Chapter 25

TWENTY-FIVE

My hand taps on the door with a heavy sigh following.

It opens wide, and Beau stands in front of me with a surprised expression. Unlike earlier, he’s changed into a different pair of jeans and a nicer shirt, paired with the same white Air Force 1’s I own.

“Alexa? What’s wrong?”

He ushers me in, but luckily, there’s no other girl inside this time.

“I don’t know why I came here,” I say faintly. “I’m sorry about earlier, Beau. I was a bitch.”

“So, you need a drinking buddy?” He rubs his chin and then grabs his phone off the desk. “I know just the place.”

“You know neither one of us are legal?”

“It’s not about what you know. It’s who you know.”

Beau has a friend who happens to be throwing some wicked rooftop party tonight. It is only a few blocks over, making it easy to walk. I know I’m in the right place when I see the keg. I’m not a fan of beer, but there is tequila, and that will work just as well.

“We’re doing shots,” I tell Beau.

“Really? Because one of us should probably be responsible,” he teases, even though he’s pouring already. “I guess you deserve a college experience.”

I burst out laughing as Beau motions for me to lick my wrist so he can pour salt. The lemon wedges are sitting in front of us in a bowl, next to bowls of chips and pretzels.

“Okay. Three, two, one …” I lick my wrist, throw back the shot and suck on the lemon.

Fuck.

“Damn,” Beau lets out a rasp. “The first one hurts the most.”

My face is all scrunched up until I open my mouth wide to stop my insides from burning. When it begins to settle, I start to feel more relaxed.

“College life, huh? Daddy would be so proud if I did this instead of studying.”

Beau chuckles. “My dad still does this instead of working. He called me drunk yesterday from some work function. I swear I heard stripper music in the background.”

“Oh, your mom would have loved that.” I chuckle, knowing all too well Rocky and Nikki are so nasty when they fight. “I can imagine the fight now ….”

Beau shakes his head with confusion. “I still have no idea how my parents are still married.”

I place my hand on his chest. “They’ve always loved each other. And you know what? They’re so perfect for each other, the right balance of obnoxious versus … I don’t know how to describe your mom.”

“Psychotic?”

“Stop.” I laugh, pouring us another drink. “Nikki is a badass.”

We do another round, then three more. There’s music playing, so we get up and dance with some group. I have no idea who any of these people are, but damn I feel free. As I sway my arms in the air, breathing it all in, Beau grabs my waist.

“Are you okay?”

I squeeze his cheek to annoy him. “Better than okay.”

“That’s the tequila talking.”

“And? I like the tequila talking.”

“Okay, they’re gonna shut down this party soon, so I should probably get you back to your hotel.”

The moment he says it, my stomach begins to turn. I can’t face Hunter, not after our fight. This is exactly why Eric said never to mix business with pleasure. I mixed it, and now it’s a whole damn mess.

All because of stupid feelings.

Beau grabs my arm, but his simple touch hurts. I glance down to get a look at why. It’s where I knocked myself on the door. My stupid implant moved and is now barely beneath the surface of my skin. I begin to pick at it to remove it since a new one needs to be inserted properly.

“What are you doing?”

“Got a knife?”

“A knife?” Beau rummages in his jeans, producing a small pocketknife.

“Oh my god, why do you have a knife?”

“New York City, baby,” he simply says, then rolls his eyes. “I only take it with me at night.”

Inside my hand, I quickly flick the knife part open and slice the small piece of skin on my arm.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Alexa!” Beau grabs it off me. “Are you crazy?”

“Can you take it out?” I beg of him, scowling in pain. “Let’s count to three.”

I start to count, shutting my eyes until Beau rips it out, and I yell out loud, stomping my foot on the ground to shake it off.

“I think you need medical attention.” He cringes while moving in to examine it. “There’s a lot of blood.”

Removing some tissues from my purse, I place them on my arm to stop the bleeding. It doesn’t take long for the tissues to soak, so this time I grab a whole stack of napkins from the table to apply pressure. The majority of the pain begins to subside but is still a dull throb.

“I’m fine. The tequila made me numb.”

“Look, I’m taking you back to the hotel, okay?”

“Aye, Aye, captain.” I nod, then salute him.

Beau laughs. “Fuck, you’re wasted.”

We take a cab ride back to the hotel, but I spend most of it laughing at Beau and reminiscing about the time his underwear got caught in our cubby house, and my cousin Andy had to cut them to get him out.

“They were my favorite ones too,” Beau complains with a pout. “Toy Story with Rex all over them.”

“I can’t believe you remember what was on them!”

The driver pulls up to the hotel, so we pay and get out. As Beau follows me inside, I fumble in my purse for the room key. The hotel staff in the lobby greet us, to which we both wave and try to act sober.

When we reach the floor, I glance at the room numbers, but they appear blurry.

“I think this is me.”

“Are you sure? Didn’t you say eight-thirty-one?”

“Yeah?”

“This is eight-fourteen,” he drags.

“Oh, my bad.”

We walk in the opposite direction until we’re standing in front of the right room.

“Thanks for tonight. I had fun.”

“Thank the tequila.” Beau chuckles, tucking his hands into his jeans pocket. “I had fun too.”

The door suddenly opens, and Hunter stands in the doorway with a jealous stare. He’s still wearing the same suit as earlier, but his eyes are bloodshot, and his hair is a mess. The sleeves of his shirt are rolled up to his elbow. Why does he have to look so hot?

“You’re here,” I say, grinning.

Hunter doesn’t say a single word, clenching his jaw with a pinched expression.

“This is Beau Romano. He is Will’s brother. So, you’re like my brother-in-law? I dunno, let’s just say brother.” I watch as neither of them says or does anything. “Beau, this is my boss, Hunter Cash.”

The tumbleweed tumbles past in an awkward state of silence. Just when I think it’s gone, a whole row of them follow. Yeah, this is painful.

“Okay, so this meeting was lovely. I’m going to bed.” It suddenly comes to my attention that Beau is seeing me enter Hunter’s room. Fuck. I turn to face Beau. “Ah, it’s not what you think.”

Beau juts his chin with a sneer, then bows his head, unable to look me in the eye. “Doesn’t matter what I think, Alexa. It’s your life. Have a nice night.”

As Beau walks away, a heaviness settles inside my chest. He’s right. It didn’t matter what anyone thought. It is my life. As long as I’m happy, that’s all that matters.

I enter the room and throw my purse onto the table as Hunter closes the door. When I turn around, I raise my hand.

“Whatever you have to say to me can wait until tomorrow,” I tell him, suddenly tired from all the drama. “I get it. You’re pissed, jealous, whatever. I’m tired, and my stupid arm is now hurting. I want to sleep.”

Hunter continues his stance, remaining silent. I fall onto the bed, hugging the pillow. Sleep—it’s such a nice feeling. I welcome it with open arms, drifting into a blissful dreamland where everything is just fine ….

The next morning, I’m in hell.

Every inch of me hurts. My head, my eyes, even my skin. As I sit up, I notice the empty bed, but the sudden movement makes me queasy.

“Shit.”

I cover my mouth, running to the bathroom just in time to throw up. My head throbs even more. The only relief is when I rest my head on the tiled wall. I continue to sit this way for maybe thirty minutes, then stumble back to bed.

There’s a message on my phone, so I open it quickly.

Hunter:The car will pick you up at 6 p.m. sharp. Be dressed. I’ll meet you there.

I choose not to respond since there’s nothing much to say. I’ll be right for tonight if I spend the rest of the day hydrating.

Then, if we’re up for it, we can talk about what we’re doing.

All I know is this can’t continue.

Not when I think I’m falling in love with him.