45. Joey
45
Joey
I take another breath of cold air and put my hands to my cheeks, finding them still hot to the touch. My body, however, is becoming chilled as the night air cools the flush of passion and humiliation. Not that I’m experiencing any less of the latter. I can’t believe I let Brent touch me like that—bring me to an orgasm!—in a room full of people.
“I’m okay now. We can go back inside,” I assure Luc. I don’t want to go back, but I’ll be damned if Brent will make me run away on top of everything else. I needed these few minutes to collect myself in private. Because of the falling temperatures, no one else is on the terrace outside the hotel ballroom.
“Here, put my jacket on. You’re shivering.” Luc wraps his tux jacket around my shoulders, then puts his arms around me and hugs me. “Want to talk about it?”
God, no! I shake my head. “I felt…overheated.”
He leans back and smiles at me. “I’m glad you agreed to come to this thing with me. I’ve missed seeing you at work. And I wished you’d stayed at my place the other day instead of leaving right away.”
“I’ve missed you too.” I smile. “Thanks for asking me to come with you tonight. Charlie said she was going to set…Wait. Did she call you to ask me?”
He shifts his gaze and clears his throat, making me suspect the reason he asked me. Charlie had produced the segment profiling Luc’s life and career, but I didn’t think they were friendly enough for Charlie to call him for that kind of favor. Before I can dig deeper, Brent comes barreling through the terrace doors.
I look at Luc and whisper, “I hope you mean what you said about us being good friends because I need you to be my friend right now.” Before he can respond, I kiss him on the mouth. I put my hands around his neck and angle my head since he is frozen in surprise.
“Get your fucking hands off her before I break them.”
Luc escapes my lips and the embrace, though I try to hold on. He gently but firmly pulls my arms away, then faces Brent, keeping me behind him protectively.
“What’s the problem, man?”
Brent practically sputters. “What’s the problem? The problem, man , is that’s my woman you had your hands on.”
How dare he, considering the last glimpse I had of him as I left the ballroom was of Caitlyn clinging to his arm while they spoke intimately.
“Seeing as she’s my date tonight, I think she’s actually my woman.”
A part of me wonders what Luc is doing, goading Brent that way. Another part of me can’t help the small thrill at having two gorgeous men fighting over me, even if Luc is faking it. But he is protecting me, and that is equally exciting. Though I’ve learned to be independent and fight my own battles, it’s heartwarming to have someone literally stand in front of me.
But when Brent steps up to Luc, looking like he’s about to throw a punch, I come out from behind my protector.
“Actually, I’m my own woman. But I am with Luc,” I tell Brent, deliberately insinuating Luc and I are together. “You and I are over and I’ve moved on.”
Luc raises his hands. “Now wait a—”
“Really?” Brent says, ignoring Luc. “A few minutes ago, I was making you—”
“Yes, I’ve moved on!” I shout before he can finish. How dare he talk about what just happened in front of Luc? As if humiliating me by doing that in a roomful of people wasn’t enough.
“Okay, I’m going to be over there if you need me, Joey.”
I ignore Luc as he walks several yards away, too incensed at Brent. “And I’m looking forward to moving on with a lot more men. Now that I’m no longer burdened by, well, you know. So thank you.”
Brent appears poleaxed, as if I’ve physically attacked him.
Digging the knife a little deeper, I add, “You think I want to stay with someone who’s always injured and who’s about to hit the end of his career?”
My hateful words have made a direct hit, right where it would hurt the most. In the next moment, I’m so ashamed. Who is this person spouting these vicious words?
Brent flinches before his expression turns as cold as ice. “Is that right?” he asks quietly, his voice dripping icicles. “Well then. I assume it’s okay to add you to my—what did you call it—my harem? I’d love to find out how my lessons have paid off after you’ve put them into practice.”
I stare at him in dismay. “No, I…I didn’t…”
But he doesn’t give me a chance to backtrack and apologize. He turns on his heel and walks away, leaving me frozen.
Oh God, how do I come back from this?
***
I replay the night over and over as I lie in bed in a hotel room. It’s not the same one Charlie and I got ready in earlier for the event. I paid for another room, telling Charlie I needed a little time alone after seeing Brent, without getting into details.
Alone is exactly how I feel. Alone with the awful scene replaying in my head. Alone with my vile words echoing in my head. Alone with the memory of the devastation in Brent’s eyes when he walked away—as if I’d broken his heart.
I’ve never intentionally hurt someone before. Shame fills me for being so vindictive to a man who didn’t deserve it. While trying so hard not to end up like my mother—alone and pining for a man—I’ve gone to the opposite extreme. While she’d begged my father to come back to her, I’d pushed away the man who’d been begging to come back to me.
What the…What the… fuck …is wrong with me!
I sit up in bed and grab my phone. Shoot. It’s two in the morning. I can’t wake him up now. He has a full day of practice in a few hours. I’ll go to his place first thing in the morning, before he leaves. And if I can’t get into the other hotel room where my clothes are, I’ll be doing the walk of shame in the morning…a different kind of shame.
I slip under the covers. It’s strange to be naked in bed without Brent in it with me. I grab one of the extra pillows and hold it against me. A very poor substitute. I close my eyes and will the rest of the night to pass quickly.