NINE: Boyle Heights

  “What? Why?” No fucking way was he leaving without saying everything he needed to say to her.

  “All week I meant to buy dishwasher soap but forgot. Now the dishwasher is completely full, and I have all this too.” She pointed at the sink full of dirty dishes. “It’s gonna start to stink.”

  Nine glanced at the sink then back at her. “Let’s go. I’ll go with you.”

  Their eyes met for a second, and Nine couldn’t believe he’d been there almost five minutes and still hadn’t touched her, but for some reason, he didn’t dare. She seemed ready to pounce. Only he was determined to get through this. After today, everything would be changing.

  “Let me get my shoes on.”

  She walked out of the kitchen to her room. Before she even walked back into the kitchen, Nine was already clenching his jaw when he heard them: her high heels against her wood floors. As soon as she walked back into the kitchen, his eyes were on them—four-inch heels like the ones she’d worn the night they met.

  “You wore those today?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  The conviction with which she said it and the way she looked him straight in the eyes when she did, practically dared him to say more about it. Just as he was about to take on that fucking dare, he remembered the shoes Becca wore Friday night.

  So he sucked it up and said nothing.

  She walked around the kitchen, and he continued to refrain from commenting further even as every clink of those shoes made him cringe. If anything, he’d be making sure those shoes were up in the air when she was under him before the night was over. Still, it was just another reason why things were changing today. No way was he doing this anymore.

  They walked out, and as usual, he asked for her keys so he could drive. They still hadn’t even kissed, and he could feel it. Things were about to blow soon.

  “Just go to the drug store around the corner. They have dish soap there.”

  The less-than-five-minute drive there was a silent one. “I’ll get it.” Nine opened his door as soon as he parked, leaving the keys in the ignition. “Any particular brand you prefer?”

  Nine wasn’t about to let her get out, looking the way she did. He was tense enough as it was. He didn’t have the patience to watch all the heads she’d turn with that dress and those heels. All he wanted was to be in and out and done with this so he could get to what he really wanted to discuss.

  She gave him the name of the brand she wanted and stayed put. He jumped out and went in, surprised by how expensive the brand she wanted was. But he didn’t care. He got it and stood in line to pay. While waiting in line, he thought back to the last thing they were discussing before this interruption. He’d lead off with it when he got back in the car.

  He was so hung up on how damn good she looked all day when she’d been at this brunch without him, he barely remembered but then he did. Once back in the car, he turned to her as he drove out of the parking lot. “So what was this charity thing for?”

  “Make a Wish Foundation. The publicity firm that handles most of the guys from 5th Street put it together since they work so closely with the kids who often ask to meet one of their many clients.”

  Just as they reached a train crossing they were going to have to wait on, Nine felt the heat ignite inside him and his ever tensing muscles go rigid when he put it together. “Brad’s firm?”

  “Uh huh,” she said with the same indifference as before. “They had a friendly golf tournament before the brunch, and he knows Phoenix and Sean love their golf.” She glanced away when he turned to look at her. “Brad’s been asking Phoenix to try and convince me to have coffee or something with him so we can talk. So, since they both know how much I enjoy going to champagne brunches, they figured this would be as good a time as any.”

  Nine didn’t even try to hide his annoyance. “Good a time for what, Dee?”

  She turned to him, lifting a brow, before turning back out the window. “To talk.”

  “Talk about what?” Nine didn’t wait for her to answer before asking his next louder question because already he felt ready to blow. “What the fuck does he want?”

  The train had finally passed, and they started moving again. “He said there were some things he never got a chance to say to me before I broke things off. I guess he needed closure.”

  Squeezing the wheel tightly, Nine practically spoke through his teeth. “You and him talk all day, Dee?

  Nine turned onto her street, trying to stay calm, but the thought of her hanging out with that fucker, looking the way she did, had his insides ablaze. Had she dressed this way for him?

  “Not all day. He was busy for the better part of it but came over and joined us at our table a couple of hours into it.”

  “Yeah?”

  Nine wasn’t sure why he was so hung up on the time factor. But it burned him that all day all he did was watch the clock, counting down the hours and minutes until he’d be with her, and she was hanging out with her fucking ex the whole time.

  “So he hung out with you until the very end?”

  “No.” He wasn’t looking at her as he stared straight ahead, but he could almost see her shrugging indifferently by the tone of her voice. “Phoenix and Sean left a little after two. We all took a Lyft there because we knew we’d be drinking. So when Brad heard we were taking one home, he offered to take me home.”

  Nine turned to her with a purpose. “Just you?”

  Staring him square in the face as she had earlier, she didn’t even hesitate to respond. “Yeah. He drove his two-seater sports car today. He would’ve offered to drive Phoenix and Sean home as well, but there was no room. So he just drove me home. We got here just before three, and I called you after he left.”

  Fire.

  Nine wasn’t sure if it was the whole hour Dee spent alone at her place or that apathetic lift and drop of her shoulder as she delivered that last punch that did it. Glancing her way and getting a reminder of that disheveled hair only ignited him further. He peeled into her driveway, skidding loudly before coming to a screeching stop.

  He turned to her, ready to roar, even as she held one hand to the dash and the other to her chest, wide-eyed. “You brought your ex back here and hung out with him alone, for a whole fucking hour?”

  Chapter 26

  Drew

  Well, Phoenix had been right again. Clearly, Nine wasn’t even the slightest bit okay with her hanging out with Brad. But she still couldn’t get over the balls of steel on this guy. There was no denying the fact that she was still pissed about Becca, and he was obviously aware of it since he knew better than to try and even touch her as he normally would’ve by now.

  After obsessing about it all week, she’d decided Phoenix was right about another thing. Even if Nine had just shared with her about the injury so close to his dick, Drew was livid about that too. Seeing how pissed her hanging out with Brad made him, she was ready to throw something else at him in case he wanted to argue that sharing something like that with Becca was no big deal or all in fun.

  Opening the passenger side door, she didn’t bother answering him before getting out, closing the door behind her. She heard him open and slam his door shut as she stalked up her walkway. “What did you two do?” he demanded as he caught up quickly and followed her up to the small porch of her doorway. “What the hell were you doing with him for a whole hour alone here?”

  She punched the code to her door lock and pushed the door open. “Mostly talked.”

  “Mostly?”

  “Yeah.” She turned to look at him. “And had a drink or two.” His eyes went even wider, and then she added the clincher. “He had a scar on his neck from shaving, and I cut myself pretty bad this week doing the same, so we talked about that.”

  She knew that would stump him, and the look on his face said it all. “What?”

  Snagging the dish soap from him, she started to her kitchen, not wanting to look at him when she told him the next part. “I cut myself, shaving my bikini line.
Pretty painful. He wanted to see it, so I invited him in.”

  “What the fuck?” He boomed so loudly Drew spun around to face him. “You showed him—”

  “How did Becca know about your groin injury, Nine?” She boomed right back, slamming the soap bottle on the counter. “She knew the exact location. Did she really fix it right up for you like she said? Is that why she was so tired and her body was spent that morning?”

  The sudden fall in his expression as everything she’d just said seemed to sink in for him, nearly suffocated Drew. He hadn’t just told Becca about it. “You did see her Friday, didn’t you?”

  He took a step toward her, reaching his hand out to touch her. “I was gonna tell you—”

  Drew slapped his hand away. “Tell me what? Were you with her Friday night?”

  Her voice was so high-pitched she knew she was gonna lose it, but she needed this. Needed the truth no matter how painful. It’d be the only way she wouldn’t be tempted to just let this go as she’d begun to consider earlier that week.

  “Yes, but—”

  “Really?” she squeaked as all hope that it’d been just a misunderstanding or made-up bullshit by Becca languished, and her heart shattered into a million pieces. With her breath caught at her aching throat, she managed to get the desperate question out. “You were with her?”

  He reached out for her again, looking as genuinely pained as she felt. “Just a little—”

  The slap across his face was so loud and unexpected by both of them, it nearly startled her out of the hysterics she could feel herself falling into. Nearly.

  “Get out!” she screamed the moment she was able to catch her breath again. “I want you out! Go fuck her a little bit more!”

  It was a struggle to fight him off as he reached out for her, and she continued to slap his arms away, but he was too strong and finally overpowered her, holding both her hands. He leaned into her sideways against the counter, blocking with his hard body the knees she tried jabbing into his groin.

  “I’m just a man.”

  “What the fuck does that mean?” she screamed, even more infuriated. “You’re a fucking man-whore, so that makes it okay?”

  “No.” She continued to wrestle with him to get loose, but it only made him press against her harder.

  “Listen to me,” he said, speaking right at her face. “When in my life do you think I’ve ever had to or would even want to fight off two girls?”

  “Two?” she gasped, wishing she could slap him again.

  “Yes, two,” he said, speaking quickly and with conviction but not the least bit apologetic about the two girls he’d apparently been with. “I knew you’d be pissed about what went down that night, but it wasn’t my fault. She’d been at the shop earlier to tell me about the photo shoot, but I’d already panicked and lied about having seen her recently the day you asked me about her because I wasn’t sure how much you knew. Nothing happened then. She just told me about the shoot but couldn’t find the flyer with the info about it and said she’d be back to drop it off. Later that night, she showed up again, drunk and horny as fuck.” He took a deep breath as Drew contemplated spitting in his face, but she continued to listen, breathing harder with every infuriating word that came out of his mouth. “Her friend who was driving wasn’t drunk, but she was just as pushy. I’m not gonna lie, okay? I’d been with her and her friend before, but this was before anything happened between you and me.”

  “The night of the wedding?” His brows pinched together in confusion. “The night you held me on the dance floor and the whole world disappeared for me? I went home and cried myself to sleep that night, Nine. And you went and fucked two girls?”

  He shook his head as his expression softened a little. “No, it was way before that. You cried yourself to sleep? I went home and drank myself into a stupor that night until I passed out because, after Brad cut in on our dance the way he did, I didn’t think I’d be hearing from you ever again.”

  For a moment, Drew nearly let her guard down and was tempted to smile even through her tears—until she remembered the two whores and her body stiffened all over again. “So what happened Friday night?’

  “They were all over me, trying to kiss me and groping me and shit.” The visual alone was enough to make Drew sick to her stomach, and she tried in vain to come loose from his hold, but he held her tight. “Baby, I’d never been in a situation like that, even with just one girl, where I had or I’d want to reject her advances, least of all two. It was awkward as fuck, but nothing else happened except for the groping I wasn’t fast enough to escape. So when you said she was there that morning and then asked me about her, I nearly choked. But I did send them packing, and let me tell you Becca’s clearly not used to rejection because she was pissed, but I didn’t give a fuck. Only I knew there was no good way to tell you about it without things getting tense as shit. I thought for sure you’d tell me to go to hell and break things off, and I was just too terrified to risk it.” He took a deep breath, staring at her with that same dread in his eyes she’d seen the day she asked him about Becca. “I’ve never been in this kind of situation either. I’ve never been so scared outta my mind about losing a girl. Never felt even the slightest bit inclined to explain myself to anyone, even at the risk of losing a nut.”

  He glanced down at the awkward position they were in, shaking his head. Drew nearly smiled again because of the ridiculousness of it all but then remembered. “How did she know about your injury? Did you tell her about it or show her?”

  “Neither. I have no idea how she knows. I never mentioned it, and, no, I didn’t show her.” He added that last part with that same genuinely soured expression she knew so well. “She told you about it?”

  “She did. It’s what I’ve been wondering about all week.”

  Nine loosened his hold on Drew, though didn’t completely let go. Feeling a little calmer but not completely convinced, she explained how Becca never actually said it was him she’d been with but told them all about her injured boy toy and spelled out exactly where he’d been injured.

  “I didn’t even think anything of it then,” she continued. “I just thought she was bragging about her lustful night out. But then later, when you mentioned you’d been hurt, I got to thinking what were the odds? Even when I asked you where you’d been hurt, I completely expected it to be something totally different. But when you told me, I thought it was too big a coincidence.”

  She watched closely as Nine stared out into nothing, shaking his head like he was trying to figure it out. “I swear on my moms I never said shit to her about it.” His eyes went wide suddenly as if something came to him. “That night, when she showed up with her friend, she did keep saying something about kissing the pain away and making me feel better every time she tried groping me. But I thought it was just drunken gibberish.”

  “Someone told her.” Drew eyed him suspiciously, not knowing what to think but admittedly feeling much calmer, especially now that Nine had adjusted his body. He was no longer standing sideways in a protective stance. He’d turned his body so his front, not the side of his hip was pressed against her.

  “It wasn’t me.” His mouth was closer to hers than it had been since he got there. “Honest to God, when you said you cut yourself shaving earlier and told Brad about it, I wasn’t even thinking bikini line. First thing that came to mind was your legs, and even that pissed me off. I wouldn’t be telling any chick about this.” He stopped abruptly, pulling back. “It isn’t true, is it? About you telling Brad you cut yourself?”

  Finally, Drew allowed herself to smirk. “I didn’t cut myself, and he didn’t even give me a ride home. I took a Lyft home and texted you on my way here.”

  His hardened expression gave way to one of his beautiful smiles until that flattened again too. “But he was there?”

  “Yes.”

  His features went hard again. “And you hung out with him?”

  “For a little bit.”

  In his usual fash
ion, the questions came flying one after another. “What did he want to talk to you about?”

  “Nothing really. Just things he said he needed to say to me that he didn’t get a chance to.”

  “Like what?”

  Drew couldn’t help smiling, but even that didn’t change Nine’s demeanor. Taking a much-needed deep breath, Drew shrugged, trying to decide where to start.

  “Don’t do that. I hate when you do that.”

  “Do what?”

  “Shrug like it’s not a big deal when it’s a very big fucking deal.” He searched her eyes, and Drew could see how serious he was about this. “What did he need to say to you? What else did you do with him today when you thought I’d been with Becca last week?”

  Drew shook her head. “All we did was talk, and Phoenix and Sean were at the table with us the whole time.” Unable to hold back now and because Nine finally let go of her hands, she reached out and caressed his face because he looked even tenser than he had earlier. “He just wanted me to know that he was willing to make changes in his life so he’d be around more if I gave him another shot. He’s convinced that’s why I broke things off.” She started to shrug but caught herself. “He also said he’d bought the ring just before I broke things off and still hadn’t been able to bring himself to take it back. He was waiting to talk to me in person before he did, in case there was even the slightest possibility he might not have to.”

  Just like that, the tables had turned full circle. He looked so anxious, and because she knew there was no way she was walking away now, especially knowing he’d passed up the chance to be with not just one but two girls at once, she actually pecked him. He leaned his forehead against hers, his demeanor relaxing just a bit. But after what he’d put her through this week all because of his previous man-whore ways, she couldn’t help herself.

  “I told him not to take it back.”