Cash (Glendale Magic #2)

Chapter 24

EVIE

The night had been pleasant so far. Dinner had been much better than she had expected. Sitting next to her sister and Allen had been a good choice. They seemed to just treat him like he was a normal date. It was good because she knew others wouldn't have been so relaxed about it.

When they had first arrived at the club and he went to get her a drink, she couldn't help the jealousy she felt as the woman at the bar flirted with him. She trusted him to a certain extent, but he had a reputation for a reason, and the idea that he had slept with that woman was an annoying voice in the back of her head. That woman was gorgeous, blond and built the way society expects the body of someone with a professional athlete should be like.

Cash had never once made her feel anything less than beautiful. She knew he found her sexy just the way she was, and she thought she was too, but there was something about looking at one of the girls Cash used to sleep with and how vastly different they were. She tried not to let that bother her, but she couldn't seem to shake it.

Later that night after a few more drinks she was feeling a bit looser and relaxing into the night and enjoying Cash. He was amazing out on the dance floor. Bryan would never dance with her like this, she didn't even think he could. But out on the dance floor with Cash everything else fell away. He fell in behind her and held her hips close to his own and they moved together.

After a while she needed to go to the bathroom. She'd had maybe a bit too much to drink, but it was okay because Cash was there, and she felt nothing but safe with him. But as she made her way back to the tables where the wedding party were sitting, she saw someone who was not in the wedding party. Bryan was here. Why was he here?

"Hey," she said as she approached the table. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just out, and I saw Ellie and Allen, I thought I would stop in and say hi to everyone."

"You just happened to be at the club we are at?" she asked in disbelief.

"I know. What are the odds?"

"Did my mother send you here?" she shot at him.

He started to sputter as Cash came up and put his arm around her. "I was wondering where you got off to, baby. Come dance with me," he said, pulling her out to the dance floor.

She was so grateful for him at that moment. She didn’t want to be dealing with Bryan. But when she looked up at him, she didn't like the look on Cash’s face.

"What is he doing here?" he said harshly in her ear.

"You guess is as good as mine, and if your guess is my mother, then I think we’re both onto something."

"This is unbelievable."

"I know. I'm sorry. Let's just dance and forget he's here."

He pulled her close and they danced. She tried to forget it all, but she couldn't. Why did things have to be so complicated? When they were alone it wasn't. When it was just the two of them it was blissfully simple. Whether it was skeeball and a drive-in, or fancy dinners and incredible sex, it was easy. They fit. But here, with his past beautifully and irritatingly lurking around every corner and her mother sending her flying monkey after them, it was not simple.

She tried to dance with him and push it all away and reclaim her buzz and their simple connection, but her buzz was turning into being drunk and the simplicity between them was gone as another woman tried to dance with Cash and Bryan slid in to dance with their group. Through all of it Cash's hand never left her hip and she tried to find solace in that, but it was hard. It was all starting to get to her.

"I'm going to the bathroom," she said to Cash as she turned out of his grip. He looked at her with concerned eyes, but she couldn't do this right now. Everything just felt wrong.

She finished in the bathroom and splashed some water on her face. Hopefully it would be time to get out of here soon. She should be celebrating with her sister, but her mom was ruining it from afar.

Instead of going back to the dance floor she walked outside and got some air. The air was hot and humid, not quite the refresher she was hoping for, but at least it was a little bit quieter, and she could hear her own thoughts. Yes, she was pissed at her mother for sending Bryan, but Cash had to deal with her ex all day and now he was here. She needed to see if he was alright. She turned to go find him, but as she did, she ran smack dab into Bryan.

"Bryan, excuse me," she said, trying to move past him, but he had gripped her by the arm. She tried to bat away his hand.

"Please let me go. I need to go talk to Cash."

"Can you just give me a second? One second and I'll go away and be done, I promise."

She stopped and looked at him, both of his hands were on her shoulders, and he was leaning into a whisper in her ear. As she pushed him off, she noticed he was smirking at something in the distance. She turned to see what he was looking at, but he turned her face back to his. When he did, she pushed him away and stepped out of his grasp.

"Fine. What do you want?"

"I just wanted to say that it is okay with me if you still want to be a figure skating coach."

She just looked at him with confusion. "I don't need your permission to do my job."

"I just wanted to let you know. I know when we broke up that was a major cause. I know I wanted you to be a stay-at-home wife and mother, but if that's not what you want, we can talk about it. I think it's time we got back together."

Her mouth fell open and she just looked up at him. "Are you kidding me right now?"

"No, Evelyn, I'm not. I think it is time we both stopped playing this game."

"In case you haven't noticed I'm here with someone else."

"Right...that hockey player. We both know that isn't anything lasting. He made that much clear earlier today."

"What are you talking about?" The spiral that Evie had been keeping at bay since she saw him talking to the girl in the bar threatened to overtake her. She pushed it away. Cash was trustworthy, she reminded herself.

"It's nothing,” he said as he let his hand run down her arm. “It’s just that he has a reputation."

Shrugging off his arm she said, "I know all about his reputation and I'm fine with it. He hasn't been with anyone since we've been together."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes." Was she? Yes, she was. Although he had never said anything to that end, he had alluded to it.

“Can I show you something?” he asked.

She wanted to say no. She wanted to run back to Cash and leave, or better yet have Cash punch him in the face and then leave. But maybe if she heard him out this could all be over.

“Fine. Yes. What do you want to show me?” She huffed in irritation.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. There on the screen was a picture of Cash suited up with blood in the corner of his mouth and an almost unrecognizable glare on his face. Next one was of Cash mid fight looking like the warrior he was.

“Ummm. I do know he plays hockey, and he gets in fights on ice. It’s all part of the game.”

“Keep going…” Bryan said, gesturing to the phone.

And so, she kept scrolling, another picture of Cash battered on the bench although this time he had a missing tooth.

“Again… lots of players have missing teeth. It’s clearly fixed…” But as she kept scrolling, she saw other pictures, these pictures were harder to look at because these pictures had more to do with the other part of his reputation.

She was scrolling fast because she didn’t want to look at Cash with other women. She scrolled through picture after picture of different women on his arm. The one of him signing a women’s chest stung a little more, but she knew this. She knew who he was. But here scrolling through picture after picture of him with different women, each one more beautiful than the next she could feel her confidence slipping. When she came to a picture of him kissing another woman she was done. She shoved the phone back to Bryan. Her head was spinning.

“Are you sure he’s done?”

Evie just nodded. She had been sure before, but that certainty was absent in this moment. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath but jerked back as she felt a hand caress her cheek.

"Are you telling me that there is nothing here anymore? Your date for the night aside, you can't tell me you don't feel this," he said as he slid his arm around her waist and tried to kiss her.

She pulled back and slapped him. "Don't you dare try that. I’m here with someone else. I’m with someone else period. We could’ve been cordial Bryan but not anymore. We are done. We've been done."

She turned on her heel and walked back into the bar. The thumping music was cursing through her. She walked up to the table where her sister was sitting. She picked up the shot that was in front of Ellie and tossed it back.

"Have you seen Cash?" she asked.

"No. Is everything okay?" her sister asked.

"Fine. Bryan is here, but he is not welcome."

"Okay...I'll ask him to leave," Ellie said, giving her a careful look.

"I already did. I need to find Cash."

She turned and made her way to the bar beside the dance floor. Her stomach dropped clear to the floor, and she had to grab the wall next to her to hold her up. She found him pinned to the wall with another woman, her hand sank into his hair whispering in her ear. The room started to spin around her. She wasn't sure if it was the booze or the shock of finding him like that, but whatever the reason she needed to get out of here. She turned to leave.

"Evie," she heard him call out behind her. She didn't stop, she made it to the table and grabbed her clutch and had almost made it out of the bar by the time he caught up to her.

"Evie, what's wrong?" Cash asked, concern covering his brow.

Finally, she stopped and spun asking "Who was that?"

"Who?"

"That woman who just had you pinned to the wall. Who was she?"

"Woah, she did not have me pinned to the wall.” He said throwing his hands up in a defensive gesture. “And she’s no one."

"Just like the other girl at the bar”

"Evie. I’m here with you. Period."

"Did you sleep with her?" She demanded.

Cash sighed and shook his head. "Evie, don't do this?"

"Did you?"

He raked his hand through his hair. "What do you want me to say?" His voice was thick with desperation. "There’s no good answer here."

"The truth, Cash. Tell me the truth."

"Fine. Yes, I've slept with her."

"And the woman from before?" she asked, glaring at him.

"Yes."

"Just how many women in this bar have you slept with?" Even as the question left her mouth she knew it was unfair, but right now she just couldn’t seem to stop the spiral.

"Evie, that's not fair."

"That many huh?"

"You really want to do this?" he spat back at her.

"How many, Cash?"

"You really wanna know? Because I won’t lie to you, but I also don’t want to have this conversation here."

She had never seen him angry before, but it was too late.

"How many, Cash?"

His eyes scanned the bar, and it was enough to make Evie regret her question, but there was no backing down now.

"Four."

Four. She needed to leave. Because she knew none of those women looked like her. Was she just an experiment to him? Branching out? She turned to leave because she couldn't even look at him right now. He had never given her any indication that he didn't find her attractive, quite the opposite in fact. But right now, her head was just so blurry, and she couldn't hardly see straight. She needed to get out of here, with the door in sight she picked up pace and left the bar.