Chapter 31
Sloane
The limo pulled up in front of the Four Seasons, with at least a hundred people waiting in the press line. "God, I hate this part." I groaned, watching the cameras blind the players and local celebrities as they made their way into the hotel.
Rhys squeezed my hand. "We don't have to stop."
"Excuse me." Cami pinned Rhys with a pointed look. "You absolutely do. Let's not forget that three months ago–"
"Alright, okay. We all know what happened three months ago," Rhys cut her off, rolling his eyes. He looked over at me. "Sorry, Pip."
I really hated the press. Just the sight of all the cameras made me queasy. Also, I had the tendency to say the wrong thing almost all the time, and the last thing anyone needed was something stupid coming out of my mouth.
"I just need three more months. You promised six months of PR shit, and then you can go back to being the hermit that everyone wonders about." Cami had a playful tone to her voice, but I knew she was being serious about her request.
After all, she was right. I had promised her six months.
Even though it was evident to everyone that what was happening between me and Rhys was very real, every once in a while, an article of Rhys’s run-in with that girl's ass would pop up, and we'd have to do something to get the press off of it.
An outing together, a trip to the zoo with his niece and nephews, something that showed him to be the down-to-earth man everyone thought he was.
I smirked, thinking about where his mouth was just before this event. If only they knew the things that he said to me and the way he worshipped my body, they'd be clutching their pearls in the front pew, praying for Rhys to be fired.
His hand squeezed mine again, thankfully pulling me out of my thoughts and back to the conversation. I was already soaking wet and seriously regretting my decision not to wear panties. Reliving tonight's events over and over again wouldn't help the situation.
"It's okay, really. I just– I mean, you guys know. I get nervous and spew nonsense."
"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to," Rhys shrugged, "Just be there, smile, pose for pics, you don't have to talk."
"It'll look weird if I don't talk, won't it?"
Cami nodded, "Yes, please don't just stand there like a deer in headlights. You're supposed to be in the relationship willingly. You're not a hostage."
Dom snickered, pulling a flask from his suit coat and taking a swig. I extended my hand toward him, beckoning for him to hand it over. He rolled his eyes, slapping it into my hand.
I took a swig, coughing after I swallowed. "Jesus! Is that jet fuel?!"
"It’s Everclear!”
"Everclear? Who puts Everclear in a flask?”
Dom rolled his eyes, Rhys and Cami both laughing as someone tapped on our window. I passed the flask back to Dom, shaking my head as the limo door swung open, the noises from the event flooding into the car.
"Ready?"
I looked over at Rhys, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "Absolutely not."
The first few minutes of the press line went off without a hitch. I didn't stutter, my laughs were genuine, and I finally felt like I fit in with this side of Rhys’s world.
His hand slid to my lower back as he led me towards the next person in line. "Almost done," he whispered in my ear, "You're doing great."
I smiled up at him, my eyes fluttering shut when his lips pressed against my cheek.
"I love you," he whispered after pulling away, meeting my gaze again.
But just like the last two times he said, he didn't give me a chance to respond. It was almost as if he was afraid I wouldn't say it back. Instead of giving me a second to return the sentiment, he pulled me to the next person in line, another microphone being shoved into my face.
I put on a smile when Rhys squeezed my side, turning my eyes away from him and onto the camera that was entirely too close to my face.
"America's favorite couple!"
Rhys and I laughed, both of us shaking our heads.
The reporter across from us held a Boston Times microphone so close to me that it almost touched my lips. "So, Rhys, Sloane. Let's talk about the 'incident'."
My smile faltered a little bit, knowing what was coming next, but hoping I was wrong.
"Sloane, how do you feel about Rhys being involved with drugs? Were the two of you together when he was caught with the prostitute, or are the rumors true?"
Neither of us said anything, my lips twitching as they fought the fake ass smile I was forcing. "Sorry? Rumors?"
She offered a smug smile. "Rumors that Rhys was caught with so much coke in his possession, you were hired by your best friend, who works in PR for the Bandits, to help him get his image back after those pictures were released."
I could feel the tension in Rhys’s body, his heart rate increasing almost instantly. This lady had managed to stump the most charming man I know. His face was flushed red; his smile had fallen.
"His drug test was negative. What we have is extremely real.
Rhys and I were not together at the time.
But like I always have been and always will be, I was there to help him after the fact, and I'm still here now.
Rhys is an amazing man. We've been best friends for our entire lives, and it took us entirely too long to see what was right in front of us.
But we saw it. And we're together. For real. I can't imagine my life without him."
I reached up, gently pushing the microphone out of my face. "Watch the shit you spew about him before I come for every penny you have to your name."
Grabbing Rhys’s hand, I led him away from the press line, ignoring the many people shouting his name and begging for an interview, and didn't stop until we were through the front doors, surpassing the beautifully decorated ballroom and turning down a small hallway away from the crowd.
I turned to look at Rhys, the adrenaline still pulsing through my veins. "She had no right! She had no fucking right to bring that up!" I turned to pace the small confines of the hallway, only taking a couple of steps before Rhys’s hand encircled my wrist, pulling me to a stop.
Before I could continue my rant, he yanked my body into his, his lips immediately crushing against mine. Rhys’s hand came up to cup the back of my neck, prying my lips open with his and swiping his tongue against mine.
He backed me against the wall in this darkened hallway, caging me in as he devoured my mouth with the same enthusiasm he used on me on the counter earlier. I whimpered, my pussy throbbing as one of his hands reached down to slide under the slit in my dress, tracing the skin of my thigh softly.
Rhys pulled away, his lips pink and swollen, both of our chests heaving in tandem. "God. I wanna fuck you, Sloane."
"I—Oh god," I gasped softly as his finger dragged further up my thigh.
Abruptly, Rhys pulled away, pushing my body behind him. He was turned toward the hallway entrance, where the two of us had stumbled in just a moment ago.
I felt the air grow heavy with tension, Rhys’s shoulders squaring as he stood to his full height. My brows furrowed as I peered over his shoulder, quickly followed by my heart sinking into my stomach.
"Don't let me interrupt," Stu chided as he pretended to fix a cuff link. "By all means, the world is your brothel."
I rolled my eyes, gripping Rhys’s arm tightly. "Ignore him," I whispered. "Let's just have a good night, okay?"
His whole body was tense as he and Stu stared each other down.
"Baby—" A wave of satisfaction warmed my chest when Stu's right eye twitched at the pet name. "Come on. He's just jealous I'd never fuck him in public."
His jaw ticked, and I knew I shouldn't be antagonizing him like this. It was stupid.
It had been months since I lived beneath the oppressive and suffocating weight of his thumb. I escaped. I was safe and happy. Even still, the satisfaction in my stomach churned into something sour as his frustrations festered and his eyes darkened.
I committed every little mannerism to memory; learned to read every twitch or shift in movement so I could immediately defuse the bomb lurking beneath the surface.
I memorized the right words to say, and which ones only added fuel to the fire.
In Stu’s experience, the look he was giving me was usually met with soft, appeasing words.
Words that acted as sand thrown over a fire.
But I was tired of his threats and his presence constantly haunting me.
He had to know by now that I would never go back to him. He had to.
Even if Rhys and I broke up, I would never entertain him or his psychotic tendencies again.
"You've changed, Sloane." Stu eyed me over Rhys’s shoulder, deep disapproval settling over his eyes.
Not that I cared. His approval of me and what I was doing meant nothing.
"You let him change you. You never used to be a...
" His voice trailed off, but I could hear the word he wanted to say.
Words he used several times while we were together, when I even so much as looked in the direction of another man.
Usually, I would take Rhys’s protection. But I was tired of hiding. Sometime in the last several months, that sand was replaced with lighter fluid, and I was prepared to burn it all down.
I stepped around him, Rhys’s eyes pleading with me to stay close. "Sloane," he warned in a low voice.
Instead, I stood taller, my jaw set as I took a couple of steps toward my ex.
"I strongly suggest you reconsider the words that are getting ready to come out of your mouth, Stu.
" I took another step toward him. "I am not the weak woman that you manipulated and belittled.
I stopped Rhys last time; I will not stop him this time. You think I'm scared of you?"
I closed the distance between us, Rhys following closely behind, "I'm done. Leave. Me. Alone. Or I swear to God, I will become your worst fucking nightmare."
Rhys’s hand rested on my arm, my whole body trembling with anger.
I could hear my pulse pounding in my ears, heat crawling up my neck and face.
I knew that, realistically speaking, I probably wasn't that scary. I was still a little disappointed when Stu’s frustration seemed to simmer and shift to a look of mild annoyance.
"Let's hope you don't come to regret threatening me, Sloane."
At this point, Rhys had had enough. He stepped in front of me again. "Let's hope you don't come to regret threatening her. You have three seconds to leave before I make good on her threats."
Stu stood chest to chest with Rhys, both of them seething. Just when I thought Rhys was going to start swinging, Stu backed away, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Can't wait to see what the night has in store for us all."
With his cryptic message hanging in the air between us, he turned to leave, Rhys’s shoulders dropping by an inch when he disappeared around the corner.
He turned to face me, an array of emotions cycling through those green eyes.
"What?"
Rhys swallowed. “Are you okay?”
I nodded, smiling softly to soothe the wariness tugging at his brows.
“I’m fine.” I shook out my arms like a boxer preparing for a fight.
“I could lift a car right now.” As scary as Stu’s presence had been in my life, it also felt a little good to finally stand up for myself knowing Rhys would never let anything happen to me.
He barked out a surprised laugh and dragged his hand down his face. Rhys’s eyes were wide, and his lips parted in a way that told me he was both exasperated and amused.
“What?” I asked again, the word stumbling out of my mouth with a laugh.
"I can't tell if I wanna bend you over my knee or fuck you against the wall."
My lips twitched as I held back a grin. "Why does it have to be one or the other?”
"God, you're gonna be the death of me." His eyes rolled as he ran his fingers through his gelled hair.
"Death by girlfriend. What a way to go," I teased, reaching up to frame his face. "I–"
Rhys cut me off with a kiss, and while a part of me got sucked into the kiss like he seemed to want, another part of me still couldn't figure out why the hell he wouldn't let me say it back.
He pulled away, pecking my lips once more before standing up straight. "Come on, people are going to be wondering where we are."
I stared at him with a puzzled expression before shaking my head. "You're weird."
Rhys winked and laced his fingers with mine, leading us out of the dark hallway.