A Simple Wish About love - Karice Bolton Page 0,55
out of the car. “Hey, Drew.”
“Hey, you nothing.” Drew was merely feet away from his car. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to surprise Erika.”
Drew straightened and his fists clenched. “I’d suggest that you turn around and drive back to Idaho or Colorado or wherever you’re from.”
Okay, so word must have gotten around.
“Drew, I didn’t do what she thinks I did.”
Drew’s frown deepened. “They all say that.”
“But in my case, it’s true. My parents were even there. It looked awful. It felt horrible. But it was all a huge misunderstanding.”
The bellhop looked between Drew and Slade. His mouth opened slightly as he listened carefully.
“I would never do anything to hurt Erika.”
Drew raised his hand up in the air. “You already did. You already crushed her. And to think she was falling in love with you.”
The words were like a knife to the chest. “I’m past falling in love with her. I’m in love with her.”
Drew shook his head. “Just leave.”
“Can I buy you a drink?”
“I’m not thirsty.” Drew glared at him.
Slade wasn’t going to take it any longer. He climbed out of the car, and Drew looked like he was ready to throw a punch.
“Go ahead. I deserve it.”
“Damn right.”
Drew revved up to throw a mean right hook, but Slade caught his fist in midair. “I don’t think so.” Slade continued to hold Drew’s fist in his hand. “Now, please, let me buy you a drink.”
“The bar is closed.”
Slade let go of Drew’s hand. “The lobby is open.”
“Fine, but I’m not happy about it.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Erika’s head pounded, and it wasn’t like she’d gotten a good buzz the night before. No, this pounding was merciless and had everything to do with the rotten Slade Tenison. For the last three nights, it took forever to fall asleep, and when she finally did, it never lasted more than thirty or forty minutes before she was up again tossing and turning and devising plans to make his life a living hell.
Of course, she knew she’d never do any of it. She cared about him too much.
That was what always screwed her up. She cared about people even when they did awful things to her.
It was a curse.
She rolled over and pulled the sheets over her head.
But she was going to turn this curse into a blessing.
She heard Scott and Jeremy downstairs and smelled bacon sizzling through the air. Shannon was an incredible aunt and an even better sister. She’d offered to stay the week and be an extra set of hands.
For twelve years, Erika never had men trouble. She raised Scott on her own and never had to deal with this once.
Erika was at the stage now where her anger was staying pretty consistent since the humiliation was reminding her every second of how foolish she’d been. She’d much rather take anger over sadness any day.
It made her chest a little tight, but at least she wasn’t sick to her stomach any longer.
She pushed the sheets off her head and let out a deep sigh.
Today was a new day. She needed to put on her happy face and enjoy every second of Scott.
Slade was nothing more than a distant memory.
He’d even given up on the endless messages and calls.
Another reason it wasn’t meant to be.
She never liked a person who was eager to give up, and he gave up in less than twenty-four hours. Three days later, and she hadn’t heard a peep.
Erika chuckled as she finally convinced herself to roll out of bed and shower. She grabbed a pair of sweats, brushed her hair, and headed downstairs.
She didn’t have to be to work until this afternoon. Hopefully, her eyes would depuff, so there wouldn’t be an onslaught of Slade questions.
She’d like the topic to just fade away, kind of like him.
By the time Erika made it downstairs to the kitchen, Shannon was scooping massive amounts of scrambled eggs onto plates in between trying to drain the bacon.
“Do you need any help?” Erika asked, rushing to her sister’s side.
“Thanks. I’m not as skilled as I’d like to believe at dealing with preteen boys.”
“You’re doing awesome.” Erika grinned, glancing at the eggs. “How many eggs did you use?”
Shannon shrugged. “I don’t know. Two boxes.”
“You made twenty-four eggs?”
“They looked so little, and the boys kept saying they were starving, so . . .”
Erika gave her sister a squeeze and called for Scott and Jeremy. They were in the family room playing video games. Jeremy’s parents were celebrating their fifteenth wedding anniversary at the resort and asked