BROKEN & SCREWED (BS #1)

Chapter 12

12

My stomach was twisting the entire time on the plane, and it didn’t take long for us to get our bags or grab a taxi to the hotel Marissa booked. As we got closer to the Tropicana, my heart was pumping louder and louder. I couldn’t believe Angie or Justin hadn’t heard it.

When the taxi got to the hotel and we walked into the lobby, Marissa and Eric were waiting for us. She jumped up and down, waving her hand. As she lifted her arm each time, her white dress inched up a centimeter with each wave.

“You’re here! You’re here.” Marissa clapped. “Yay, yay!”

Eric looked green around his mouth. He held a hand to his stomach but tried for a smile. “Hey, guys.”

Angie’s eyebrows went high. “And she’s drunk.”

Justin chuckled and clapped a hand on Eric’s shoulder. “Got a guy to get you booze. Been drinking since you got here?”

He nodded, and gulped for breath. His cheeks swelled suddenly.

Justin’s laugh grew in volume. He swatted him once again. “Yep, sounds like Marissa’s influence has done its job. Good job.”

Eric jerked forward, clapped a hand over his mouth, paled, and then fled down a hallway.

“Honey!” Marissa followed after him with clumsier movements.

“Hey! What about us?”

“Oh.” She put the brakes on and skidded back. A key card was flung at us from her purse before she turned back around. “You’re all in room 5214, right next to us. You’re checked in and everything. I’ll come over in a bit.”

“All of us?”

A distracted wave was her response.

Angie sighed in disgust. “I can’t believe she did that. We should’ve gotten a suite with three separate rooms. That would be less awkward then.”

“Uh . . .” Justin glanced at me from the corner of his eye. “Um, honey. We’ll be fine. It’s no problem.”

“No problem?” she seethed. “This is all Marissa’s fault. She called us at the last minute and demanded we all do this, and then she doesn’t think things through. Honey, we’re in Vegas and we can’t—”

Then she stopped and turned to me wide eyed.

My chest felt like it was trying to burrow in on itself, but I swallowed my pride and shrugged. “It’s fine. I can get my own room somewhere.”

“Oh, my God. I am so sorry, Alex. I didn’t mean—” She balled up her fists and pressed them to her forehead. “None of this is going the right way. I can’t believe I said it like that. I’m really sorry, Alex. I really am. I’m mad at Marissa, not you, never you.”

But, I was the problem. And she knew that I knew that. A deep guilt started to settle in when Justin threw his arms around us both and pulled us tight. He squeezed us together and said in a cheerful tone, “No worries, Alex. Ang and I can have daytime s*x if you’re not around.”

“Justin!”

He grinned at me as he was swatted in the back of his head. “I prefer s*x during the day anyway, so you’re kind of helping me out here.”

“Shut up, Justin.”

He just hugged us tighter and turned both of us toward the hallway. “Come on, ladies. Let’s go find our room.”

Angie glared at him. “I’m going to make you pay for this, you know.”

“Yeah, but that’s another reason why having Alex around is a good idea for me. You can’t fillet my ass if there is a witness.”

She opened her mouth, ready for another seething retort, but then she jerked in the air and gasped. She whirled around, red in the face and eyes as a hand reached around to her butt. Her mouth opened and closed like a goldfish’s for a second and then the scathing look intensified. “You pinched my ass!”

Justin hooted before he burst ahead of us down the hallway.

“Justin!”

He waved the card in the air. “Good luck getting into the room. I’ve got the key.”

“AH!” And she took off after him.

I stayed back and watched as the two chased each other down the hallway. Justin was laughing, Angie was yelling, but right before she turned the corner, I saw the smile on her face as well. I sighed on the inside. They were in love. They had been for such a long time.

I wanted that. I did, but then an old feeling inside me triggered again.

People didn’t find the love they had. Not really. And if they did, they were lucky, incredibly so.

With that thought, I knew I had to get my own room. I was the fifth wheel on this trip. When I went back to the front desk, a worker told me that there were no empty rooms. I needed to have a reservation at least a few weeks in advance. After she told me all this with a blank expression on her face, I wondered if Marissa had booked two rooms from the beginning or even how she got the rooms in the first place.

“Street girl? Alex.”

And then I stopped wondering about it.

Cord Tatum stood behind me with his arm around a girl’s waist. He was dressed in Grant West University athletic pants and a sweatshirt with the school’s crest on it. Two other guys, who were wearing similar outfits, were with him.

His gaze flicked past my shoulder to the front desk worker. “What are you doing? You getting a room?”

“That’s cute, thinking you can get a room here.” The girl flicked her red hair over her shoulder and laughed. She trailed a hand down his arm and rested it on his chest.

My eyes narrowed at her, but I responded to him, “My friends already got rooms, but they’re coupled up. It feels weird, you know?”

“Ah. Got it.”

One of the guys nudged him from behind. Cord’s eyes lit up. “Hey, we have a few empty beds with the team. You could bunk with one of us. We’d have to put you with a decent guy.”

“Or one that’s neutered,” a buddy snickered behind him.

My smile strained at the corners. “Uh . . .” But I remembered the front desk clerk’s snippy words and I drop my bags to the floor. “Sure.” I was desperate at that moment. But then I remembered all of his words. “Wait, you said your whole team? Your whole team is staying here?”

He nodded. “Yeah, we have a game tomorrow. I ran into Marissa at the airport and she badgered me for tickets. Said something about her family knowing a travel agent and pulling strings.” He shrugged. “It’s no big deal. I figured I owed her for what a jackass I was before.”

I nodded. I had guessed that was how she’d gotten those tickets, but some excitement sparked in me at the idea of watching Jesse play again. It’d been too long. It’d been too long since I had felt him, too.

Cord’s eyes were thoughtful as he watched my reaction. “I think Hunt got his own room.”

The same guy snickered again, “Golden Boy ain’t going to share a room, not unless he’s banging the chick.”

Cord turned on him. “The Golden Boy was best friends with her brother.”

His friend’s smirk vanished and his eyes widened. The girl straightened and reassessed me. I ignored both of their reactions. “I don’t want to bother Jesse. I’m sure he has other things to worry about.”

A third guy snorted from the back. “The only thing he’s got to worry about is if he gets enough sleep.”

Cord’s eyes grew hard. “Shut up, Kaseys. We’re damn lucky to have Hunt on our team and you know it. He’s our best damn player, so show some respect.”

The girl had detached herself from his side and migrated closer to me as he had turned toward his buddies. She gave me an intense look now and her voice came out husky, “So you know Jesse Hunt?”

Cord snorted and hauled her back to him. A hand cemented her against his side. “No way, Mel. This girl is off limits.”

Her lips stuck out in a pout. “Come on.”

“No.”

And then one of the guys shouted, “Hunt!”

He was coming in from the sliding doors with a bag over his shoulder. As he looked up, a polite grin was on his face, but then Cord stepped aside and Jesse’s eyes landed on me. He froze. I watched with a pounding heart as his hand tightened on his bag strap. “Hey, guys.” His eyes zeroed in on me, an unnamed emotion playing just behind his cool façade. “You’re here?”

Oh, boy. “Yeah.”

He frowned. “But your folks are—”

Cord clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, buddy. So this little beauty here is looking for a room to share. She’s here with friends, but they’re all coupled up, and the front desk b***h made it clear that there aren’t any empty rooms available.”

Jesse’s eyes had narrowed on me, but he didn’t hesitate. “Yeah, she can stay with me.”

My heart skipped a beat and I forgot to breathe for a second.

“Sweet. It’s all worked out. See you around, Alex.” Cord winked at me as he led his friends to the elevator.

Jesse waited until they had gotten into one before he touched my arm. He asked quietly, “You’re not here with your parents?”

I shook my head. I couldn’t speak.

“They’re at The Four Seasons.” He had grown so quiet. “You don’t want them to know you’re here?”

My head wrenched from side to side. I couldn’t tell him they had left to escape me. It wouldn’t have been fair to them. So, I choked out in a whisper, “They’re doing a second honeymoon thing.”

“Who did you come with?”

“Marissa and her boyfriend. Angie and Justin.”

He settled back. “Got it.” His lip twitched at the corner. “Marissa’s got another boyfriend? I pity that guy.”

“Eric Nathan.”

He went still. “What?”

“She’s dating Eric Nathan.”

His jaw clenched. And then he clipped out, “Good. He’s not your problem anymore then.”

“Jesse.” I sighed.

“Come on.” He reached down and grabbed my bag. “I’m tired. We had an early practice and the guys are going out for something to eat if you want to come with.”

“You had a practice?” I checked my phone. “At six in the morning?”

Funny. I didn’t remember the last time I slept, and yet; I was wired. That wasn’t right. It didn’t feel right.

He flashed me a grin. “Yeah. And it was at five this morning, but Coach is giving us the day off. We just have to show up for a team dinner tonight and promise that we’ll get eight hours of sleep tonight before the game tomorrow.” Then he stopped suddenly and turned to face me before he continued. “Your parents are coming to the game tomorrow.”

He took a breath.

“My coach knows about Ethan. I’ve talked to him about it and when he found out that your folks were here . . . they want to do a thing for them during the game.

“There’ll be some footage of them, probably just where they are in their seats and they’ll dedicate a song in memory of Ethan. I know most people won’t care. They’re doing it for me too. I think it’ll be during halftime or something and they’ll do it while other stuff is going on, but I thought you should know. Do you want to go with them? I can get you a ticket.”

I shook my head. Everything was so raw now, again. I spoke in a hoarse voice, “Marissa got tickets from Cord, but now I don’t know if I should come to the game at all.”

His hand grasped my arm. He pulled me close. “I want you to come.”

Oh, God. The idea of my parents being there and watching an announcer dedicating something to them . . . pain of a different level flared inside me. I struggled to keep from buckling over and crumbling to the floor. They would announce Ethan’s name. I pulled away from Jesse’s hand and shook my head. I was so tired of crying, so damn tired. As I swiped some of the cursed tears away, Jesse pulled me back to him. He made a soothing sound as he replaced my hands and wiped them away instead.

More slipped out.

He dried them, too.

And then he glanced up, cursed under his breath, and ripped himself away.

I looked up and into Angie’s eyes. Her mouth was open. A strange gurgling sound came out and she pointed a finger toward us. “You . . . you two—what?”

Jesse bent close and whispered in my ear, “Room 2612.” Something was pushed into my hand and he stalked away to the elevators.

I glanced down at the key card in my hand. Nothing was making sense again.

Then Angie was at my side and she whispered, “Oh my God.”

Oh my God indeed.

The elevator opened and he got on. I yelled out, “Wait!”

The door started to slide closed, but his hand shot out, making the doors slide open again.

When I was sure he wasn’t going to leave without me, I turned to Angie. “I’m staying with him.”

“What? But—”

I rushed around and hurried to where he was holding the door for me. As I slipped past, he let go of the door and stepped back against that wall. Angie was looking back and forth between us, her mouth hanging open in shock.

I closed my eyes and braced myself. The cat was out of the bag. Angie had suspected, she had approved at first, and then disapproved. Then she forgot, but she was fully reminded now. I knew she thought Jesse had moved on and left me behind, but when she saw the text message he had sent me yesterday, the same disapproval had come back. She hadn’t said a word on the airplane or in the taxi, but I knew it was only a matter of time. She was going to question me and she would say the same things I told myself every time.

Jesse was going to hurt me. He already had, but she didn’t know that he healed me as well. I needed him, even if it were only in the little increments that I got from him. Because every time, a part of me felt whole, a little more together before he would leave again.

He watched me as I watched her, a grave expression on his face, but neither of us said a word. The air was thick with tension, anticipation, too.

I wanted to be in his arms. I wanted it so badly I could almost taste him.

Then my phone started buzzing. They were text messages from Angie, but I silenced it and put it away.

When the doors slid open on his floor, we walked together to his room. My palms were starting to sweat again. I felt breathless. The door opened and we were inside.

Then I was pulled back. Jesse pushed me against the wall. I had a second to glimpse the lust on his face before his mouth was on mine and I wrapped myself around him.