His big arms wrapped around me and held me to his chest as my first sob broke free.
CAGE
Constant ringing was sending sharp pains through my head. I moaned and reached for a pillow to cover my ears. Instead I found hair. Lots of it. My eyes opened, and I turned to see a naked. . . Hayden in my bed. Jumping up, I backed away from the bed, and along with the pounding in my head, my chest was now beating wildly. What the f**k?
The ringing kept on. What the hell was that? My back touched the wall and my bare ass alerted me to the fact I was also naked. Holy f**king shit! What had I done? This was not right? I didn’t do this? I would never have done this? Not even dog drunk would have done this? But I didn’t remember. . . anything. Nothing. I walked back into the bar after calling Eva and got a beer. Then. . . I. . . drank it. And nothing. Shit. The ringing started again. Fuck me, what was that noise?
My phone. Shit. My phone. I grabbed my jeans and jerked them on, then I grabbed my phone. It was Eva. Oh, shit. . . It was Eva. I couldn’t answer it with. . . Oh, shit. I stepped out of the room and quickly answered. I had to figure this out. I had to find a way. Eva couldn’t know about this. What had I even done?
A used condom was lying on the floor in front of me. Shit. Shit. Shit.
The phone started ringing again. It was Eva again. I had to answer. What if she needed me?
“Hello,” I managed to croak out sounding like I felt.
“You need to run. Your ass may be bigger than me, but I can use a gun real damn good. So you’ve been warned. I’m coming after your motherfucking ass and I intend to put a bullet between your eyes.” Then the line ended. It had been Jeremy.
I stared at the phone in my hand and let his words register. He was coming here to kill me. That meant one thing. Somehow Eva knew. But what the f**k did she know? I didn’t even know? I didn’t remember shit. Someone had drugged my damn drink. I had been drinking for years and never had I been drugged. Never. Who the hell? I looked back at my bedroom and my blood boiled. That bitch in my bed.
I stalked back to my room and jerked my door open. Grabbing the sheet, I yanked it hard enough that the whore went flying across my room with a loud thud when she smacked her head against the wall. I wanted her to hurt. I wanted to strangle her. I fisted my hands at my sides to keep from beating her evil ass to a pulp.
She screamed and grabbed her head then started cursing.
“Get. Out!” I yelled.
She started to say something, but when her eyes saw the rage in mine, she snapped her mouth shut and slowly stood up. If she said one word—one f**king word—I was going to sling her ass across the damn apartment.
She reached for her clothes and started to put them on.
“No! Get. Out. Now!” I roared before slamming my fist through the wall.
She took off running. Holding her clothes in her hands tightly, she ran from my room and out the door of the apartment, slamming the door behind her. I dialed Eva’s number again.
“What, you sorry ass f**ker? Called to f**king explain now you’ve figured out that Eva knows! She don’t just know. She saw it. Your naked ass with another woman. All of it. Thanks to your friends there, a part of it was even videoed. You killed her. Just so you f**king know, the Eva we both knew is f**king dead. I had to look into her empty eyes as she threw up over and over again. I’m gonna f**king kill you!”
My stomach rolled. She had seen it? What the f**k had she seen? No. No. Oh God, no. I barely made it to the bathroom before I hit my knees and started throwing up last night’s beer. Something I hadn’t done since high school.
I reached for the phone as I sank back against the wall and leaned against it. “I was drugged.”
“Really? That might get your ass out of this if it wasn’t for all the pictures of your lying ass. You weren’t always wearing the same thing. You weren’t always at the same place. Grabbing tits at a party. Kissing some trashy bitch. Getting in a car on another day and driving off with the same bitch you were in bed with. What about the one you had her up against a pool table, doing everything but having sex with her, while onlookers cheered you on? You’re a sick motherfucker who had something you didn’t deserve. You lost that. She’s done. It’s over. You killed it.”
I’d been set up. This had all been set up.
“I need to talk to her. You can come after me and f**king blow my head off, but let me talk to her first. Let me explain. I can’t let her think I did this to her.”
“You step foot on that property and Wilson will put a bullet in you. That man’s sick. He doesn’t need this damn drama. His little girl is broken. He’s gonna want your blood. These are her last months with her father, you f**king ass**le. She’s making memories for the rest of her life. A life she will live without him. And you just f**ked her up. Royally f**ked her up. I’m coming after your ass to make sure you’re in a hospital and can’t get to her. I don’t want jail time, but I intend to make sure you can’t f**king walk.”
“I didn’t. . . None of this is real. It’s a setup. What you saw in the pictures, that wasn’t real—the shit from last night that I don’t remember. I was drugged, so what you saw last night was real. It just wasn’t me. I gotta talk to her, Jeremy.”
He paused and I waited. He had to give me a chance to explain this to her. She couldn’t think I’d done this. I was coming home. This shit wasn’t for me. I should never have come here. It was a huge mistake.
“She won’t see you. Her daddy will kill you. You broke her. Let her heal. Leave her f**king alone. This is the time she is supposed to be spending with her daddy. Not dealing with a broken heart over you. Stay your ass in Tennessee and leave her alone.”
“I can’t.”
“Because you’re a selfish bastard. That’s why you can’t. For once in your godforsaken life think about someone else. Someone other than what you want. Stay away. Let her come to you when she’s ready. If she’s ever ready.”
How was I supposed to do that? Was I being selfish? I wanted her to know the truth. She would want to know the truth. That wasn’t selfishness.