CHAPTER 30
Sonnie
The next morning, I woke up alone in bed. I’d done it for over two decades just fine, but after just a couple of nights with the guys, I didn’t like it. I pulled on one of their shirts and did my bathroom things before going to find them. It didn’t take long, thanks to the shouting coming from the back yard.
I saw the guys standing by the pool, facing off with Drake’s ex-wife. She was slapping a newspaper against Drake’s chest and gesturing so wildly I was concerned she’d start hitting him soon. I was unsure about whether or not I should go out and get involved in whatever was happening but then Samantha stopped slapping Drake and just rested her hand over his chest instead.
Seeing her hand on his chest made me see red and before I could think better of it, I pushed open the glass door a little too hard and went marching down to their little group. Samantha didn’t drop her hand from his chest when she saw me, but Drake immediately stepped away from her and held out his arm for me to step into. Annoyed he hadn’t immediately stepped away from her touch, I stood slightly out of his reach and crossed my arms over my chest while frowning at his ex.
“Your screaming is going to wake up my sister.” I had no idea if Rosie was already awake, but I used her as an excuse anyway.
Samantha snarled at me and thrust the newspaper out at me. “If I were you, I’d worry less about her waking up and more about what she’ll think of you when she keeps reading all of these articles.”
It took me all of three seconds to get the idea after I glanced at the image on the paper. I cringed but I refused to let it show outwardly. The photo might’ve been a stunning one if it weren’t for the fact that I looked stoned out of my mind from the orgasms Drake had given me in the car and the giant outline of his erection stretching down his leg. The flash photography and the material of his pants had combined to show his dick in a lot of detail. Of course, the words over the photo were a comment on my stability and effect on the guys’ lives. It wasn’t good.
I dropped the paper at her feet and leveled a hard stare at her. “I’m new to all of this, but I’m assuming someone has released a statement about how fucked up it is that they’re running this photo. Because it is. Without Drake’s consent, they’re running a photo of his dick in graphic detail.”
Drake gripped the back of my neck and growled just under his voice until I turned to look at him. He frowned at me, probably annoyed I hadn’t gone straight to him. “You’re thinking about me?”
I frowned back at him. “Should I not be?”
He tugged me into his chest and held me tight. “You’re too good for us.”
Samantha cleared her throat and tapped her foot on the ground until Drake let me go and I was facing her again. “I let their publicist handle that stuff. Paul is the best at what he does. He’ll take care of it. Don’t worry your little head about it. All I need from you is to be presentable if you’re going to be around.”
Feeling petty, I bent down and picked up the paper to study myself. “The dress is good. The hair and makeup are great. Paul sent me to an awesome place yesterday and I had a blast with my sister. The shoes are apparently name brand and in season. The only thing not presentable about this picture is the fact I couldn’t fix my face after Drake gave me multiple orgasms in the car just before this picture was taken. I’ll work on it.”
Tossing the paper on one of the loungers, I turned around and strolled back into the house, fed up with Samantha and her judgment. When I saw Rosie watching from the kitchen, I immediately lost all of my pride in standing up for myself and just felt ashamed of giving into the immature need to fight with Samantha. I stopped and rubbed my eyes, trying to clear my head and face enough to see Rosie.
She grinned at me with sleepy eyes when she spotted me. “That was badass.”
I leaned against a cabinet and shook my head. “Shit, Rosie. I didn’t mean for you to see that. I shouldn’t have gone out there. I don’t even know why I did.”
“Why not? She’s a monster. I could hear her yelling from my room. I left my window open last night and she was saying all sorts of crap.” Rosie took a big bite out of a cupcake and pointed at Samantha through the window with it. “She hates you. I think she’s jealous.”
I swallowed down the urge to ask my fifteen-year-old sister for the gossip. “It doesn’t matter. It’s embarrassing for me to fight with her. I know better.”
“Whatever, Sonnie. You did good. You stood up for yourself.” Holding up the cupcake towards me, Rosie smirked. “Your chocolate cupcake is better.”
She left me standing with my mouth open. Rosie never complimented my baking. She’d eat it when it was there, but she just wasn’t a compliment kind of girl. Hearing her say she thought my cupcake was better than the guys’ made me want to cry. Instead, I grabbed one of the cupcakes sitting under a glass dome and took a big bite. I closed my eyes and let the chocolate hit but she was right. My cupcake was better.
Forgetting about Samantha and how she’d touched Drake, I lost myself in buzzing around the kitchen to find all the ingredients I needed. Price had said to treat his home like my own and I hoped he’d been serious. I got to work throwing my chocolate cupcake batter together and started the frosting while the cupcakes baked. I lost track of time and the tension all faded away as I focused on my cupcakes. In those few moments, nothing else mattered. The science of the perfect cupcake was all that mattered.
When I finished, I looked out the window to see if the guys were still outside, but they weren’t. I took three plates with two cupcakes each and went in search of them. They were sitting in Price’s office, each of them looking unhappy when I found them. Their faces shifted to smiles when they saw me, but I could see they were upset about something.
“Is everything okay?” I took in the vibe and wished I’d kept baking.
Drake sighed. “I’m sorry about Samantha, Sonnie. I feel like—”
Shaking my head, I passed out the plates. “I don’t want to talk about her right now. First, try these.”
“We’re not talking about her. We’re talking about us. You were upset earlier and I need to apologize.” Drake reached for me but I held up my hand. “See? You don’t even want me touching you right now, Sonnie.”
“I was upset. She touched you and you didn’t stop her. It’s a stupid reason to be upset, though, when I have no real claim over you. She was married to you. If she wants to touch you and you want to let her, it’s not really my business, is it?” I took a deep breath and winced because I’d just revealed too much of my negative emotion on the subject while trying to pretend like I was fine. “Anyway. Try the cupcakes. One of them is yours. The other one is better. You should update your recipe.”
I was a coward but I practically spun out trying to get out of there so fast. I’d already picked up the kitchen so I slipped out of the back door again and walked past the pool and down to the lake. I wasn’t used to having large emotions for men or romantic feelings. I wasn’t sure I liked it. The sex part was great, but the rest made me feel confused and kind of shitty. I didn’t understand what was happening. I felt like I had no control in the situation and I was walking into a lot of pain. And if the personal feelings weren’t hard enough to decipher, the public as a whole thinking I was a skank didn’t exactly help. I didn’t need to look online to know there were more articles, more stories about me being awful. I was starting to feel like I wouldn’t recover from the guys, in any way.
I sank onto the grass next to the lake and tugged at the strands. I was in way over my head.