Drawn To You (Paloma's Edge) (27 page)

She
put her hand on top of mine. “I think Anton forgets that he used to be like you—working hard to be a man, to keep his head up.” She removed her hands. “You’re hungry, ambitious, and respectable. Those qualities never go out of style.”

***

After Pierce finished work on Saturday night, he had a small party at his penthouse. There weren’t any elaborate decorations like there had been at his last party. Tables in the corners of the room provided finger foods, cheap cans of beer, and plastic cups.

As I peered at some people relaxing on the bed and others resting on the furniture, I didn’t think I could
stay in this room myself for more than a day. This was certainly a party pad. The room at the hotel in Miami where Beth and I had had our first time was grander, with cantilevered glass balconies, floor-to-ceiling bay windows, and minimalist décor in the room. On the other hand, Pierce’s penthouse had two bedrooms, which were always locked, so they often fucked in the bathroom, got a room here, or did it in a car. The furniture and entire design of this room appeared to be impersonal. I hadn’t asked Pierce why he had gone to Rylan’s house instead of staying in this penthouse, since he worked here. It was probably because he didn’t want a reminder twenty-four-seven that his dad owned the Paloma. Pierce did like his job, but I thought he was uncertain of himself sometimes as an employee of his dad’s.

As Bri and Beth came into the party, a majority of the dudes perused them. Beth killed it in a semi
-sheer black and dark purple dress with a button-down placket that that suggested she was demure, even though some of her cleavage showed. The skirt flattered her hips by being fit, but not too tight. And when she hugged Joel and Rylan, they rested their hands on the bare area of her sleeveless racer back and I put one foot in front of the other.

I swung my arms around Joel and Rylan. “Hey
, Bri,” I said, and she grinned at me.

I felt like
Beth’s cerulean gaze luring me in. Joel stepped to the side with a wide smile. That fucker just wanted to see how long it’d take for me to get to her. Bri went to dance to a rock song Joel liked. They sounded like Tainted Virtue, but their lyrics didn’t hold the same weight.

Beth smoothed her fingers along my cheekbones and her
eyes brightened as she felt the stubble on my face. I slid my hands down her back and cupped her ass. “No grab-ass!” Pierce said from behind Beth. A flush started from her breast and darkened to crimson as it traveled up to her nose.

“I don’t know what got into him
.” She feigned innocence and Pierce quirked a brow at her poor attempt at playing down our flirting .

Bri hooked her arm with Pierce’s and dragged him
away from us. Pierce began dancing with her. The new song was more sensual. It seemed to have affected everyone, and as my gaze returned to Beth’s, her eyelids flickered. She lifted her arms up to my shoulders, her fingers pressing into my muscles. Despite being in a pair of heels, I still hovered over her. I kissed her and she glided her sweet, damp tongue against the tip of mine. I met her challenge. My oral caresses became more ravenous. Kisses truly set every look and every other touch on your skin ablaze with the right person. I was always starving for Beth.

After dancing and taking some breaks on the couch, Beth and I
almost split the front of her dress, and I nearly suckled on her nipples.

“Chase,” she said against my mouth,
and then whispered in my ear. “I’ll be right back.”

“Babe, don’t take too long. Your dress should be
fucking illegal.”

Giggling, she shook her head and strode to the bathroom.

I went to the water machine and filled our cups with water. A girl on her phone opened the door and Mona came inside looking like a starlet with her classic Chanel sunglasses, painted face, and unmoving waves in her hair and a glittery off-white beaded dress. She headed towards Bri and Pierce. I watched Mona say something and Pierce ignored Bri. The moment that I met Bri halfway, Beth was out of the bathroom, her eyebrows drawn together.

Bri’s eyes
were threatening tears and it hit me that she wanted to continue dancing and talking with Pierce. And now he was with Mona. Beth and I accompanied Bri out of the penthouse.

“Didn’t you say that Aunt Deborah
came yesterday with fresh mantecados that Nancy made?”

“Gavin hid some from Joel.”

Bri attempted to smile, but her face was red from crying. Sniffling, she wiped her face with her hands. “How can I ever compete with Mona?” she asked through a sob. “For once, just once, I thought that he felt something else for me. It’s been the longest Pierce has gone without Mona after a breakup.”

***

Beth got up from the bed and groaned the next morning. She’d had only two hours of sleep, and she looked miserable. But if we didn’t talk today, I thought I’d lose my mind.

“I don’t think I should’ve had ice cream with the
mantecados.”

“Babe, go to the bathroom and I’ll get you something to help you with your stomach.”

She looked at me and complied. As I picked up my shirt and put it on, Beth’s cell vibrated repeatedly like it had when she’d come to my guestroom. There was a message. The name “Hunter” was in the upper left-hand corner of her phone.

Hunter
: I promise I’ll keep my hands to myself.

My insides curled in a tight ball. Sucking in a breath, I ran down the stairs to make Beth some fresh lime juice. That always fixed up my stomach when it got funky. Did Beth know another Hunter? There could be another Hunter in Franklin Parks, but she’d never mentioned him, nor had Jake or Mariska.

“Beth’s not
looking too hot,” Bri shouted through the noise of the juicer. “A few bites of the mantecados and half a quart of ice cream did her in.”

I blew out a loud breath. “Half a quart of ice cream would mess me up too.”

A laugh escaped her mouth and I tried to smile at Bri, but I couldn’t. She still looked sad about last night, and I didn’t want her to be self-conscious. When I finished making Beth her lime juice, I handed the glass to Bri. “Give this to Beth. Tell her to drink all of it.”

Bri
eyebrows furrowed, but she didn’t say anything else. She brought the drink to Beth.

***

Bethany

Pierce hadn’t come back to Brianna and Gavin’s house yesterday. He’d ignored my messages and calls. When Brianna had asked me if Chase and I had had an argument, I’d broken out into a sweat and told her every detail about meeting Hunter. I’d become less anxious, but I’d been contrite. I
was
contrite. The long call Brianna and I had had with Mariska and Jake had concluded with a consensus: Chase had known that I’d spoken with Hunter.

Approaching the section of the beach where Chase
often occupied, I peered at his beach chair and bag. My slacks were rolled up to my knees. I knew that this was not going to be a frolic in the sand, splashing water type of evening. I’d had no appetite and it was a miracle that the system accepted my entries at work today.

Chase propelled himself underneath the water aggressively. The waves were huge and
collided against his solid body. He kept his head low and his speed enabled him to move in the direction he intended.

“Why can’t Hunter keep his hands off of you
, Beth?” Chase shouted against the cool, loud air when he came out of the water like a modern-day Adonis. The contemptuous expression in his hazel eyes startled me. He looked like a completely different man. He reminded me of Hunter and the similarity made me feel nauseous.

“It’s not what you think,” I shouted back, a good ten feet from him. “It’s nothing.”

He barked out a cynical chuckle. “Nothing? And what should I think when I read a message that says ‘I’ll keep my hands to myself’?” His voice broke. The coldness slipped away momentarily, but then resurfaced.

“I
spoke with him so I could understand why you shut me out.” I fought against the moisture welling up in my eyes.

He snarled. “You put yourself in danger and possibly others because I wouldn’t talk
to you within your fucking timetable?”

I clenched my fists at my sides. “
Oh, and had it slipped your fucking mind to tell me that Hunter is your twin brother?” I yelled back at him. My face was already wet and my heart constricted in my chest. My ears roared. “Looks like you were gonna tell me that fact, um, like fucking never!” I stalked over to him and pulled Hunter’s business card from inside my blouse pocket. “I fucked up. Big time. Okay? I should’ve told you that I saw him at the dealership in my town. I didn’t. I don’t know why Hunter cut your face. He won’t tell me. But I think he’s torn up about it. And let me take a wild guess…you won’t tell me why he did it either.” I pushed the card to his chest. “Take the card.” He carried it between his fingers. “I won’t be with you if you have one foot in and one foot out of our relationship.”

***

Voices filled the house when I entered. For a moment, I brought my head against the door and prepared myself to be polite and sociable. I had to be cordial with Cassidy. This was her house also.

M
y satchel hit the floor when I went into the kitchen. Cindy was sitting by the island with her pretty face swollen and filled with tears. She must have lost ten or fifteen pounds since I’d last seen her. First Brianna had cried on Saturday. I’d shed tears like a baby less than an hour ago, and now Cindy looked like she was in complete distress. My first instinct was to comfort her and listen to what had happened, but I fought against it. This wasn’t like the old times.

“I’ll be upstairs,” Aunt Deborah said
, and gave me a hug. Nancy acknowledged me with a sympathetic lift of her mouth before she left the kitchen as well. Uncle Anton must have been waiting for Aunt Deborah upstairs. I took in Cindy’s loose ponytail, her sports shirt, and sweats, and I almost gasped. She looked like most of the moms I’d seen in school when I was little. She wasn’t dolled up.

“I knew Anton would take good care of you,” she said through tears.

“
Mom,”
I said, and Cindy didn’t correct me or look irritated by the word like I thought she would be, “how are you?” Frankly, I didn’t care if she didn’t like the word.

Her dark blue eyes peered into mine. “I’ve had better days.”

“Same here,” I said. “And where’s Mr. Baxter?”

Choking
up, Cindy stretched her arms out to me, but as hard as it was for me to see her hurting I stood my ground. She wasn’t the only one hurting, and she hadn’t come back for me, or missed me. Like always, she had someone to release her from her responsibility. It wasn’t Mrs. Muldoon, or Mrs. Landry, or Mrs. Cox now. It’d been Uncle Anton and Aunt Deborah who had been there for me more than she had in a while. I didn’t think Cindy considered how she affected other people. I was happy to be in the same room as her, and in the back of my peanut-sized brain, I hoped that she’d feel compelled to rebuild our relationship. A mother-daughter one. And in this moment I wanted nothing else but to go to Chase. But could I still rely on him when he wouldn’t let me shoulder some of what he’d gone through? Was still going through?

“He’s in Franklin Parks,” she
responded faintly.

“With his wife and kids?”

Her forceful blink was all the answer I needed. I picked up my satchel and left Cindy with her broken heart.

***

Pierce came to my cubicle when I was about to start lunch the next day. Strands of his light and dark blond hair fell in his face. I followed him out of the office and into the lobby.

“Noodles.” He swung his arm around me and I linked my arm around his waist. “Bri brought me up
to speed this morning on everything. I had no fucking clue that Chase had a twin brother.”

We separated from each other and looked out into the distance at the beautiful clear blue waters. “And that doesn’t get to you? You’re his best friend.”

“Nah, it doesn’t. But I get that you should have known that he had a twin brother.” He sighed and took my hands, swinging them back and forth like when we were kids. “When we became friends, I realized real quick that he wasn’t gonna tell me his life story. And because of that, when Chase said that he wanted to date you, I was afraid that he’d hold out.”

I nodded. “We texted each other good morning.
I know we both lashed out yesterday.”

“And you text
ed Hunter? That’ll lead to another argument between you and Chase. After Hunter manhandled you?”

“I’ve forgiven him for getting a little aggressive.
Hunter wasn’t gonna hurt me. He needs to see Chase.”

“But that’s not your problem. That’s Chase’s brother. And if Hunter lays a finger on you one more time or makes any of your hairs on the back of your neck stand, I will knock him back to last Sunday when you met his ass. Chase is my boy and yeah, Hunter is
his twin brother. But you mean a lot more to me.”