Longing for You

  Theo fisted his hands. Jonah had no right to yell at him. He was trying to do something good. If his brother wanted this to be a fight, he could sling just as much crap in his direction.

  Before he could throw the next verbal punch, Jonah shook his head. He massaged his temples as he exhaled a long breath. “You can come out now, Ally.”

  His words had little time to register when the click of a door sounded. Theo glanced toward the hall as a woman rounded the corner. Lo and behold, Ally stood before them. She didn’t look at Jonah or him. She hugged her chest with her arms and stared toward the floor.

  “I think I better go.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  The moment the door closed behind Ally, Theo felt Jonah piercing him with his gaze. He was too confused to care how angry his brother was. The reality of the situation had him baffled. Jonah and Ally had been together.

  Was he the dinner date she’d mentioned in the text she’d sent Cassie? Guess they’d been devising a plan for nothing. Jonah was right. He didn’t need any help.

  “What the hell is your problem?”

  The gritty sound of Jonah’s voice made him wince. He was an idiot, one that may have screwed up his brother’s chance with Ally, as well as his chance with Cassie.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t…”

  “Yeah,” Jonah scoffed. He grabbed a glass atop the bar then lifted a bottle of bourbon from the shelf underneath it.

  Theo watched him pour a drink and slam it back. When he poured the next, the guilt became too much. “Cassie and I wanted to right the wrong committed against you and Ally. Paula Jacobs screwed things up for you. We wanted to fix it.” He waited to see if Jonah would respond, but he didn’t. “I was supposed to work out something with you to meet them for a double date. I tried bringing it up on Tuesday, but you wouldn’t listen to me. Then you left.”

  “I was doing fine on my own.” Jonah took another sip of his drink then shook his head again. “Be honest with me, Theo. This wasn’t about helping me. Not really. This was about you finding a way to spend time with Cassie.”

  “No, it’s not. I wanted to help you get your girl. Running into them after all these years…it wasn’t a coincidence. You said yourself there was a reason we ended up here.”

  “It doesn’t matter now. I’m sure Ally thinks I’m some asshole that was pursuing her for a quick fuck I never got. She still doesn’t know the truth about Paula.”

  Why had Jonah wasted the opportunity to set the record straight? She’d been in his suite for who knew how long. He had time to tell her the truth.

  “So what are you waiting for? Go find her and tell her why you left. Tell her you didn’t want to. Tell her how you really feel.”

  “Why? Is that what you plan to do with Cassie?”

  “Jonah, this isn’t about—”

  “Don’t lie to me!” Jonah poked him in the chest. “You’ve wanted Cassie as long as I’ve wanted Ally. You set this up to get what exactly? A chance to fuck her? Did you get what you wanted, bro, because I didn’t?”

  “This is about more than sleeping with Cassie.”

  Theo didn’t finish when he noticed Jonah glaring at him. Once his eyes softened, he smirked. There was no sense in lying to him. He knew the truth about Cassie as much as Theo knew the truth about Ally.

  “Okay, fine. Maybe this began because I wanted a chance to sleep with Cassie. I ruined my first chance when I fought Parker in high school. I wanted another shot with her. Now that I have it, it’s different.”

  Jonah finished the rest of his drink. He wiped his mouth with his hand and swallowed hard. “What’s different?”

  “Me. I started this with one goal in mind—sleeping with her. Now I want more, but it won’t be long before we leave Savannah. The thought of leaving without her makes my gut churn.” He gripped the edge of the bar, hating the thought of losing Cassie. “I have the two things I’ve always wanted within grasp. Now I’ve screwed it up for both of us. Ally will tell Cassie about tonight. She’ll know I lied about talking to you.”

  Tapping his fingers against the bar, Jonah stared past him toward the window overlooking the city. He didn’t seem like he was listening until he glanced back in Theo’s direction. “So let me offer you the same advice you just gave me. Go find her. Tell her the truth, including the way you feel.”

  His brother was right. He needed to find Cassie and tell her everything. It would be better than hearing it secondhand from her best friend. Hopefully, Jonah would go talk to Ally. If he did, Theo had a better chance at fixing things with Cassie.

  He wanted to ask Jonah to leave when he did, but the less he demanded, the better. At least he could assure Cassie that Jonah would speak with Ally, but it didn’t mean they’d fix things.

  Either way, he owed her an explanation. Considering how Ally had hurried out of the suite, the double date was cancelled. They didn’t need it anyway now that she and his brother had met up. All that was left was to find Cassie and tell her the truth.

  Then he could start groveling.

  * * *

  Cassie slipped outside the door but didn’t close it all the way. She didn’t want Cori to hear her conversation. If she had her way, the impending one wouldn’t take long. Still, she knew it wouldn’t be easy to get rid of Mike.

  “What are you doing here? Didn’t you get my text?”

  “Yeah. That’s why I’m here.” He sauntered closer like he would go in her house without an invitation, but she placed her hand on his chest and pushed him back.

  “Now is not a good time, Mike. My sister is here and we’re having a family discussion.”

  “So you can’t take a few minutes and talk to me?”

  “I would have given you more than that if you would have waited to meet me later. I told you I’d come to Midnight Blues.”

  He backed away and gazed off. “Again, that’s why I’m here. My boss suspended me without pay for making a scene at the bar. I can’t return until next week and only after I apologize to your friend.”

  Peeking back inside the house, she double-checked that Cori wasn’t standing on the other side of the door, eavesdropping. When she didn’t see any sign of her, she closed the door all the way and approached Mike. If he wasn’t going to leave, she might as well tell him what she intended.

  “We, uh…we had a good thing going. It was fun and exciting and after a while, I think we got used to the idea of hooking up so much that it felt natural.” He still hadn’t looked her way, but he was listening. She saw it in the way he flexed his jaw, clenching and unclenching it. “If I’ve led you to think there is more between us than what we originally agreed, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, because there isn’t. We’re not a couple, Mike.”

  “So I’ve been good enough to fuck all this time, but when I show genuine interest in you, I’m not good enough?”

  “Is being a jealous asshole your way of showing genuine interest?”

  He grunted in response and walked over to the banister near the hedges. “Seems I had a right to be jealous. I knew you wanted to hook up with that guy. You really had me second-guessing myself when you came back to my apartment. It wasn’t until I woke to an empty bed that I knew something was amiss.”

  “I couldn’t sleep. I had a shitty day. My best friend had a blast from the past she didn’t want, then you had to go all super-prick on me and get an attitude. The one-eighty you pulled after we fucked was more than my mind could handle. I needed space.”

  Mike glowered in her direction then moved the same way. “So what it boils down to is you found someone new and more exciting. I’m not good enough anymore. Hope he is good boyfriend material, because the last time I checked, musicians made lousy lovers. They’re unfaithful as fuck.”

  The more he talked, the angrier she grew. It wasn’t just the vile words coming out of his mouth. It was his pompous attitude in general. She didn’t owe him any explanation for ending something that was never a real relationship. He needed to get over it, as
well as himself.

  “You said from day one that you’re a no-strings kinda guy. It worked at the time, because I was the same kinda girl. But I’ve changed. I want a commitment from someone who will be there for the rest of my life.”

  “Let me guess. Theo wants the same.”

  “This isn’t about him,” she shouted as she pointed to herself. “This is about me, what I want, and what I don’t. I can’t do this with you anymore.”

  “What if I changed my mind and want a commitment?”

  “Mike…” She slumped her shoulders and sighed. “It wouldn’t matter.”

  “Why? Because I’m not him?” He stalked closer, entering her personal space. She backed up as far as she could before her back met the siding. Mike kept pressing forward.

  “No, it’s because you’re wrong for me. I don’t love you.”

  A burning sensation engulfed her arm when he wrapped his hand around it and jerked her closer. He squeezed harder as he gritted his response. “I know, Cassie. You’re in love with Theo.”

  The faint scent of liquor penetrated her nose the moment he breathed in her face. He’d been drinking. How much, she didn’t know. The fact that his car was parked along the curb was a scary enough thought. He’d been behind the wheel. If he were as drunk as she presumed, he didn’t need to be driving.

  But he definitely needed to leave.

  “Let go of me, Mike. You’re hurting me.”

  “Am I?” He squeezed harder. “I’m sure it’s nothing like the way you’ve hurt me. Guess I was a fool to think there was more between us.”

  A car door slammed in the distance. She hoped the neighbor across the street wasn’t watching this display. He’d call the police in a heartbeat. Then she’d waste time talking to them instead of meeting Ally.

  “Mike, stop it. Let go!”

  She struggled against his grip, determined to get her point across without scaring her sister in the process. She didn’t want Cori to witness this. If he didn’t release her soon, she’d put her self-defense training into play.

  Just as she prepped herself to grab his shoulders and ram her knee in his crotch, the pressure of his fingers was gone. So was he. By the time she’d realized what had happened, he went chest to chest with someone else. When she locked eyes on Theo, she felt a wave of relief.

  Then Theo planted his fist in Mike’s face.

  * * *

  A steady throbbing formed in Theo’s hand, but he ignored it. He waited for Mike to get to his feet and charge him with fist bared and ready. Stupid son-of a bitch was lucky he’d stopped at one punch. The instant he heard Cassie pleading with him to let her go, nothing but red filled his vision.

  Mike was finally on his feet. He wiped the blood from his lower lip and looked at it before looking at Theo. “Fucking prick. You want a piece of me?”

  “Bring it, motherfucker. I swear to god, if you get in my face, I’m going to break yours. This is not the night to fuck with me.”

  In a split second, Mike’s attitude appeared to change. He raised his hands defensively then retreated a couple of feet from Theo. “I’ve already lost enough because of you. I’m not losing anything else.” He scoffed at Cassie, then he glanced back at him. “She’s all yours, man. She made it perfectly clear. Just make sure you wrap it, friend. Glad I did. You never know when she’ll be off fucking someone behind your back.”

  It was the final push Theo needed to fall off the deep end. A brief crack filled the air. Grunting followed, and before he realized what he’d done, he’d punched Mike again. Cassie’s former lover stumbled down the steps backwards. He landed on his ass and grabbed at his face. It didn’t take long to notice the deep red streak staining his fingers. Blood trickled down the back of his hands, but there was no sign of where it originated.

  It didn’t matter. By the time Theo was finished, Mike would be bleeding in several places.

  As he lunged forward, Cassie’s hands curled around his arm and held him back. “Theo, don’t. He’s not worth jail.”

  “I don’t care. If he ever touches you again, he’ll be taken away on a gurney. The body bag is optional.” He did his best to break her grip but didn’t want to hurt her. Instead, he glared in Mike’s direction and pointed his finger at him. “You’re not my friend, and I sure as hell don’t need any advice about her from you. She and I grew up together. I know her better than you can imagine, so let me offer you some advice. Stay the fuck away from her. It won’t end well for you if you don’t.”

  “Like I said, she’s yours.” Mike swiped the blood from his nose and departed as quickly as his feet would carry him.

  Once he was out of sight, Cassie released her grip and walked around to face him. “What are you doing here? How did you know where I lived?”

  “Jesse flirted with your receptionist earlier this week and got the information. I wasn’t going to use it, but I had to see you. Why the hell was Mike here? Did he hurt you?” He examined her body when he noticed a red ring around her upper arm. “Son of bitch. Did he do this?”

  “I’m okay, Theo.” Her hand covered his. “Mike was here because I texted him about meeting up outside Midnight Blues. I wanted to tell him we wouldn’t be hooking up anymore. He showed up here instead because he’s on suspension.”

  “Why didn’t you tell him over the phone?”

  “Because…” She released a sigh. “He sent flowers earlier with this note about being my permanent guy. I wanted to tell him in person that I wasn’t interested.”

  “He sent flowers?”

  “Yeah.”

  Her answer was like a punch in the gut, but he didn’t say anything. The only thing that mattered was that she was okay. She was more than okay. She’d ended her casual fling with Mike.

  While he didn’t want to make presumptions, he hoped like hell that he was the reason she’d ended it. Had she made up her mind about them? It seemed like she had, but she hadn’t told him as much. If she were anything like him, she was waiting for the right moment.

  Sometimes they never came. Sometimes they were stolen.

  He refused to let his chance slip away. As he pulled her body close to his, he cupped her face and leaned closer. “I know you weren’t a couple, but you guys had a casual relationship. Why did you end it?”

  “Because it was never meant to last this long. I never had any intentions of being with Mike for the rest of my life. Granted, I wasn’t looking for something serious. Then you and I crossed paths, and the rest…well, you know the story.”

  “Does this mean you’ve decided what you want us to be?” He wanted to kiss her when she nodded, but he hadn’t forgotten about what happened at Jonah’s. She needed to know the truth.

  “Cassie, there is something else I need to tell you.”

  “What?”

  “I uh… I never asked Jonah to come out with us tonight. I went to his suite to talk to him before I came here. He had a girl with him, but I didn’t know who, so I started giving him seven kinds of shit about Ally.”

  “So he isn’t interested in her anymore?”

  “Of course he is. The girl in his room was Ally.” He hesitated on saying more when he noticed her eyes grow wider.

  “They were together? In his suite?”

  Her excitement was evident. It killed him to have to tell her the rest.

  “Yes, but he hadn’t talked to her about how he felt or what really happened with Paula. She ended up leaving after she overheard us discussing the date. Our conversation made it sound as if he was interested in her only because he wanted to sleep with her. I’ve messed up everything.”

  He prepped himself for her anger. He wasn’t sure if she would yell and scream or give him the silent treatment. He didn’t like the former, but it was better than the latter. He hated to be ignored.

  “Theo, stop. You haven’t ruined anything. I’ll talk with Ally and explain what happened. Trust me. She won’t stay upset. If she and Jonah were already together, then I have no doubt they’ll work th
ings out. They love each other.”

  “And what about us? Have I ruined any chance of us being together?”

  She parted her lips to answer just as the front door swung open. A young woman stepped out on the porch and turned to close the door. “What is all the ruckus out here?”

  “It’s nothing. Go back inside,” Cassie demanded, but the woman didn’t listen. When she finally turned around, Theo froze in place. It felt as if someone had shoved a knife in his chest. A knot formed in his gut as the last skeleton in his closet rattled its bones.

  Fuck. What was she doing here?

  “Well, if it isn’t Theo McCabe.”

  “Don’t start your shit,” Cassie warned her. Then she refaced him. “Sorry about that. You remember—”

  “Cee-Cee? Yeah, I remember her, but how do you know her?”

  Confusion covered Cassie’s face. “Cee-Cee? What are you talking about, Theo? This is my little sister, Cori.”

  Time stood still. The skeleton wasn’t rattling in his closet anymore. The son of a bitch had leapt into the open and crumbled into a pile of rubble. All that was left was to bury it. Might as well dig a hole for himself too.

  Once Cassie learned the ugly truth staring her in the face, he’d be lucky if she didn’t bury him alive.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  The seconds ticked by as confusion spiraled within Cassie. Even though Mike had departed from her life, the tension was far from over. Theo’s rigid body was proof of how much remained. So was Cori’s. They kept gawking at each other, as well as her.

  Had Theo mistaken her for someone by the name of Cee-Cee?

  “I told you that you wouldn’t recognize her, Theo.” Her teasing failed to produce a smile on his face. Instead, he shook his head and gazed down.

  “You’re right. I didn’t.” His shoulders slumped, then he closed his eyes and cursed softly.