24. Chapter Twenty-Four #2
He throws his glass onto the ground, shattering it to pieces. He lunges for me, and I barely have a moment to think. He wraps his hand around my neck, and it’s harsh. It hurts. I scratch at his hands as he presses his body against mine.
“All I have to do is say the word,” he bites. “All I have to do is tell Daddy Everett his son hired a fucking prostitute to pretend be his boy toy so he could get the job and he’s done.”
I can barely breathe as I push and fight against him, trying to knee him in the groin, but he’s too heavy.
“Get your hands off him, Garrett!” I hear someone’s voice, but it’s not Aaron’s. I panic.
“Jake!” Aaron’s voice filters in and a moment later I feel strong arms around me.
Garrett laughs as someone pulls him back.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” Rob says as Aaron pulls me into his arms.
“You okay, baby?” Aaron asks, looking me over as I cough. I can’t speak through the coughing fit, but I want to tell him the truth.
“Don’t act like you care about the little slut, Aaron. You’re not fooling anyone,” Garrett spits.
“What?” Aaron bites, just as Tony says, “Garrett, you’re drunk. Rob, get him out of here.”
“How much are you paying him, Aaron? Three thousand? Five? Ten? How much is your Daddy’s approval worth?” He sneers.
“Shut the fuck up,” Aaron says as he lunges towards Garrett.
“You didn’t deny it,” Garrett says, pushing out of his father’s hands.
I feel a small body wrap around me, and I turn to see Lola, hugging me. Betsy rubs my shoulder.
“Tony, stop them!” Betsy hollers.
“Rob, what’s going on—” Rebecca runs over from the exit.
“Whatever it is, he ain’t paying you enough, Jake,” Garrett says with a sneer. “Because you’re a bottom rate coc—”
“Shut the fuck up!” Aaron punches him. I’m frozen as Betsy tells me not to listen to them. But I can’t help it. The words are true.
“Jacob is not some fucking escort. Are you out of your mind?” Rob bites, trying to grab his son. George runs up just as Aaron lands another punch on Garrett.
“You lying son of a bitch,” Tony huffs as he pulls Aaron back.
“Ask him yourself,” Garrett chides. “If you don’t believe me.”
“Fuck you,” Aaron says. “You don’t know shit!”
Garrett laughs. “Oh, do I know, baby.” He glares at me. “He’s the reason for my last divorce, you know.” He spits on the ground, and the tears fester in my eyes. I think I’m going to throw up.
“And I’ll tell you his ass was not worth the three grand I paid for him. Would not recommend.”
“You’re lying!” Aaron hollers.
“Jacob seems awfully quiet on the matter,” Garrett says as he pushes away from his dad.
He looks at Tony. “You got played, Tony. By your own son. At least I’m an honest man.”
Aaron turns to me with his father.
“Tell them that’s not true,” Aaron says, his eyes full of tearful concern.
I want to say no. I should say no, because it’s what I’m supposed to say. I’m supposed to be playing a part, but I don’t know where Prince Charming starts and Jacob ends anymore.
So I don’t tell him no , because I can’t. Because it’s not the truth.
I don’t meet his gaze. How can I? All I’m going to see is the hurt, the sadness. The lies.
“Jake… he’s lying, right?” Aaron’s voice shakes. “Tell him he’s lying. ”
When I look up, I see the panic in his eyes. The anxiety.
I knew it would come to this. Somehow, I always knew.
Nothing good lasts forever, and fairytales don’t exist.
The reality is harder to bear than fiction.
“Jake…” Lola’s voice pulls me as I push away from her, Shannon pulling her back in her arms as she looks at me with sadness and guilt.
I look at Betsy with tears in my eyes.
“No.” The choked sob escapes me. “I’m sorry,” I say, turning to look at Tony, Shannon, Travis. The Tempests.
Aaron.
I meet Tony’s gaze. “I wish he was, but he's not. I am the reason for his divorce. He hired me four years ago.”
Aaron’s gaze falls, and I hate the look of heartbreak on his face.
“Jake…”
I take a step closer to Tony.
“And Aaron hired me a week ago to accompany him to your party, and it was supposed to be one job and then—”
Tony’s gaze holds mine as Garrett laughs.
“I fucking knew it. No way Aaron could actually find someone stupid enough to buy his bullshit.”
I fire a glare at Garrett. “Like you.”
His eyes widen. “You’re such an honest man, Garrett, yet you leave out the part where you’ve been dicking around with Aaron for the last twenty years? Is that right?”
“You little shit, how the fuck—” Garrett growls and lunges for me, but Aaron steps in front of me to absorb the blow.
Tony pushes them apart. “Rob, if you don’t get him out of here right now, I’m calling security.”
Rob growls at Tony as he grabs his son.
“And you can forget the position. And the merger. Evermore is done with Tempest .”
“Tony, come on, don’t be rash. Sit down and think about this—”
“Get him out of here!” Tony growls.
Aaron’s eyes fill with tears, and I can see the pain in his eyes.
Pain I caused.
Because Garrett’s right. I’m not worth it. I let myself think that this could be something more, but it’s not.
It never was.
I can’t even keep my heart safe, it seems. I ruin everything. I ruined Garrett’s marriage and now I ruined Aaron’s shot at his dream. I don’t deserve shit.
“I’m sorry,” I say as I turn around, and run for the beach. He doesn’t come after me, though there is a part of me that wishes he would.
The part that still believes in fairytales and perfect book boyfriends, and love.
I let myself love him. I am so fucking stupid.
I run down the beach until I’m out of breath, and then I find a parking lot and stop and call up an Uber to head back to the house.
I punch in the code and walk through the empty house until I get to the bedroom, my heart in my throat.
The house feels ominous. It’s haunting with its memories of sweetness and perfection.
Of hot summer nights and laughter and love. So much fucking love.
I’m such a fool.
I hurriedly pack my things and text Noah. I keep waiting for Aaron to come barging in and stop me, but he doesn't’ and I think that itself is telling. Because if he chased me…
It would mean this was real. That the love between us wasn't imagined and that there were more important things than this job.
But that kind of thing only happens in the movies.
In reality, people never chase you. They let you go because they are fucking cowards, or they let you go because they never loved you, anyway.
My Uber arrives in ten minutes flat, and just as I am getting in, I see his BMW pull up.
I get in the car, and it takes off, and only then do I let the tears flow.
No lights follow me, and I know they won’t.
But I wish they would.
Rain falls on the car, the pitter-patter an echo that resonates deep within me.
When I get to my apartment, it’s pouring.
I make my way up the sidewalk, looking up at the building as if it’s foreign.
I’ve only been gone barely a week, but somehow it feels like years.
I manage to drag up all my luggage, and before I can get to the door, it opens, and I see my brother, dressed in his sweatpants, sans shirt, his silver chain glinting in the light.
His eyebrows furrow as he narrows his gaze on me in surprise, and that’s the moment I lose it.
“Hey,” he says, reaching out to grab my luggage and help me in the door. I barely get a response out before he’s dragging me in and pulling me into his arms.
I wrap my arms around him and come undone. He smells… different.
I can’t pick up where I’ve smelled this familiar scent before, but right now I don’t care. All I care is that I’m home. Where I belong.
Except it doesn’t feel like home. Home feels far away.
When we break apart, he grabs my suitcases. “Why don’t you go grab fresh clothes, and I’ll get us some ice cream. We can watch the Eras tour together,” he says softly.
I must really be in the twilight zone if my brother’s offering to watch a Taylor Swift documentary with me. Or I must look worse than I feel. Still, I can’t deny his command, because right now, I think that’s exactly what I need.
My heart keeps racing. Keeps waiting. For that dramatic, sweeping gesture to hit, for my Prince Charming to come rescue me and tell me it’s not about the money. That it never was.
But I know that’s not going to happen. I tear off my shirt and find a clean tee, grab my TTPD sweats and cardigan. The bright city lights shine in my bedroom window, and I wander over to it, peering out at the view.
In the distance, I swear I can see the boardwalk lights, blinking like a beacon; the memory calling me like the green light that beckoned to Gatsby.
I turn away, heading for the living room to find Noah on the phone.
“Yeah, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” He says, his voice low and deep.
I watch from my hallway, noting he looks cleaner. Put together. He’s not scruffy-faced or bleary-eyed. He looks…
Good. Better than I do, that’s for sure.
He looks up at me. “There’s, uh… some pizza in the fridge if you want it.”
“Nachos,” I murmur as I find my way to the couch, curling up into my cushions. They’re soft, but certainly not as soft as Aaron’s. I hate that.
“Nachos, okay—” he says, spinning around, looking for ingredients, but instead he ends up Door Dashing it instead, out of lack of patience, and I don’t fight him.
All I can do is focus on Taylor, her sparkling outfits, crooning out her songs. Noah and I share the nachos as I watch, losing myself to the songs.
And when Taylor brings out her guitar, those first notes of “All Too Well” filling the room, I close my eyes.
I stop the song, knowing I can’t continue.
“I’m going to bed,” I say, not bothering to ask if he’s staying because I don’t want him to leave.
I’m not sure I could handle being alone right now.
Noah doesn’t say a word as I head down the hall to my room.
How can you mourn something you never had?
How can you feel so deeply for something that wasn’t real?
Because it was real. For me.
I crawl into bed, the sounds of “All Too Well” faintly picking up again as he starts it back up. And as I close my eyes, the tears fall, because I do remember it all too well. And I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to forget.