Caught Looking (Hot-Lanta Series)

  Jane tried to push George away but instead he stopped her from moving and slapped her right across her face. The entire right side of her face lit up in flames. Holy crap that stung. She thought her eye was swollen shut right away but it was just hard to move.

  George slammed her to ground which made her wince in pain and he said, “Good luck with lover boy. News is his girlfriend Laney is in town. Now that is a woman Brady belongs with, not some white trash nobody like you.”

  With those parting words George left her on the ground in the alley way of the bar. She stayed there for a while and cried her eyes out. Was George right? Did Brady really deserve someone else? Was she not good enough for him? She was just about to get up when she heard a scream and then all of a sudden soft hands touched her side.

  “Oh my God, Jane are you ok? What happened?”

  Albert was at her side caressing her back and pulled her into his arms. She broke down again in tears. Albert rocked her back and forth and whispered in her ear that it would be ok. He asked again, “What happened sweetie.”

  Jane, in between sobs said, “George…found…me.”

  Albert swore under his breath and pulled her in tighter. “What did he say to you?”

  Jane could barely get any words out she was so upset. She just shook her head. She did not want to talk about it. All she wanted was Brady and his loving arms.

  Albert must of sensed that she did not want to talk about what happened because he said, “Listen girl, you go to Brady’s and have him take care of you alright. Give him a call on the way over.”

  “I can’t leave Molly, it’s her bachelorette party.”

  “Sweetie she is talking to her shoes right now because she thinks they are her friends. I highly doubt she will even know you left.”

  Jane nodded and started to get up, Albert helped her. He walked her to her car, George slapped the sober back into her and she was ready and alert to drive. Albert gave her a kiss on the cheek and told her to take care of herself. She pulled out her cell phone and tried to call Brady again, his phone went to voicemail once more. What was he doing that was so important he could not answer her phone calls?

  Chapter 24

  Brady was in his pool swimming around. He didn’t even bother to put his trunks on. When he got home he just stripped down to his briefs and jumped in. He noticed all the little touches Jane made to his house when he was gone at spring training. His heart melted when he saw she put pictures of them around the house and fresh flowers. Even though he was not a flower kind of person, they still made the house homier and more like Jane.

  He loved to take a late night dip in the Atlanta heat. Plus he hoped Jane would be done with her maid of honor duties soon and take part in a little late night skinny dipping with him. God, he could not wait to see her. He unlocked the door for her so she could just pop in.

  As he floated on his back he heard the sliding glass door pop open. He lifted his head and started to swim to the side to go greet Jane when he stopped in his tracks.

  “Hey hot stuff, spring training has done you well.”

  Laney Johnson.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” Brady asked as steam blew out of his ears.

  “Well I was expecting a different greeting but I will give you that one. I heard you were back in town and wanted to see if you wanted to take me for a go around the bases? I have been practicing third base and I am ready to make you squirm. I’ve missed you.”

  Brady got out of the pool and grabbed his towel to wrap it around his waist. God just the sound of her voice made him cringe. No way in hell did he want those plastic lips of hers anywhere near his dick.

  “Have you completely lost your mind? Get the fuck out of here! I want nothing to do with you Laney. Don’t you remember you cheated on me? Why the hell would I take you back?”

  Laney got closer and rested her hand on his chest, Brady tore away. “Oh come on Brady, you never used to shy away from my touch before. You know you want me. I know how hard your dick would get when I would strip for you or suck your dick till you had nothing left inside you.”

  Brady needed to get her out of here. He would admit, she did turn him on when they were dating but now he had no feelings for her at all. Whenever he saw her, all he could think of was how ashamed he was that he ever dated and fell for such a cheating fame whore. He didn’t need Laney, he had Jane who was sweet and sultry with no yearning to be in the spotlight whatsoever. He was in love with Jane and nothing would change that.

  Brady grabbed her by the arm and escorted her toward the door. Laney pulled away and wrapped her arms around his waist.

  “Seriously Laney, get off of me. I’m with someone else. Someone who I love more than anything, I plan on marrying her and there is nothing you can do to stop us.”

  Laney slid her arms up Brady’s chest and wrapped her arms around his neck, “You want to bet?”

  Right when Brady was about to push her aside, Jane walked through Brady’s front door. His breathing completely stopped from the sight of her. Her makeup was smeared from crying and she had what looked like the start of a very serious black eye. What the hell happened to her? Did she try to call him? Fuck his phone was inside when he was in the pool.

  The look on her face made his heart shatter into a million pieces. It was like someone reached through her mouth down her throat and ripped her heart out. Brady threw Laney to the side and told her to get out.

  Laney smiled, blew him a kiss good bye and said, “You know how to get a hold of me.” As she walked past Jane, Laney added, “I hope you know I have been texting your boyfriend for a while now and even sent him a naked picture of myself but I’m sure he told you all about that.” And with that she walked out of the house.

  FUCK! This did not look good at all. Not only was Laney implying that something happened between them but he was also wearing a towel around his waist and was bare-chested while she had her arms wrapped around him. Brady went to go grab Jane and tell her it was not what she thought but she stormed off to her car.

  He chased after her and put his hand on her door before she could open it fully. He grabbed her by the arms and turned her toward him. “Jane, please listen to me.”

  She pushed his arms away and screamed, “Don’t you fucking touch me! Don’t you dare come near me Brady Matthews. You are a liar and a cheat and you disgust me.” She tried to open her door again.

  “Jane, please listen, it is not what you think at all.”

  “Isn’t that what they all say? It’s not what you think Baby, I swear,” Jane said in a mocking voice. “Do NOT come near me, I’m not kidding Brady. I want nothing to do with you. You are a fucking liar. You swore you would never cheat on me. You told me how you would never cheat because you got your heart broken the same way. I’m so stupid for listening because there you are in some passionate embrace with your ex. Well congratulations asshole you broke my heart. I hate you! We are through. Do not even try calling me.”

  And with that she got in her car and drove off. Brady stood in his driveway completely stunned. His whole life was over in the matter of minutes. Everything he worked so hard for was just washed away. Jane was gone and wanted nothing to do with him. He could barely breathe his heart was hurting so badly. What could he do and how the hell could he explain what happened?

  He saw flashes of light from the bushes in the distance. Fucking fantastic. The paparazzi must have documented the entire encounter, most likely thanks to Laney and her loud mouth.

  He went inside to put some clothes on so he could run over to Jane’s place. He was not going to let her think he cheated on her with Laney. There was no way he would let Jane ends things with him over something that never transpired between him and Laney. He got inside his house and saw his phone on the counter in the kitchen. He looked at it, three new voicemails.

  Fuck.

  First voicemail…

  “Hey Handsome, it’s me. I just wanted to call you and tell you I can’t wait to see you l
ater. Molly is completely wasted right now. She was going around the whole room at one point grabbing everyone’s crotch. I should be leaving in an hour or so, I can’t imagine Molly lasting any longer than that. I love you so much. Bye.”

  He hoped to God that was not the last time he would hear her say those three perfect words to him.

  Second voicemail sounded like there were two people scuffling around. Then he heard a man’s voice. Who the hell was that? There was no way she would cheat on him. Brady listened harder and noticed the guy was being a real dick to Jane and said some awful things, things he could never imagine saying to a woman, even Laney. Then he heard Jane say George’s name. Brady’s body went completely numb with anger. Son of a bitch. He heard a loud slap as the phone sounded like it tumbled to the ground. All Brady wanted to do was reach through the phone and kill George. That mother fucker slapped her across her face. Brady’s blood boiled. He wanted to nail that bastard. He did not even want to hear the third one but he listened to it anyway.

  “Hey Brady, (sniffling) I’m coming over now. George attacked me in the alley and said some really awful things. I really need you right now. I know we have not seen each other in a while but I just need you to hold me and tell me how much you love me. I’m not doing so well right. See you soon.”

  Fuck, fuck, fuck.

  ***

  Jane’s heart pounded so fast she thought she might have a heart attack. She drove like maniac and didn’t even know where she was headed. She sure as hell was not going home because that was where she assumed Brady would go. Molly’s place was not an option because Jane couldn’t deal with Molly’s drunk ass right now and Albert would be taking care of Molly therefore he wouldn’t be home. Maybe she could go to Michael’s house?

  Her phone rang, she looked down at the caller ID, Brady was calling her. There was no way she was going to talk to him so she ignored his phone call.

  She could barely see through her tears. The road was completely blurry thanks to her tears and bruised eye. She needed to try to focus on the road. The last thing she needed was to get in a car accident. She wanted to call Michael just to make sure he was home and not in any kind of argument with his wife. That would be awkward to walk in on.

  Jane pulled her phone out and started to dial Michael’s number when she looked up real quick to make sure she was still on the road and that was when her heart sank. A little black and white dog ran out in the middle of the road causing Jane to swerve so she would miss him. She slammed on her brakes to slow down her out of control car but was too late because she ran straight into a telephone pole.

  Her air bag exploded in her face as her head flew forward. Her leg instantly started to shoot pain all the way through her body. She could not move it because it felt like her car formed a vise grip all the way around it. She blacked out from the immense amount of pain she felt.

  She didn’t know how long she was out for but when she woke, she woke to sirens and flashing lights surrounding her car. A man in a uniform tried to open her door but had no luck. He asked if she was alright through the car window. She gave him the thumbs up and nodded her head then regretted the movement instantly. Her head and neck were throbbing with pain and she could no longer feel her leg.

  The paramedics had to use the Jaws of Life to get the door off her car and get her out of her smashed up interior. When she was in the ambulance hooked up to a bunch of different machines they asked if they could call anyone for her. She thought about it for a second. Well, she wasn’t going call Brady that was for damn sure so she told them to call Michael Banks in her phone.

  ***

  Michael’s phone rang and startled him from his sleep. What time was it? He looked at the clock on his nightstand noticing the late hour. He reached for his phone and saw it was Jane, his heart sank. He answered frantically.

  “Hey, is everything ok?” He was confused. Wasn’t she with Brady?

  “Is this Michael Banks?” said a strange man, Michael’s heart sank even further than he thought possible. Who the hell was he talking to?

  “Yes this is, is everything ok? Where is Jane?”

  “Jane is on her way to the hospital. She got in an accident and asked us to call you. The ambulance is taking her to St. Joseph’s hospital.”

  “Shit, is she ok?”

  “She will be ok, sir. When you get to the front desk just ask what room she is in.”

  “Thank you.”

  Michael ended the call on his phone and raced around his room trying to find clothes to put on. Holy crap his heart was pounding fast, he thought he might have an anxiety attack. Why did she call him and not Brady? Something must have happened between the two of them for her to call Michael instead. Did Brady even know that Jane got in a car accident? He should know, even if he did something to piss her off. He deserved to know. Michael called Brady.

  Brady answered the phone, “Is Jane with you?” He sounded panicked. “I’m at her apartment and she is not here, I’m starting to freak out man.”

  So something did happen. Man, if Jane got in a car accident because of Brady, he would want to kill himself.

  “She’s not with me right now.” Michael heard Brady swear. “But before you hang up,” Michael added quickly. “I got a call from the paramedics who had Jane’s phone. She got in a car accident and is on her way to the hospital.”

  “What?” Brady shouted in Michael’s ear, he had to pull the phone away for a second so he did not lose all hearing from Brady’s yelling. Brady continued. “Is she ok? Why didn’t she call me? Holy shit, I think I’m going to have a heart attack.”

  “Brady calm down, she’s alright. I don’t know why she called me. Did you guys get in a fight tonight?”

  Brady swore some more. “You can say that. Shit Michael, my life is falling apart at the seams. The one thing that is supposed to be constant in my life is in some hospital right now.” Michael could hear Brady’s voice starting to break. He felt bad for him. Whatever happened tonight must have been some serious miscommunication.

  “Hey listen, meet me at the hospital, you can wait in the waiting room with me and you can tell me what happened. Listen though, I’m not going to let you see her until she wants to see you and I will make sure the nursing staff knows that. If she is mad at you right now we don’t need her anymore upset then she is, understood?”

  “I understand, thank you. Where are they taking her?”

  “St. Joseph’s, meet you there.”

  Michael hung up the phone. This was not what he expected to do tonight but his friends needed him. His friends who have helped him deal with his own problems. It was his turn to return the favor.

  ***

  Brady never drove so fast in his life. He did not give a flying fuck if he got pulled over. God damn it he caused Jane to get in an accident. He would never forgive himself for this. He loved her so much. He could not believe this happened. He should have fought harder instead of letting her take off in her car while she cried hysterically. He should have held her to the ground and explained everything to her. No, instead he let her take off when she was crying her eyes out to the point where she got in a fucking car accident. Brady slammed his hand on the steering wheel.

  Please God, don’t let her be hurt that badly, Brady silently prayed. Brady wouldn’t know what to do with himself if she refused to talk to him when he got to the hospital. Brady’s throat started to get really tight as he held back tears. He couldn’t even imagine what she must be feeling. He couldn’t imagine what she thought when she saw Laney in his house holding him around his neck while he only wore a towel. She didn’t know he had his boxer briefs on underneath, let alone he had swam in the pool beforehand while he waited for her to get naked with him and take a dip. Damn it!

  He pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, tore himself out of his car and raced for the entrance when he ran directly into Michael. He looked just as worried as Brady. Michael clasped Brady’s shoulder as they walked through the front doors togethe
r and asked the front desk receptionist where they could find Jane Bradley. The receptionist was taken back a little by the sight of them. She probably did not expect to see two starting Atlanta Braves players standing in front of her. She directed them in the correct direction.

  When they got to the elevator Michael turned toward Brady asking, “How are you doing man?”

  Brady ran his hand through his hair and shook his head. “I feel like I’m going to puke any second right now.”

  “Hang in there buddy, I’m sure she is going to be ok.”

  They got to the desk of where they were directed and they were told she was in surgery. The attending nurse was nice enough to tell them she crushed her foot in the car accident and had to have some pins put in to stabilize her leg. She also had some cuts that had to be stitched up other than that she was going to be very sore but alright.

  Brady felt a slight bit of relief wash over his body but he still would be on edge until he could hold her, stroke her hair and tell her how sorry he was and how much he loved her. Until then he wouldn’t feel right. Brady could tell Michael felt awkward.

  “Thanks man for calling me. I know you didn’t have to. I really appreciate it.”

  “I thought you deserved to know. So what happened?”

  Brady let out a long breath and told Michael everything that transpired a little bit ago but what rather seemed like hours ago. Reliving the events was torture. All he could picture in his mind was Jane’s face of total destruction. He put his head down and massaged his forehead. Michael didn’t talk for a little after Brady finished explaining.

  “If only I had my phone with me when I was in the pool…”

  “Brady, you can’t start with the ‘what if’s.’ It is a huge misunderstanding and I will back you up on that. I know how much you love Jane and how you would never ever get back with Laney. Not after the conversations we have had about our ex’s.”