Forever and Always (13 page)

I rolled my eyes. “Seven million
people live in the city alone—I’m not going to bump into
him.”

Cortland nodded his head. “Well, I
hope I run into him.”

I smiled. “I’m fine, Cortland. He
isn’t worth it.”

“
Has he tried contacting
you?”

“
No,” I said. “And I doubt
he ever will. He has what he’s always wanted.”

“
He’ll realize he made the
wrong choice—I promise you.”

“
Even though Sean betrayed
me again, I don’t want him to regret his choice. I want him to be
happy—even if it isn’t with me.”

“
You sound like you’re
over him.”

I put down the magazine I was reading
and looked at him. “If I tell you something, you promise you won’t
tell Ryan?”

“
As long as it doesn’t
jeopardize your safety,” he said.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not
over Sean and I never will be. His betrayal almost killed me, and
I’ve spent every night crying myself to sleep. He was the one,
Cortland—the
one
.
I don’t expect that I’ll ever date again, let alone love
somebody.”

“
So you were lying
before?”

I nodded. “I wanted to protect Ryan.
It hurts him to see me in pain.”

“
It hurts me too,” he
said.

“
But not in the same way,”
I said. “I’m never going to be fine, but this is the closest I’ve
been to it in a while. I’m glad we are taking down my boss—he
deserves it.”

“
I am too,” he said. “It
looks like you tied up all your threads. You are standing up to
your boss, you are back to normal with Janice, and you gave Sean a
second chance even though that went to waste. Now you are a
stronger person.”

“
I suppose.” I took a deep
breath and closed my eyes.

“
What’s wrong?”

“
I just wish that I had
Sean.” I sighed. “I’ve never been so happy in my whole
life.”

“
You’ll find it again
someday,” he said as he held my hand. He lifted it to his lips and
kissed my knuckles. “It’s going to be okay.”

“
I hope so.” I looked away
and watched my brother. He was smiling while talking to Janice, and
I knew it was going well. It was a six-hour flight to New York—that
was plenty of time to connect.

When we arrived in New York, we took a
taxi to Janice’s apartment up town. The place was small with
limited space, but we managed to squeeze in. Cortland and Ryan
would sleep on the floor in the living room while I slept on the
couch. Cortland prepared all his equipment and set the camera to
transmit the live feed to his computer, just in case Carl caught us
and broke the camera.

“
What should we do
tonight?” Cortland asked while we all sat in the living room.
Janice walked into her bedroom and disappeared “We should go out
since we are in the city.”

I nodded. “Janice and I can show you
guys around,” I said. “Do you want to go out for
drinks?”

“
Sure,” Janice
said.

“
It can be a double date,”
Cortland said.

I looked at him. “What do you
mean?”

“
Since I have a girlfriend
back at home, I’m not available, and I’m assuming that you aren’t
interested in mingling either.”

“
Yes.”

“
Then we can be a couple
for the night—it makes sense.”

Ryan stared at us, but didn’t seem
bothered by Cortland’s suggestion. “Okay,” I agreed.

“
Good,” he said. “It’s
hard to keep the ladies away.”

“
Great.” I sighed. “My
date is conceited.”

He laughed. “I’m just saying,” he
said. “I know Monnique would prefer this arrangement.”

“
I’m assuming you haven’t
told her that we slept together?” I asked.

Cortland shook his head. “No,” he
said. “I don’t think it matters.”

“
And you were giving me
grief about Sean?” I laughed.

“
I realized you were
right. Sean would have been uncomfortable around me and I don’t
want Monnique to feel threatened by you.”

Janice emerged from her room and
checked her hair in the mirror. Ryan blatantly watched her as she
appraised herself in the mirror.

“
Well, let’s go,” she
said.

The four of us left the apartment and
walked towards a bar a few blocks away. Cortland and Ryan stared at
the lights of the city, admiring the tall skyscrapers and the
people walking by. The sidewalk was crowded with tourists, so it
took us a while to finally get inside the bar.

We sat in the corner where there were
two wide sofas facing each other. Cortland and I sat together and
Ryan and Janice sat on the opposite couch facing us. Ryan placed
his hands on his thigh in an awkward position, and Janice left her
hand resting on her lap, close to his. They still seemed
self-conscious around each other, but Ryan was a lot more talkative
than before. It was obvious that he felt more comfortable with
Janice.

Cortland placed his arm around my
shoulders but the closeness didn’t bother me. The nature of our
relationship was platonic, and since we’d already slept together, I
didn’t feel uncomfortable when he touched me. Ryan glared at
Cortland, but Cortland didn’t pull his arm away. He made it clear
that this was a relationship of convenience.

“
Is that really
necessary?” Ryan asked.

Cortland nodded. “Scarlet is a
gorgeous woman,” he said. “There are three men staring at her right
now, and another woman is staring at me. I’m just making it clear
that I’m not available.”

Ryan continued to stare at Cortland.
“Don’t push me.”

“
You’re overreacting,
Ryan,” I said.

“
What’s going on?” Janice
asked.

“
Cortland and I slept
together and now we are just friends,” I explained. “Ryan is still
mad about it even though nothing will happen between us
again.”

“
It better not,” Ryan
said.

“
It won’t,” Cortland
said.

Janice turned to Ryan. “I think it’s
cute that you are so protective of your sister.”

Ryan smiled. “She is everything to
me—when she isn’t being a brat, at least.”

Janice laughed. “Yes, Scarlet can be a
pain in the ass at times.”

“
Not you too.” I
sighed.

The waitress brought our drinks and we
sipped our beverages. Janice and I both had wine while the men
ordered brandy and scotch. We conversed for a few hours until I
started to feel my eyes sag from exhaustion. The plane ride was six
hours long and it made me lethargic and lifeless. Cortland noticed
how tired I was.

“
Are you ready to go?” he
asked. “I’m tired too.”

I nodded. “Are you guys staying out?”
I asked Ryan.

Ryan turned to Janice. “Can I take you
to dinner?”

“
That sounds great.”
Janice smiled.

We all stood up and Ryan pulled
Cortland aside. It was obvious by the way he grabbed Cortland’s arm
that he was threatening him. I knew it had something to do with
me.

I turned to Janice. “Do you like
him?”

Janice smiled and averted her gaze.
“Since he’s your brother, this is kind of awkward.”

I rolled my eyes. “My brother and I
are really open about our personal life. What you don’t tell me, he
will later. I really don’t mind—it doesn’t bother me.”

“
Well, Ryan is—hot—I mean,
really handsome.” She smiled. “Why didn’t you tell me your brother
was such a catch?”

I laughed. “I guess because I don’t
see him like that.”

“
You never even mentioned
that you had a brother.”

The comment made me feel guilty. Ryan
and I hardly spoke for an entire year. “I know.” I sighed. “But we
are very close now.”

“
He’s such a sweet guy,”
she said. “Last night we started talking about his artwork and his
dreams—he’s amazing.” I smiled as I listened to her. Ryan deserved
to be with someone who thought he was nothing less than perfect. I
wanted Ryan to have the love I had with Sean—but with a better
person. “And—we kissed—for a while. Scarlet, he is an amazing
kisser. I can tell he knows what he’s doing—in other
ways.”

I decided not to comment
on that last part. Ryan was open about his personal life and I knew
he had a lot of sexual partners—
a
lot
. Even though Janice
wasn’t exactly a prude, I was afraid his scandalous lifestyle would
chase her away. I decided it was best if he told her, not me. “Ryan
is a great guy—one of the best I know.”

Janice smiled. “I really like him,
Scarlet.”

“
I’m glad.”

Ryan came back over to us and he
stared at me. I took that as my cue to leave him alone with Janice.
Cortland was waiting for me on the other side of the room, so I
headed over to him and we left the bar, walking back to the
apartment. When we got to Janice’s door, I took out her spare key
and opened the lock.

“
What did Ryan say?” I
asked.

“
That if we fuck, he’s
going to kill me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Talk about being
psycho,” I said. “It’s really none of his business if we
did.”

Cortland pulled out the inflatable
mattress that Janice had taken out of the closet. “It bothers me
that he doesn’t trust me. I thought he forgave me for that whole
thing—apparently not.”

“
Don’t worry about him,” I
said as I took out a change of clothes from my pack. “He’s just
upset about what Sean did to me. I know he has been waiting for me
to snap and spiral out of control. He’s just concerned for
me—that’s all. We are away from home and in a romantic city. If we
decided to sleep together, no one would ever know.”

Cortland sighed. “I’m not that type of
guy—not anymore, at least.”

I walked over to Cortland and kissed
him on the cheek. “I know,” I said. “Don’t let Ryan get under your
skin. He is just worried—that’s all.” I walked into the bathroom
and changed my clothes, slipping into some pink pajamas. Cortland
was already changed by the time I came out of the room.

Cortland moved the mattress next to
the couch, so we would be close together while we slept. I turned
off all the lights and settled on the couch with the blankets over
my body. Cortland was lying below me, close enough that I could
hear him breathe.

“
Are you scared?” he
asked.

“
About what?”

“
To take down your old
boss?”

I shook my head. “No,” I said. “I’m
ready for this. I should have done this a long time ago. If I
wasn’t such a coward and took off from New York, I could have done
something and Janice wouldn’t be dealing with this at
all.”

Cortland reached up and grabbed my
hand. “You are here now—that’s all that matters.”

I smiled at him even though he
couldn’t see me. “Thanks.”

We lay in silence for a long time and
said nothing. I couldn’t fall asleep and I knew Cortland couldn’t
either by the sound of his breathing. Hours went by and I never
closed my eyes. Sometime in the middle of the night, I heard the
front door open and Ryan and Janice crept into the room, silently
maneuvering around the furniture. Ryan had a bed made for him next
to Cortland, but they both walked into Janice’s room. The door
closed behind them and I heard the lock click.

“
Ryan is going to score,”
Cortland whispered. I could hear the smile in his voice. “Is Janice
easy?”

“
She has slept around
before,” I said. “But I know she really likes Ryan. I don’t think
this is a one-night stand.”

“
Hopefully, we don’t have
to listen to it,” he said.

“
Ryan is really loud—at
least at home.”

“
That’s awkward.” Cortland
laughed.

“
You’re telling me,” I
said sarcastically.

A few minutes later, I could hear
Janice moaning. The muffled sound of her cries made me realize she
was trying to be quiet, but was having a difficult time.

“
Is she faking it?”
Cortland asked.

“
I don’t know what her
normal sex noises are.” I laughed.

“
Well, I know girls are
pros at that.”

Janice’s moans became louder and it
was too distracting not to notice. Cortland and I just lay there
together and listened, awkwardly.

“
Well, it sounds like Ryan
is doing a good job,” Cortland said.

“
That is so awkward.” I
laughed.

“
We were both thinking
it.” He laughed. “I don’t get why he can fuck around with your
friend, but it’s just horrifying if I date you.”

“
You misunderstood him,” I
said. “Ryan would be ecstatic if you and I got
together.”

“
He told you
that?”

“
No,” I said. “But I can
tell. It just bothers him if you are using me.”