I Saw You (7 page)

“Ladies, let’s take
this somewhere more private, please.” They didn’t so much as blink in my direction, both angry and egos wounded. Venom coated each verbal barb.

“How delusional are you?” Ashley laughed; the sound was loud and grating. For the life of me I couldn’t understand why she was verbally pushing a stranger. “Do you not realize who he is?”

“And your point is…” Another step closer from Slim, the girls stood toe to toe. One more taunt from Ashley, and I had no doubt my girl would take a swing at her.

“You crashed his party!” Best friend or not, she was out of line. “I should find the owner and have him throw
you
out on
your
ass.”

At the threat, Ari laughed, which infuriated Ash. “Be my guest,
doll
,” she said condescendingly, “but you might not like what you find.”

Had I not been clear enough this morning? How could she have forgotten the owner of this club was a woman? The woman I wanted to be buried deep inside of.

Stepping between them, I placed a hand on Arianna’s chest and with a gentle shove, pushed her back a bit. Just a slight touch to create space so I could try and defuse the situation. The look in her eyes told me it was the wrong move.

She moved farther away.

Patience running thin, I ran an agitated hand down my face. “Ari, this is—”

“His girlfriend,” Ashley interjected once again, and at that moment, I wanted to smack her. Not that I’d ever hit a woman, but Jesus effing Christ. What the fuck was wrong with her?

“His girlfriend?” Arianna repeated with a scoff, her lips forming into a thin line. Her hands trembled while she tried to dust off some invisible lint of her skirt. “Must not be a good one if you can’t keep him from straying. Or is that the norm for you two? Do you like to watch or participate?”

“She isn’t.” I tried to butt in, but neither was listening.

“Bitch, please,” Ash sneered. “Women like you are a dime a dozen. You are and will continue to be nothing but a piece of ass to him. Forgettable. I’m the one he comes home to.”

Before the last word passed through my friend’s lips, Ari had bypassed me and was in her face. Too quick for me to stop. With both fists clenched, she got in her face and stared Ash down.

If I didn’t put a stop to this now, I had no doubt it would come to blows.

“Ashley.” At the sound of her name, she looked over at me. “Shut the hell up,” I growled out, and her eyes widened. “Not a single word.” Turning fully toward them, I grabbed Ashley’s hand and once more pulled her to stand behind me. This time closer, limiting the space between our bodies.

Slim saw this as me being protective of her and put moredistance between us
.

“Always taking such good care of me, Cheetos,” Ashley purred and leaned into me from behind. Why was she adding more wood to this already stoked fire? Did she want to ruin my chance?

That ship already sailed.
No, I refused to believe that.

“For God’s sake, woman…zip it.” The discomfort in my chest grew, and I rubbed the area again. “Arianna, please let me explain.” Behind me, I felt Ashley open her mouth, but I stopped her quickly. “Not a single fucking word. I’ll deal with you later.”

“What’s there to explain? It’s more than obvious by the way she slithers all over you. How she calls you by that ridiculous nickname. Nothing to explain.” Shrugging her shoulders, she turned to walk away, but before she could get far, I grasped her elbow and pulled her back.

“She’s my best—”

“Stop trying to let her down gently, Chester.”

Looking around us, I noticed how everyone had stopped partying and were watching—speculating. A few even had phones out.
Fuck
. Creating the separation between Ashley and myself, I turned around to face her. Let her see just how fucking pissed I was at her.

Her own eyes narrowed into thin slits, a mixture of hurt and her own fury ever present.

“Just stop.”

“I don’t have time for this shit.” A tug on my arm made me look down and notice I still had Slim’s elbow in my grasp. How I had moved her along with me when I turned.

Without looking back at her, I spoke. “Give me a minute; I swear it’ll all make sense.”

“It’s okay to not please everyone, Chester.” Ashley’s icy stare dared me to contradict her. Going off would be suicide, giving the trashy gossip rags the ammunition they needed to make my band a free-for-all. Ashley knew that and yet, she still put me in this position. “She’s pretty, if you’re into that ‘been rode hard’ look. I’m sure she’ll bounce back…” a haughty laugh, then a shrug “…on someone else’s dick.”

“What the fuck…shit. Arianna, let her go.” She was too quick for me to stop. One minute I had her still in my grasp, and the next she had my best friend on the floor by her hair. Not that I blamed her with that last remark, but I couldn’t let this continue.

“Get her the hell out of my club,” Slim growled, her fingers tightening their grasp. Her eyes consumed me while she stared me down with hate. “You both have exactly five minutes to leave. Don’t push me.”

Even though the timing couldn’t have been more wrong, my dick hardened. Maybe I should’ve been more concerned with Ashley’s well-being, but it couldn’t be stopped. It throbbed—pulsed behind the button of my jeans.

“Let me go, you stupid bitch.” Stupefied. Immobile, I watched while my best friend struggled against her hold, fingers clawing at her arms to no avail.

“Get her out before I do something that will permanently mark her over-made face.” With each word that escaped Ari’s lips, her hold on Ashley’s hair tightened. She shook her around like a rag doll.

Tiny or not, she was mopping the floor with her.

“What the fuck,” Tex yelled out as he came to see what all the commotion was about, followed close by the other two. This snapped me out of my Ari-induced fog, and I sprang into action. With my fingers, I pried Ash’s hair out of the death grip Slim held it in.

“Baby, help,” Ashley begged, mascara-coated tears running down her face.

“Arianna,” I snarled out, pissed at this unfortunate turn of events.

“Fuck you both.” Without another word, she pushed her away. Let her go as one would shoo a fly. “There you go, Cheesy. All yours.” A shake of her head, and then she crossed her arms over her chest. “Now, get out.”

Ashley scrambled to her feet and wound her arms tightly around my neck. The woman was a crying, hysterical mess. Tex, Cris, and Rick stood back, eyes wide and not knowing what to do, much less say. It wouldn’t stay that way for long. This was a fucking disaster…an embarrassment.

Instinctually, I began to rub my hand up and down Ashley’s back in a comforting manner. While she was the pain in the ass that started this shit, the girl was still my friend. Like family.

Arianna watched for a minute and laughed quietly to herself. “You two deserve each other.”

“Glad you agree.” In my arms, Ashley sniffed and turned her head just enough to glare at Slim. “Hope you think this was worth the lawsuit coming your way.”

“Really? You think that scares me?”

“He’ll take you down for this. They all will.”

“Ashley, for fuck’s sake, shut it,” Tex snapped, having had enough. “I know you—everyone here does, and the mouth you have on you.” Shaking his head, he let out a loud exhale through his nose. “Bet money you provoked until she,” he said, finger pointing at Slim, “reacted.”

“Tex, stop,” I warned and pushed a crying Ashley toward a too-quiet Cris. “No one here is suing or threatening—”

“But she—”

“Stop, Ash.” Harsh, my tone left no room for negotiation. Pointing a finger at her, I unleashed a bit of the fury I held inside. “You were both in the wrong and will apologize.” Arianna scoffed, and Ashley gaped. “You were out of line, and Arianna…” I turned to look at the irate beauty “… you shouldn’t have put your hands on her.”

“I will not apologize to the skank.” Ashley cried out, undignified, arms crossed over her chest in defiance.

“Enough of this bullshit.” Arianna’s voice rose, causing the people closest to us to flinch. “Get her the hell out of my club.”

“Tex, Cris,” I said without turning to look in either of their directions, my eyes now focused solely on Slim. “Please send her back to the hotel in a cab.”

“Baby.” At my failure to acknowledge her call, Ashley huffed. “I’ll be in our room waiting. Don’t be too long.”

She’s acting like a jealous girlfriend. They both are.
One thrilled me, while the other was worrisome. I’d deal with the latter when I returned.

There had to be a way to save things with Arianna. I refused to believe otherwise.

Once gone, I walked over to Arianna and tried to pull her toward a group of empty chairs nearby. She was having none of it.

“Don’t touch me.” Smacking my hands away, she glared me down with contempt. At the action, my chest felt tight once more. Was I having a heart attack? Fuck, I was too young for that shit. “You have some nerve, Mr. Greene. Coming here and trying to pursue—fuck—me, while having that thing as your girlfriend.”

“Would you let me explain, woman!” Thundering, my voice carried over the music.

“No.” In all her sensual glory, Ari stood in front of me and jammed a manicured nail in my chest. It hurt, but I’d never tell her that. “Do me a favor.” I nodded. “After today, don’t come back. You’re not welcomed here.”

Stubbornly, I held my ground. “I will not be denied.”

“Too late,” left her as a pained whisper, and she then turned around and began to walk away. Did she have any idea how much seeing her walk away pissed me off? How it fucked with my head?

“Let me explain.” One final plea.

Just before reaching a set of stairs close to where I stood, Ari stopped and turned. “A final request…”

“Always. Anything you want. All you have to do is ask.”

“Head to the bar…” with a flick of her delicate wrist, she pointed in the general direction “...and ask Nadia, the bartender, to make you an Ari’s juice on the house.”

What the hell?
“Why?” Made no sense.

“Because that’s the closest you will ever come to tasting me.”

Inside the hotel
lobby there wasn’t a soul to be seen. It was past two in the morning when I arrived, and the fury had yet to evaporate. Emotions ran rampant while I strode by the nighttime receptionists and a single bellhop.

“Congratulations on your win tonight, sir,” one of them called, but I barely spared her more than a nod and half smile. Man on a mission wouldn’t even begin to describe me at that moment.

My destination was only a few floors up. And for her sake, and that of our friendship, she better have a damn good explanation as to why she embarrassed me.

Why had she ruined my night?

“Not so fast,” Tex called out through the empty lobby. Face set into a scowl, he strode toward me with purpose while I held my finger over the “up” button. “Ashley just fell asleep. Not the time to go up there and rip her a new one, bro. Trust me.”

“What she did. The shit she spewed…I have no words to describe how I feel.” Body shaking in anger, I began to pace in front of the bank of elevators. Right now the only thing I wanted was to strangle her. Shake some goddamned sense into her. “Never seen her like that. What the fuck was she thinking?”

“Your Slim wasn’t any better.” Tex snorted in amusement, yet his expression still held that anger I’d been seeing more and more as of late. Something had to give, and he and I needed to talk.

“This shit isn’t funny, ass. Ashley behaved like a—”

His laughter seized immediately, and he leveled me with a bored look.  “A crazy. Jealous. Girlfriend?”

“Well, yeah, but—”

“I fucking told you. We all warned you that Ash wanted more than you’d offered to give.” Placing a hand on my shoulder, Tex squeezed once. “There’s a certain feeling of entitlement she thinks she has over you. I’m sorry, Cheetos, but this is as much your fault as it’s hers.”

“How’s this mess in any way, shape, or form my fault,” I scoffed.

“By not recognizing what even a blind rat could see.” He then sighed, his hand coming up to run over the hairs at his chin. “It’s always been there, glaring you in that ugly mug of yours. Plain and simple, bro. She’s always wanted more than the fake title. Ashley wants it all.”

“Fuck,” I growled out in frustration. My hands shook—twitched with the need to punch a wall. Anything. Cracking my knuckles, I started to jump up and down, shaking my arms out in the hope of loosening the stiffness in my muscles.

I wanted to lash out.

Break something.

The tightness intensified every time I remembered the look of hurt on Arianna’s face.

All this. This uncalled for clusterfuck was one of the main reasons I didn’t do relationships. Complications weren’t something I  handled well. Women, in my eyes, made things that didn’t need to be…difficult.

Why chase someone who didn’t want you? Force the person to choose between a friendship and love. It was bullshit.

A few beats of silence passed before Tex snapped his fingers to gain my attention. “Gym?”

Hitting the weights was just what I needed.

“Meet you back here in thirty?” I cracked my neck, the sound it made loud in the deserted lobby.

He cringed. “First, don’t do that in front of me again.”

Of course, I did it again. “Anything else?”

“You’re a dickhead.” Nodding, I waved him on. “And two, that should be enough to get the idiots down here.” He chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“They’re both sleeping.” At that, I released a chuckle of my own. If there were ever two grown men that bitched as much as a woman pms’ing did, it would be that pair. They were intolerable if they didn’t receive enough sleep. “Rick knocked out after his fight with Ash.”

That sobered me up, and quick. “They fought?”

“Yeah, and it wasn’t pretty.” Tex’s cool demeanor changed; gone was the laughter, and the scowl was back full force. “There’s something you both haven’t understood. She didn’t only embarrass you tonight, Chester. As a whole, she made us look bad. Fighting and insulting a woman she didn’t know….”

“Trust me when I say that I do get it. It’s all I’ve thought about since leaving the club.” That, and Arianna. My girl wouldn’t even open the office door for me after storming off. Rejected me.

“What if Arianna would’ve been a member of the press?” Tex voice rose, the anger in it pulling me back to the present. “Or worse. What is she would’ve been a spouse? A girlfriend? Fuck, a booty call for all I care?”

“I know.” My shoulders dropped. I’d let my own issues affect the band, and that was something I swore I’d never do. No woman had been worth that in my eyes.

Until Arianna.
Fuck.

“Do you? Cause from what I saw…” another shake of his head “…you let them both mouth off—”

“Wait a minute,” I interrupted. Their bullshit was on them, not me. “Tried to stop it, but neither would back down.”

“They came to blows.”

“Do you think I wanted this to happen?” Enough of this shit.

At the anger in my tone, he held his hands up. “No, but—”

“This clusterfuck cost me Slim. She’ll never look at me again.” Deflated, the rollercoaster of emotions hit me from all angles, and I slumped against the wall closest to me.

“She’ll calm down.” Coming to lean against the same wall, he spoke in a low voice. “Give her a few days, and reach out again.”

“Yeah.”

“And I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?” Made no sense at all.

“Because.” Tex shrugged.

My reply? I raised a brow and stared him down.

Tex rolled his eyes before pushing off the wall. “Shouldn’t have given you shit over something you can’t control. Two grown women are not your responsibility.”

“Thanks, but the snapping has been happening a lot as of late. Not just tonight, bro. We need to talk.”

“We do, but not tonight.”

“Understood.” Nodding, I followed suit and pressed the ascend button again. “Still want to strangle Ashley, though. Because of her crap, I’m being pulled in two different directions by women that I am not sleeping with. How fucked up is that?”

“Ashley will cool her shit. Especially, after the way Rick laid into her. Chastised would be putting it mildly to how she looked.” Then he paused and tilted his head to the side, his fingers pulling on his small beard. “Warning you. Don’t be surprised if after you explain just whom she insulted, she pulls the justified card. Excused.”

“Justified? Excused? How the fuck?” The elevator’s door opened and we stepped inside. Pressing the number to our floor, I leaned back against the wall and waited for his explanation on that last bit. “Speak up.”

“You’ll see,” he muttered under his breath as we reached our floor.

“That’s it.” Not a question, but a statement filled with annoyance.

Ignoring me, Tex stepped off and walked ahead toward our rooms. “Let’s wake up the sleeping beastys to work out,” he called out over his shoulder.

Guess that was the end of that discussion.

“You plan on waking those two grumpy asses up on your own, right?” Not that I didn’t enjoy messing with the two, but I just wasn’t in the mood to deal with them.

Tex smiled. Sinister and dangerous. Being the prankster of the group was his thing. Something he took seriously, and I had a feeling both Cris and Rick were in for a very rude awakening.

“You better believe it.”  He laughed, loud and overdramatic—super-villain in quality. Placing his key card in the slot, he opened the door and marched right over to the phone in the room. Pressing the button for reception downstairs, he waited. “Hey, this is Penthouse two, and I need a few things sent up to my room.” A hum and nod. “No, not food, sweetheart.” Even I could hear the high-pitched giggle that came through the line. “I need four pitchers filled to the brim with ice-cold water. We’re very thirsty up here.”

“That’s fucked up.” A statement, not a joke.

“Uh huh.” Tex shrugged and flipped me off. “Thank you.” Placing the receiver back on the table, he turned to me and smiled. “Ten minutes, and those two are going to get an ice bath in bed. They should pay me for that kind of service.”

Wasn’t missing this for the world.

I Saw You...

“Talk to Ashley tomorrow morning before we leave,” Cris deadpanned while placing his towel on the stand next to the kettlebells. It’d taken thirty minutes—after cursing us out and Rick punching Tex in the stomach—for all of us to head toward the hotel’s gym. They’d been pissed, angry for pulling that shit in the middle of the night, but joined us nonetheless. “You need to make it clear that if she ever involves herself in a spectacle like last night’s, she’s banned from all future appearances. Fake girlfriend or not,” he hissed from between clenched teeth while starting his second set of reps, “we won’t tolerate her shit.”

“Agreed.” Clapping him on the shoulder, he stumbled and turned to glare at me while I walked over to the weight bench.

“Asshole,” he muttered low, and I laughed.

“Just trust me when I say that she’s on my ‘shit’ list. I’m beyond livid and embarrassed.” Sitting on the end of the bench, I lay back and waited for Tex to add the last two thirty-pound weights at the end of the bar. Bench pressing 240 pounds was nothing for me. “I’ll deal with her first thing in the morning, but right now she isn’t my biggest concern. Unlike Slim, she isn’t going anywhere.”

I didn’t want to lose the opportunity of getting to know Arianna. She was going to be one hard shell to crack, if at all.

“You’ve met your match in that fiery, small thing.” Tex began to snigger, but my glare cut him off.

After a quick rep, I placed the weights back on the bar and sat up to wipe my brow. “How do I get her to listen?”

“That’s a tough one,” Rick amended; fucker wasn’t here to work out and had stayed in his Batman sleep pants and a wife beater. “As embarrassed as you feel, put yourself in her shoes. Pushed into reacting by the girlfriend of someone whom you thought was interested.” Rubbing the back of his neck, he thought for a minute before continuing. “If I were you, I’d start off with sending her an invitation for dinner. Maybe some drinks after so you can explain.”

“Tried and failed last night, had the door literally shut in my face.” Looking over at Tex, I pointed at the extra weights beside the wall. “Add another forty.”

“Sure thing, boss.” Sarcastic, with a salute he turned and did as asked. “Would you like me to wipe your brow before you begin?”

“No on the wiping, but some water would be nice.” That earned me a bottle thrown at my head. Catching it before it reached the ground, I twisted the cap and chugged down its contents. “Spot me, dick.”

“Then give her a few days and try again.” Cris waited until I’d finished my reps before addressing me once more. “Send her one of those edible arrangements and a note. Chicks dig that shit. Gestures mean things to them. Something about it shows that they are on your mind, yet you’re giving her the space needed for her to cool down before approaching again.”

“Have you been watching that Dr. Man-gina again?” Tex laughed next to me, not helping his case with Cris at all. The man was one snort away from punching him in the face.

“He’s very informative,” Cris defended while the rest of us just shook out heads in amazement. Not that I would voice it aloud, but the man had a great idea.

With Arianna I had to approach slow, proceed with caution, or all would be lost.

Then again, for her, I’d become a stalker.

Wear her down.

Fuck with her head until she thought only of me.