35. THE ONE WITH THE PRACTICE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
THE ONE WITH THE PRACTICE
Comment: Do you think Hex has been reading any hockey books lately? I’d loooove to hear her recs. I just KNOWWWW she wouldn’t let us down.
I told her West and I weren’t together. I told her it wouldn’t bother me if she wanted to shoot her shot. I told her I had no feelings for him…
Only one of those things is true.
I meant to turn away and let West do whatever it was he wanted to do without me being there to sway his decision, but when I told my feet to move, they hadn’t listened. It feels like they’re stuck in wet concrete.
Instead of leaving and catching the ride I’d told Frankie was already waiting for me, I wandered off to find West. And when I did, I thought maybe seeing him with Olive would remind me why I shouldn’t have feelings for him…
All it did was cause my heart to sink, watching her trail a hand up his arm, bat her lashes playfully, twirl her hair, lean forward to give him a peek down her top.
He catches me staring like a fucking lovesick puppy.
My feet aren’t the only thing stuck in cement. My heart is too. My feelings for West aren’t going anywhere.
He abandons Olive and the drinks he’d ordered, heading towards me with long strides.
I lied to Frankie about getting a headache. West had disappeared, never coming back like he said he would. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do now, hadn’t thought through what came after I found him.
There wasn’t a plan. There’s never been a plan when it comes to West.
No matter how hard I try to keep things in order, everything with him has a way of changing course, ready to throw me off track at any moment.
I can’t read the look on his face as he approaches. “Sorry, I didn’t want to interrupt. I’m gonna head out. Just wanted to say bye.” West invades my space, not stopping until our chests touch. “W-West…” I stutter, taking a step back.
He doesn’t let me have it, crowding me again with an almost eerily calm demeanor. I know the emotion etched into the lines of his face well. It’s the first time I’ve seen West angry. “Why did you encourage Olive to hit on me?”
That bitch…
“I wouldn’t say I encour—”
He doesn’t let me finish. “You told her there was nothing between us and my MILF bit isn’t false advertising. Did you not?”
I definitely said that… Almost verbatim, actually.
“Yes, but…” I pause, not sure what kind of excuse I expect to come up with when my brain’s not functioning properly.
“But what?” he asks, looking more frustrated than I’ve ever seen him.
“Why do you even care so much?” My voice comes out like a feral growl. “So what, I told a woman who’s interested in sleeping with you that she’s your type? I didn’t spill some deep, dark secret. I told her what the entire world knows.”
West throws his hands up, showing his perfect set of teeth in a smile that says, you’ve got to be kidding me, better than any words ever could.
“Jesus Christ, Joey.” He runs a hand through his hair, shaking his head.
“Wanna know what the rest of the world’s also piecing together?
” He doesn’t wait for me to answer. “That I don’t want anyone else.
I want you.” He laughs, but there’s no humor in it.
“I have since the night I met you… You’re the only one who can’t see it. ”
Since our first viral video, both mine and West’s comments have been flooded with hundreds of thousands of people asking what’s going on between us.
We’re the internet’s current obsession; even if they like videos of us together better than when we’re alone, our views are still keeping us relevant with deals coming in by the dozen.
It’s only a matter of time before West’s stunt from tonight blows up too. We’ve already been tagged in multiple videos.
“I do see it. That’s why I’m trying to remind you there are other women out there who will do what I can’t.”
I can. I just… won’t.
“I’m fully aware of the other women out there. I’ve been around enough of them to know.” His eyes are heated, but I’m surprised at how calm he’s staying on the outside. I’ve never seen this side of West before… and fuck if it doesn’t turn me on!
Truly, I hate myself sometimes—because, so not the time, Jo!
“Do you want me to go home with someone tonight, Joey?” He’s staring at me with eyes I know can see right through whatever mask I put on. He’s getting too good at reading me. “Is that really what you want?”
Yes, I want him to go home with me… But of course I can’t say that. “Yes. I don’t want you changing your life for me. Go home with whoever you want.”
I’m not going to be able to do this. I can’t be around West if he’s hanging all over other women. What the fuck was I thinking?
The tension around his jaw loosens, and he nods his head. “Okay, fine.” He stands there for a second, my heart slowly getting heavier the longer he’s near.
“Fine,” I say. It almost feels like I’m floating when West puts space between us.
I know it’s over. I know he’s going to walk away, and I’ll have to see what I can do to get out of this contract, because I can’t do this. I can’t watch West be with someone else.
It’s so stupid because I’m doing it to myself. I’m hurting myself, and I don’t have to. It could be different if I could just let go… If I could just believe I’m worth loving.
West takes a step around me, and my heart plummets, but before it hits the ground and shatters into a million pieces, he hooks his finger in my belt loop and spins me around, propelling me forward to walk beside him.
“W-what are you doing?” I gape.
West turns his head and looks me dead in the eye. “I’m going home with you, Joey.”
He’s… “What?” I ask, stopping by a row of storage sheds.
West turns on his heels, pinning me with a stare that nearly buckles my knees. He stalks towards me, reminding me of a big cat hunting their prey. I swallow, retreating until my back presses against one of the sheds.
“You said I could go home with whoever I want.” West doesn’t stop his approach. He boxes me in like he’d done in the elevator our first night, hands beside my head with not enough space in between our bodies.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I try to look down, to look away, but West is everywhere. I can smell him. I can feel the heat of his body. If I turn my head, I catch a glimpse of his delicious, corded veins.
West’s hand wraps around the top of my throat, his index finger and thumb gripping my jaw to gain control of my head movement. He jerks my gaze to his. “I want to go home with you. Unless you’d prefer me to do all the things I have planned for our night right here.”
I gasp as his other hand slides under my shirt, goosebumps scattering from his cool touch against my stomach. He watches my lips part, biting his own as his crystal eyes scan my face.
Sometimes, well, all the time I overthink. Everything. I make a plan for the smallest of things. I plan in hopes it all goes perfectly. It rarely does.
I stress about where I should be in life by almost thirty-two, which I once believed definitely wasn’t here with West. This was just a stop in the road.
But what if it’s not a stop? What if he’s my destination?
And what if I let myself fuck the one happy thing in my life up that I didn’t plan for?
“Take me home,” I finally hear myself say with a breathless rasp after what feels like forever without talking. My heart continues to race, and my pulse might be beating loud enough to hear, but I know I’ve made the right decision when I watch West’s pupils dilate.
My body aches with the need to be touched by him. West licks his lips, and I know he’s about to kiss me. A cold heat washes over me when he pulls away and takes his phone from his jacket pocket instead.
I watch his fingers, afraid if I move my knees might give out. He’s done in seconds, returning his phone.
“Let’s go,” West says.
I look down at his hand, outstretched and waiting for me to grab. My eyes flick up to his and that’s when I see what I’m looking for.
Someone to take charge when it feels too hard for me to do it myself.
I don’t know how to process all the unanswered questions in my head, and I won’t be able to right now anyway. So, without breaking down every detail to see what my best decision is, I slip my hand into West’s, interlacing our fingers without checking to see if anyone’s looking.
He leads me through the lesser populated walkways, weaving through tents and porta potties.
We slip through a gap in the fence, and I don’t ask where we’re going, because I already know he called a rideshare to a location down the street.
He made sure there wasn’t a chance we were seen getting into a car together.
West always thinks of what I want.
We walk in silence, hand in hand, and I let myself enjoy the giddy flutter in my stomach. That’s what the idea of being with West has felt like since the moment I met him. Butterflies and fucking rainbows…
There’s a black sedan waiting for us at the gas station across the street.
West fiddles with one of his rings, staring at me intently when the driver pulls onto the road. He’s always looked at me like I’m the only person in the room, but tonight it feels heavier.
This time, unlike our first, we know we have to wake up and see each other again… If we do this, if we break this contract, there’s still six weeks of tour left. “The people want Hex and West Parker together…”
I nod, taking a moment to read between the lines. “But you want Joey.”
Am I able to detach the two and give us what we both want? Can West?
I’m not ready to get hurt when this ends badly, and it will. Nothing like this ever lasts. We’re basically two reality stars being held under a magnifying glass for everyone to take turns picking apart. This is going to blow up in our faces eventually.
He doesn’t respond, and the rest of our ride is spent in silence. Thankfully, we’re not a far drive, and before I crawl out of my skin, the driver pulls up to the curb outside the townhouse.
The only lights on are the porch and foyer glowing through the curtains. West thanks the driver and gets out, leaning down to motion for me to exit on his side as a car passes by mine, followed by another.
I slide through and take the hand he offers me. I let it go once I’m out, heading to unlock the door.
The second we’re inside, the lock slides into place, and I’m suddenly hyperaware of every noise inside the house.
The hum of the fridge, the clank of the old furnace kicking on… West’s breathing.
I turn around, knowing he’s already looking at me—I can feel it. My ears pop when I swallow.
West slips out of his flannel, stripping to his perfectly cropped and boxy HexedHeroine shirt.
I’m about to cuss him out for playing dirty, but I can’t seem to find any words with the way he’s staring at me.
“I want whatever you’re willing to give me.” West finally responds to what I’d said inside the car, and he says it with such sincerity, I feel guilty for considering this.
I roll my bottom lip through my teeth. “That’s not fair to you.”
He shrugs. “I’m a big boy.” West says, reminding me of the way he’d called me a big girl when this all started.
I don’t feel so big anymore. I pretty much have no idea what I’m doing with my life. I haven’t even started looking for new jobs!
Not that I’ve really had the time with everything else…
“What’s the worst that’s gonna happen? You break my heart?” West kicks his Converse off by the door, toeing them out of the way. “It’ll be nice to feel something again.”
My heart threatens to break in my chest. He’s broken enough. I don’t need to add to it. I want him to heal those fractured pieces inside himself—he deserves that.
He crosses the few feet between us, crowding my space without touching me. “You want to sleep with me, right? Like, outside of Hex and all the business stuff. You, Joey, want to have sex with me, West? Not the stand-up comedian. Me.”
The question lights the molecules between us on fire. The room instantly heats. “Yes,” I answer firmly. He’d only call me a liar if I said otherwise, and I would be.
“And Hex and the stand-up comedian benefit from leaning into what the people want to see, right?” He cocks his head to the side, a stray piece of hair falling across his brow.
They want more of us. West suggested we start filming content together, and I’d shut it down so fast, but I’m also the only one who knows how many brands are asking for both of us in these deals.
We’re doing this for the money, right?
“I don’t know how to be Hex around someone else,” I tell him honestly. Sure, I’ve been doing it at shows, or when someone recognizes me, but that’s different than inviting someone in to see what the public never will.
West reaches a hand forward, tugging me into him by the bottom of my sweater. “Then let’s call tonight practice.”
His touch against my hip sends goosebumps dashing across every inch of my body. “I can only promise sex. If you’re hoping I’ll come around you could end up getting hurt.”
He brings his other hand to my face, gently running his thumb over my bottom lip. “That’s a risk I’m willing to take.” West’s eyes flick to mine. “Let’s really give ‘em something to talk about, Joey baby.”
I nod slowly, nipping the end of his finger still lingering by my lips. “Before we do that, I was hoping you’d give me something to scream about instead.”