Bet Me Something (Something Series Book 3) (32 page)

That was all the
encouragement I needed. I rubbed harder, faster, and locked my eyes on his
smoldering gaze until he fell apart with me. Collapsing on his chest after, I
enjoyed the attentiveness of his strong hands stroking my back.

“I should
probably sneak out soon. The last thing we need is to be caught like this.”

“Good idea.” I
yawned and promptly fell asleep with him inside of me.

***

Colby’s panicked
voice woke me from a deep sleep. “Shit. What time is it?”

My eyes opened
to see him jump out of bed. It took me a moment to remember we were in Vegas
and for the events of last night come back to me. “Did we fall asleep?”

Dressing
hurriedly in last night’s clothes, he looked over at the clock. “Yeah, but
thankfully everyone is probably hungover. It’s still before nine o’clock, which
hopefully means I’m safe sneaking out.”

“Mm, I wish you
could stay.”

His gaze focused
on me, naked on the bed. “Me, too, sweets.” Leaning down, he kissed me. Then he
slipped on his shoes and flashed one last PDG before slipping out my door.

I had just
rolled over when I heard the raised voices from the hallway. Adrenaline shot
through me as I hopped up and slipped on a robe, not bothering to look for the
tie. I opened the door meeting the eyes of my brother, whose expression could
only be described as confusion morphing into full on rage.

Brian and Colby
were squared off in the hallway, but after my brother took one look at me
standing in the doorway barely dressed, he went ballistic.

“How could you?
With my sister? I trusted you.”

Colby swallowed
hard, “I didn’t mean—”

Brian didn’t
give him a chance to finish before, his fist met Colby’s jaw, much to my
horror. I screamed knowing Colby just couldn’t find the words. “No. Stop.
Brian, it’s not what it looks like.”

Colby didn’t
bother to fight back, only stood there with his head hung as if in shame.

My brother’s
gaze locked on me. “Put some fucking clothes on, Kenzie.”

I winced,
realizing I was barely keeping the robe together without the tie. However, I
refused to budge. “I’m not leaving with you two fighting in the hall.”

Colby wouldn’t
meet my eyes, but I saw him physically react when Josh came out of his room
across the way, apparently alerted by the commotion.

Josh looked
shocked that the ruckus involved his brother and best friend. “What the hell is
going on?” His gaze landed on me and went to my brother.

“Colby slept
with my sister,” Brian said, with gritted teeth.

Josh’s face went
white, his mouth was grim. “Brian, go talk with Kenzie. Colby, with me. Now.”
Josh’s voice was cold, leaving no room for argument.

I watched
helplessly while the man I loved walked down the hall without a look back,
knowing I couldn’t follow in my current state. Stepping into my room, I left
the door open for Brian to follow and took my clothes into the bathroom,
frantically throwing on my shorts and a hoodie.

Coming out into my
room, I fought the tears while Brian was standing there seething. His eyes
focused on the bed and his face turned red with anger all over again at the
rumpled state and my clothes strewn about.

 I tried to
placate him. “We were going to tell you.”

He shook his
head. “Tell me what? That my best friend’s brother, who happens to be the
biggest manwhore I’ve ever known, has taken advantage of my little sister?”

“It’s not like
that.”

“It’s not me bringing
you coffee this morning, only to see him coming from your room in last night’s
clothes? Were you not standing in your doorway half naked? That’s not what it
looked like?”

A knock sounded
at the door, and Brian answered it to let Sasha in.

She glanced back
and forth between us. “Haylee called and said something happened. What’s going
on?”

Great. Bad news
definitely traveled fast.

“Colby slept
with Kenzie last night is what’s going on. I caught him sneaking out of her
room.”

“You make it
sound like a one-night stand when it isn’t. We have real feelings for one
another,” I argued.

His eyes fixed
on me while his jaw hardened. “Stay with her, Sasha. I’m not done speaking with
Colby.”

He was out my
door before I could stop him.

I turned towards
Sasha. “I’m not staying here.”

“Good, because
neither am I.”

I took a minute
to brush my teeth and splash my face, trying to calm myself. “I’m assuming
they’re in Josh’s room?”

“I think so,
considering Haylee called me from hers.”

Thankfully, we
were all on the same floor and knew where everyone was staying. We walked
quickly down to Josh’s suite, and I hoped they were still there.

Haylee answered
the door with tears in her eyes. “They’re all in the sitting room as not to
wake the baby, but it may not be a good idea for you to go in there, Kenzie.”
Her face was sympathetic. “I called Mark, and he should be here any minute and
may be able to calm everyone down.”

My first
inclination was to wait on Mark’s voice of reason. However, when I heard both
my brother and Josh laying into Colby from the doorway, I couldn’t help myself.
I squared my shoulders and marched into the other room, freezing at the sound
of Brian’s voice.

“What gives you
the right to touch a girl like my sister? You’ve paid escorts for sex, Colby,
and had countless women. And how do you think Kenzie would feel about the sex
tape or the coked out sorority girl who almost overdosed during your
twenty-first birthday?”

I gasped. I
couldn’t help it. Brian bringing up such things to make Colby feel unworthy—it
was absolutely stepping over the line.

Colby turned to
see me standing there, the color draining from his face the moment he realized
I’d overheard my brother. I swear I could see the light extinguish in his eyes.

“You weren’t
meant to hear that.” My brother looked apologetic that I had. “I was only
trying to emphasize how you deserve better.”

I shook my head.
“No, I don’t.” Shit that came out wrong. “I didn’t mean that the way it
sounded.”

Brian focused on
me. “He’s the reason why you wanted to stay in LA, isn’t he? I thought Mom was
crazy when she said she suspected some guy was influencing your decisions.
Nope, not my sister, she’s too smart for that.”

Colby’s gaze met
mine, his expression showing that my brother’s irrational accusation was sinking
in.

Completely
stunned, I watched Colby stride out of the room without another word. I glared
at Brian and quickly followed after him. I’d have to deal with my brother
later.

When I walked
into his room behind him, I could see he was already grabbing his suitcase,
starting to frantically throw things into it.

“What are you
doing?” I asked even though it was obvious.

“I need to go.”

I tried to
swallow past the growing lump in my throat. “Give me a couple minutes, and I’ll
come with you.”

He shook his
head. “It would be better if you didn’t.”

I noticed he
wouldn’t meet my eyes. Instead, he busied himself with loading his suitcase.
“Please don’t shut me out. None of what they said matters.”

He turned
towards me, his eyes finally locked on mine, a storm of emotions reflected in
them. “Yes, it does. You heard your brother. He wasn’t making shit up about my
past.”

“I don’t care
about that. I never did.”

“You should. You
can do a lot better.”

No, no, no. I
was losing him and didn’t have a clue how to get through. “That’s not true. You
know what we have, how we feel when it’s just the two of us. You said it. When
the world tilts, we’re back to center only when we’re together.” I reached out,
putting my hand on his chest, watching as he put his in his pockets.

He shook his
head. “I can’t let you give up your future for me. God, how many times did I
talk you into staying? The whole time I was selfish.”

“No, you
weren’t. You knew all along that I didn’t want to move home and only tried to
give me options.”

“I never meant
to hurt you.”

“You haven’t.
Not yet. Please don’t start now. It never mattered to me what they thought
about us. I meant to tell you before you talked to my brother. I love—”

He wouldn’t let
me finished the sentence. “Don’t say it. Don’t make it harder. It absolutely
matters what they think because they want what’s best for you. And most
importantly, they know me and the fact I couldn’t ever give that to you. I’m
not worth staying in LA for or giving up things that you want to do with your
life.”

Thankfully, my
temper over my brother’s comment kept my tears from falling. “They don’t know
what I want, but I do, and it includes you. I’m not giving up anything. I told
you from the beginning that I’ve only ever wished to stay in Los Angeles.”

“Which is where
you moved because of me in the first place? Be honest.”

Oh, crap. Back
to my dreaded sister-in-law bringing that up in front of him months ago at my
graduation party. “It may have had some influence initially, considering how
much you talked about enjoying the sunshine and it being so far away from my
mom—”

He interrupted
my justification. “You deserve more than I could ever give you. I’m not that
guy whose name you used to write hearts around when you were ten years old,
Kenz. I wish more than anything I could be or that I was half as deserving as
you make me feel. But I can’t have you giving up your dreams for me.”

I threw up my
hands “What dreams? The only things I know for sure are that I want to stay in California
and do something with music. I don’t want to go to business school, and I
certainly am not moving home. So what, exactly, am I sacrificing for you?”

“What about your
hesitation over your audition? Is it because you’d be afraid to leave on tour
for months if it worked out?”

I hadn’t given
it a lot of consideration beyond the fear of trying out in front of people, to
be honest. “No.”

“So maybe I
haven’t influenced your plans yet, but it’s a matter of time before I could.
And if that wasn’t enough, think about the fact you’ve never fought with your
brother, ever. He’s always adored you and vice versa. I caused this tension
this morning. Not only by sneaking in your room last night, but by being with
you.”

“It doesn’t
matter.”

“Like hell it
doesn’t, but you disagreeing only highlights my point about you giving me more
credit than I’m worthy of.” He grabbed what was left in his closet, threw it in
the suitcase, and zipped it up.

“Colby—” I
fought my tears. This couldn’t be it, yet I didn’t have the words to stop him.

He stepped close
to me and framed my face with his hands, giving me the saddest kiss goodbye in
the history of them. “You’ll find someone who’ll love you the way you deserve
someday, I promise. Someone your brother will be shaking hands with instead of
horrified at the very thought of him touching you.”

“That’s bullshit.
You may not be willing to admit it now, but I know you’re in love with me. And
it’s not about you not having the capacity to give me more, it’s about you not trying
because of what you heard back there.” My voice broke. “We can work through
this, but walking away right now would be a mistake.”

He swallowed
hard, emotion clogging his voice. “The biggest one of my life. I’m sorry.” He
kissed my forehead and left out the door without a glance back.

I was unaware
how long I stood there in his room, waiting for the sound of his key to
indicate he’d come back. The knock at the door finally snapped me out of it.
Answering it, I was relieved to find it was Mark, of all people.

“Are you all
right?” he asked, his expression full of concern.

“He left.” My
mind still couldn’t wrap itself around the fact that in the same day I’d woken
up with him, smiling, he was leaving me.

“He probably
thought it was for the best right now, given the circumstances.”

I disliked that
he was right. More than that, I hated that it could’ve all been avoided if I
hadn’t come to Vegas for the weekend. If he hadn’t come to my room last night.
If we hadn’t fallen asleep. If, if, if. That stupid word was going on my list,
too.

“Your, uh,
brother is waiting to speak with you.”

I lifted a brow,
adrenaline kicking in. “Good, because I have plenty to say.”

***

After Haylee
answered the door, giving me a sympathetic smile, I went straight into the same
room as before, where Josh and my brother were now sitting and having a discussion.

Brian glanced
up, looking relieved I was back. “Kenzie, it might not seem like it now, but
you’re better off—”

“How’s that?” My
tone was sharp, and I witnessed a flash of disbelief in his eyes before he
proceeded carefully.

“Maybe now isn’t
the time to have this conversation. I understand you’re upset but—”

“Oh, I think
it’s the perfect fucking time. You wouldn’t listen earlier, but you’re going to
now.”

Josh moved to
leave. “I’ll give you two some privacy.”

Clearly, I had
no problem with confrontation when it was in defense of someone I loved. “No,
you can sit back down because what I have to say concerns you both.”

Josh quirked a
brow while taking a seat.

But Brian wasn’t
having it. “I get that you’re upset, but this is a private matter. We don’t
need to drag Josh into it any more than he already has been.”

“You dragged him
into it when you decided to gang up on Colby, making him feel like shit.”

Brian’s temper,
although rarely seen in my lifetime, remained in full force. “Are you kidding
me? After what he did?”

I stepped
closer, putting my hands on my hips. “What, exactly, did he do? Have a
relationship with me, a grown woman who entered into it fully aware that we’re
two consenting adults.”

His eyes
softened. “Don’t you see? There’s no such thing as a relationship for Colby.
That’s not what he’s about. And as difficult as it was to discover he’d slept
with you, it’s much worse knowing he had you believing it was ever something
more.”

“Just because he
has a past, doesn’t mean the man can’t change. And he has.”

“Seriously?
After hearing what I said to him, which is the tip of iceberg, by the way, you
believe that?”

My temper was at
a boiling point. “I never should’ve heard that from anyone except him if he’d
ever wanted to share it, but the truth is it doesn’t matter. Just like it
wouldn’t matter if Sasha knew about you screw—” I stopped myself and turned,
not surprised to see both Sasha and Haylee behind me in the doorway.

Sasha raised a
brow towards Brian. “Screwing his way through so many college girls he lost
count. I’m well aware of your history, Bri, and to your sister’s point, it
doesn’t matter to me. It’s your past.”

Oh, shit. This
had now become a battle of the sexes because Haylee was looking none too
pleased with Josh, either.

Brian swallowed
hard, looking at his fiancée and then back to me. “Point taken, but you say
he’s changed, and yet he left to meet up with girls he’s been acquainted with
previously at a strip club last night. Then he went to your room to crawl into
bed with you.”

No wonder Brian
had punched Colby if that was the scenario he’d envisioned. “He didn’t go to
the strip club; he stayed at the bar with Mark for another drink and then was
already in my room by the time I’d had a couple of drinks in the lobby bar.”

Josh shook his
head. “I know you want to believe that.”

I turned towards
him. “The question is that as his brother, why don’t you? Is Colby a liar? A
cheat? A terrible person?”

“No. But, he’s
not responsible, either.”

“If you still
believe that, then you haven’t been paying attention. Three years ago he made a
mistake, allowing himself to be conned by a woman who used him to blackmail the
company. Yet you won’t let it go, as if you’ve never made an error in judgement
yourself. If you’d been tuned in, you would’ve noticed how he spends most of
his hours working hard, how passionate he is about his movies, and how he’d
give anything for your approval.”

Shock filled
Josh’s expression. “He told you about what happened?”

“Yes, he did
because he’s been working to prove himself to you ever since.” I spotted Mark walk
in. His brown hair and Clark Kent glasses over kind, assessing eyes made him
appear as the only calm one in the room.

Some of my
initial anger started to dissipate as I thought of Colby’s devastated face. “Look,
this wasn’t the way we intended for you guys to find out. But what’s
heartbreaking is I’d thought Colby was overreacting when he said you both
wouldn’t take the news of us well. I believed he wasn’t giving you enough
credit to be able to accept that he could change and not hold his past against
him. It’s as though you forgot he’s a person with feelings who you’ve known
your entire lives.”

While I could
see Josh softening, my brother wasn’t so easily convinced. “If it’s true that
he’s changed, then why would he have me thinking he was going to the strip club
last night to meet those women?”

Shit. This was a
harder one to explain. Thank goodness for Mark being there to assist.

“Because he was
doing me a favor in having you believe that. Truth is that we sat at the bar,
and he confided he’d met someone he may be in love with.”

I was shocked
Colby had confided in Mark about me.

 “You knew he
was with my sister?” Brian turned towards him.

“Of course I
didn’t, yet it makes sense given he didn’t divulge a lot of details about the
woman he was talking about.”

Brian focused
back on me. “You deserve someone who—who—”

“Who—what?”

“Who, at the
very least, would abide by your five-date rule before sleeping with you.”

“Why would you
assume he didn’t? We had our five dates, and they were amazing.” So they hadn’t
come before we’d had sex. I thought this slight omission was warranted given
the situation.

Brian’s face
registered his suspicion.

“How can you
forget this is a man who let me move in with him in order to take care of me
after my accident? He shampooed and blow-dried my hair when I couldn’t, gave me
my pain pills, and ensured I went to every doctor’s appointment. He’s been
nothing but good to me.”

“Were you guys
sleeping together then?”

I knew he was
trying to figure out how long we’d been hiding it from him. “No. We weren’t.
You make it sound cheap and tawdry when it’s nothing like that. He’s my best
friend, and I would think you, of all people, would appreciate that type of
relationship turning into more.”

“Then why the
hell didn’t he tell me any of that? He didn’t say one word. And then he walked
out.” Brian’s tone started to sound regretful.

“What would you
do if Sasha’s brother or father came at you, slinging shit from your past and then
punched you in the face? Then you had your own sibling side against you. He had
the two men he’s grown up with and respects the most tear him down completely
after jumping to conclusions.”

“Colby’s never
indicated that he’d changed his ways.” Brian was sounding defensive now, which
was a good sign that he was starting to have some regrets.

“Sometimes the
easiest way to guarantee someone isn’t disappointed in you is to keep their
expectations low. You, Josh, and Mark set the bar high by being the type of men
you are now, but you certainly aren’t above having your own history of dirty
laundry, some of which I’m sure you wouldn’t want aired. You had no right to
take it that far with him and throw those things in his face or to imply he’d
never be good enough for me.”

Both men looked
contrite and out of fight for the moment. Josh finally spoke. “What did he say
when you went after him?”

I fought the
tears. “That he believed every word.”

***

A half hour
later, I was showered and packed up, wondering what I should do next. I’d left
both men there in the room before I broke down, the adrenaline having run its
course. Sitting on my bed, I felt lost because the two most important relationships
in my life, with Colby and with my brother, were both in turmoil.

Thankfully, Mark
snapped me out of my mood by arriving at my door with coffee and muffins in
hand. “How you feeling?”

I shrugged.
“Numb.”

He took a seat
at the small table next to my hotel window and motioned for me to eat. “What
did Colby say before he left?”

I recapped our
conversation. “He went from barely being able to spend a night apart to
breaking up with me.”

“Like you said,
he believed what they said. Truth be told, even I was guilty of not noticing
how Colby’s changed the last few years. But yesterday evening, there wasn’t a
doubt in my mind he’d met someone he was falling in love with.”

My heart hurt.
Only hours ago he’d confided that to someone, and yet today he’d left me in his
room. Hearing the knock on the door, I tensed, not sure I could withstand
another round with my brother.

“I’ll get it,”
Mark offered.

I was relieved
to hear Sasha and Haylee’s voices and nodded towards Mark, giving him the okay
that they could come in.

Sasha walked in,
and to my surprise, immediately hugged me. She normally wasn’t so affectionate.
“You okay?”

“Not yet, but I
owe you both an apology for spoiling this weekend.”

Both women shook
their heads and Sasha spoke.

“You didn’t ruin
a thing. As for today, you stood up for someone you love in a way that was
sincere and unapologetic. Don’t go and express regret now. Love is messy and
sometimes embarrassingly on display in the most awkward of ways. Your
graduation party was a good example of that for me and your brother. I don’t
know how it is you never found out what happened, but let’s just say I thought
every person there was aware of my meltdown and how upset I was with Brian at
the time.”

I appreciated
her words and the idea I wasn’t alone when it came to messy, not to mention
public, displays. “Thank you for sharing that,” I murmured.

“Josh is on his
way to LA to see Colby. He feels terrible, as well he should,” Haylee offered.

I expelled a
breath, hoping some good would come out of this debacle.

Another knock
sounded at the door. This time it was my brother. His hands were in his
pockets, his eyes wide at the company already in the room. Suddenly, everyone
cleared out while he came in, shutting the door behind him.

Colby was
correct in that Brian and I had never fought. Ever. He’d always been there for
me, and although I was upset by the way he’d treated Colby, I knew Brian’s
intentions had been honorable. I also believed that finding out the way he did
contributed to his over-reaction.

“Do you hate
me?”

I shook my head,
knowing if I broke down crying, he’d probably think it was Colby’s fault.

“I’m sorry,
Kenzie.”

“I’m not the
only one you should be apologizing to.”

He sighed
deeply. “Now that I’m past the initial shock, I realize that. Seeing you there
earlier at your door half-dressed, I saw red and lashed out. All I could
picture was him crawling back from the strip club into your bed, and I
completely lost it. And so you know, the overdose wasn’t even a girl he’d
invited to the party, and the sex tape was only a camera phone snippet from a
college night. Not exactly harmless, but not as blown up as I was making them
out to be.”

I didn’t need to
know these things; however, hearing that Brian’s perspective was shifting on
them was promising. “Like I said, everyone has things from their past they’re
not proud of.”

He nodded.
“You’re right about that, and I have every intention of fixing things with
Colby, but for right now, I need to know we’re okay.”

“We’ll get
there. I’m not even sure I know how to stay mad at you. I regret we put
everyone in this position to begin with.”

“I appreciate
you saying that. But you were more than entitled to be upset with us,
especially with me treating you like a girl who wouldn’t know better. I
shouldn’t have claimed you were staying in California or giving up your future
for him.”