Tempting BAD: VIP Spin Off (44 page)

I nodded and followed him inside, still not looking back at Devon. There was a line down the hall for that bathroom, so Landon took me up the stairs, saying that one wouldn’t be occupied.

He turned as soon as we were alone and away from prying ears. “Jesus, Brooke, we go from not seeing each for over a decade, to seeing each other twice in a few months.”

“Tell me about it.”

“So you know Christine’s ex-husband?”

“Yeah… I didn’t know. I mean, I knew he was married, but I had no idea it would be to Christine. He’s never said her name and I never asked.”

“What the fuck?”

“No shit, Landon. What am I supposed to do now? Go back down there and pretend like we don’t all know each other, or there isn’t a history there that makes us want to gouge each other’s eyes out.”

“Is he your boyfriend?”

I shrugged. “No… yes… I don’t fucking know. I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Brooke, I don’t know. Jesus. I don’t… I never thought… I mean…”

I nodded. “Yeah. I get it,” I said, understanding his babble.

“Landon, Landon, are you up there?” I heard a female voice say.

“Yeah! I’ll be down in a second, babe,” he hollered from the stairs.

“Awesome. Let’s add her into the equation. We could all be one big, happy family. It’s like a fucked up version of the Brady Bunch. What are the odds? Seriously? What are the odds of this happening?”

“Fuck… if I know,” he justified.

“Where’s your bathroom?” I questioned, not being able to deal with him standing in front of me any longer. I was in the home he shared with his wife and children, and the man that I loved was downstairs, with his ex-wife and child.

This shit was right out of some book or movie.

He nodded toward the door behind me; I turned around before giving it a second thought.

“Do you love him?” he called out, stopping me dead in my tracks.

I didn’t answer, I couldn’t.

“It’s okay to love someone, Brooke, Devon’s an amazing man. My sister fucked that up, not him. You deserve to be happy.”

“Do I?” I murmured loud enough for him to hear.

“Brooke, all I ever wanted was for you to be happy. I didn’t care if it was with me or without me. You can’t keep punishing yourself over something you can’t control. It has nothing to do with you.”

“You don’t know me, Landon.”

“That’s rich coming from someone who doesn’t know herself either.”

I closed my eyes, taking in his words, and opened the door, before he could say another word. I turned on the sink and splashed my face with water. Avoiding the mirror like it was disease infected, but my eyes landed there anyway.

Except this time, it wasn’t my reflection staring back at me.

It was my father’s.

“God… what a small world. How do you know Brooke?” Christine questioned, not taking her eyes from the direction they left.

“I met her through a friend,” I said, shocked as shit by the turn of events.

“Is she your girlfriend?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? What kind of answer is that? She either is or she isn’t.”

“It’s confusing.”

“That’s Brooke,” she stated.

I finally looked at her. “What?”

“Devon, Brooke is broken, she’s been broken, God… since I can remember. She’s fucked up. You think I was bad; I’m not even close to her. She nearly destroyed Landon. It took him years to forget about her. Even now, he looks at her the same way he used to. His wife might not notice, but I sure as hell do. She’s going to hurt you.”

“Like you did?”

“Oh, come on! That’s not fair.”

“Keep your voice down,” I ordered, stepping closer to her.

“Devon, I don’t want to see you get hurt. Please.”

“I’m a big boy, Christine. I know what I’m doing.”

“Do you?”

“It’s fine. Can we enjoy the rest of the day without any more drama? I think I’ve had enough to last me a lifetime.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” she cautioned before leaving.

Brooke came back shortly after.

“Are you okay?” I asked, pulling her hair away from her face.

“I don’t know anymore,” she whispered and it nearly broke my heart.

“What can I do?” I asked, rubbing the side of her cheek.

“Nothing. Let’s just enjoy the day.”

I kissed the tip of her nose, and tried to ignore the thoughts that were looming.

I separated myself from the guests and Devon. He was playing with Ethan in the bouncy house. I walked into the kitchen, and served myself a glass of whiskey; taking it down in one swig.

“Still a whiskey kinda girl, huh?”

“You taught me.”

Christine laughed, and sat on the chair in front of me at the kitchen island.

“This isn’t where we fight, is it?” I asked, expecting anything at that point. 

“I have nothing to fight about.”

“Then what do you want?”

She grinned. “I just wanted to have a few words with my childhood, best friend and the future stepmom of my son.”

“It’s not like that, Christine.”

“It is to him.”

“You don’t—”

“Yes, I do. See here’s the difference between you and me, Brooke. I can see that he loves you. He never looked at me like that. Ever.”

“Well, I wouldn’t either considering you fucked the help.”

Her eyes widened.

“I don’t want—”

“You’re right,” she interrupted, still maintaining her glaring stare. “I did fuck up. Royally. You don’t know him, Brooke, not like I do. I may not have been the best wife to him, but I do love and care for him. He is the father of my child.”

“I know…”

“Don't push him away, like you did with Landon. Some of us don’t get that second chance, but for you, Brooke, your second chance at happiness and love is right out there. I see the way you both look at each other.”

I bit my cheek.

“I’m Ethan's mom, don't fuck this up.  Being a part of Devon's life makes you a part of Ethan’s. And I don’t want to see my son get hurt. He’s attached to you, too.”

“I understand,” I whispered.

“Brooke, it took me a long time of making mistakes, and I’m paying for it by fucking up my relationship with Devon. I won’t have you fuck up or hurt these men that are important in my life. The Brooke who was my best friend, wouldn’t push away the people she loves. I hope you realize that the people in this house love you so much, and it’s time for you to realize that, before you lose everything.”

She grabbed the glass and bottle away from me, and poured herself a drink. “Don’t hurt him, Brooke.”

“Trust me. It’s the last thing I want to do.”

She grabbed another glass, pouring another drink and handed it to me, raising her glass in the air. “A toast. To you not fucking this up, too.”

I clinked our glasses together and drank mine down…

Knowing what I had to do.

We drove in silence and I didn’t stop him, when he parked his car in my guest parking. He followed me up to my condo.

“We need to talk,” I announced as he closed the door behind me.

“Words every man loves to hear.”

“I’m serious,” I cautioned, staring at him.

He shrugged his shoulders and leaned against the door. “So am I.”

“Devon…” I sucked in a deep breath, trying to find the strength to say what I needed to. “I care about you. I care about you a lot. I never thought I would be able to think about someone, the way I do you. I would be lying if I said I didn’t wish things could be different. They can’t. We can’t.”

“What are you saying?” he interrogated, not moving away from the door.

“I’m saying. This.” I pointed between us. “It needs to end. We can’t do this anymore.”

“Don’t give me that shit, Brooke. We’re way past that,” he argued, stepping closer to me.

I put my hand up in the air in front of me. “No, we’re not, we’re still there. Nothing has changed. You need to know that.” My cellphone rang, but I ignored it. “It’s not right. What I’m doing to you, what you’re doing to me. It’s not right.”

“And what exactly is that, Bambi? Huh? Is it the fact that we love each other? Is that the problem?” he vowed, as if it were the easiest thing to say. The words just rolled off his tongue.

My jaw dropped. The sound of my cellphone ringing took me out of my coma-induced glare. It stopped ringing, but I could still hear the sound in my mind. Or maybe that was my hastily, beating heart that felt like it was bleeding out my ears, and onto the floor, for him to see.

“I don’t love you, Devon,” I lied and by the look on his face he knew it. It didn’t matter; I had to keep going. Whatever it took. “I’m sorry… I care deeply about you, but I don’t love you.”

He didn’t say anything, nor did he move or stop eyeing me with an unrecognizable stare. Both of us stood there contemplating what to do next, who would win this power struggle…

Heart over mind.

Body over soul.

Love over truth.

Hate…

It’s what makes the world go round.

The moment we heard my cellphone ring again, the shutters were opened and the light shined in, bright and blinding. I reached for it and the rest proceeded in slow motion, I observed it from an out of body experience. It was the only way I could go through it.

“Hey there, gorgeous,” my client huskily groaned into the phone.

“Hi,” I tempted like a woman possessed ready to destroy the only thing that made sense, but didn’t stand a chance.

The odds were against us since day one.

“I want to play… do you want to play?” he urged in a voice I recognized all too often.

Always the same…

I knew Devon could hear what he was saying, the room was that fucking silent. The stillness was as eerie as it was calming, the eye of the storm threatening to pour and take over.

“Of course I do. What did you have in mind?” I replied in a rehearsed, sultry tone that I had perfected over the years.

I walked over to my bay window that overlooked all of downtown Miami. It used to make me feel powerful, the world was my playground where I made the rules and set the guidelines. I didn’t think I’d ever feel that again, the emotions controlled me, where I was just another hopeless romantic that thought love would prevail.