One Simple Step (Journey Series) (6 page)

She let out a deep breath when she pulled out a single key. “I’m really a mess right now, Nick. And I just can’t handle something like this, not even as friends.” She waved her hands at me before turning her back and sliding the key in. “I’m sorry, Nick. Goodbye.” She didn’t turn back before slipping inside and shutting the door gently in my face. I was shocked as I stood there staring at the door, waiting for it to open back up, but it never did. I was confused by the whole situation, and honestly, a little hurt.

And then I started to get just a little annoyed.

Pissed that it seemed like every girl thought they could just walk all over me. Kara had done it for so long that I got used to it, but I wasn’t going to let it happen again. Yeah, I had just met Ally, but I felt like we had some sort of connection. Apparently, she thought differently, so that was her loss.

I didn’t need to fall for some girl anyway. I needed to get my shit together, live life a little, and focus on me.

Chapter 7

Ally

“So, you seem to be doing alright, honey. Are you sure that you don’t want me to come down and visit, though? We could make a little girls’ trip out of it. Or you could always come home for a while. I even made up your old room, just in case.”

I tapped at the computer one more time before shutting it down and focusing on my mom. I had been talking to her daily for the past three weeks since Leah had ousted me. She seemed to think that I needed to be checked on constantly. I loved my mom and all, but it was getting to be a little much.

“Mom, really I’m good, and you know Dad wouldn’t be able to survive without you if you came down here. Remy and I have been able to catch up a bit, and I think I’m going to stay down here for a while. I think I just need a change of scenery.”

I heard a loud sigh before she cleared her throat. “Well, if that’s what you think is best then I think I’ll trust your judgment.” That made me pause for a second. My judgment really hadn’t been the best, apparently. Should I just go home? Go back to living with my parents again and all was right with the world?

No, Ally, you’re a big girl. The world isn’t easy, and I’m going to have to get used to that. I needed to figure things out on my own.

“Okay, Mom, well, I actually have a job interview that I need to head out for, or I’m going to be late. I’ll call you later.”

She answered back with a simple, “Oh.” I could hear the disappointment in her voice at the mention of a job.

Getting a job meant some kind of permanence, and I know she was still holding out for me to move back home. But I couldn’t just keep wasting my days away. I could only clean Remy’s apartment so many times, and since she worked third shift, meals together were kind of out of the question, so there went that.

On Remy’s nights off, we normally ended up going somewhere quiet for drinks, but I had tried to avoid the whole bar scene since Clammy’s. Just one night out, and everything had been flipped upside down when I met Nick. I hadn’t seen him again. I was afraid at first that he would try to contact me, and then I was hurt that he didn’t. I kept waiting for him to just show up on the doorstep, but he never did.

I don’t know what I expected or even wanted him to do, but the fact that he didn’t do anything kind of crushed me. I felt this connection with him from the second we started talking. It certainly didn’t help that he was sexy as hell, though not my typical type. That was probably a good thing since we had seen where my taste had gotten me so far.

I tugged on the hem of the black pencil skirt that I paired with a simple white, collared dress shirt, adjusting it one last time. It definitely wasn’t my typical style, but really, I didn’t have anything appropriate to wear to interviews, so I had to raid Remy’s closet.

My style was…I wasn’t really even sure anymore. Leah always used me as her personal stylist, so I guess you could say I have good taste. But she also told me I was a little bit schizophrenic when it came to my wardrobe, and looking back, I had to agree.

When I was dating Skylar, I went through a bit of a hippie phase since that was sort of his thing. Moving on to Teddy, I went through more of a rocker chick look. I even remember dating a guy in high school who had been really involved in the drama club, that was a really interesting time in my life, and I’m sure my mom was pretty happy when things quickly ended.

Now, I really just needed to figure out who I was.

I checked my makeup one last time in the hallway mirror before I shut the door behind myself, fluffing my loosely curled hair. I felt professional and confident, for what was pretty much my first real job interview ever. Luckily, Remy left me her car since I had returned my rental after a few days of having it.

“Ally?” I heard that all too familiar voice as I rounded the corner to the parking lot, and I instantly stiffened, wanting to do nothing more than to turn right around and lock myself in the apartment. But I couldn’t get there fast enough.

I felt his hand land on my shoulder just as I tried to twist away. I reluctantly turned around, meeting those brown eyes that I thought I knew so well. Now all he looked like was a stranger.

“What are you doing here, Teddy?” I crossed my arms tightly over my chest, trying to look anywhere but straight at him.

“We’re just a couple of towns over, Al, you know that. It took me a while, but I tracked you down when you returned the rental. Why haven’t you answered any of my calls? I was worried as hell about you.” He reached out to brush his thumb across my cheek, but I quickly knocked his hand away.

Why had I used his dumb credit card for that rental car? I didn’t realize he was going to pull out some detective moves to track me down.

“Really? You were worried about me? That sounds awfully strange coming from someone who wasn’t so concerned about me when they were in bed with another girl.”

He let out a loud groan and moved a step closer, sucking in his lip ring as he did. “Al, you’re still my wife, and I’m always going to worry about you. That meant nothing; it was a lapse in judgment, nothing else. I swear.”

“Teddy, I don’t want to hear it.” I shoved past him, but I could feel that he was still following closely behind me. “I have somewhere to be, and I can’t be late. Just go back to your tour, and forget about me, because we’re done. There is no us, and there’s no going back.”

“Ally, you don’t mean that.” He grabbed onto the car door before I could slam it in his face and crouched down so we were face to face. His hand reached up to grip my chin and this time I didn’t twist away fast enough.

It was taking everything inside of me not to just give in. To forget everything that had happened, and start fresh. But I knew that there was no way in hell I could do that, because I would just be setting myself up to get hurt all over again.

“Please, Al, just one more chance. I swear I won’t mess this up.”

I swallowed over the thick lump in my throat, looking him straight in the eyes, to say that one word I still hadn’t been able to utter. “No, Teddy. It’s not going to happen. I want a divorce, and I want you to leave me alone. Is that really so much to ask after… after everything?”

By this time, tears were streaming down my cheeks. I could see the pain in his face as he stared back at me and slowly stood up, his hand sliding away from my cheek to hang loosely at his side. “Okay, Al,” he whispered, dropping his head down to kiss my wet cheek, his tears mixing with mine. “I’m sorry. You really were the best thing that ever happened to me, it was inevitable that I had to go and fuck it up.”

He backed away, looking defeated, before pushing my door shut. I couldn’t sit there any longer, the pain was overpowering. So I started up the car and pulled out of the parking lot, leaving him standing there alone and feeling like a piece of me was getting left behind, too.

By the time I pulled into my interview, I was ten minutes late, but had calmed down a teensy bit. I allowed myself to peek in the mirror one time, and wasn’t too shocked at what I saw. My eyes were bloodshot, mascara was streaked down my face, and I just looked…devastated.

Seeing Teddy again was harder than I thought. I almost gave in, it would be so easy. He really did look heartbroken and like he was sorry for what he had done.

I know that growing up he didn’t have an easy life. His dad was some unknown one-night-stand that his crack-head of a mother had hooked up with, probably to get her latest fix. I had never even met the woman and I hated her, which was a really strong word to use but I really couldn’t help it.

Teddy had never come right out to say it but I know that he never really felt loved by her, or really anyone else for that fact.

Chase had been like a savior to him when they became best friends. Chase and his family welcomed him with open arms, and he really became a part of their family. But Teddy was right, the damage had already been done with the way his mother raised him, and I think that his cheating had really been inevitable. How could I have been so stupid not to see it coming?

I shook my head, trying to clear Teddy from my thoughts.

Breathe, Ally, breathe.
You need to focus.

I walked through the entrance after easily finding my way, and took in the lush property surrounding me. This was the type of place the wealthy would frequent. You could just tell from the whole atmosphere. My heels clicked on the marble floor as I made my way inside. The grand lobby had a sleek, modern look with its dark wood accents and just a touch of the beach, which you could see from the wide windows surrounding the building, giving impressive views of the water.

“Hi, I’m here for an interview,” I stated when greeted by a man at the front desk. He looked up from where he was typing on a computer and gave me a wide smile, his overly tan skin wrinkling slightly at the corners of his mouth.

“You must be Ally then, the two o’clock interview. A pleasure to meet you.” He stuck out a beefy hand that I gripped firmly, before he moved to open the wooden partition. “Right this way.”

I followed him through the narrow hallway until he stopped at a door and tapped on it twice, peeking his head in and then moving aside to let me pass. “Good luck, dear. I’m sure you’ll do just fine.”

“Thanks, Leo.” I heard murmured from behind a folder as I took a seat, and I jumped in surprise at the voice that was semi-familiar. I only met the guy once, but we had talked for hours, and I still hadn’t forgotten it.

“So nice to meet you, Ally—” His voice cut short as soon as he stood up to greet me and realized who was sitting there. I thought at first maybe he didn’t remember me, until he did a double take between me and the paper that was sitting on his desk, confusion crossing his face. “Sampson,” he finished, before sitting back down.

I squirmed in my seat as he waited for me to explain.

Of course, it was just my luck that my very first interview would be with Nick. The guy that I pretty much blew off with really no explanation. He probably thought I had been leading him on the whole time, which I really wasn’t, I just hadn’t expected to connect with someone like that so quickly. I had jumped straight into things with Teddy. I wasn’t going to make that mistake again.

“Sampson’s my married name actually,” I quietly explained, looking down to avoid those blue eyes of his that seemed to see right through me.

“Married?” he asked, his deep voice rising with a slight edge to it. “You didn’t bother to mention that. Most people would.”

“Look, I didn’t get into specifics with you, but I did tell you that I had just gone through a breakup.” I pointed out, chewing on the inside of my cheek to keep the tears at bay. If I hadn’t just had a run in with Teddy, I’m sure I would have been able to handle his line of questioning a little bit calmer, but of course that wasn’t the case.

“Ally Sampson,” he repeated once again, staring at me harder this time. “Why does that name sound so familiar?” He tucked his top lip in, flashing that set of dimples at me that had caught my eye the first time I met him. It gave him sort of a boy-next-door look that I hadn’t ever really been attracted to before.

“We-ll,” I dragged out, trying to decide how I would play this off. I could just make something up, but then he would easily be able to figure it out anyway. Or I could just tell him the truth. With my luck, he would be some closet fan boy of the Major Hoosiers. “I’m married, or was, or I’m going to be div—we’re not together anymore, but I’m married to Teddy Sampson.” When I saw no recognition, I added, “He’s the lead singer for the Major Hoosiers.”

“Oh,” he answered simply, nodding his head. “I’m not really into that type of music, but the guy seems like a bit of a douche.”

I burst into laughter at his description, my thoughts on Teddy being pretty much the same lately, but then the laughter turned a little hysterical until it was mixed in with tears. By this time Nick probably thought I was insane, and by the look he was giving me I’m fairly certain he was pitying me, too, which I definitely didn’t want.

I somehow managed to calm myself down after a few minutes, and Nick cleared his throat, looking down once again at the paper on his desk. “Alright, then, I just have a few questions to ask you.”

By the time the interview was over, I felt like it had been one giant fail. Nick awkwardly told me he would be in contact as he showed me back to the lobby. I had a feeling that really wouldn’t be the case. I’m sure my cheeks were bright red by the time I left, and Nick had only given me a simple ‘bye’.

I wasn’t going to let it bother me, though.

Really, I wasn’t.

Yes, I probably looked like a complete idiot in front of the guy who was not only interviewing me, but that I had also connected with so quickly and shared one of the most amazing kisses of my life.

I touched my lips once, before sliding my red heels off, and leaving them behind to sink my feet into the private stretch of beach where the resort was situated.

I still remembered everything about that kiss. The feel of his lips on mine, gentle and rough at the same time, if that was even possible. The way his mouth tasted like cinnamon with just a hint of the beer he drank at Clammy’s.