Society Girls: Sierra (13 page)

“That’s all I’m getting, huh?”

“Yep.”

“He’s good to you, though? I mean, I guess
he has to be. A kick-ass spy isn’t going to put up with anyone’s
crap.”

“He’s very good to me, and no, I don’t put
up with any shit.”

“Thank you for tonight, Sierra. It seems to
have been a waste of time, but I appreciate the time you took to
look out for me.”

“It’s my job, Marcus, but you’re welcome.
You seem like a nice guy, so I’m glad to see you live another
day.”

“Not nice enough to sleep with, though?”

“Não.”

We watch some T.V., where I’m happy to
realize I understand almost all of what is being said. After a
couple of hours, I tell him his manhood should be intact, and he
can go. He tries one more time to get me to change my mind, but I
just hug him at the door.

“Adeus, Sierra. I hope to see you again one
day.”

“With all due respect, I hope you
don’t.”

He laughs and walks away. Stella comes out
of the bedroom once I close the door. “He didn’t want to take no
for an answer.”

“No, he really didn’t.”

“You did good. With him, and with the
mission.”

“Thanks. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“How do you do it? I mean, with Kace and him
being gone so much. Isn’t it hard?” Her husband is a boy band star,
and I know he tours for several months out of the year.

“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my
life, the Society included. We have lots of phone and Skype sex,
and he has it written into his tour and recording contracts that he
gets at least 4 days off twice a month. The other girls, and my
assistant, cover for me then, and I use my regular days off to go
to him at least once a month. It’s not enough, but at the same time
it is. I’m busy, too, and when he’s home between tours or
recording, sometimes I get called to a mission, and he’s home
alone. We love each other enough to make it work.”

“You don’t worry about other women?”

“If I did, I wouldn’t have married him, or
even started dating him. Kace isn’t going to cheat on me.”

“But he knows. Joel doesn’t. I can’t tell
him until I’m official, and that’s close to a year away.”

“It’s hard, believe me, I know. Kace didn’t
know about me being a spy when we met, and I almost lost him when
it came out. It’s not going to be easy, but if he’s the one for
you, you’ll find a way to make it work.”

“He is. He’s the one. I trust him, too. He
won’t cheat on me.”

“Then we’ll help you see him, and also help
you hide from him at the same time. If that makes sense.”

“It does.”

I know I need help with
both. Hiding is going to be the hardest, but Joel and I promised
each other that we’d find a way to work it out. He can’t get away
like Kace can, but if I can fly to him on my days off, it will
help. I know I want to be at his first game back. He
will
be back. I know it,
and I also know I can deal with it. I don’t have a choice at this
point.

* * *

Joel

“How are you doing, son?” the GM of my team
asks me as I walk onto the field.

“I’m good, sir.”

I’m not suited up, but I did go into the
clubhouse to put my cleats on. My locker is still there, with my
uniforms, glove, spare cleats and hats inside. Seeing that gave me
more hope than anything Dean or anyone else could say to me. Now I
just need to prove that their faith in me is warranted.

“We want you back, but you gotta show us
one-hundred percent,” Coach tells me.

“I’m there.”

“Good. Warm up your arm, and we’ll get this
underway.”

I nod and head to the batter’s box. My
buddy, D.J., walks onto the mound while I’m swinging the wood. He’s
the starting pitcher, and I feel a sense of pride at seeing him.
They have enough faith in me to bring out the big gun. I’m not
going to let them down.

An hour later, I’ve hit almost everything
D.J.’s thrown at me, and hit them well. I even knocked a couple out
of the park. “Let’s see if you can still throw,” Coach says.

Our catcher, Glen, comes out and we take our
places. I catch and throw like I was never hurt, sending a silent
thanks to Miles and Waverly for all their help. Coach calls us in
and claps me on the back. “Welcome back, Joel. We’ve missed
you.”

“Thank you. I won’t let you down.”

“You wanna go get a beer, man?” D.J. asks
me. “We can invite the guys who are in town.”

“Yeah. That’d be great.”

We go to a local bar, and I’m surprised how
many of the guys show up. The fans also surprise me, and I get a
bunch of free drinks. I also get hit on by a bunch of women. I
don’t kiss them or take any of them home, but the drunker I get,
the more pictures I take with them. I’m back, and there’s nothing
wrong with a little celebrating.

Sierra

I came home on a high from
my first mission, and then crashed when I saw the pictures of Joel
all over the Internet. Apparently, he’s back on the team. He didn’t
call me and tell me. Or even text me. I guess he’s been too busy
partying with the bunnies these past few days. No! I need to stop
thinking like that. I know that things can be taken out of context,
and I also know he didn’t kiss anyone in those pictures, or put his
hands anywhere he shouldn’t have. He
did
let them kiss him, and a few of
them even had their hands on his ass, but he didn’t touch them. I
have to keep reminding myself of that. It’s hard when he hasn’t
reached out, and I don’t even know if he’s coming back, but I’m
trying. I’m trying really hard. And sucking really hard at
it.

The knock at my door surprises me, since
I’ve been keeping to myself since I got back. The door opens to
Reina, and all of the mentors, plus Alex, followed by all of the
recruits. They’re all in pajamas, and they all have bags with
them.

“Umm, hi.”

“Hi, Sierra. Remember I told you that your
friends would be here when the guy you loved acted like an ass?
Well, here we are. We have ice cream, cookies, chips, soda, vodka,
whiskey, and chick flicks.”

“Is there any cake? I really want cake,” I
tell them as I burst into tears.

“We’ve got cake, Mija,” Audrey tells me,
pulling me into her arms. “All kinds of cake.”

Two hours later, most of us are in various
stages of drunkeness when security calls me from downstairs. Tegan
answers since she’s six months pregnant, and therefore not
drinking. “Oh. Umm, I don’t know. Hold on.”

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“Joel’s downstairs asking for permission to
come up and see you.”

I grab the phone from her and practically
yell into it. “Send the bastard up.”

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Tegan
asks me.

“Nope, but I might as well get it over
with.”

“We’re here for you,” Reina says, swaying as
she gets to her feet. Audrey grabs her, and holds her steady with a
smile. She only had one glass of wine since she’s
breastfeeding.

There’s a hesitant knock on the door, and I
put my hands on my hips as I shout out for him to come in. “Hi,” he
says, and then he sees us. 20 women in various stages of
drunkenness, surrounded by empty ice cream containers, chip bags,
and bottles of liquor. “Wow. You having a rager, Si?”

“No. I was having a good cry with my
friends.”

“How drunk are you?”

“Very.”

“I should come back.”

“No. You should say what you came here to
say. Then you can go back to your bunnies.”

“Gatinha. No. There were no bunnies. Not
like that. I should’ve called you.”

“Yes, you should’ve,” I tell him, starting
to cry again. Dammit! I don’t want him to see me crying.

“Nothing happened with any of those women. I
know the pictures look bad, but I swear to you that I didn’t
cheat.”

“I wanted to believe that.
I
did
believe it,
but then you didn’t call, or even text. I had to hear that you’re
back on the team from Google.”

“I told you. It wasn’t Google,” Ainsley
yells out.

“I think we need to go now,” Audrey
says.

“I don’t know if I can walk,” Kalila
admits.

“I called for reinforcements,” Tegan tells
us, opening the door.

Matt, Aiden, Nate, Isa’s husband Jake, and
their friend Theo all walk in, shaking their heads. The guys head
for the drunkest girls first. Matt lifts a sleeping Neveah gently
into his arms, kissing Reina on his way by. “I’ll be back for you,
Rei.”

“Okay.”

As drunk as I am, I still notice Kalila pull
Theo in for a kiss. He pulls back, and lifts her up as she pouts.
“You don’t want to kiss me?”

“You know I do, Kali, but I don’t want you
to regret it in the morning.”

“Why do you have to be so honorable? It
ruins everything.”

“I’m sorry, baby. So very sorry. Let me get
you to bed so I can help your friends.”

“Will you come back and cuddle with me? I
won’t be mad in the morning. Promise.”

“Okay. I’ll cuddle,” he says, carrying her
out.

The other girls and I share looks, but no
one seems to know what that was all about. “I can’t tell you, so
don’t ask,” Reina tells us as she leans on Audrey.

“You know those of us who remember this
tomorrow are definitely going to be asking just because you said
that, right?” Jen says.

“I won’t tell.”

“No, she won’t. My wife’s a vault,” Matt
tells us as he picks her up. “C’mon, Princess. Let’s get you to
bed.”

“Mm, I want to go to bed with you. Being
drunk makes me horny.”

“I know. I’ll take care of you.”

“TMI, Matthew,” Darcy tells him with a smile
before walking out behind them.

Jade and Ellie wait for their guys to take
the last of the other girls to their apartments, and then hug me on
their way out. Audrey and Tegan ask me if I’m sure I’m okay, and I
assure them that no matter how much of a bastard Joel is, he would
never take advantage of me. They throw one more glare his way
before leaving. Then it’s just us.

“Bastard, huh? I guess I deserve that.”

“You do.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Maybe you should just go,” I tell him,
rubbing my head. “I drank too much whipped cream vodka, and ate too
much chocolate cake. I’m going to throw up soon.”

“I’ll hold your hair.”

“What if I don’t want you to?”

“If you really want me to leave, I
will.”

“I don’t know what I want,” I tell him
honestly.

He starts to speak, but I hold up my hand
and run for my bathroom. I make it there, and he’s right behind me
as I sink to the floor. Holding my hair like he promised, and then
holding me when I’m done. I can’t think about what I want right
now. I just want to sleep, so I close my eyes, and that’s what I
do. Sleep.

* * *

Joel

I screwed up big time. I
could’ve called her. I
should’ve
texted her. I knew how bad those pictures looked
when I saw them online. And yet, I gave her nothing. Treated her
like
she
was
nothing. I might still be doing it if I hadn’t gone to D.J.’s house
for some beers, and found a sex party going on instead. A few
bunnies had been “assigned” to me, and I barely made it out of
there. My t-shirt wasn’t so lucky, being literally torn off my body
by those women. It was then that I knew things had gone too far. I
was in no danger of going too far where women were concerned, but I
didn’t make that as clear as I thought I did. Talk about a wake-up
call.

I didn’t sleep much last night, because I
wanted to be there for Sierra when she needed me. She slept most of
the night, only getting up twice to throw up again. I cleaned out
her place, and tossed the trash down the chute at the end of the
hall. Now I’m cooking her breakfast. I don’t know if she’ll be up
soon, but I want to be ready. Bacon, eggs, and lots of water are on
the menu.

“You’re here.”

I turn to see her rubbing her eyes, then her
hand cross over her stomach. “Of course, I’m here. My girlfriend
needs me.”

“Your girlfriend needed you yesterday, and
the day before.”

“Sit down, and eat. We can talk after you
get some food in you.”

“This doesn’t make up for it. Holding my
hair, cleaning my apartment, and cooking me breakfast. It doesn’t
mean anything. It doesn’t,” she tells me and my heart breaks as her
tears fall.

I pull her into my arms, and kiss the top of
her head. “I’m sorry.”

“Why do you have to be so romantic after
being so mean?”

“I’m being romantic?”

“Yes, dammit. Taking care of me is more
romantic than flowers or material things could ever be.”

I lift her up, and put her on one of the bar
stools. “I love taking care of you,” I tell her has as I hand her a
fork and nod towards her plate of food. “You should eat.”

“You hurt me. A lot.”

“The pictures. I know.”

“No. Those pictures didn’t
hurt me.
You
hurt
me. I believed that you were doing nothing wrong in those pictures
until you didn’t call or text me, or even send me an
owl.”

“An owl?”

“Never mind.”

“I got caught up in
everything. The other players welcoming me back, the fans buying me
drinks…it was like I was
someone
again.”

“You’ve always been someone to me. I thought
you felt the same way.”

“I did. I do.”

She shakes her head. “No. If you did, you
would’ve called me right away when the team took you back. Just
like I called and left you a message telling you my training trip
had gone well. You were the first person I wanted to tell, and so I
did. I can come second to baseball, but I can’t come fifth. You
once told me not to talk like a ball bunny, but yet you put them
before me.”