43
THEA
“You should meet up with her. See if you can work things out,” Damian suggests.
“No, Thea did nothing wrong. Why should she grovel?” Cole seethes from the other side of the table. His knuckles are white as he clasps his hands in front of him.
Looking back at Damian, I see his eyes narrow. “No one asked her to grovel. That’s her best friend. They’ve hit a rough patch. Why throw out the friendship without trying to work through the problem first?”
They’ve been going back and forth for a good five minutes. It all started when I got an email from Cassie and simply complained that I hated our communication has been reduced to emails and texts.
As much as I love spending time with the guys, I’m missing my friend.
Cole and Damian have opposing opinions about what I should do. Cole thinks Cassie should come crawling back to me, apologizing for her harshness. Damian feels I should reach out to see if we could move past the issues.
The arguing isn’t helping the dilemma.
“How good of a friend could she be if she’s blaming her for things that were out of her control and on top of that, criticizing our relationship with her?”
This is going nowhere. As soon as Damian suggested working things out with her, I knew that was exactly what I wanted to do. It’s time to end their debate.
I clear my throat. “I’m going to see if Cassie wants to meet up and talk.”
Glancing at Cole first, I see him unclench his hands and throw them up in defeat. I side eye Damian and see the hint of a smirk on his lips.
Cole stands. “I hope you don’t regret that decision.” The harsh tone is completely unlike him and makes me recoil. My eyes search his for any hint of regret, but I find none. Instead, he walks around the table and heads down to his room.
I’m still looking at where he just was when I feel two firm hands on my shoulders, kneading. I stare up at Damian. “Don’t worry about him. He’s stressed. You’re doing the right thing,” he reassures.
“What’s he stressed about?” Cole hasn’t confided in me about anything that’s been bothering him. I’ve noticed some small changes, however, I’ve been a little preoccupied with my own shit. Whenever he seemed off, I assumed he had a hard day at work. When I would ask him about it, he would brush it off and change the subject.
Damian looks out towards the wall of windows in the living room. “Just some work stuff, but we’re working it out. He’ll be fine.”
I believe him. Since my punishment and the aftercare, I feel connected to him in a way I didn’t think was possible. Something about what he did to me healed me a little.
I’m grateful for that.
Picking up my phone, I shoot a text to Cass asking if she’d be free to meet up soon to talk. I get an almost immediate response that she’s free for lunch this afternoon. A smile sneaks over my lips and I hope that this is one small step towards getting my life back on track.
I take a long sip from my sweet tea, my eyes darting around the restaurant. Looking at anything other than Cassie, who’s sitting across from me. I never would’ve imagined things would ever be this awkward between us. Even when we first met while interning, we got along like we were old friends immediately.
“How’s Anthony?” I ask, hoping that it breaks the tension.
Cass smiles. The caramel color in her dark hair catches the sunlight as she tucks it behind her ear. “He’s good! He got that promotion he’s been waiting on. I’m so proud of him.” She’s beaming as she talks about his accomplishment.
I feel a sting of jealousy knowing I can’t mention the same kinds of things to her without judgment.
“That’s good,” I say genuinely. “He deserves it.” This seems to soften her.
“How are…” She trails off and I wonder if she’s going to ask about them but thinks better of it. “Thea, I’m sorry.” Her shoulders slump with the words. “I had a lot of time to think about it. I was unfair. Gavin coming around and screwing things up isn’t your fault. I shouldn’t have blamed you. You know how much I hate saying sorry, so even after I knew I was wrong…my pride got in the way.”
I want to cry at her words. She has no idea how much they mean to me—that she’s willing to take responsibility and communicate her regret. No one important in my life has done that before. It makes me respect and love her more than she’ll ever know.
“I was consumed with the business and how it would be affected. I didn’t make sure you, my best friend, were alright. I didn’t ask if you were safe or needed anything. That was beyond shitty of me. I’m so sorry.”
I don’t know if she has more to say, but I can’t contain myself.
Pushing up from my seat, I come to sit next to her in the booth and throw my arms around her. Cassie doesn’t hesitate—she embraces me a second later. We sit there for a few minutes, probably catching a few stares.
She pulls away from me. “I haven’t been completely honest with you.” Her eyes shift away from mine.
I take her hands in mine. “Hey, you can tell me anything,” I reassure her.
Sighing, she spills her truth. “My parents are cutting me off financially.” My face scrunches. That doesn’t sound like them. “We didn’t have a falling out or anything. They up and decided that I need to learn some life lessons, that things won’t always be as easy as calling them up to ask for money. They’re right, but I’m angry and hurt. It’s made the past few months hard. I’ve been obsessed with making sure that the studio makes enough money so that we don’t fail. Because they won’t help if it does.”
My mouth hangs open. All of her disappointment and annoyance with me makes a little more sense now. “Cass, you could have told me. I would have…I don’t know, shared a bottle of wine and let you bitch to me about it.” That’s the pot calling the kettle black. I’ve hidden so much from her…I’m still hiding stuff from her.
Cassie nods. “Yeah, that probably would have been better than holding it in all this time.”
It’s my turn. “I should have told you what was going on with me sooner. You’ve always been who I turn to and this shouldn’t have been any different. I should have filed a report on Gavin the first time he put his hands on me, so that maybe this could have been avoided. I can have Damian uninstall the cameras. I should have never put them up without talking to you. You had every right to be upset.” Guilt gnaws at me. I should tell her everything…yet I can’t. I’m too scared.
“God no. Please leave them. With that psycho running around, who knows, they might be useful.” I can’t disagree with her. “How are the guys?” She broaches cautiously.
While it seems we’ve made up, her accusatory words regarding them still sit heavy on my heart, making me wary to share too much.
“They’re good,” I say simply. But I can tell it’s not the answer she wants to hear.
“Thea, I’m sorry I implied they were responsible for all the stuff Gavin’s been doing. I know I’ve been less than accepting of your arrangement with—”
“Relationship,” I cut her off. Although we’ve made up, the new me hasn’t retreated. I’m standing up for myself, even if it makes others uncomfortable.
Her eyes widen a little. “Of course, I’m sorry. I should have been supportive of your relationship with them from the beginning.” She takes my hand in hers. “If you’re happy, so am I.”
“Thank you,” I say sincerely. All the tension I’ve been feeling over the last couple of weeks fades.
“Anthony’s planning a birthday party for me. It’s next Friday and I would love for you to come. It’s going to be over the top and I need my bestie there.” She’s beaming and of course I won’t say no. She adds, “And I want you to bring Cole, Damian, Sutton, and Wesley…as your dates.” She says it so assuredly that the idea of four men taking me out doesn’t sound strange at all.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
I’m practically vibrating with excitement when I bounce through the front door. Reconciling with Cassie and potentially attending her party with four gorgeous men has me smiling ear to ear—until I hear the yelling coming from Damian’s room.
I creep through the kitchen and down the hall that leads to where the sounds are coming from. My ears strain, trying to figure out who’s yelling and why.
Wesley’s is the first voice I can make out. “It doesn’t even make sense. I would never do something like that.”
“We know that. This is a troll,” Sutton says, trying to soothe an agitated Wes.
I slow my pace, hugging the wall. I can’t see anyone from where I am. However, it sounds like they’re near Damian’s computer.
“That’s great, but no one else knows that. Potential customers don’t know that. Anyone who looks up Wolfe Creek Adventures will see this. Who’s going to hire me now?”
The wall ends and I peek around it to find the three of them standing around Damian, who’s sitting at his desk. Their eyes are trained on the screen. I’m too curious to keep eavesdropping and step into the room.
“Hey.” I keep my voice low and calm. Their heads turn nearly simultaneously to stare at me. “What’s going on?”
Sutton speaks up. “Someone left malicious reviews for Wesley’s business on a bunch of sites. Completely untrue, but harmful still.”
I walk over to Damian and peer over his shoulder at the massive computer screen. Dozens of windows are open, yet the same words jump out on each one. Handsy. Aggressive. Unprofessional. Assault. All posted by User93kad3293vamkse20 on any site where Wolfe Creek Adventures has a presence.
“This is bullshit,” I spat, looking over at Wes. “You’d never do anything like this. They don’t even have the decency to upload a profile picture or their name. How are you even supposed to know if they’re real? This could be a competitor or something.”
“Exactly,” Sutton mutters.
Cole states flatly, “Those scratches on your face don’t help matters. Looks like someone tried to fight back.”
We all turn to look at him. What would possess him to say such a thing?
“These are from my hike with Thea the other day.” Wes glances at me for confirmation.
“They are,” I vouch. “Not like it matters. We all know that Wesley wouldn’t hurt anyone, especially a client.” I shoot Cole a look, warning him to say something else. I’m still not happy about his attitude this morning.
Wesley isn’t capable of what this person is describing. So why? Why would they post false reviews?
None of that matters right now because Wes is hurting. All the talk of unfairness and disbelief isn’t helping him. I turn to him, wrapping my arms around his waist, squeezing tightly. “I’m so sorry Wes. Tell me if there’s anything you need.”
Wesley’s arms come around my back and I feel his body relax a little. He doesn’t deserve this, he’s unbelievably kind and his business is everything to him—he’d never jeopardize that.
Damian swivels and I stare at him, unwilling to let Wes go yet.
“I can try to track down who posted this. Find their IP address. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s worth a shot. Maybe we can get some answers,” Damian offers.
Turning back to Wesley, I notice his brown eyes are troubled. My chest aches, hoping that this won’t make him spiral. There isn’t much I can do, although there is something I can offer him. The same thing he offered me.
I grasp his chin and force him to look down at me. “You’re not going through this alone. You have a support system—us.” I repeat the words he told me not so long ago. That’s enough to earn me a little smile, then a kiss.
Cole heads back to the kitchen. I let go of Wes to go after him. “Hey.” I grab him by the arm before he can get to the dining room. “What’s going on with you?”
He stills under my touch, his body tense. Is this all from work? Cole finally turns to face me, anger I expect for some reason. He’s been on edge today, so that would make sense. But what I see is sadness. Any frustration I felt towards him melts away.
“Come here.” Pulling him towards me, I hug him. “Tell me. I can help, whatever you need.” I stare up at him, waiting for an answer. I’ll do anything to take his sadness away.
Leaning down, he kisses me. “I’m sorry, my love. For this morning and lately in general. I have a lot on my mind.”
I appreciate the apology, however, I want him to give me more. “What is it? I’m here for you, always.” Cole smiles down at me, then kisses my forehead.
“Nothing you need to worry yourself about. It’s temporary shit that will pass.”
Disappointment swells. I wish he’d confide in me. I could help him, even if it’s only to be someone he can vent to. But he’s not letting me in and I don’t know why. At the very least, I know that he’ll share whatever it is with his brothers. Earlier, Damian told me that it was work related, so at least he’s not bottling it up.
I don’t push him on it anymore. Eventually, he’ll see that he can open up to me about those things. He doesn’t need to be perfect all the time. Cole can have hard days too.