The Beginning of Us (231 page)

I walk into the office and sit in my chair, placing my head on the desk. I am exhausted. I tell myself all the time that I’m not going to go out, that I’m not going to drink, but I always do and I’m always paying for it the next day. That has been my life since high school, though I keep trying to remind myself that I am no longer a teenager.

I lift my head and pick up my phone. I need to call my brother and see how things are going at the office back at home.

“Hello?” He picks up on the second ring, sounding just as tired as I am.

“Hey man, what’s going on? You sound hung over. Did you guys go out last night?” I place my head in my hand as I wait for him to answer.

“Paging Dr. Leon. Dr. Leon, floor 6.”

“What the fuck was that?”
Why would my brother be at a hospital?

“That was a nurse, paging a doctor,” he says dryly.

“Micah, what the fuck is going on?” I’m starting to lose patience. If something is wrong, why hadn’t he already called me?

“We are at the hospital,” he says reluctantly.

“Why?” I start to panic. “Are you okay?”

“Does it matter?” He sounds mad at me. What the fuck did I do?

“I don’t know what your problem is, but you better tell me what the fuck is going on. Are you okay? Is it Mom? Dad?”

“Yes, I’m fine. They thought I had broken my hand, but turns out it’s just fine.” He still sounds angry.

“What did you do to fuck up your hand?’’
Fuck, it’s like pulling teeth to get answers.

He sighs. “Yesterday, Sam came home to find Jax in their bed with Bridgette. She left him, and stayed the night with us. Holly and I went back with her to their house this morning to pack up her stuff. Jax got a hold of Sam and was about to hit her, but she shoved him before he could. Then when he was coming back for her, I stopped him. He…yelled some things at her that made me mad, so I started punching him.”

He takes a deep breath. “When I started to walk away from Jax, he came at me. Jax pushed Sam down when she tried to stop him. She fell and hit her head, passing out. We brought her to the hospital, and they’re running tests on her right now.”

Holy shit.

This cannot be happening. My head is spinning. He was going to hit her? Ended up pushing her down? She passed out?

“Is she okay? I mean, when you drove her to the hospital, did she wake up? Speak to you? Anything?” What if she’s badly injured? Fuck, I would never forgive myself. This is my fault. I should have told her everything.

Fuck!

Fuck!

Fuck
!

“We don’t know anything right now. And no, she was passed out cold the entire way to the hospital. Her head was bleeding, and I couldn’t get her to wake up. Holly was freaking out, and I couldn’t get her to calm down.”

He sighs. “Jax took off. We talked to the police and filed a report. They are out looking for him right now.”

He sounds so defeated. Not like my brother at all.

“Fuck, Micah!” I slump back in my chair and run a hand through my hair. I wish I was the one who had beat Jax’s face in.

“Hey, I have to call you back. I see the doctor coming towards us.” He doesn’t wait for my response before hanging up. I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t have either.

How is all this shit happening? I should have beaten the fuck out of that idiot when he was in my house, or at the very least, thrown his ass out.

He wanted to hit the face that went along with that sweet voice? I have never hit a woman in my life, no matter how crazy one can get, and I’ve had some get fucking crazy. I don’t mind fighting with a man, but you just don’t hit a woman.

My phone startles me out of my thinking. “Micah?” I hope it’s him with good news.

“Yeah, it’s me. The doctor said she’s awake and is going to be okay.” He lets out a breath. “She has a few stitches, but like I said, she’s awake now. Holly just went back to see her. They are going to get the paperwork started for her release, then we are taking her to our place. Just wanted to let you know,” he says flatly.

Thank God it was good news. “Micah, is there something else wrong? I can’t help but think you’re mad at me.” Actually, I know he’s mad at me. I can tell from his voice.

“No.” He pauses. “I… I’ll call you later, Slade.”

“Wait! Micah, tell me what’s going on. I know there is something you’re not telling me.” There’s no way I’m getting off this phone until he tells me why he’s pissed at me.

“Well...”

There’s a long pause. I don’t know why he’s waiting. We both know he’s going to tell me the problem.

“It’s about Sam.”

My entire body tenses, wondering what else could be wrong. I don’t know her, but I know she does not deserve what happened to her.

“Jax told her I knew he was sleeping with Bridgette.”

Not what I was expecting him to say.

“Why would he say you knew?”

“Because he told her that you saw them in bed together.”
Fuck!
“And that you must have told me, which you should have. I would have told her. She didn’t deserve to find out by walking in on them in the middle of the act, in her own house.” His voice rises, and he is clearly pissed at me.

“You’re right!” I rub a hand over my forehead. “I should have told her. But—”

“All you ever do is think of yourself,” he hisses. “Do you know what could have happened if I hadn’t been there?”

I rub my forehead roughly with my hand as I start to get aggravated. “I didn’t know their story. I didn’t know either of them. Fuck, I didn’t even know he had come back to my house. I had just met him earlier that night. I never thought it would end like this, with him trying to hit her.”

Why am I the one getting blamed, when Jax is the one who cheated?

“Look, I’m sorry. I should have said something, but I chose not to. Now she knows. She could have been hurt, but you were there and now she’s rid of that piece of shit.” Hopefully she is the kind of women that doesn’t go back to him, thinking that is the only kind of man she can get.

“You’re right, Slade. Her life is fucking perfect now, no thanks to you.”

Micah hangs up, leaving me sitting there and looking at my phone, wondering what the fuck just happened.

I put my phone down, but continue to stare at it. At least she is going to be okay. That is the most important part. I can’t even imagine what she’s going through right now. I don’t know how long they had been together, but anyone could tell she was worried when she called looking for him. I don’t know what caused him to cheat on her, but to hit her? No man should ever hit a woman. He was the one fucking around. Why would he be mad at her?

I don’t even know Samantha, but I already feel protective over her. Which is ridiculous, right? She means nothing to me. Why would I care what happens to her?

I start packing my bag as Samantha plays through my head. I think about her all the time which is starting to get on my fucking nerves. But that voice...it’s always in my head. Even when I was with Julie last night, I pretended she was Samantha, but it was hard. Julie was pretty vocal, and her voice wasn’t anywhere close to Samantha’s.

I stop what I’m doing and look down at my phone. Maybe I should try calling her, although I doubt she would talk to me. Especially now that she knows I lied to her.

I lay down my phone and continue packing up my stuff. I have a plane I need to catch in a few hours, and I need to quit thinking about Samantha. Her problems are not mine. I don’t know her. I feel bad knowing what Jax did to her, but it’s not my problem.

I grab my bag and stand up from behind the desk. That’s not true…I do feel for her, I feel terrible about what happened. I allowed it, and it could have all been prevented if I had just told her what I saw.

I want her. I want her like nothing I have ever known. I want to see her lips move underneath me as she sighs my name. I want to know what she sounds like when she’s screaming my name as I bury my dick in her. I’ve imagined her looking a hundred different ways, but when it comes down to it, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I want her.

I pull myself out of my daydream and close up the office.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
I used to hear friends in college talk about fucking a girl to get her out of his system. I was never that way. I just moved on to the next willing girl. I’m starting to understand what they were talking about, though.

Guess I just need to fuck her and get her out of my system.

Samantha

It’s been almost two weeks since we left the hospital. The headaches have stopped, and my stitches are no longer there. I can still feel where they were, though, and every time my fingers move over them, I hate Jax even more.

Holly wouldn’t schedule me to work the first week. When Doctor Mathers had released me, he gave me the
just need to relax, take things slow
speech, and it just added fuel to the fire of Holly’s mother hen attitude.

I actually worked two days this week, but I worked the day shift both times. I didn’t really want to be around people much, but the day shifts are always slow and the people I work with keep to themselves.

I found a house to rent, so Holly has been helping me move in. She thinks the house is too big for me, but as soon as I saw it I fell in love. I could have stayed in the house that Jax and I were renting, but I wanted nothing to do with it. It had cost me money to get out of it, but that was a small price to pay. I told the landlord to keep our stuff. He could charge more by renting it out furnished. He seemed awfully happy about my unfortunate relationship.

Jax left town the day I moved out my stuff. He quit his job and moved with Bridgette to her hometown somewhere in Georgia. It’s crazy how I moved here for him and then he ups and moves for someone else.

“Hey, girl. That’s the last of your things,” Holly says, laying down a box on my bed.

I smile. I don’t know what I would do without her and Micah. They have helped me so much.

“You want to go out tonight?” She smiles, trying to cheer me up.

“I don’t know. I need to put my stuff away.” I lay down, looking up at the ceiling.

“All you have to put away is a few boxes. The movers delivered everything this morning.” She bounces on the bed, making me laugh.

“True.” I sit up. “I guess I could use a drink after everything that has happened. Sure, why not?”

Holly hasn’t let me touch wine since the accident; said it wasn’t very smart. She was probably right, but I am completely fine now.

Micah has been working twenty four-seven on a case with his dad and Slade, so he hasn’t been home much. It has actually made it feel like we are two single girls sharing a house together. It’s been nice to have so much girl time just lying around in sweats and laughing. I’m glad to be moving into my own place, though. I hate feeling like I’m imposing.

“Here,” she says, standing up while grabbing the box. “I will help you put these shoes away.” She walks into the closet. “This closet is so big!”

“I know, right?” I agree, walking in behind her. That’s one of the reasons that I wanted this house. You can never have a big enough closet.

I hang up a few skirts and turn to walk out back to the bedroom where all the clothes are lying. I pick up a few boxes and look over at Holly who is sitting there, staring at me.

“What?” I ask with a smile on my face.

“Are you going to be okay? You know you can stay with us a little longer, right?”

“Holly, I promise, I’m going to be okay.” I nod my head to reassure her as I turn and walk back into the closet.

“Here” She hands me another box while she turns back to the bedroom to answer her ringing phone.

“Hello?...Yes, I’m helping her unpack her stuff right now...Yes, she’s said she would go out tonight.” There’s a long pause. “Is that a good idea?” She laughs. “True...Okay, sounds good. Love you.”