When Sparks Fly (17 page)

Angel

“Wait! It’s not what it looks like,” I plead, holding onto Ezra’s arm. His eyes blaze with rage as he looks down at my fragile hand and pulls free from my grip, flicking his gaze between Kane and me. My fate without him now sealed with a kiss.

“No! I asked you if there was anything for me to be worried about and you lied to my face. Your lips just told me the truth that you wouldn’t. We’re done.”

I begin to weep when he turns to leave without hearing my explanation. “Don’t go, Ezra. Please, stop!” I cry after him, looking over my shoulder at Kane behind me and up to the sky that is pouring down angry rain on Ezra getting on his motorcycle, ignoring my pleas to not leave. The gravel kicks up behind him and my heart sinks to my stomach. Oh, my God. What did we do?

“Do something?” I yell at Kane, waving my hand in front of him. He’s stone cold.

“Haven’t I done enough, Angel?” He runs his hand behind his neck and looks to the ceiling as though the solution to our fuck up will be there. I stare at the red lipstick on his neck, on his lips and down to my disheveled blouse. I die slowly on the inside.

How could I do this to Ezra? I love him. I love him. He hates me. My hand slaps over my mouth and I fall to my knees with tears in my eyes. I feel sick. Sick.

“He just needs to cool off, Angel. We’ll explain that this was—

“A mistake,” I snap as I push myself up to stand. “This shouldn’t have happened, Kane. I never should have kissed you. I… I… he is… I’m so sorry. Please, just go!” I plead with a watery voice.

I see the pain in Kane’s eyes, the remorse mirrored from mine, but it morphs into something else as a chagrin frown is left on his face. Angry. He’s angry with me and he should be. I just ruined everything. Everything.

He flexes his fingers and scowls at me. “I’ll go, if that’s what you want, but don’t for a second think that this is over, Angelina. I know what you and Ezra are, but I also know what you and I are meant to be.”

“He’s your friend, Kane. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

“Yes, you know it does, but when you’re involved I just can’t seem to give a fuck.”

He steps forward to touch me and I pull away. “Don’t say that.”

“Say the truth? Let’s not forget that you
were
mine, Angel. I had you before you were even a thought in his mind.”

“And you left,” I choke out.

“I shouldn’t have. If I could get a do-over I’d… I would,” he breathes through the words he can’t say because he wouldn’t have done it any differently even with a do-over. A simple pitch of an idea to the right person and the Kane I knew was gone.

“You’d what? Choose me? You know that isn’t true and I’d never ask you to,” I whisper and cast my eyes down. “I’m not enough for you.”

“That’s not true. You’re everything to me.”

My eyes lift and I see the sincerity in his. “I wanted to be, but I can’t compete with the characters in your head and I don’t want to.” I turn away because I can’t. I just can’t look at him and his beautiful eyes that hold everything I once had. I was stupid tonight to get lost in them, not when they belong in another world where I don’t exist.

“Look at me, Angel.” I don’t at first, but meekness washes over me when his gentle touch on my chin guide my eyes to meet his.

“I never meant to choose one way or the other,” he says low and deep. “I took a chance and now…”

“Now, you’re an amazing screenwriter and your movies are loved by the world.”

“Are they loved by you?” he asks, stepping in close to me.

Why do I feel like he’s asking me if I still love him?

“Yes,” I whisper my reply, not really sure if I’m saying I love him or his gift, but the word is there hanging between us. I shrug, “Your words in motion are beautiful to watch.” He makes a sound in his throat, swallowing hard. “You’re doing what you’re meant to do.” His eyes study mine with rapport.

“I guess I am.” He says unsure, yet completely certain as his eyes bounce between mine as though he’s trying to make me understand. His forehead pinches and he appears to struggle with this decision.

“It’s okay. You’ll go back to Los Angeles, and I’ll fix this. I’m going to marry him, Kane. He’ll forgive me because he loves me.”

“As do I,” he says, leaving me breathless. His hand lifts like he’s going to wipe away the bitter tears that are falling, but he doesn’t. His fingers fall away when I inhale a breath and turn from him.

“You shouldn’t. I don’t love you, not anymore.” The words leave my lips, and no matter how much I don’t mean them, I can’t take them back. Kane’s my past and Ezra is my present and future. That kiss was a lapse in judgment, one I regret.

Kane’s frown becomes a sneer as he drags a finger across his bottom lip, looking at the red lipstick left on the pad of his fingertip and up to my gaze that tracked each movement. “How’s that lie taste, Angel?” I say nothing. “But I guess you’re probably right. Ezra will forgive you because he’s a great man, a better man than me. He’ll know you are worth forgiving, worth fighting for because you are a once in a lifetime kind of girl. You’ll marry and have a dozen kids. Enjoy that happily ever after, Angel.”

“I will.” My eyes deceive what my words have conveyed.

For many moments Kane and I just stare at one another and I hate the sadness that I feel wrapping around us. His eyes shut; the sorrow on his face has my heart heavy and afraid. We’ve parted before, but this feels different. This feels perpetual. Defeat is visible when Kane’s eyes open and lock onto mine. “Then I guess this is goodbye.”

A strangled sound crawls out of me, and I choke back the sob that wants to escape. I bite my lip so painfully because I don’t want to say goodbye. It can’t be said and I can’t explain why. I turn away from him with salty tears trickling down my cheeks. I feel his stare on my face for what feels like an eternity. His shoulder bumps into mine as he walks out the door and into the same rain that swallowed up Ezra just moments before. In a matter of minutes I’ve managed to lose both Ezra and Kane. Breaking two hearts—one with betrayal and the other with deceit.

I slam the door shut behind him and slide down to the floor as I break down, hatred of my heart washing over me. I cry into my knees for everything that I’ve lost, praying that my words hold the truth. That Ezra will forgive me, he has to. I will fix this, and I’ll be stronger this time. I won’t miss Kane. I won’t think about my past with longing because my future is filled with such joy. I don’t have to share Ezra with the world. He’s simply mine. Or was.

Hours pass and Ezra doesn’t return. I find myself on the couch with a bottle of wine and a masochist for a heart as I hit play on the remote and watch Kane’s latest movie. That is where he belongs, not with me.

I must have fallen asleep on the couch because that is where I awaken with a start, feeling a shiver wash over me as though I had a terrible nightmare, but when I open my eyes and find that I’m not alone, I know it was no nightmare. Sitting in a chair across from me is Ezra with a glass of amber liquid and dark, empty eyes locked onto me.

“Ezra?” I breathe his name as I sit up, my head swimming. “I’m so—

“Don’t!” He holds up his glass and brings it to his lips. “Save the lies, Angel.”

I climb off the couch and walk over to him. He doesn’t move. His eyes drink me in, but they aren’t hungry. They are hateful. He hates me. “I’m sorry,” I whisper.

He downs the rest of the liquid and makes a seething sound through his teeth. “How long?” he asks.

“Pardon?”

He looks down at my bare legs and trails his finger up the inside of my thigh and sneers. “How long have you been fucking him and making a fool of me?”

I step away and gasp. I shake my head vehemently. “I haven’t. We haven’t. I kissed him. That’s all.”

He stands, hovering over me with eyes that are foreign to me. “How fucking long, Angel?”

I begin to cry. “Ezra, I swear. I haven’t slept with him.”

“You want to, though. Don’t you?”

“No! No, I don’t,” I cry. “I love you.” I grip his shirt in my hands and his eyes drop to them with a look that makes me release him.

“You loved him once. Perhaps, you remembered that.”

I squeeze my eyes shut and tears fall. “Please, don’t do this. I’m sorry. God, I’m so sorry. Ezra, I love you. Just you.”

“Prove it,” he says.

My eyes snap open. “How?”

“Leave.”

My mouth falls open. “What?”

He throws the glass and it shatters against the wall, causing me to scream. “If you love me then you will leave me the fuck alone. I don’t want you here anymore.”

“You don’t mean that.”

He laughs, “Like you didn’t mean to kiss him?”

“Ezra, it was just a kiss.”

He laughs bitterly, stepping into me until our chests are touching. His mouth moves down to mine, just a breath apart now. “Just a kiss that ruined everything you and I could have had together.”

‡
Chapter One

Angel

Two years later

I stare at the invitation on the dining room table with rapt attention, like a beacon it shines at me, reminding me of my loss and her gain. Tenley Adair, the one who replaced me. I mean, what the fuck kind of name is that? I hate her instantly, but I know her and she is not to be hated because she’s freaking wonderful and truthfully, perfect for him. I want to hate her.

Picking up the invitation and my coffee mug, I walk into the living room where Jeremy, my roommate is perched with the remote in his hand.

“He’s getting married?” I question, waving the invitation in front of him. “Were you going to tell me?” Jeremy curses, dropping the remote and quickly snatching the invitation from my hand with an apology that he meant to put it away, but forgot. “You don’t have to hide it from me, Jeremy. I’m happy for him.”
Sort of.
I explain, sitting down in the love seat.

Jeremy’s eyes meet mine, sympathy rolling off of him in waves, which irritates me because it’s undeserving. “I wasn’t hiding it. I just didn’t want you to find out that way.”

“Is there really a good way to find out your ex-fiancé is getting married and it’s not to you?” I laugh because really what else am I going to do?

“Are you going?” I ask.

His head tilts and he gives me his sad eyes. “He’s my brother, you know I am.”

“And Kane?”

“Don’t do this.”

“Do what?” I ask with a shrug.

“You know the answer to that, too.”

“With her, you think? That blonde he’s been dating. She’s pretty. Don’t you agree?”

“Angel?”

“Hmm?”

“Stop. Let’s talk about something else. Okay?”

Jeremy gives me that damn look again. Poor Angel his eyes say. I want to smack the expression right off of his face. “It’s fine, Jeremy. Really.” It’s not actually because it sucks, but I can’t change the past no matter how much I wish for it.

“Fuck!” Jeremy says, looking down at his phone on the coffee table, which is ringing. One name across the screen and my heart seizes in my chest. Kane. Jeremy’s apologetic eyes lift to mine and I shrug as he answers it, sitting on the sofa with my feet tucked in and my coffee to warm my cold heart. I get that Ezra is family and there is a bond that can’t ever be broken, but it’s difficult when my roommates are also very close to Kane.