FanGirl Squeal (RockStars of Romance Book 1) (17 page)

I sat at my table nursing a glass of wine and itching to
check my phone. I promised my parents (and Ashley) that I wouldn’t have my
phone glued to my hand all night so it sat untouched in my sequined clutch.
Instead, I watched my parents two-step to R. Kelly’s
Step in the Name of
Love
. My mother was smiling and giggling so hard. It was like she fell in
love with my father all over again every time she looked at him.

Movement by the ballroom entrance caught my attention. My
parents and Ashley are sticklers for punctuality. All of their friends and
associates are aware of that character flaw and arrived on time. Whoever was
just arriving had committed a cardinal sin. I turned around in my chair to see
the culprit and immediately wished I hadn’t.

Two years hadn’t changed Jacoby much. Leaving me at the
altar hadn’t made his hair fall out like I prayed for. He hadn’t gotten fat. In
fact, he looked good. Damn good. I wanted to throw up.

My stomach tightened. Pure angry fire pulsed through my veins.
Beads of sweat broke out on my forehead. I expected a reaction when I saw him.
I expected to want to ninja kick him in the balls. I did not expect to feel
sad.

I did not realize how much I missed the fine, dark-skinned
man looking around the ballroom until I actually saw his face. I quickly turned
around and scanned the room for a quick exit. The red exit sign by the stage
called out to me and I hightailed it out of the ballroom with my gown bunched
up around my ankles so I wouldn’t step on it, fall, and embarrass myself. I ran
through the infamous lobby of The Roosevelt Hotel like Cinderella leaving the
ball.

The warm summer night greeted me. I slumped against the cool
concrete wall and began to cry. I didn’t want to miss the way he held me at
night or how he listened to me talk about my family. Or how eager he was to
move to L.A. with me instead of me coming home.

All the hurt I felt when Troy said, ‘
Savannah, he’s not coming.
Let’s get out of here
,’ came rushing back.

I took a few deep breaths. The lobby doors opened and Ashley
quickly stepped outside. She moved her head quickly from left to right and
walked over to me in a black dress that was very similar to mine. Without a
word, she took my hand and led me over to a marble bench. I leaned my head on
my older by six minutes sister’s shoulder.

Ashley didn’t say a word and neither did I, even though I
fully expected her to say something I would not appreciate. Her presence wasn’t
a real surprise. We don’t get along but she was there when I lost my baby. She
stayed with me in the hospital until they let me leave and she didn’t complain
once.

She didn’t help me plan my wedding, but she was there as a
bridesmaid and helped me discreetly leave the church so I wouldn’t have to
endure the embarrassment of two hundred guests wondering what was going on. She
has the ability to put our differences aside when she knows I really need someone.

We sat in silence for ten minutes; the only sound was my
sniffles battling the tinkling and rushing water of the hotel’s fountain.

“I’ll tell him to leave,” Ashley finally said. “Just say the
word.”

“Mom and Dad invited him. I’m not trying to ruin your party.”

“He ruined your life, Banana. He doesn’t deserve to be in
the same room as you. He doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air as you.”

“Well, say how you really feel, Ashley,” a deep voice
chuckled from above us.

My eyes met Jacoby’s. A slight grin tugged at the corner of
his mouth. His arrogance used to be a turn on. Now I just wanted to slap him.

“Can I speak to you for a second, Savannah?”

“No,” Ashley answered sharply. “You may not talk to her. We
don’t have anything to say to you.”

“I wasn’t asking you. I was asking your sister.”

Ashley stood up and got right in Jacoby’s face. I’ve never seen
her so angry! I thought she was going to slap the black off him.

“Who do you think you are talking to, Jacoby? How dare you
show your face around me, my parents, and especially, my sister? You are a
piece of shit and if you don’t get the hell out of here, you are going to
regret it.”

“Tough talk Ashley. Are you going to get Kevin to come out
here and beat me up? Or sue me? Litigation, that’s your thing, right?”

“Are you seriously talking to me right now? Do not let my
law degree, this dress, or my pretty face fool you, Jacoby Reynolds. Leave my
sister alone or I will end you.”

“Funny how you only claim your sister when you think she
needs saving,” Jacoby fired back. “Grow up, Ashley. This has nothing to do with
you.”

The vein in Ashley’s forehead throbbed uncontrollably. She
took a couple of deep breaths. The next thing I know, I saw her raise her hand.
She slapped Jacoby so hard that I felt it.

“Fuck you,” she said through clenched teeth. “I told you I
would end you. Stay right here if you think I’m playing.”

Jacoby was rubbing the side of his face where Ashley had
left a bright red handprint. It took everything in me to not jump for joy. But,
he didn’t make any move to leave the hotel.

In a blur of black satin and chiffon, Ashley disappeared
into the hotel. I knew that she was going to get her husband or my dad, or
both. I hoped for both. Jacoby’s arrogant ass needs to be brought down a peg or
two and my father is just the man to do it.

The familiar scent of Jacoby’s favorite cologne burned my nostrils.
I didn’t even try to fake like I was interesting in seeing him standing in
front of me. I was fighting so hard to hold back my tears. I didn’t want to him
to see me cry. I’ve cried so many tears over this man. He doesn’t deserve them.

“You look beautiful, Savannah. You haven’t changed a bit.”

“And you look like an asshole. What do you want?”

 “Despite your anger, I think there is a conversation that
you and I need to have. Don’t you agree?”

I closed my eyes and counted slowly until I stopped seeing
visions of me slipping off my Givenchy stiletto and jamming it into his eye,
Single
White Female
style.

97, 98, 99, 100
. I opened my eyes and stood up.

“Don’t talk to me like I’m the village idiot,” I snapped. “We
needed to have a conversation two years ago but you must have forgotten how to
reach your fiancée. Now, there’s nothing for us to talk about.”

“Yes, there is,” he replied. “I need you to know-”

“Here’s what I need you to know,” I cut him off. “I loved
you with all of my soul. You stole my joy, my happiness, and most of my sanity.
There is nothing you can ever say to me that will change the fact that you are
a liar, a coward, and a thief. You knew how much I loved you. Now I hate you
that much.”

Jacoby took a step back. He stared at the ground with his
hands in his pockets and his head hanging down, almost as if he was ashamed. If
he had a soul, I would probably think that he was affected by my words. I began
to walk away. His light touch on my bare shoulder stopped me. Or was it the
sorrowful whisper of my name? I turned around slowly.

“What?”

He wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I cheated. The girl was pregnant.
She threatened to come to the church and tell you if I went through with the
wedding. After what we’d just gone through with the baby, I couldn’t allow anyone
to hurt you like that.”

For a second, I really did forget how to breathe as my heart
painfully shattered inside my chest. I lowered my head as fat teardrops
splattered on the pavement.

A baby? The reason he left me was because he was having a
baby? Betrayal didn’t quite define what I was feeling.

“I never stopped loving you, Savannah. I wanted nothing more
than to spend my life with you.”

“SHUT UP!” I screamed. “Don’t say anything else to me!”

I hiked up my dress and began to walk away. I didn’t want to
go back inside, but I couldn’t stay out here. Frantic, I tried to think but I
couldn’t because all I could do was cry.

“Hey babe, is everything cool?”

I looked up sharply and stared at the bright red car in
total disbelief. Cash was standing by the open driver’s side door of his
Mustang with his elbows resting on roof. I have never been happier to see
anyone in my life. I scooted past Jacoby’s stunned face and rushed to Cash’s
side.

“What are you doing here?” I grinned in utter surprise and
relief.

“Saving your ass. Get in.”

I wasted no time in sliding into Cash’s car. I had so many
questions but I just needed to flee Jacoby’s presence. I’ll apologize to my
parents another time. Just as I was about to close the door, Ashley came
bursting out of the hotel.

“Savannah, wait! Your purse!”

Ashley rushed over to the car and knelt down. She sat the
clutch on my lap and smiled at Cash.

“Take care of her,” she said. “Make her smile.”

Ashley patted my knee and gave me a stiff hug. “It’s going
to be okay. I’ll take care of everything.”

She shut the door, flipped a stunned looking Jacoby the bird,
and sashayed back into the hotel as Cash pulled away.

“Aren’t you just my knight in shining armor with your trusty
steed? Prince Charming saving the damsel in distress.”

“What else was I supposed to do?” Cash laughed. “You sent me
an SOS text. I thought you were just bored. I had no idea someone was making
you cry. Was that your ex you told me about?”

I nodded.

“Want me to go back there and kick his ass?”

A tiny giggle escaped my mouth at the seriousness in Cash’s
voice. I believe that if I had said yes, he really would have turned the car
around.

“I didn’t text you,” I replied instead.

“Yes you did.”

I reached into my tiny clutch for my phone to prove my
point. Except he was right and I was confused. There was a text from me to him
that said I was dying and needed to get the hell out of there. A strange idea
crossed my mind.

Had my sister done that? Had she sent Cash a text? I thought
she’d gone back in the hotel to get reinforcements, but had she cared enough
about my sanity that she knew the best thing was for me to leave? When did she
become such a good person?

I sat in a confused silence while Cash drove. He was singing
along to an old Bob Dylan song while I was still reeling from Jacoby’s
confession. I didn’t even notice when the car stopped and Cash cut the engine.
I looked around the parking deck that was too large for the four or five cars
that it held.

“Where are we?” I asked cautiously.

“My place.”

Cash hopped out of the car and jogged around to my side.

“Why didn’t you take me back to my hotel?” I asked when he
opened the door.

“Because I wanted to bring you here.”

Taking my hand, Cash led me to an elevator. He punched in a
code and the doors opened. Then he hit the button for the twenty-eighth floor.
When the doors closed, he stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

“Forget about whatever happened before this moment,” he
whispered before placing the softest kiss right behind my ear. “You look
gorgeous by the way. But I like the curls better.”

All I could manage was a quiet ‘thank you.’ My head rested
against Cash’s firm chest. I could hear his heartbeat quickening.

“You’re trembling,” Cash pointed out in his low husky voice.
“What’s wrong?”

“I’m upset.” I couldn’t just forget about what happened. I
looked down at the tattoo around the middle finger of my right hand.

Brianna.

My baby. My sweet precious baby who I never got to see but
loved for the each of the one hundred days I carried her.

And that asshole had the nerve to tell me he got another
woman pregnant while he was with me. That’s just not something I could forget
in ten minutes.

“Are you upset with me for bringing you here?” Cash asked
me.

I turned around and looked into his eyes. “No, I’m not upset
with you.”

Tears blurred my eyes as I stood on my tiptoes to softly
press my lips against his. “You’re my hero, remember?”

Cash wiped my tears away with his thumb. “You don’t have to
tell me what happened. You don’t even have to talk to me. I have a guest
bedroom and a fully stocked bar. There are over a thousand free movies in the
theater, and my little sister is home and she’ll probably talk your ear off if
you let her. I just wanted to get you out of a place where you obviously didn’t
want to be and you didn’t look like you needed to be alone.”

The elevator dinged when we reached the twenty-eighth floor
and the doors slid open. Cash led me down a bright hallway that smelled of new
money. Cash lives in one of the most popular celebrity apartment buildings in
the city.

“Britt!” he called when we stepped inside his condo.

In the hallway, there were at least six pairs of shoes lined
up along the dark hardwood floor. Cash was stepping out of his Nikes.

“White carpet,” he explained with a shrug. “And Brittany
says that shoes in the house messes up the feng shui or something.

I slipped off my Givenchy heels and sat them next to his
sneakers. Without my heels, my dress brushed up against the floor as Cash led
me into his condo. I was in awe. I’ve seen some nice apartments in New York and
Los Angeles, but this was beyond anything that could be described as nice.

The floor to ceiling windows were worth at least five
million dollars. His ceilings had to be at least ten feet high. It was so open
and spacious, and nothing like the pictures I’d seen. The living room where I
was standing and gawking like an awestruck teenager was decorated in shades of
blue and white. His furniture was light blue Italian leather. I was unable to
resist running my hands over it while Cash called his sister’s name again. It
even felt expensive.

“Why are you calling me like I did something wrong?”

A fresh faced redhead wearing a ribbed pink tank top and
sweatshorts from American Eagle rounded the corner. I immediately recognized the
shorts. I own about ten pair myself.