Somewhere in Between (Madison Square #1) (12 page)

“Yeah, Pops, I’m good.”

He put his huge paw over my hand. “Tell me who he is and I will kick his ass.” A short laugh burst from my lips as tears started to prick behind my eyes.
It’s my ass you’re going to have to kick.
I gave him a brave smile, took a breath, grabbed the drinks, and headed back to the table.

Drew’s eyebrows pulled together as I took my seat and passed out the drinks. Lucky for me, Sean started telling us a story about how he picked up some girl using a space pants pick-up line. I gave Sean my full attention, laughing in the right places and trying not to acknowledge Drew staring at the back of my head. He eventually relaxed enough to have a little fun, but I knew he wouldn’t let it go for long. I was in so much trouble.

***

I managed to avoid Drew all day Sunday. He called in the afternoon, but I let it go to voicemail, texting him later to say I was busy with work stuff and would talk to him tomorrow. He was already on red alert that something was wrong. Not talking to him was just easier because I wouldn’t have to lie. I’m a terrible liar, and I especially can’t lie to Drew. He’s like the CIA. He knows everything.

Monday morning came and I was still feeling a bit defeated. I should have been floating on cloud nine after the gala, but I was still feeling pretty raw with the emotional pinball going on in my head. I was not ready to face Gwen and her aggressive cleavage. When I walked into the office, I was assaulted by color and the scent of flowers instead.

Everywhere I looked, on every surface of my office, were bouquets of gorgeous flowers. There were a couple dozen roses in various shades, yeah, but there were also arrangements of sunflowers, gerbera daisies, hydrangeas, lilacs, and peonies. It was insane. I dropped my bag on my desk, turning to Gwen.

“Did somebody die?”

“You tell me. They’re for you.”

“Me?” Holy shit!

She sneered in disgust, rolling her eyes, “Yes. You. Read the card.”

I turned back to my desk and saw the small gold envelope propped up against my keyboard. Who would do all this? I picked up the card. My name was written neatly on the front. I lifted the flap and pulled out the white card.

You never gave me your number.

Peter gave me his number instead. I’m not one to fall for grand gestures, but who could ignore an entire room full of flowers? I pulled out my phone and shot him a quick text.

Alex: Subtle.

Ping, ping
. He responded right away.

Peter: I don’t do subtle.

That much was obvious.

Peter: Have dinner with me?

Why not go out with him? He was charming, good-looking, and maybe just the distraction I needed to get past the thing with Drew. I mean, it wasn’t like it would lead to anything serious. What could it hurt?

When we went out before, it was just to dinner. Then we met once for coffee, but that was it. He just disappeared. I was going through a lot back then, so I figured he wasn’t interested anymore and let it go. Who knows? We’re older and a bit wiser. Maybe this time we could have some fun and see where things end up.

I was typing out a response when my phone vibrated in my hand. He was calling me? I swiped a finger across the screen to answer.

“Hello.”

“I figured I wouldn’t give you a chance to say no.”

“I could still say no over the phone.”

“True, but you have less time to make up an excuse.”

“Touché.” I giggled.

“So will you, Alex McCabe, grant me the honor of taking you to dinner?”

“When?”

“Wednesday work?”

“No. Actually, I have trivia with Drew and the guys at The Den. It’s our thing. We’re there every week.”

“Okay then. Thursday?”

“Thursday’s good.”

“Great. I will pick you up at seven?”

“I’ll text you the address.”

“‘Til then, Alex.” With that, he hung up. Realizing I never said thank you, I sent a quick text.

Alex: Thank you for the flowers.

Peter: Thank you for saying yes.

On the verge of gushing, I collected myself and set about organizing my desk for the day.
Ping, ping
. I smiled, ready to playfully scold Peter for bothering me while I was working. I looked at my phone and saw it wasn’t Peter.

Drew: Lunch? I’ll come by your office.

It wasn’t so much a request as a statement. I couldn’t avoid him forever. If I was going to get past this to save our friendship, pushing him away in the process was a bit counterproductive.

Alex: K, one-ish?

Drew: See you then.

I heard someone clear their throat and looked up to see Madeline in the doorway. Gwen pointed a finger at me without looking up from her computer. Way to sell me out. Madeline approached my desk, trying and failing to hide her smile.

“Well, someone seems to have an admirer.”

“I’m sorry, Madeline. I will clear them out.”

“No need, dear. Just disperse them more around the office, if you don’t mind. It’s a bit overwhelming.” She scrunched up her nose, then trailed a finger over a vase of long stem red roses. “Are they from a certain charming gentleman I met the other night?”

“Drew? No, we’re just friends.”

Madeline raised her eyebrows, giving me a pointed look. “Well, it is a lovely gesture all the same.” She gestured to the roses in front of her. “May I?”

“Of course.” I handed her the large vase.

“Lovely.” She admired them and took the bouquet into her office.

I looked over at Gwen, who was radiating hatred in my direction. Great. Today was going to be fun!

We had a minor disaster at one of the construction sites that had the phones ringing off the hook. I hadn’t had a chance to deal with the greenhouse that was my office yet.

I looked up when I heard a knock on the door frame. Drew was standing in the doorway, holding a single rusty pink rose, my favorite. My heart melted. That was so sweet. He looked around to the sea of flowers crowding my office with wide eyes. Shit!

“Uh, I brought you this, but it looks like you are covered.” He looked at me with the million dollar question in his eyes.

“They’re from Peter!” Gwen announced with mock enthusiasm.

I shot her a glare. She smiled, knowing exactly what she did.

Drew furrowed his brow. “Russell sent you these?”

“They’re going out Thursday night,” she added.

To his credit, Drew shot her a glare. I, however, was plotting her slow and painful death. Maybe I could hang her upside down and smother her with her own breasts.

Drew turned back to me and raised his eyebrows. I nodded. He looked at me with a strange expression—hurt, or maybe sadness—then quickly blinked it away.

“You ready for lunch?” His smile seemed forced. I nodded and grabbed my bag. He thrust the rose at me as he turned to head out. I was a bit stunned. He was pissed. That much was obvious, but was he jealous?

I brought the rose to my face and inhaled the sweet scent with a smile, then followed him out the door. I didn’t care that my office was filled with every flower within five miles. This was the one I wanted.

***

We ended up at the Mexican place just up the street. Drew didn’t say a word to me the entire walk there. By the time we placed our orders with the waiter, I was fuming. What the hell was his problem? I could date whoever I wanted. I’m a big girl. He had no right to make me feel bad for going out with Peter.

He was tearing his straw wrapper into little pieces, refusing to make eye contact with me.
That’s it!

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I demanded, a little louder than I intended.

He snapped his head up. “What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing is wrong with me,” I said, my voice wavering.

“Bullshit, Red!” He threw the rest of the straw wrapper down on the table and sat back in his chair. “You show up at the park looking like you haven’t slept. You avoided me all day yesterday, claiming some crap with work. I come to take you to lunch so we can talk and find out that you are dating Peter fucking Russell.”

I didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t wrong. I looked at my hands, fighting the tears that were trying to force their way out. I couldn’t tell him the truth, even though his eyes were begging me to come clean.

I let out a breath. “I had a rough night after I left you. I couldn’t sleep, and I wasn’t feeling great on Saturday. I was trying to shake it on Sunday, which is why I didn’t call you back. I just didn’t want you to worry. Guess that plan didn’t pan out.”

Technically, I told him the truth. I just left out some of the juicier details.

He studied me for a moment. “You sure that’s all it was?”

“Yeah, I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m sorry.”

He didn’t look completely convinced. He ran a hand over his face. “You can tell me anything. You know that, and I always worry about you. Just be straight with me, okay. I thought…”

He stopped talking when the waiter came over with our food. Relief spread though me, and I was thankful for the interruption. As we dug into our food, he seemed to have moved past his line of questioning, or so I thought.

“So, you’re really going out with Russell?” The disgust in his voice was very apparent.

“He asked me to dinner.” I pushed my food around my plate. “He wants me to help decorate his loft.”

Drew scoffed. “Yeah, I’m sure that is all he wants.”

“What is it with you two?”

Drew sighed. “It’s a long story. He’s not a good guy, Red. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I’m a big girl, Drew. I can handle myself.”

Drew narrowed his eyes at me. He was being a bit overprotective. Whatever happened in the past didn’t really matter. People change. Well, hopefully.

Chapter 11

Drew (Then)

After a few weeks, Red and I settled into a routine. Movie night was becoming a regular thing, and sometimes we even remembered to actually watch a movie. We talked, went to parties on campus, and went to dinner or whatever sounded good to us. We were becoming pretty close, although we had a tendency to argue over pretty much everything. We talked to each other about nearly anything, whether the other wanted to hear it or not. Overall, things were good.

After my psych class, I headed to Union Brew to meet up with her. When I walked in, the place was pretty empty. I didn’t see Red right away, but I heard her. Her laugh carried from the back of the brew, and I headed toward it.

“Hey, Re…” I started as I turned the corner, but she was not alone. She was sitting at a small café table with Peter Russell.

They both looked up when they saw me. Russell was wearing an amused expression.

“Hey, Drew!”

“Hey.” I glanced back and forth between them. They were in a public place. She was smiling and laughing and Peter seemed to be at ease and posing no immediate threat, but every instinct in my body was screaming for me to get her away from this guy.

“Oh, sorry, Peter. This is my friend, Drew Collins. Drew, this is Peter Russell.”

He held out a hand to me. “Nice to meet you, man.”

I shook his hand with a firm grip. “You too.”

His smile never faltered, but I think he got my point. I was going to be watching him.

“Collins?” he asked. “Are you related to David Collins?”

“David’s his older brother,” Red answered for me.

“No shit! We are practically family then, man. Sigma Kai.” He gestured to the house letters printed on the front of his shirt.

“Yeah.” I couldn’t come up with a better response. I had a bad feeling about this guy. I never bought into the whole Greek thing. David tried to get me to pledge my freshman year, but I could get into the parties and the access to the sorority girls without the humiliation and ritual sacrifice.

“Well, I have to get to class. I’ll see you Saturday, Alex?” Peter turned his attention back to her.

“Yeah, sounds great.”

Peter got to his feet and clapped me on the back, slightly harder than was necessary. My jaw tightened in response. “It was nice to meet you, Collins.” Dude was seriously trying my patience.

“You too.” I nodded as I took his seat and dropped an arm around Red. His eyes locked on my arm, his jaw tensing as he nodded and turned to head out. I watched until he was out of the Brew before I turned back to Red.

“So, what was that about?” I tried to keep my voice light even though I really wanted to tell her to stay far away from him, but we all know how that would have gone over.

“I just ran into him while I was waiting for you to show up.” She shrugged. “We got to talking and he asked me to dinner Saturday.”

“He asked you out?”

“Yes. Is that so hard to believe?”

“No.” Shit! She was getting pissed. I needed to tread lightly. “Of course not, Red. That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?” She gave me a look that said this better be good.

“Well, you just met the guy.”

“So?”

“You don’t know anything about him. He could be a creep.”

“I can take care of myself.” Her voice softened as she tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear and nudged me with her shoulder.

“I know.” I smiled. “I’m just looking out for you. Tell you what. Sean and I will take you to breakfast on Sunday. You can tell me all about the date. Okay?” I didn’t want this guy anywhere near her, but I wanted to make sure she felt comfortable being open about going out with him so I could keep an eye on him.

She smiled at me. “Okay.”

I reached out and covered her hand with mine. “Can you do one thing for me, though?”

She rolled her eyes and exhaled a long breath. “What?”

“Can you just text me when you get home Saturday? I just want to make sure you get home safely.”

“Drew, I’ll be fi—”

“Humor me?”

She nodded.

I was going to have to call David to see what he found out from Frankie.

***

I called David the next day. “Hey bro.”

“Hey. I was wondering if you had a chance to talk to Frankie about that Russell guy.”

“Oh yeah, Frank said he was an okay guy. Hasn’t caused any real trouble. Kind of a womanizer, though. Says he gets a little aggressive when he has been drinking but hasn’t hurt anyone or anything. Frank said he would keep an eye on him for me, but so far no serious red flags.”

“What do you mean aggressive?”

“Well, maybe aggressive is the wrong word. Persistent, maybe. Frank said when he sees something he likes, he tends to pursue until he gets what he wants.”

“Well, he wants Red.”

“Does she want him?”

“I don’t know, man, but she is going out with him Saturday. He was at the Brew with her yesterday. I just have a bad feeling about this guy.”

“You know she’ll be pissed if you try to interfere. I suggest you keep an eye on him, but from a distance.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, man,” I said. “How’s Mom doing?”

“Not great, Drew.” Sadness crept into his voice. “You might want to make a trip home soon.”

My chest ached. The chemo was not working and the cancer was progressing faster than anticipated. I hated that I was so far away, but Mom insisted that I stay at school. “I will come next weekend. Maybe Sean and Red will come with.”

“That would be good, man. Well, I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Later.”

Sean burst through the door and dropped to the couch next to me as I hung up the phone. “We on for tomorrow?”

“For what?”

“Dude, Sigma Kai kegger,” he said, like I should know what he was talking about. “I told you about it last week. That chick, Mary Anne, invited me, remember?”

“I don’t know, man. I’m not in the mood.” Between the news about Mom and worrying about Red, I was more than a little distracted.

“Come on, I need my wingman. Be the Goose to my Maverick.” He gave me his signature puppy dog look that he has perfected over the years. I swear, the man had pathetic down to a science.

“Okay, I’m in.” I chuckled. Maybe a party was just what I needed to keep my mind off of Red going out with that guy.

***

The party was crazy. Girls were everywhere. The music was loud and I found just the distraction I needed with a gorgeous brunette named Sara. Sara and I had just found a quiet little corner on the porch when I heard someone say, “Pete, you made it.”

I glanced over Sara’s head to see Russell coming up the porch steps. “I thought you were going out with that hot little redhead.”

“Yeah,” he replied. “I just dropped her off. Figured I would come by to check out the action.”

“What’s going on, Drew?” Sara asked. I shushed her. She shot me a pout and crossed her arms.

“You hit it?” the guy asked. I tensed, clenching my teeth.

“It’s in the works, man.” Russell smirked.

“I bet it is.”

“Who’s here?” Russell asked, looking through the open front door.

“The same sorority skanks, but Megan brought that chick Chelsea with her.”

“Really?” Russell asked as he moved his jaw back and forth. “I should go say hi. Wouldn’t want to be rude.” Russell slapped the guy’s hand and headed inside.

I looked back down at Sara, who was pretty pissed about being interrupted. “Hey, let’s go get a drink?” I grabbed her hand and her expression instantly went back to flirty.

“Okay.” She giggled as I led her back into the house.

I felt my phone go off in my pocket and I pulled it out.

Alex: I’m home. Happy?

I shot her back a reply.

Drew: Ecstatic!

I was glad that she was home, but the son of a bitch she went out with was up to something and I was determined to find out what. I pushed my phone back in my pocket and led Sara to the keg. I saw Russell talking to a short blonde and a tall brunette near the bar. The little blonde was hanging on his every word while the brunette seemed less than interested, focusing more on the dance floor than on him, but he was definitely interested in her. He kept touching her arm or her shoulder, and she kept pulling away from him. He was making her uncomfortable, but it wasn’t escalating quite yet.

“Drew,” Sara whined, “I wanna dance.”

I looked down at her, and while she was seriously hot and would probably serve her purpose nicely tonight, I needed to keep an eye on Russell and she was just going to get in my way. I smiled down at her and said, “Not tonight, babe. Not in the mood.” Then I walked away, heading to the bar.

“Asshole!” Sara shouted at me as I retreated into the party. I deserved that one.

I spent the rest of the party watching Russell’s every move. He left the brunette earlier, but never took his eyes off of her. His buddy kept bringing her and her friend shot after shot as the night went on.

When it was obvious both the blonde, who I figured out was Megan, and the brunette, who I assumed was Chelsea, were hammered, Russell made his move. He came up behind Chelsea as she danced in the living room. She waved her arms above her head and hooted as Russell grabbed her hips, moving to the music right along with her.

I mean, it was kind of a dick move to go to dinner with one girl and grind on another at a party that same night, but this was college. It wasn’t like he and Red were in a relationship. For all I knew, the date could have been a dud and he was taking advantage of another opportunity. I figured it was time to give the guy a break and headed to the kitchen to get a beer.

I spent some time talking up this girl named Randi. She pointed out that it was Randi with an “I” like that was a very important detail. From my experience, girls who spell their name with an “I” tend to go down faster than the others, if you get my drift.

I hit pause with Randi with an “I” to head to the bathroom. The two downstairs were occupied, so I went upstairs. Since David had lived in the house, I knew the layout pretty well and knew there was a bathroom in the back of the house up the stairs.

Upstairs was a little quieter compared to the chaos going on downstairs. I reached for the door when I heard a soft, “No,” coming from the room just to the right of the bathroom. I stayed where I was, listening to see if I would hear it again.

“Stop,” the voice said a little louder, but it sounded off. I pressed an ear to the door and could hear the faint sound of rustling, but nothing else. I tried the knob and it was locked. I didn’t know what was going on in there. It could be just a couple hooking up, but something didn’t feel right.

“Don’t touch me,” I heard a girl say. Her voice sounded lazy, like maybe she was drunk or high. That was my cue. I took a few steps back and kicked open the door. I stormed in and saw that Chelsea girl draped on the bed in just a black thong and Russell standing next to her, taking pictures of her naked body. She was half passed out and obviously had had way too much to drink.

“Get the fuck out!” he shouted at me.

I took one look at him and saw red. I took two steps toward him and slammed my fist into his nose, the impact making a sickening crunch noise. He doubled over as blood poured down his face.

Chelsea didn’t move. I draped the comforter over her so she wasn’t so exposed, then grabbed Russell by the collar and dragged him down the stairs and out the front door, dropping him, dazed and bloody, on the front lawn.

A crowd started to gather out on the front porch after seeing me drag him out of the house. I leaned in close to him and he retreated.

“If I ever see you come anywhere near that girl up there, and especially Alex, I will kill you. You got that, you son of a bitch.”

I turned and headed back into the house and saw Frankie looking at me, trying to figure out what happened. I walked right up to him. “Hey, man. I’m going to need your help.” Frankie nodded and followed me up the stairs to where I left Chelsea on the bed.

After explaining what I saw to Frankie, he helped me get her dressed and we found her friend, Megan, who wasn’t in such great shape herself. We were able to at least find out where they lived.

I got down to find Chelsea’s other shoe and saw the camera the douche had used. I picked it up and scrolled through the pictures. There were at least three other girls on there in addition to Chelsea. I handed it to Frankie, who flipped through a few of the photos and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. Frankie was the president of the fraternity. This was not going to be an easy thing for him to deal with. He would have to deal with a hell of a lot of fallout if this got out.