Chapter 13
The minute the car pulls up to the front of the house, I’m already out the door, not bothering to lock it properly.
I have more serious issues to attend to, and number one on that list is Brie.
She hasn’t responded to my messages after the last one where she asked me to use the magic word, like what the heck? Who does she think she is?
I march into the house, ready to give her a piece of my mind. I find her seated on the couch, dressed in a green oversized t-shirt and jean shorts. The magazine in her hand hides her face from my view.
“Brie! Why the hell have you been ignoring my texts?”
She doesn’t respond, doesn’t even acknowledge me.
Seething, I push the magazine from her face, and it falls forward on her chest, revealing her face.
I’m about to demand for an answer but the words die in my throat at the sight of her calm expression.
At this point, I feel like a raging storm coming to disrupt that.
It’s hard but I take a deep breath and try again in a calmer tone.
“I’m talking to you, Brie,” I chide.
She scoffs and says, “If you want us to be friends or civil at least, you have to use the magic word and your manners.”
My nostrils flare at her request. I clench and unclench my fists. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s being told what to do. “What the hell, Brie?!”
She doesn’t even flinch at my tone. “Yeah, being polite will not kill you, Cameron. You should try it sometime, especially if you want anything to do with me.”
She stands up to leave, taking the magazine with her. I grab her hand before she walks by. “You can’t just walk away in the middle of a conversation.”
An image of my father talking to my mother in the same way flashes in my mind. I recoil and let go of Brie immediately. The proper thing to do is to apologize for that behavior as is clear from her creased brows but I keep my lips sealed.
“Look, Cameron. I don’t know what’s up with you, but I’ve had a long day and I’m sure the same goes for you, so if you don’t mind, I’ll go to bed now and we can talk about whatever this is in the morning.” She heads to her room, and I don’t stop her this time.
With a huff, I drag my hands down my face and head to my room to grab a lighter. A good puff will get me back in line and help me blow off this steam.
A few minutes later, I’m outside on the balcony, relishing in the feel of the wind on my face. I notice then that the windows in Brie’s room are wide open, and the lights are on. “She’s probably scared of the dark,” I muse. All that sassiness and no guts? I chuckle darkly under my breath.
I don’t know how long I’m standing out there, craving the stillness in the night air for my mind. The sound of my ringtone pierces through, drawing my focus back to the chaos that I’m currently wading through.
I stare at the name on the screen for what feels like hours, but the clock only ticks a few minutes. I finally pick up and hold it to my ear without saying a word, choosing that time to take a long drag of my cigarette.
“It’s bad manners to pick up the phone and stay quiet, Gray. I can hear your breathing loud and clear so don’t act as though I woke you from sleep. As a matter of fact, I know you arrived at your house half an hour ago.”
I sigh as Collins’ voice seems to weigh me down with every utterance. “At this point, you should be my personal bodyguard too cause what the hell? Say your thing and be on your way.”
“Just the attitude I called to tackle. Welcome onboard Gray’s anger.” He says in a sarcastic tone. “You seem to be a regular these days.”
“What do you want, Collins? If this is about the marriage with Brie then I’m working on it, but she’s stubborn as hell. I think we hire a stand in.”
“Well she’s the reason you’re back in the league so you better control that temper that keeps bringing you bad luck and do all you can to keep her eating out of your palm until after the big game.
You don’t want to watch that from the sidelines, trust me.
I know how big your ego is and not even the best doctor will be able to tend to it.
” There’s a rustling sound and then he continues.
By this time, I’m halfway through the first pack of cigarettes.
“Stay away from that Jack dude. I heard he’s out of the hospital.” An image of him staring at me in the locker room earlier forms in my mind and I grit my teeth.
“I can feel the heat of your anger from all the way here, Gray. Don’t let me end up on the streets because of your bad decisions.”
“You should stay in your lane, Collins. You’re breathing down my neck like Coach when you’re supposed to be my PR or have the roles been reversed? Take it down a notch!”
He’s about to retort but I hang up on him. “Go to hell, Collins. I don’t need you going all papa bear on me.”
I toss the last cigarette down, half-finished and decide to turn in for the night. I toss and turn before I eventually fall asleep. Hiring a new wife would be ideal if Brie and I don’t have those photos together.
I raise my head with a scowl as I hear someone barge into the music room. I know it’s no other person than Brie.
The next morning, she’s fucking singing in the kitchen. I can smell the food burning through the wall. In reality, I could never be married to this woman.
“Howdy, babe,” she chirps the moment I step in the kitchen.
I’m not wearing a shirt, but it doesn’t bother her. “What’s burning?”
She twirls, the off-shoulder sundress flaring around her. “What do you think about my outfit?”
I scoff. “Nothing. It looks like my grandma’s tablecloth.”
She scowls at me. “When are you going to start packing your stuff to move out? There have been no boxes. Do you even have a new place?”
“About that…” I sigh. “Did you talk to Nelly Kane yet?”
She shakes her head.
“Why the hell not?” I ask, frustrated.
She looks over at me, afraid of my tone. “You’re upset that I didn’t call the landlord? Why didn’t you call the landlord?”
I run a hand down my face. “You can’t be serious.”
“Why would I call him if you said you’d be out in seven days? I thought we came to our own agreement.”
“There is––”
Her ringtone blasts, cutting me off. She quickly puts the bacon on the plate with the eggs. She points at me and says, “Don’t eat my crispy bacon.”
“It’s not crispy, it’s burnt.”
She walks around the corner to take the phone call. I look at the two plates of food sitting on the counter. The steam rises perfectly above, and I hate that I appreciate her cooking for me, but I can’t seem to thank her. She probably thinks I’m a real asshole.
A few minutes later, she walks back into the kitchen with tense shoulders.
“We need to talk. Collins just called…” The rest of her words are drowned by the onslaught of thoughts. Did she say Collins? Since when did Collins start calling her? This is fucking crazy!
I pinch the breadth of my nose in frustration. “How does Collins have your number?”
“He asked for it the other time he visited.”
My lips are set in a thin line now. “He’s supposed to have gone through me to get to you. Why didn’t you tell me that he asked for your number? Why the hell didn’t he tell me?”
She smirks. “There is no winning with you.”
I rake my hands through my hair as she hands me the breakfast plate. “What did he say?”
“Well nothing I haven’t thought of. We’ll be having a couple shoot so that there will be more pictures of us in circulation.
We will be traveling to exotic locations just to take pictures and keep this thing looking real.
That traveling part has to be on my terms though because I won’t skip work in pursuit of trivial things. ”
I stare at her blankly. “You make it sound like your absence from work would make a difference. You won’t be missed.”
An emotion I can’t place flickers across her face, but she quickly masks it with a smile. “Is that how your teammates made you feel when you returned?”
That makes my blood boil. Our gazes lock in a heated stare, her chin raises in defiance.
She finally exhales and breaks the gaze. She starts eating and watching her feed herself makes my stomach churn. “I’ll tell Collins that you’ve refused to cooperate.”
I reach out and stop her with my hand. “No, you’re not.”
Amusement swirls in her orbs as she shifts her weight from one foot to the other. “I’m glad we can finally agree on something, Cameron,” she says with a wide smile.
I swear at this rate, she’s going to be the death of me.
She’s so not my type.
14
My butt has barely grazes the surface of the chair when one of the caterers approaches me with a sample of her desserts.
My feet are killing me in these five-inch heels.
My boss enforced it as part of the dress code today for all the staff planning this gala.
That woman takes lessons from Lucifer, I’m positive.
I push the thoughts to the back of my mind and flash a smile at the young caterer who looks to be fresh out of college. “What do you have there? Let’s see.”
I rise to my full height, towering over her. There are brownies on one plate and cheesecake on the other. My eyes eat them up before I have a bite.
“Ooh..” I drawl, pointing a fork at them. “These taste so good. I’ll definitely add them to the menu.”
That has the lady whose name I recall as Clara, grinning from ear to ear.
“Where did you learn to bake this good?” I ask, scribbling notes into the notepad I have been carrying around for most of today.
“Thank you, Brie. My grandma taught me the basics. I learned from watching her, got more tutorials on YouTube and then went ahead to get officially certified.”
For a moment I wonder what skills my real family would have possessed and what heirloom they would have passed down to me.
Too bad the only families I had were the foster homes and even then, I never belonged.
Well except for that one time with Julia’s family but every other place, I was an outsider.
I untangle myself from the cobwebs of that thought, a grin breaking through.