’t want your help. As you can see, I have more than enough friends who’ll do that for me. You can leave now.” Jason ground his teeth together. He had the urge to growl and throw her over his shoulder like a caveman, to carry her off and make her listen to him. But dealing with this asshole was more important right now. He had touched his woman against her will, had put his filthy mouth on her against her will. A red haze of rage covered Jason’s eyes as he gave that asshole another push and made him stumble.

Finding out that Rick was a cop pleased him, but at the same time, it annoyed him immensely. It pleased him, because that meant Rick could make this guy’s life really unpleasant if he didn’t smarten up. But it annoyed him, because that meant he couldn’t punch Rick in the face for wanting in Loreley’s pants.

All the men followed that asshole outside. There were four of them: Chris, Rick, himself, and some guy he hadn’t noticed had come to Loreley’s rescue as well. When he took a closer look, Jason realized it was the guy who had sat at the bar with Loreley’s other friends.

“What? That bitch sending all her boyfriends after me now?”

Jason and Chris advanced at the same time but were stopped when Rick spoke. “You need to shut up and get out of here, Brad, before I find more reason to arrest you. And you better hope Loreley doesn’t press charges. Would be difficult to get out of that with the whole bar and a detective as witnesses.” Rick’s voice was low and lethal.

“Press charges? What for? That bitch provoked me!”

Jason felt himself growling. He took a threatening step towards Brad but was held back by a hand on his shoulder.

“Did you not hear what I just said? You need to shut your mouth and get out of here. I mean it, Brad, one more word and I’m getting my handcuffs out.”

Brad glared at Rick, his eyes blazing, but he kept his mouth shut, then turned around and stalked away. Jason’s body relaxed with every step that increased the distance between them.

“So you’re Jason,” Rick was now talking to him, his voice a little less lethal and menacing, but not by much. Rick had heard about him. He knew who he was and didn’t like him much. Not surprising.

Jason sliced his eyes from watching Brad’s retreating back to Rick. “Yeah, I’m Jason.”

“Heard you got in Loreley’s face yesterday.” Jason didn’t respond. He didn’t owe this guy an explanation. Rick kept speaking. “You need to stay away from her. You’ve hurt her enough and she doesn’t want you here.”

“Sorry, detective, but what I do or don’t do is none of your business.”

“You’re right. It’s not. But Loreley is my friend, which makes her my business.”

“No. It doesn’t.” Jason replied and he could tell that Rick got his meaning.

Good.

They went into stare-down, glowering at each other for long moments. The urge to punch the cop intensified, but Jason couldn’t afford getting arrested. So far, the media hadn’t discovered where he was, but that would change within in the hour if he got taken in. The press would have a field day with the mug shots alone. To Jason’s satisfaction, Rick was the one who broke contact when his eyes went to Chris. “I’m gonna follow Brad, make sure he goes home and doesn’t start more trouble. You got this?” He asked, gesturing to Jason with a chin lift.

Chris nodded. “I got this.”

“Make sure she gets home safe.”

“Always.”

Rick nodded and started walking towards what Jason assumed was his car, but not before he gave Jason one more threatening glare.

“I’m gonna go in, make sure Macy isn’t taking punching lessons from Loreley,” the guy that had come outside with them called to Chris as he was heading back into the bar. Chris gave him a low chuckle as he said, “Good luck, man.”

When the door closed behind him, Chris turned his attention to Jason.

“Now that we’re alone, let’s get back to our earlier conversation.”

Jason waited.

“You’re right, I thought I knew you. Thought I could trust you. Just like she did. That turned to shit when she knocked on my door for the second time in less than twenty-four hours, heartbroken and destroyed. Because she met the skank pussy you fucked.”

“Goddammit! I didn’t fuck anyone!” Jason yelled, the control he had on his anger finally snapping.

“Cut the bullshit, Sanders! Lore went to your place to talk to you the next morning, to figure stuff out, to find a compromise to make things work for both of you! She didn’t want to lose you. I knew you overreacted, that you said shit you didn’t mean. We talked about it all night. Then she went back to you only to find a woman fresh out of the shower wrapped in a fucking towel telling her you couldn’t come to the door ‘cause you were still
in
the shower! You broke her heart, Sanders, and I’ve waited six years to kick your ass for it!” Chris advanced on him. Jason didn’t retreat. If Chris were going to come at him he would meet him head on. He advanced right back on Chris and got in his face.

“Fuck! Fucking listen to me, Chris! I didn’t fuck that girl! Murphy did!”

“Of course, how convenient. Blame the guy who screws around so much he can’t remember every girl he’s fucked, let alone the girl’s name the next morning.”

“I’m telling you the truth! They crashed at my place that night because it was closest to the bar we played at. I wasn’t even there. I stayed behind and got drunk. Ask Nathan. He was with me.”

Jason watched as Chris’s body went solid. Not with rage this time, but with surprise and shock.

“I would never cheat on Loreley, Chris, you know that,” Jason repeated his earlier words, a little calmer now that he saw that what he was saying was sinking in.

“That girl at your door was with Murphy?” Chris asked.

Jason nodded. “Yeah.”

“You weren’t even home?”

Jason shook his head. “Not until early the next morning. I took a shower and then crashed.”

“You didn’t cheat on her?”

“No, man.” Jason shook his head.

Chris closed his eyes and hung his head as if defeated. “Fuck! Fucking shit!” He swore under his breath. “Are you telling me she went through all that pain and heartbreak because of some fucking misunderstanding?”

“It would seem so,” Jason nodded again. Chris went quiet as he watched him with thoughtful eyes for a few tense moments. Then he started talking again, and in doing so, confused the shit out of Jason.

“What about a few months later when she tried to get a hold of you?” Now it was Jason’s body that locked. “What do you mean, she tried to get a hold of me?”

“A few months later when she… She tried to get in touch with you, left you messages, wrote you emails, even went to one of your gigs to talk to you.”

Silence, as Jason shook his head, confused as to what Chris was talking about.

“I didn’t see her,” he murmured as if talking to himself.

“No, you didn’t. But she sure as hell saw you.” Jason’s head snapped up at those words. “What do you mean?” He asked with dread in his voice. When he had realized that he wouldn’t hear from Loreley, that he had lost her, he had fallen off the wagon and head resumed to his old ways of screwing around, of having meaningless sex with meaningless women in order to try and forget about the woman he loved with all his heart.

“Yeah,” was all Chris said. He didn’t need to say any more.

“She saw me with another woman,” Jason whispered in horror. Chris nodded.

Jason ran his hands through his hair in desperation and anguish. “Shit! I…I was…I missed her so much…I wanted to…I tried…” He tried to explain, but failed to formulate a full sentence.

“Yeah, I’m a guy, so I get it. But seeing you with her own eyes, drunk and all over some other woman, was the last straw for her, man. It pushed her over the edge from being heartbroken to hating you, and she swore to never talk to you again.”

Jason’s eyes were wide with despair. Then his brain kicked in and went over what Chris had said. “You said she tried to get a hold of me, that she left messages. I never got those.” He kept thinking. “You didn’t tell me
why
she tried to get in touch me. What was so important that she wanted to talk to me even though she thought I cheated on her?”

Jason saw it when Chris locked his jaw. “You gotta tell me, Chris. I’ve got nothing to go on if you don’t.”

Chris sighed and hung his head once more. Then he gave Jason his eyes. Jason froze solid at what he saw.

Pain. Soul destroying pain and misery.

“Chris,” Jason growled through clenched teeth, knowing that he was about to hear something that had the potential to crush him.

“She…Fuck, Sanders. She has endured so much…I can’t…”

“Chris, fucking
tell me
!”

Chris shook his head. “I can’t, man. I can’t tell you. We thought you knew and…I can’t tell you. It’s her secret to share. But shit, man. She has been in so much pain. You have no idea…” He took a deep breath, then let it out and said in a low voice, his eyes serious on Jason, “We almost lost her.”

Jason’s body again went rock solid. Almost lost her? What the fuck was that supposed to mean?

“What does that mean, you almost lost her?” He whispered brokenly.

Chris took another deep breath. Then he gave it to him. Not all of it, not nearly enough, but he gave him something.

“I can’t tell you why, Sanders. But I can tell you this: when she thought you cheated on her, her whole world fell apart. She went to L.A. the next day, but she wasn’t herself. She was heartbroken, devastated. Then, when she tried to contact you, and she thought you turned your back on her when she needed you most, when she saw you with that other woman.... She got back on her feet, but then…a year ago… Fuck! Something happened a year ago that made her lose it. She lost herself, drowned in her sorrow and pain and despair. It almost killed her, Sanders. That’s what I meant when I said we almost lost her. She almost killed herself. I don’t think it was intentional, but it was a fucking close call. I think if she had had you to help her through it… Fuck, it doesn’t matter now. But you need to know that too much has happened for her to listen to you. She has closed that part of herself off, has closed
you
off, and she won’t give you the slightest chance to talk to her.”

There was a lot there, but not nearly enough to give Jason any idea of what was going on. His heart hurt. His mind was racing. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, that Loreley had almost died, had almost
killed herself
. What in the hell had happened? His beautiful and energetic, always happy and eager for life Loreley would never consider suicide. Not even as a last resort. Not ever. Not for anything.

“I don’t believe you. Loreley would never do anything like that.”

“Believe it, man. It was bad, still is and always will be, but she’s much better now. What I’m saying is, she won’t let you in. No fucking way. She won’t listen to a single word you have to say.”

“I’ll make her listen.”

“No,” Chris said, shaking his head, “No, we need to somehow finesse this. I have no idea how, but I’ll figure something out. I’ll talk to her. You need to back off and give me a few days—”

“Just fucking tell me what happened, Chris!” Jason exploded, only to see Chris shake his head again.

“I can’t, Sanders. I can’t betray her like that. And that’s what she would see it as if she found out I talked to you. As a betrayal. As me choosing your side. I can’t do that to her.” Jason clenched his teeth, frustrated that he didn’t know what was going on, that after everything Chris had said, he still had nothing to go on.

“Fine. But I can’t wait that long, Chris. Especially not now. And I’m not gonna back off. I can’t. From what I gather from the little you have actually told me, everything that happened could have been avoided if I had fought harder, if I hadn’t let her walk away, if I hadn’t let her shut me out six years ago. I’m not gonna do that again. I came here to fight for her and now that I know that me losing her was based on a fucking misunderstanding, I’m gonna fight even harder for her. And I’m gonna win her back.”