Zeke (The Powers That Be, Book 2) (18 page)

“What I didn’t
get to explain to you was—”

“Wait!” I said
suddenly, cutting him off. He pulled his head back with a small
smile waiting for me to continue. “She’s not having, like,
triplets, is she? I mean, one I can handle but three?”

He snorted.
“Not as far as I know.” He lifted a hand, running the backs of his
fingers over my cheek then sat back, his hands finding mine again.
“What I need to explain is—”

“Sorry!” I
interrupted again, holding a palm up for him to stop. “You’re not
gonna tell me something bad, are you? I mean, triplets is bad but I
mean bad,
bad
. Like, you say you want me, but in spite of
that, you’re not gonna marry her out of honor or something, are
you?” I winced as I waited for his answer.

He chuckled.
“No. Nothing like that. Now, give me a chance to tell you what’s
going on?” He looked at me waiting for another question but when I
couldn’t think of anything else I needed to say or ask, I nodded
for him to continue. “Okay. This is what I tried telling you on
Monday when we got back. It’s not my baby.”

I frowned even
though this was great news. “What? How do you know for sure?”

He pursed his
lips. “Slept with her once back in November. Not that I’m making
excuses, but I was drunk, it was a poor decision but that’s it. We
didn’t date, but I’ve known her for four years now and she’s a good
person but she’s had it rough. Parents are cracked out on drugs,
don’t give a shit about her, she doesn’t have anyone. The last
couple years, she’s taken the video gigs to get out of the
stripping she was doing to pay for school and everything else.”

I gasped. Oh,
God. Here I thought I had it bad and this poor girl was struggling
with all of this.

“When you saw
me talking to her last Friday, she told me she was pregnant by
Kristof Bader.”

I gasped
again. Whoa. Kristof Bader was a big time rock star who’d been in
and out of rehab and had gone to jail several times for all kinds
of infractions including beating up his girlfriends. He was an
asshole.

“Why would she
get with him?” I asked in disbelief.

He shook his
head. “I don’t know. Said they got together in December at a video
shoot and that he treated her differently at first. He was nice,
wined and dined her. Seduced her, fucked her and kept her around
for a while then two weeks ago, God knows for what reason, he beat
the shit out of her. She’d just found out she was pregnant and
didn’t report the beating to the police because Kristof might find
out she was carrying his baby, and she said no way was she going to
let her child be anywhere near him after that.”

I frowned. “So
what does this have to do with you?”

“He somehow
found out about the baby. He told her that she was his and if she
tried leaving him, he’d cut the son of a bitch out of her. So that
day, she asked me to go with her to talk to him and tell him it was
mine. That’s what was going on in my head last weekend. I wasn’t
sure what to do. I was gonna talk to you about it, but I didn’t
know how you’d take it. Went back and forth about it because I know
you knew I’d been with her and I wasn’t sure if you’d believe me.
Also didn’t want to start any shit with this.” He looked at me
remorsefully. “I should’ve trusted you. Shit blew up in my face
anyway.”

I’ll say. But
I was curious. “So what ended up happening?”

“That night
after I dropped you off, couple of my linemen, Ryke and I went to
go see the prick. I swore them all to secrecy but someone obviously
said something. Anyway, Bader lives out on West Mercer Island. My
God, Scarlett, you should’ve seen his fuckin’ house. Fucker has a
swimming pool bigger than the football field. We showed up and he’s
got some Mafia looking motherfuckers guarding the goddamned place
armed to the fuckin’ teeth. Seein’ that, I wasn’t sure if I was
gonna make it outta there alive especially after I told him the
baby was mine. But you know what the asshole did?”

I shook my
head, enrapt by his crazy story.

“He laughed.
Told me the bitch was too fuckin’ loose for him anyway, that he
liked his pussy tight and that she was used up. Said I could have
her and her bastard because he didn’t allow trash in his presence.
Swear to God, if those dickheads hadn’t been standing around with
their guns, I’d have beaten the shit out of him just on principal.
But Sara pulled on my arm wanting to leave so we went. She cried
all the way back.”

My eyes teared
at this. “Poor Sara…”

“Yeah.” Then
he smiled and I wondered what good there was that could’ve come
from this screwed-up mess. “She and Timmons hit it off. He’s an
All-American guard. Great guy. Protective type who’d definitely
take care of her. Held her the entire trip back then took her
home.”

I sat there
envisioning all that he’d told me. Wow. He’d practically gone to a
whole other world this week. I mean, he’d put himself out there to
help a friend, facing off with a famous rock star, and he’d not
only helped save her but her baby, possibly getting roughed up in
the process. On top of all that, he was having to deal with rumors
that were definitely not true.

“Oh, no,” I
muttered.

“What?”

“Scout’s gonna
be so disappointed that she doesn’t get to do any investigating.”
At his questioning face I told him I’d explain later.

“But what
about the rumors…” I said.

“Don’t know
how it got out, and that’s the part I was trying to protect you
from, but you see how that went. Scarlett, I don’t give a fuck what
anyone thinks but you. That’s all that matters to me.”

And I’d been a
huge jerk to him, leaving him to deal with this without me by his
side.

“I’m the worst
person in the world,” I whispered.

He chuckled,
bringing my hands to his mouth to kiss them. “No. You didn’t know.
It was my fault. I should’ve told you. Should’ve trusted you.”

I bit my lip
and nodded at him. “Yes, you should have. But I see why you were
reluctant to share. Kinda.” I frowned because, no, I really didn’t
see why he was reluctant. Why he could share with his brother and
teammates but not me.

He kissed my
hands again saying, “Babe,” but I pulled my hands away because now
I was getting mad after hearing everything. Then I stood, pushing
off on his leg with my hands and went retrieve my coat from the
rack by the front door.

“I’d like to
go home now, please.”

He was up like
a flash and had me pinned against the front door before I knew it.
Dang.

“You’re not
going anywhere, Scarlett. Just got you back. You’re not leaving,”
he hissed, all up in my face, his hands on either side of my
head.

“I don’t know,
Zeke. Can you really
trust
me to be here?” I snapped right
back. I know I sounded like a child, but now that it had all sunk
in a bit I was really hurt about it.

“Baby,” he
whispered moving his face so I’d look at him. He got my eyes but he
also got a whole lot of glare along with them. “I’m sorry. You’re
right. This is all my fault. I’m sorry,” he whispered, kissing the
side of my head then he kept whispering his apologies. “I’m sorry.”
He kissed my forehead. “I’m sorry.” He kissed my nose. “I’m sorry.”
He kissed the side of my mouth. “I’m sorry,” he muttered against my
lips, eyes now open as were mine. He pulled away and his hands came
up to cup my face. “Please forgive me, Scarlett.”

I tiptoed up
and pressed my lips hard to his then bit his bottom lip between my
teeth (not hard but not too soft either) and pulled back watching
his eyes narrow knowing he was wondering what I was doing. I was
being pissed was what I was doing. But then I let him go.

“You hurt me,
Zeke,” I whispered.

He sighed. “I
know I did.” He left it at that because he’d already apologized
several times. What more could he do?

Taking a deep
breath and letting it out I suddenly realized what I was doing.
“I’m poking the bruise,” I told him, frowning.

He chuckled.
“Grammy would be pissed.” I looked up to see his eyebrows raised
and he had the cutest pout on his face begging me with his eyes to
forgive him.

So I did.

But that
didn’t mean I wasn’t going to make him pay.

“Well…” I
said, looking up at him, snippy attitude in full effect. “I think
since I’ve forgiven you, I deserve a back massage… and a few other…
things…”

Half grin
alert. Damn. “Baby, I can do that. And I can do some ‘things’ to
you that’ll make your toes curl.”

I rolled my
eyes. “Promises, promises,” I mumbled then yelped when he scooped
me up and took me to his bedroom, where, besides my back massage,
he did “things” to me that definitely made my toes curl and then
some
.

The rumors died down
the week school was back on after spring break. People saw Sara
with Drew Timmons and I guess from the way they acted together, all
cuddly and sweet, just assumed he was the baby’s father so Zeke was
off the hook, which neither of us could care less about anyway
because we knew the truth
.

Everything
went back to normal with me working at The Nook almost every
morning and the Dean’s office in the evenings and going to class in
the meantime. I learned that Zeke worked at his dad’s garage in his
spare time which I don’t know why I hadn’t bothered to ask before
but there you go.

I’d taken over
a whole dresser and bathroom drawer at his place which had been a
huge step for me. I only had one panic attack and almost
hyperventilated twice. But I mostly only stayed Fridays or
Saturdays with him because I had responsibilities at home like
cooking and taking Lane to school and I liked hanging out with my
family too.

And things
between Zeke and me had been good although we’d hit a couple rocky
patches. One in particular was the evening after I’d forgiven him
for being a bonehead for not trusting me with the Sara
situation.

It was that
next Monday night and I’d worked at the Dean’s office. And I’d been
really bothered by the fact that Zeke hadn’t told me he loved me.
Really
bothered. As in
brooding on it all day
bothered. Anyway, Lane had a basketball game at eight because
they’d started the league tournament (Lane, being a teenager, had
just informed me about it that day when I’d picked him up from
school). I’d tried calling Zeke to let him know but his phone was
out of commission not even letting me leave a voicemail, so I knew
he was on campus somewhere since he was getting no reception.

When I left
the Dean’s office at seven, I went by the weight room but he wasn’t
there. I drove around campus when I spotted his truck at the
student center, so I parked and was going in to tell him about
Lane’s game and see if he wanted to go, but what I saw through the
window made me turn around, get right back in my car and get the
hell out of there.

He and Ryker
had been inside talking with two girls, one of whom was Jillian
Snow, the Homecoming Queen, who Zeke had dated last fall, and I’d
watched in horror as she tiptoed up and kissed him then threw her
arms around him in a great big hug. And he’d hugged her back!

WTactualF?

I drove away
thinking it was no wonder that he hadn’t told me he loved me the
day before when we’d made up. It was because he didn’t! Duh. I was
just another good time to him. I’d end up being one of those
stories he’d tell Jillian—the woman he
did
love—just as he’d
told me the one about his sleeping with Sara. I was his latest,
“Not that I’m making excuses but this is the reason I fucked her”
girl. God, every man cheated! And if I gave it time, I was sure
he’d ask for a threesome with Jillian soon. When the hell was I
going to learn?

I’d called
Grammy and said my phone was going to die (big fat lie) so if she
needed anything to call Lane, then I’d turned mine off because I
didn’t want to deal with Zeke and
his
lies. Then I’d gone on
to Lane’s game and thank God I’d been so mad I hadn’t felt like
crying. His team won and he’d scored seventeen points, so I’d taken
him for an ice cream cone after with some of the extra tip money
I’d made that morning.

“How come Zeke
didn’t come?”

I shrugged.
“He was busy.” I’d left it at that hoping he wouldn’t ask and
luckily he hadn’t.

Lane filled
Grammy in on the game when we got home and when he went to take a
shower, I’d told her about what I’d seen at the student center.

“Oh, it’s
probably just a misunderstanding,” she’d argued.

“Grammy, I saw
what I saw. And when I told him I loved him yesterday, I got
nothing back. So there you go. And I swear, if he calls you and you
try meddling again, well, I’ll be pissed.” What else could I tell
her? She was too sweet for me to threaten.

She shook her
head at me like I was a fool but she let it be.

After
showering and getting in bed, I picked up my phone and turned it on
to see the damage.

Five missed
calls, two voicemails and twelve texts from Zeke. I looked at the
last one he’d sent twenty minutes ago.

Text
Message—Mon, Mar. 23, 10:33 p.m.

Zeke: Babe.
Where are you? If I don’t hear from you I’m coming by

And right on
schedule the doorbell rang. So getting up, I ran to Grammy’s room.
“I’ve got it! You stay in here,” I’d hissed because I saw that
she’d already been on her way out to answer the door and try to fix
things.

I went back to
my room and grabbed a hoodie, pulling it over my head, pulled my
hair into a ponytail and slipped on my moccasins. Then huffing out
a breath, I went to let Zeke know I was onto him and that it was
over, whatever “it” was.