MY GIRL AND THE PARTY BOY
PATRICK
I couldn’t stop staring at my phone.
There were pictures. So many damn pictures.
In the first one, Addison was with her younger sister, Sarina, as a couple of douchey-looking dudes stood next to them on some red-carpet bullshit.
There were more photographs than I could stand, but I couldn’t fucking stop myself from looking at each and every one. Apparently, I enjoyed the torture.
In another one, Addi’s hand was on the dude’s biceps. Then, they walked inside together. In the next one, his lips were on her fucking hand, like she belonged to him, and I almost burned the damn house down.
I scrolled through the online gallery, taking it all in, one torturous vision at a time.
My breath had caught in my throat when I first saw Addi in that ruby-red dress, looking like a damn movie star. I preferred her in cutoff shorts and cowboy boots, but her beauty was undeniable in anything she wore. She looked like a New Yorker. Like a celebrity. And maybe she was now. Not like I’d know.
Tipping back the beer I grabbed, I put on “Chainsaw” by Nick Jonas as loud as my speakers would allow, making Jasper run away and hide. So, when my brothers suddenly appeared in my kitchen, I almost knocked them both out. I hadn’t expected company, and they scared the hell out of me.
“The fuck?” I shouted through my embarrassment.
“We’ve been knocking,” Thomas shouted at the same time that Matthew yelled, “Turn that shit off.”
I grumbled as I reached for my phone and hit pause on my music app right as Jasper started trotting out of my bedroom. He ran up to me first before pressing his nose into each one of my brother’s hands for acknowledgment. He could have warned me that they were here.
“Better?” I asked in a snide tone once the house was quiet. No one had invited them here in the first place.
“I’ve never hated a song more than I hate that one,” Matthew ground out. “You’ve ruined it for me. And Nick Jonas. I associate him with being miserable.”
That got a sick laugh to bubble up from my throat and out of my mouth. I was glad he hated it.
“It’s true. I can’t hear anything Jonas-related without my stomach clenching,” Thomas added with a shrug.
“Well, whoop-de-fucking-do. I’m so sorry I ruined Nick Jonas for you both.” I waved an arm in the air dramatically. “Why are you here?” I asked, but the answer came to me before they could even respond. “You saw the photos.”
“We saw the photos,” Thomas said.
I’d made the mistake of logging in to social media this morning. It was a rare occurrence, especially considering the fact that I hadn’t updated my account since Addi had left. But when I clicked on her name, out of habit or curiosity, and saw the pictures she had been tagged in, I thought I might break a tooth with how hard I started clenching my jaw.
Once I started down the rabbit hole, I couldn’t seem to stop. I knew everything about the dude she was photographed with. Some rich prick named Jamison, from Manhattan, who apparently did absolutely nothing except party. Every picture of him was at one social event or another. I was pretty sure the guy didn’t even have a job.
“Want to fly to New York and beat the guy’s ass?” Matthew asked as he pulled out a beer of his own and took a long pull. “I haven’t fought anyone in so long. I miss it.”
I did want that actually.
“I’m in,” Thomas said as he grabbed a beer as well and popped open the top.
I laughed. “You’re in? Brooklyn would have your ass.”
My older brother shook his head vehemently. “No, she wouldn’t. She’d understand. Probably buy us all first-class tickets,” he argued, and maybe he was right.
“Please say yes,” Matthew started practically begging. “I need to hit someone soon. I can feel it.”
“Hockey turned you weird.” I shot him a look as I moved my hair out of my eyes.
“It let me take out my aggression without getting in trouble. I mean, aside from a few penalties here and there.” He grinned. “I love fighting.”
“He’s right. You’re weird,” Thomas agreed.
“You two are weird,” Matthew piped up in his typical response that mimicked whatever we’d said to him. “And mean.”
“Here we go,” I groaned.
For as tough as my baby brother was, sometimes, he needed to man the fuck up.
Matthew snarled, “So, who do we think this guy is? There’s no way Addison is dating someone like that.”
My stomach instantly tightened. “Jamison DeCanteour. Some industry legacy in New York. Tons of money. Likes to party and travel. Not sure he does anything else,” I recited what I’d learned earlier from my stalking.
“Someone did their research.” Thomas gave me a smirk.
“I might have come a little undone after seeing the pictures,” I admitted.
“I would have done the same thing,” Thomas said, giving me a pat on the shoulder that made me honestly feel a little less psychotic.
“I’d be on a flight already.” Matthew shrugged as he finished off his beer and walked to the fridge to grab more for each of us.
“She can date whoever she wants. We aren’t together anymore,” I said, but the words were downright bitter on my tongue.
They felt wrong.
Sour.
Like lies.
“It’s not cool, okay?” Matthew said.
I looked at him, studying his expression. “What isn’t?”
“That she’s not with you. I know you don’t want to hear it, but I never saw it coming. The day when you and Addison weren’t together. You two were endgame.”
“It’s true,” Thomas nodded before sitting down and shifting on the chair. “And it is odd to think of her with someone else. Or you, for that matter. But I want you to be happy, and I know you’re not. I mean, look at your hair.”
“Seriously. Get a haircut already,” Matthew chipped in.
I laughed, but it was more of a huff than anything. “You’re one to talk, Grumps.”
Thomas shook his head. “Not that shit again.”
“He’s not grumpy anymore,” Matthew complained. “I love Brooklyn, but it was fun, having something to tease you about. Now, you’re all happy and annoying.”
My head was still stuck on Matthew calling me and Addi endgame. I’d always believed it to be true. And if it wasn’t anymore, then someone needed to tell my heart. Not to mention the rest of me.
“What do you guys want me to do? Call her and tell her that I can’t fucking breathe when she’s not here? That I’ll live the rest of my life alone because my heart only beats for her? That I can’t see a time when it won’t? She owns part of my soul, and without her, I feel like I’m not really living, but existing. And the two are not even remotely the same thing.” The truth spilled from my lips with ease. I couldn’t have stopped the words from falling out if I’d tried.
My brothers were the only ones I could ever tell this too… aside from her.
Matthew looked like I’d physically struck him. “That’s deep, bro.”
“It’s been years.” Thomas swallowed hard as he leveled me with a look I couldn’t quite decipher.
“I know that. You think I don’t know that?” I bit back. “And nothing’s changed. Not my feelings for her. Not the way I love her. Not the way I need her.”
“How are we going to fix this then?” Matthew slammed his hand on the table, commanding our attention.
“We’re not fixing anything. And the two of you aren’t doing shit.” I pointed at each of them, one at a time, as their blue eyes met mine. “Promise me you will not reach out to her. Especially you.” That last part was directed at Matthew, who had graduated the same year as Addi and was closer to her than Thomas was.
Although Thomas had Clarabel, and Addi had adored her, so he could still try to talk to her, and it wouldn’t be weird.
I shook my head, knowing Thomas would never meddle the way Matthew seemed to enjoy doing. But without our little brother’s pushing and prodding, who knew where Thomas and Brooklyn might be today? There was a good chance they’d still be walking around each other, pretending like there was no magnetic pull between them.
“Maybe you should call her,” Thomas said, all levelheaded and rational-sounding.
“And say what?”
“Nice pictures.” Matthew grinned, and a gruff laugh escaped.
“Tell her it’s time to come home,” Thomas pushed, his voice dead serious.
I shook my head in response. “I can’t do that.”
Even though I wanted to. God, I wanted to text Addi every single day and tell her that it was time. Time to come back. Time to come home. That I was still waiting for her. That I’d always be waiting.
But it had to be her decision. Her choice. If she returned to Sugar Mountain, it couldn’t be because I’d asked her to do it. Addi needed to want to be here. It had to come from her. Otherwise, she’d eventually hate me for making her leave New York. Maybe not right away, but somewhere down the line, resentment would rear its ugly head and bite mine clean off. I wouldn’t survive losing her twice.
“Have we all forgotten that Addison was clearly on a date last night? With someone who wasn’t our charming brother here,” Matthew mentioned. A-fucking-gain. “He can’t call her now. It’s too late. She’s moved on.”
Thomas waved both hands in the air. “Maybe it wasn’t a date?”
“Sure looked like a date,” Matthew added before taking his helpfulness a step further. “Do you think it looks like a date?”
He shoved his phone in front of my face, and I smacked it away harder than necessary. It crashed to the floor, and Jasper barked.
“I swear, if the screen is cracked, you’re getting me a new one.”
Matthew reached toward the ground, picked up his phone, and inspected it. “Phew. You’re lucky.”
“I don’t care,” I said through my annoyance. “Are you guys leaving anytime soon?”
Them being here wasn’t helping a damn thing. And I wanted to be alone with my shitty feelings and my even shittier mood. I felt the need to build something, but I swore that every single plan on my list was because of Addi. The wedding barn at the resort. This entire house, down to the color of the window trim. And the restaurant on Main Street.
The one no one knew about. Not even my brothers. Only the out-of-towner I’d bought it from and the notary at the bank knew that I owned the space. And if Addi never came back home again, it would stay that way forever.