Love Discovered in New York (The Washington Triplets) (14 page)

I should go talk to him. He’s here. I can admit that things have been…different without him in my life, so I should go over there,
I thought as my heart fluttered at the sight of him.
I should just walk over there and—what the fuck?

I stopped dancing completely, letting my hands fall limply to my sides as I saw Rhiannon standing a little too close to Colton. She was throwing her hair over her shoulder and trying to maneuver her narrow body a little too close to him. With her scrawny limbs hanging all over him, she leaned over and whispered something in his ear. I found myself hoping he would push her away. When he laughed, I saw red.

I don’t care how long it’s been since we’ve talked, Colton and Rhiannon are not happening,
I fumed silently through clenched teeth.

I took a step in their direction before I stopped in my tracks when Rhiannon made eye contact with me. Colton leaned over and whispered something in her ear. While he was talking, Rhiannon smirked and pushed her body up against his. His hand came up to touch her arm and I spun around quickly.

I can’t watch this,
I thought as I was seized with jealousy. I felt like I had been punched in the gut.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Kelsey yelled over the music.

“Colton and…Rhiannon,” I uttered as an unexpected mix of emotions overwhelmed me.

“What?”

I couldn’t say anything over the lump in my throat so I just nodded.

Kelsey looked around until she saw them. I watched her as her eyebrows came together. “What the fuck?”

My eyes started to sting so I closed them. “My thoughts exactly.”

“You need to go over there.”

My eyes flew open. “I don’t have shit to say to him. If he wants that bitch, he can have her.” My hands balled into fists as the words left my mouth. It felt like I had a lead ball in the pit of my stomach. “You know what…that’s none of my business. I’m going to find Devin and then I’m going to take off. I can’t be around…that.” I gestured behind me.

She looked just beyond my shoulder and frowned slightly. Her eyes darted around as if she were looking for something. “I don’t understand. There has to be a reasonable explanation. But regardless, I’m sor—”

I shook my head and interrupted, “It’s fine. It doesn’t matter what the explanation is. It’s none of my business. We’re both single.”

Kelsey opened her mouth to speak when Stephen burst into the middle of the conversation.

“Hey! Dance with me?” he asked drunkenly. His glassy eyes looked from me to Kelsey and then back to me.

Kelsey put her hand up. “Stephen, we’re in the middle of an important—”

“I’d love to!” I agreed with an enthusiasm I didn’t feel.

Ignoring my best friend’s pleading look as she mouthed ‘we need to talk,’ I started dancing with Stephen. I turned around so that my back was to his front and I started grinding on him. The harder I danced, the easier it was to focus on the music than the hurt I felt. When a sexy Beyonce song started to play, I got lost in the lyrics and the beat. I felt the eyes of random people on me as I moved. The sexually charged song throbbed through the air as I moved my body with the skill of a seasoned stripper. Stephen’s hands remained on my hips throughout the dance. When the song ended, I didn’t expect a round of applause. I laughed and waved before moving off of the dance floor. I was out of breath and I had a thin film of sweat on my forehead so I headed to the break room.

Grabbing my elbow, Stephen pulled me into him. I quickly pushed him off of me.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing Stephen?” I barked at him.

“I’m following your lead. I knew you’d come around sometime.”

“What?”

“You don’t dance like that for just anybody, Mya. Let’s just kiss and if there’s chemistry, we’ll take it from there. I really like you.”

“Are you drunk?” I questioned incredulously. “Because you can’t be serious right now.”

“Just one little kiss.” Leaning toward me, he puckered his lips. So I pushed him. I pushed him so hard he stumbled back a couple of steps.

“Snap out of it. Get yourself together and act like you have some damn sense. I said no and I’m not changing my mind. Do you understand me?”

Stephen looked completely disoriented as he ran his hands through his hair. “Dammit Mya, I’m not drunk. Well, not
drunk
drunk. I just thought after the way you… Look, I’m sorry.” He opened his arms up for a hug and I looked at him dubiously. As he moved forward for the hug, I took a step back.

“Not after what you just pulled.”

“I’m sorry. I read the signals wrong from that dance. I think I may have had one too many of whatever Devin’s frat brothers were having. Rhiannon made them.”

Just hearing her name made my hands ball into fists. His arms were still extended and I took another step back.

“Leave me alone, Stephen. I’m not in the mood, okay?” I stated before walking around him and heading into the break room.

I grabbed my stuff out of my locker and then looked at myself in the mirror. My hair was a mass of wild curls and if it weren’t for the pins, it would be all over the place. I touched up my makeup and pulled the skirt of my dress down.

Regardless of how I look, I feel like shit,
I thought as I approved of my appearance.
I just need to go home and sleep it off.

The door opened and Kelsey walked in. She shook her head when she saw me. “Are you seriously leaving Devin’s party?”

“Yeah,” I answered despondently. “I’m not feeling well.”

“That’s because you won’t talk to Colton, Mya. Rhiannon is back in one of Devin’s frat brother’s laps.”

I sighed dramatically. “There’s nothing to talk about, Kelsey. I’m fine. I just need to go home. Call me later. Love you.” And then I walked out.

After wishing Devin a happy birthday and telling him goodbye, I walked out of Duke & Duchess. It was a little after eight o’clock and the sky was a beautiful shade of blue. I was looking up at the sky and only got a few steps before I noticed Colton standing ten feet away from me.

“Headed home so soon?” Colton inquired as he pushed himself off of the wall and took a couple of steps in my direction. “I know sneaking away is your specialty, but I would’ve thought you were sticking around for the encore of that performance you put on in there.” His tone had an underlying bite to it that only thinly masked his anger.

Cocking my head to the side, I glared at him. “That’s funny. Especially coming from someone who had his tongue in that bitch’s ear all night. Let me ask you something,” I took a couple of slow steps toward him. “When did you drop your standards so low?”

Taking a step toward me, he narrowed his eyes. “I guess around the same time you did.”

He was close enough for me to touch him and I caught his scent in the gentle summer breeze. I inhaled deeply, savoring it with a sentiment that I didn’t even know I was capable of.

Squaring my shoulders, I stared up at him. “You sound like a jealous ex-boyfriend.”

“You just called your co-worker a bitch. Sounds like you’re the jealous one,” he challenged. His eyes burned into me as we stood inches apart, glaring at each other.

Colton being so close to me turned the knot in the pit of my stomach into a ball of nerves. Goosebumps spread all over my skin and my heart was beating wildly. Noticing the effect he had on me, my eyes pricked with tears.

I hate that he does this to me
, I complained silently. The emotions he brought out of me just fed into my anger.
I should’ve never gone out with him. It was supposed to be a one-night stand. It wasn’t supposed to be all of this.

“Why would I be jealous? We were a one-night stand gone wrong. We should’ve never happened,” I hissed venomously. My heart tightened as soon as the words left my mouth. My body’s reaction let me know that I didn’t mean the words that I just spewed at him.

Something flashed in Colton’s eyes and a look crossed his face that I couldn’t quite place. His chest moved up and down quickly as he breathed noisily. “We should’ve never happened, Mya? Is that how you feel?”

I knew I wasn’t strong enough to verbalize that lie again so I just nodded.

Colton’s jaw clenched as his eyes flitted over my face. Then he shook his head slowly. Dropping his voice to a painfully soft whisper he said, “I’m not your dad, Mya. The sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be.”

I didn’t respond. I didn’t move. I didn’t breathe.

Colton reached his hand up and gently touched my face with the back of his hand. Wrapping his hand around the back of my neck he pulled me into his chest, dropping a kiss on my forehead. “Goodbye, Mya,” he whispered before he walked off, bypassing the front door of Duke & Duchess and heading up the street.

THE NEXT TEN DAYS OF
my life sucked in the most gut-wrenching way. I was usually able to get over things, especially men, quickly and easily. But for some reason, I couldn’t shake Colton. I thought about him incessantly, so I worked nonstop to keep my mind busy. I didn’t want to be home alone with my thoughts, so with it being the end of summer and everyone wanting to take a night off for some reason, I was able to pick up extra shifts. I was able to put extra money in my pocket and distract myself from my own thoughts.

I was content with my plan of distraction until Nicks put his foot down and forbade me from coming into work. Fortunately and unfortunately, Kelsey had the night off too and agreed to spend the night at my place. Fortunately, because I didn’t want to be alone; unfortunately, because all she wanted to do was psychoanalyze me.

“It’s okay to be sad, Mya,” Kelsey said softly as she lay beside me in bed. “But don’t you think that your sadness means something?”

“It means leave me alone,” I groaned, rolling onto my side, putting my back toward her.

“No, you need to hear this.” The bed moved and I knew that she sat up and made herself more comfortable for the lecture she was about to give me. She pushed my shoulder down, forcing me on my back again. I looked at her and pursed my lips, but we both knew I was going to listen to what she had to say.

“You mourned your mother’s death for maybe a month and then your dad announced his engagement and you shut down. I know when you’re hurting. I know when you’re sad. But you’d rather be angry than anything else. You are so quick to be someone else’s hero, but you won’t be your own. Fight for yourself, Mya. Fight for what you want. Fight for what you need. Fight for you.”

Before I could interject, she held her finger up and wagged it at me. “I’m talking about things you’re emotionally invested in. I’m talking about things that could potentially hurt you. You want to call your dad out about cheating on your mom, do it. You want to admit your feelings for Colton, do it.”

“I don’t—” I started.

“Don’t try to bullshit me. I’m your best friend. I let you live in your world of denial for weeks, but it’s time to get real. Five weeks ago, you met him and felt something. You two hung out every day for a week and a half. I barely saw you without him attached to your hip because you two were so wrapped up in one another. If you weren’t seeing him before and after work, you’d spend entire days with him when you were off from work. Every single time I saw you, you were grinning from ear to ear. And then you pick a fight with him and you two don’t talk for two weeks. And then when you two finally see each other, you are unable to speak to him…until you run into each other outside and get into a huge fight because you don’t want to admit to having feelings for him. So now here we are, ten days later. Miserable.”

I shrugged and looked away from her. “I know the story, must we recap?”

“You ended things with him because you felt something, Mya. You do understand that don’t you?”

“I told you, he said that he was done and he walked away,” I protested lamely.

“Yeah, after you told him that you two were a mistake and then you walked out on him. And now look at you.” Her tone was soft, yet firm as she grabbed my hand and implored me with her eyes. “Do you feel better? Now that you’ve tried to sabotage your relationship with him, do you feel better?”

I still feel like shit,
I thought as the pit in my stomach swelled. I didn’t verbalize my answer to the question. There was no need. We both knew the truth.

“Colton was right about one thing. You have to talk to your dad. The ‘men ain’t shit’ cynicism is fine when you’re dealing with random hookups. But don’t let your dad’s mistakes mess up a good thing for you.” Kelsey handed me my cell phone. “The first call you need to make is to your dad. I’ll be in the living room.”

She walked out of the room and shut the door behind her.

Taking a deep breath, I scrolled down to his name and hit the button. It rang twice and I swore I would hang up on the third ring, but he picked up.

“Mya?” Dad answered the phone in surprise.

“Dad,” I greeted him. “Can we talk?”

“Yes, of course. I didn’t think you were going to call me back. It’s so good to hear from you. I’ve been—”

“I need to get this out,” I interrupted, my eyes welling with tears. “All my life you told me that I never commit to anything. After I didn’t like ballet or softball or piano, you told me that I had an inability to commit. Who says that to a child? You also told me that I wasn’t living up to my potential because I wasn’t like your other perfect daughters. I’ve always felt like you’ve tried to shame me into living the life you wanted me to live. It was bad enough you made me feel like a disappointment, but for you to call me a disappointment at mom’s funeral…that was harsh.”