One Simple Step (Journey Series) (2 page)

His familiar brown eyes widened in shock as he froze, looking at me over his shoulder, and his mouth dropped open a few times like a gaping fish. “Al, this isn’t what it looks like.” He at least had the decency to remove his hands from the naked little slut that he straddled in our bed—
our
bed—as if he had been scalded on contact.

“Isn’t what it looks like?” I screeched, my hands motioning back and forth continuously between him and the bleached blonde who looked just as surprised as I did. Well, I don’t know if surprised could really label the emotions running through me at the moment. They all attacked me at once, and my head felt like it was going to explode as I stared back at the man who was supposed to be my husband. The man that everyone had wanted me to stay away from, but I just couldn’t. I just couldn’t.

“What? Did you two just happen to fall on top of each other naked, Teddy? I can’t believe this shit, you asshole!” I pressed my palms to my eyes, trying to block out the scene in front of me. Hoping that it had all been a bad dream. But it wasn’t. After the blackness cleared, nothing had magically changed, yet it was like I was living someone else’s life. This wasn’t supposed to happen to me.

“Al, c’mon. This doesn’t mean anything. I thought you weren’t supposed to be back for a few days.” This all came at me in a relaxed, calm tone, like we were talking about the freakin’ weather or something. Really?
Really?
He bent down to pull on his discarded boxers and I saw my chance, grabbing my heel and chucking it at his head. He let out a loud groan, stumbling back slightly, so I knew I had made some kind of contact.

“Ow, Ally. What in the hell was that for?” He stood up, glaring at me. He actually had the nerve to glare at
me.

“Teddy, what’s going on here?” I heard the blonde call out in a nervous voice, quietly giggling as she looked between the two of us. I wasn’t really sure what about the situation was laughable, but judging by her appearance—platinum blonde hair with dark roots showing through and multiple trashy looking tattoos—she wasn’t exactly bright. But, I really wasn’t looking like a genius either. How long had he been doing this to me?

“So, let me get this straight. Since you thought I wasn’t going to be back for a few days, you figured you needed to bring the trash home?” I gestured towards the tramp, who was now glaring back at me, too. Teddy finally looked a little guilty as he chewed on the lip ring he always wore. It was one of his signs that he was uncomfortable in a situation. It didn’t happen very often, but when it did, I was probably one of the only people to notice. Wow, about freakin’ time.

“Ally, she doesn’t matter. I fucked up, and I swear it won’t happen again. I just missed you so much and I had a bad lapse of judgment. You understand, right?”

“I don’t matter?” Bleachy screeched from the bed, jumping up in all of her glorious nakedness, hurling herself at Teddy. She made some contact with his back before she fell onto the floor and must have been embarrassed because she remained there. “You told me you were leaving her,” Bleachy said in a quiet voice, sticking out her bottom lip as it quivered.

“Oh, really?” I crossed my arms tightly over my chest, trying my hardest to keep my brave, bitch face on even though I just wanted to collapse right there on the floor along with Bleachy. Maybe we could have a cry-fest together. But no, Teddy didn’t deserve for me to cry over him. I was not going to give Teddy the chance to see me like that.

I pushed my lips up, giving him the sweetest smile I could form. “I wasn’t aware of that, babe. In fact, last time I checked we were perfectly happy.” I turned my attention to Bleachy again, almost feeling sorry for her. Almost. “So, you don’t read any of the entertainment magazines or see pictures of us together? Does it look like we’re unhappy?”

Yeah, we weren’t everyday news, but those paparazzi assholes seemed to be everywhere and they loved getting pictures of Teddy, the uber sexy front man of Major Hoosiers, and his wife. Of course, they were always looking for something incriminating on him, but had never found it. Where were those assholes now?

Bleachy actually had the nerve to roll her eyes at me, which only pissed me off even more. “You can’t believe everything you read, you know,” she replied in a know-it-all voice, like
I
was the stupid one. “I guess I can just make him happier than you can.”

I don’t know what overcame me, but I had really had enough. I wasn’t the type of girl to take shit lying down from anyone, and this girl was really asking for it. Teddy must have seen that look in my eyes because he jumped in front of me, like he was trying to protect
her
, this dumbass, over his own wife. Not that I would be for much longer.

“Get the fuck out of my way,” I managed to say through gritted teeth while his hands grasp my shoulders.

“Al, just relax, baby. She means nothing. I think we just need some time alone to talk, and we’ll get everything worked out.” Those brown eyes bore into mine, and I almost wanted to give in. Almost. But then, the picture of what I had walked in on flashed across my mind, something that would probably be ingrained there for the rest of my life. A memory that was life changing. One blip in time that was so small, but yet had so much meaning.

I ducked down out of his reach, grabbing my other heel to chuck in his face, and finally found my chance to attack Bleachy. Of course, the bitch came out with her claws, but I had grown up with two brothers and knew how to really fight. I landed a few good punches before I felt Teddy’s strong hands grip my forearms, pulling me off of Bleachy, but not before I got a few good hair pulls in. Hey, if she was going to fight like a girl, I could, too.

“Get off of me. You have no right to touch me. Ever again.” I hissed out, smoothing back the hair that had escaped the tight bun I had thrown it into this morning, when everything had been at least a little normal. I felt like I was in the twilight zone or something.

Teddy’s hands dropped down to his sides as I caught my breath, even though my hands were still shaking from the adrenaline, or maybe, the overall situation. He stared at me with those brown eyes that I thought I knew, waiting to see what my next move would be, and suddenly the room was just too damn small. I had to get out of there. I couldn’t be with
him
or
her
, or on that pathetic excuse that I had called home for so long. And all of it had been a total waste.

I spun on my bare heel without another word to Teddy, brushing past Mark and Tyler who were both standing in the narrow hallway, their arms crossed tightly and something in their eyes as they looked sheepishly at me without saying a word. I think it was pity, but I didn’t want that or need it. I brushed past both of them roughly without another glance. They were supposed to be my friends, too, and who knew how long this had been going on. I guess bros before hoes would always stick. I don’t know why I expected anything less.

“Bobby, please pull the bus over,” I demanded quietly, even though I just wanted to explode and scream at everyone in sight, tugging both of my unpacked bags behind me once again.

“I can’t do that, Miss Ally,” he responded, never taking his eyes off of the dark highway. “I’m sorry.” I wasn’t sure exactly what he was apologizing for but by the way his bushy brows were knitted together, I’m sure it had a whole lot to do with what I had just walked in on. At least someone seemed sorry about the whole situation. And Bobby had been trying to keep me from it the whole time.

“Yes, you can Bobby.” I gave him a tight-lipped smile and reached around him to flick the turn signal on. “I
need
you to right now, or I swear I’ll jump right off this moving bus. And you know I’ll do it.” I planted a hand on my hip as he let out a loud huff and, thankfully, the bus moved to pull over onto the side of the highway, because I probably would have followed through right in that moment.

“But, Miss Ally,” he tried to argue once more as I stepped on to the stairs. “It’s the middle of the night. A girl like you doesn’t need to be out there all alone. Something could happen and I don’t know what I would do with myself if it did. Can’t you just wait till we hit the next town? We could find a nice hotel. You could get a pair of shoes on those pretty feet of yours...”

His words died off as I pushed the glass door open, turning to look at him over my shoulder and giving him a reassuring smile. Even though his words mirrored the thoughts frantically running through my head, I just had to get out of there. The bus was suffocating me and the people on it were, too. Even Bobby, though I know he was really the only one that cared.

The traffic whizzed by me as my bare feet stepped onto the side of the road. I realized I probably looked ridiculous as the bus slowly pulled away. I moved into the grass, plopping myself down onto my suitcase as the whir of headlights started to blur together, and I blinked my eyes rapidly, not letting myself break down, right here, right now.

I needed to keep it together. I needed to get my life back on track. This wasn’t going to bring me down. I was a strong ass woman, and I wasn’t going to let this get to me. And right now, I just needed to get myself the hell off of this highway.

Chapter 2

Nick

“What do you mean it’s over?” I repeated back to the girl that had just dropped this bombshell out of nowhere down on me. The same girl that I had been dating since middle school. The same girl that I had planned on marrying and spending the rest of my life with.

“I mean it’s over, Nick.” She enunciated each word slowly, as if she were talking to a child. “I don’t know what else to say really to help you understand it any better.” I followed her into our bedroom of the tiny apartment we had shared since moving in together almost four years ago, all while she crammed things into two empty suitcases, not even bothering to look at me as she told me it was over. Whatever the hell that meant. This had to be some kind of fucked up joke.

Kara’s blunt personality had been the first thing that had drawn me to her. When she had kicked one of my best friends in the balls for picking her last for the dodge ball team during gym class, I think I had instantly fallen in love. Everyone always teased that I was drawn to her in-your-face attitude because I was such a laid-back guy, but I didn’t care. Our relationship worked; at least I thought I did.

“Kara, just stop for one damn minute. Please,” I added when she let out a loud huff like I was irritating her for needing an explanation. She twirled her petite figure around, planting her hands on her hips, staring back at me with an icy look in her green eyes that I hadn’t ever noticed before.

“Look, Nick, I just can’t do this anymore. I’ve tried, God knows I have freakin’ tried with you, but I can’t. I don’t want to be stuck in one place for the rest of my life. I need to get out of here.”

“Then why didn’t you say something?” I asked, baffled that I hadn’t heard a word of this before today. Fate must have intervened when I decided not to take an extra shift at the resort I managed like I normally did. If I wouldn’t have come home, she probably would have been gone without an explanation. “We can go anywhere you want, do anything you want to do. Just let me pack a bag. I’ll have to call Leo to let him know I’ll be gone for a while, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

She shook her jet-black hair furiously, holding up one finger to me. “You don’t get it, Nick. I don’t want to be stuck here, but I don’t want to be stuck with you, either.”

I felt like she had slammed a ton of bricks into my chest, pulling my heart straight out as she did so, and stomping all over it with those boots she always wore even though we lived in one of the warmest states around. I had no fucking clue what to say to that. Stuck with me?

Apparently, she didn’t really care what I had to say to that either because her frenzied packing picked up once again. I watched silently as she removed every piece of herself from the apartment, but when she pulled the leash off the hook by the door, I had finally had it.

“What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” I grabbed at the leash, which started a game of tug of war between us. Maybe I was trying to use that leash as an anchor to somehow save the relationship I had no clue was in trouble, but either way, I had to stop her.

“What does it look like? I’m taking Gunther with me.” She gave me a look of disbelief, like I was the bat-shit crazy one right now.

“The fuck you are.” I snatched the leash out of her hands quickly, dangling it above her head as she tried to reach for it. “I don’t know what the hell is going on here, what exactly you’re doing by ending all of this, but there’s no way Gunther is going with you.”

“Oh, please, Nick, don’t be such a baby, it’s a freakin’ dog. I think you’ll be okay.”

“Nope, not happening.” I picked up her keys from the kitchen counter and tossed them into her hands. “You can leave now,” I stated calmly in the same icy tone she had been using with me. Like she never gave a shit about me. She didn’t even like Gunther! She was always complaining about him hogging the bed or having to take him out on walks. I knew she was just trying to get at me even more for whatever reason, but this time I wasn’t letting her walk all over me.

She looked like she was going to argue with me but finally clenched her fist around her keys and turned towards the door. “Fine, Nick. You and Gunther have fun with your boring life, with your loser friends, and your control freak parents. Sounds like a grand old time, and I can’t believe I wasted so much of my life with you.” It was like she needed to twist the knife just a little harder before she slammed the door shut with such force, the picture frames on the coffee table gave a rattle.

I collapsed onto the worn leather couch that had been one of the first things we had bought together, running a hand through my hair, trying to think about when in the hell everything had become such a fucked up mess.

My phone rang, and for whatever fucked up reason, I almost wished it were Kara calling to say she had played one of her dumb ass jokes on me and to meet her at the bar down the road for a beer. She had always had a wry sense of humor that most people didn’t get, and one of the reasons my family and friends had never really liked her. Instead I heard the voice of my best friend, one of the last people I wanted to talk to right now.