Love Discovered in New York (The Washington Triplets) (13 page)

“It sucks that his family couldn’t fly in,” Kelsey pouted. “But tomorrow is going to be awesome!”

The last couple of hours flew by and I was exhausted by the time we closed the bar. Sitting in one of the VIP sections, we verified that we were starting the party at six o’clock and going until ten o’clock, before opening Duke & Duchess up to the public.

“So Ryker is going to pick up Devin and tell him they are grabbing a birthday hotdog or something,” Nicks started.

“And then Ryker and Devin will get here and fifty people will jump out and scream surprise,” Kelsey continued.

“What do you want us to wear? I saw a couple of Devin’s frat brothers and they are hot,” Rhiannon said.

I rolled my eyes.

“Wear black. All black,” Nicks instructed. “After the party, we’ll have work to do.”

We ended the meeting and then Kelsey and I started the ten minute walk back to my place. We talked about the DJ we hired and then the surprise musical guest we didn’t tell anyone about.

“Devin is going to lose his mind when we announce Teen Spirit as the musical guest.” I laughed as we crossed another street.

“I’m still trying to envision our Devin in a hip-hop-rock fusion band…as the lead singer,” she said, laughing with me.

We were feet away from my apartment building when Kelsey sighed and I knew the conversation was about to take a turn.

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore, Kelsey,” I grumbled, picking up the pace of my walk. “I can’t talk about him anymore tonight. Please.”

Once we were inside of the complex, she put her hand on my shoulder. “Well, tell me one thing and then I’ll leave it alone for the night.”

I exhaled deeply. “Okay, what?”

“Do you believe in second chances?”

What?
I thought as I started to climb the flight of steps to my apartment.
What is she talking about?

As we reached the landing, I looked over at her. Holding her overnight bag and her oversized purse, Kelsey waited patiently. I still hadn’t said anything as I opened my apartment door. We walked in noisily.

“Well?” she prompted, dropping her belongings on the table.

“It depends on the circumstances,” I answered, as I turned on lights around my small apartment.

“I’ve been here for you. I’ll always be here for you. It’s okay to cry. It’s okay to be angry. It’s okay to be confused. It’s okay to feel everything you’re feeling about everything you’re going through.”

I didn’t say anything. I just sat on the couch and looked at her. I was not mentally or emotionally strong enough or awake enough to fight off the counseling session that was about to be bestowed upon me.

Kelsey sat down beside me and gave me a sympathetic look. “It’s also okay for you to be happy, Mya. You deserve to be happy. And in the two years that I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you look happier than when you were with Colton.”

I closed my eyes and rubbed my fingers across my forehead. The stinging in my chest intensified and I opened my mouth to say something, but no words formed.

She continued, “Don’t get me wrong, you were happy before him and you will be happy after him. But there was something different about you when you were with him. I saw it in the way you looked at him. You looked—”

“What does this have to do with second chances?” I interrupted, standing quickly. The pain in my chest had compounded with the knot in my stomach.

I need to get out of here,
I thought, placing my hand over my belly.

Kelsey looked up at me with a sad smile. “You tell me,” she said quietly.

“I love you. I’m going to bed. Goodnight,” I snapped, turning on my heel and marching into my bedroom.

I got ready for bed and once my body hit the mattress, I relaxed. My body felt tired, but my mind was spinning.

Kelsey knows me better than anyone in the world and I can’t believe she would use her counseling skill to try to reverse psycho analyze me! I know she was trying to get me to come to whatever conclusion she had already come to by worming her way into my psyche,
I thought in frustration.
I took psychology in undergrad too, Kelsey!

Unable to fall asleep peacefully, I tossed and turned all night. I woke up feeling tired and in a grouchy mood.

“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty,” Kelsey called out as she knocked on my door.

“Morning,” I grunted, covering my head with the comforter.

“Okay, you sound more like Maleficent than Sleeping Beauty right now, but I know the thing that’ll snap you right out of it.”

Sniffing the air, I could smell maple syrup and coffee. I peeked from under the comforter. “You have breakfast?” I asked softly, pushing the blanket off of me completely.

“I have coffee and maple donuts from the café across the street. Last night was intense and I don’t want you to think I don’t support you one hundred percent. I just… I worry about you.”

“I know. And I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m so worked up about…him. I’ve known him for three weeks and most of that time we haven’t even talked.”

We ate our breakfast and talked about Phil before we got ready for the day. Kelsey borrowed one of my black, low cut dresses because she didn’t pack anything all black. I opted for a short, tight tube dress that showed off my figure, but highlighted my legs. I decided to wear spiked black heels for Devin’s party and cute, red flats for work.

Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I decided against wearing my hair up. Instead, I pinned all of my hair to one side. Looking at myself from the back, my eyes kept gravitating to the ‘Stay Gold’ tattoo on my shoulder blade. My mind swirled with a myriad of thoughts surrounding my tattoo: the reason I got it, the inspiration behind it, and the person who did it.

“We have to go, Mya!” Kelsey called from the living room, jarring me from my thoughts.

Snapping out of it, I grabbed my handbag. “I’m ready. Let’s go!”

The entire walk, Kelsey and I talked about the party. By the time we arrived at Duke & Duchess, I had managed to push everything else out of my mind.

Devin has been a great friend and big brother and I’m excited to celebrate with him tonight,
I thought as we walked through the front door.
Tonight will be great.

“Thank God you guys are here,” Stephen called from behind the bar. “Watch the bar. I’m going to help Nicks with the cases.”

“Okay…” Kelsey replied, extending the word longer than necessary. I didn’t bother to answer; I just walked to the bar.

Over the next hour, seventy-five people arrived. Rhiannon busied herself by serving drinks to Devin’s fraternity brothers while the rest of us worked the room making sure everything was going smoothly.

“Finally,” Nicks said after hanging up the phone.

“What’s going on?” I asked, checking the clock.

“Both sets of entertainment are around the corner. And Ryker just got to Devin’s place. They should be here in twenty to thirty minutes.”

“Let’s get it!” Stephen exclaimed, clapping his hands together excitedly.

The DJ was playing hit after hit and it seemed as though everyone was having a good time. The thought of Devin walking in to what we put together put a smile on my face.

Stephen looked over at me for a beat too long.

“What?” I asked, bracing myself for something idiotic to come out of his mouth.

“I haven’t seen that smile in weeks. It’s beautiful. Welcome back,” Stephen pointed out with a nod.

“Thanks, Stephen.”

“If you’d like me to take you to the break room and keep that smile on your face, let me know,” he flirted.

I frowned and shook my head. “Seriously, Stephen? Hell to the no.”

“You’ll come around,” he predicted as he patted me on the back twice and walked away.

“Never happening,” I yelled to his retreating frame.

Heading to the break room, I heard Jessica call my name. I turned around and she was speed walking toward me. In the heels she was wearing, it was quite comical.

“The band is set up behind the curtains. How long before they go on?” she asked. “ I don’t want to mess this up.”

“You won’t,” I assured her. “After we yell surprise and sing happy birthday, they will start playing.”

“Okay that’s what I thought.” She turned around and ran back the way she came.

Smiling in amusement to myself, I walked into the break room to grab my phone and saw that I had two missed calls. My heart started pounding, as it had been for the last two weeks whenever I had a missed call. With shaky fingers I unlocked my phone and saw that one call was from a number I didn’t recognize and the other was from my father.

The anger I felt about my dad’s call superseded the sadness I felt that I didn’t have a missed call from Colton. Putting my phone back in my locker, I took a long, shaky breath.

I’m okay. I’m okay. I’m okay,
I repeated with my eyes closed.

Squaring my shoulders, I opened the door and collided with Rhiannon.

“Watch yourself,” Rhiannon hissed, brushing past me.

Glaring at her, I put my hands on my hips. “I’m not in the mood for your shit, Rhiannon. Say something else to me tonight and I will beat your ass,” I spat menacingly.

Rhiannon froze for a second before continuing her way to the bathroom. I spun around and left out of the locker room in a worse mood than I was when I went in.

I’m going to have to talk to Nicks. It’s either her or me,
I thought in aggravation as I watched as a heavily tattooed man and platinum blonde woman walk to the back of Duke & Duchess with a bunch of equipment in tow. The woman looked around as she walked and her face looked incredibly familiar to me. I watched her but I couldn’t figure out where I knew her from.

“Umm, Mya?” Kelsey said from my side.

I turned to her and smiled. “Hey, where have you been?”

“Long story. Tell you in a minute. But umm… did you ask Nicks about his entertainment?”

“No. I just figured Stephen talked him into strippers.” Her wide eyes and raised eyebrows made me nervous. I gave her a questioning look. “Why?”

She gestured with her head behind me and I turned around just in time to see Colton walking to the back. I gasped.

What is Colton doing here? And why—ohh! That’s why she looked familiar. Bethany is a tattoo artist at Inkwell. Her hair was blue two weeks ago. But why is Inkwell here? More importantly, why is Colton here? And why must he look that good? I should go… I should hide out until he leaves,
I thought as nerves flooded my system.

“Are you okay?” Kelsey asked as I stared at Colton.

I nodded and prepared myself to discreetly run back into the break room to get myself together when he looked over at me. He stopped in his tracks and we just watched each other from across the room.

He looked like he was going to continue walking in the direction of his staff when he turned slightly and headed toward me. I wanted to move, but I couldn’t. I wanted to run, but I couldn’t. I just stood there.

He stalked across the room until he was only a few feet in front of me. He was close enough for me to see the storminess in his eyes, but he was too far away for me to reach out and touch him. I swallowed thickly.

“Hello, ladies. I just wanted to come over and thank you for choosing Inkwell for your tattoo party,” Colton offered, his eyes fixated on me.

His voice coated me like a warm blanket and something inside of me broke. I could hear my heart pounding in my chest. I wanted to put my hand over my heart to slow the rapid pace, but I couldn’t. I was frozen in my spot, held captive by his piercing gaze. So I just stood there, staring at him. The awkward silence that followed only magnified what I was feeling.

“Hi, Colton. It’s good to see you again,” Kelsey spoke up. “I’m going to go check on…something.”

Finally looking away from me, he glanced at her. “There’s no need, Kelsey. I have work to do.” He nodded his head slightly as his stormy eyes were filled with an emotion I couldn’t quite pinpoint. He took two steps backward and then, turning smoothly, he walked in the direction of his staff.

Gasping, I let out a breath that I didn’t realize I was holding. It felt like my eyes were bugging out of my head because my eyebrows were up so high.

“Oh my God,” I murmured, rubbing my hand across my forehead.

“Yeah…” Kelsey started slowly. Her face looked the way mine felt. “I’ve never actually seen you at a loss for words before.”

“I don’t know what happened. I just… I didn’t expect to see him.”

We stood side by side in silent contemplation when Rhiannon walked past us. She smirked before getting lost in the crowd.

“What was that about?” Kelsey questioned with her hands on her hips.

“We had words in the break area.”

“Ryker just sent a text,” Nicks spoke into the microphone at the DJ booth. “Everyone get ready. They will be here in two minutes.”

The music came to a halt and everyone stopped talking immediately. The shuffling of feet moving on the recently waxed floors was the only sound that could be heard. Nicks dimmed the lights slightly and we waited. After a minute of relative silence, I heard Ryker talking louder than usual. Then the door opened slowly.

“Surprise!” everyone yelled in unison before bursting into Stevie Wonder’s version of the ‘Happy Birthday’ song.

Devin’s face transformed from shock to complete surprise as he realized what was going on. When the first few chords of a song his band wrote started playing, his face was priceless.

“Now this, this makes me happy.” I sighed, bumping Kelsey’s hip with my own.

An hour later, the party was underway and everyone was feeling right. The DJ was playing some upbeat hip hop song and everyone who wasn’t getting a tattoo or watching the burlesque dancers was on the dance floor. With my arms up in the air, I was dancing alongside Jessica and Kelsey when I noticed Colton off to the side of the room. I slowed my dance movements and let my eyes roam over his body. Wearing jeans and a green and navy blue button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, he looked unnervingly handsome and unbelievably sexy. I tried to focus on the music, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.