Staying on Course (25 page)

At this statement, I lose all control, wailing into the empty room.

“Okay, big boy, don’t have a conniption. I haven’t even looked at my phone today. Let me get it.” She reaches around, and I watch his hand grab the phone off the table.”

His face fills the screen and twists hard. His eyes slice to the side, and his voice fills with fear and fury at the same time.

“Why in the motherfucking hell is the Facetime on Devon’s number for the last nine minutes?”

“Oh my God, no!” Nicole screeches, and Dani yelps.

“Bryce, what are you talking about?” Liza sidles up to his side, staring straight into the screen.

“What have you done?” he asks her but holds the phone to his face. “Devon, baby, are you there? Please answer. No matter what you heard, I can explain.”

“What the hell is that smell?” Nate’s voice startles me. He stops in the doorway and looks around. His eyes find mine and instantly cloud in fury.

I reach over and hit the end button and then look back to my brother.

“What the fucking hell is going on,” he yells, coming in.

“B-b-b-ryce cheated on me with Liza last night.”

“What? Who told you that?”

“Nicole confirmed she walked into her living room with both of them naked and saw Liza on her knees. And there’s pictures of them in bed together.” I shake my phone in the air.

The anger on his face turns furious, but what it doesn’t do is look surprised. He fists his hands and turns to the door. I notice for the first time a gorgeous brunette standing there. When she looks at me, there’s pity and sympathy.

“Oh my God,” I jump up, realizing I have vomit on my clothes and in my hair. “Oh, God, I’m so embarrassed,” I sob then scream in frustration. In my rambling, I tell them about the call and all the things Liza’s ever said to me. The temptation on deployments, the on-ship trysts, comments about being a Navy wife… all of it.

“Where is he?” Nate fumes when I stop to catch my breath.

“At some bar with Dani, Nicole, Liza, and Tommy. Liza had his phone.”

He starts shaking but takes a deep breath and looks at me with pure brotherly love. “I’m going to find him. Remember, he doesn’t know you’re here. If you want, I’ll keep him away and get you a hotel room.”

“No, she can stay with me. No one can find her there. I’ll take care of her.” Jamie’s sweet voice breaks me apart even more.

She walks over and takes my hand. “Let’s get you cleaned up, okay?”

I nod. Before Nate walks out, he kisses both of us on the forehead and whispers, “I’ll take care of this.”

Jamie leads me to the bathroom and helps me out of my ruined clothes and into a hot shower. If I wasn’t numb, I’d be mortified. Blindly, I go through the motions of washing, drying, and changing into my sweats. She starts to lay me on Bryce’s bed, but I whimper, and she seems to understand. Gently, she guides me to my brother’s room and pulls back his covers.

I lay down, tears streaming down my face. She disappears and comes back with two shots of something dark, a glass of water, and an aspirin.

“Here you go.” She hands me a shot glass and raises her own.

The whiskey burns but helps the buzzing in my head. My stomach lurches in protest until she hands me the water to chase it down.

“I can’t believe this is the way I meet my brother’s girlfriend.”

Her cheeks turn pink as she gives me another sweet smile.

“Don’t mention it again. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”

Suddenly, the past hour hits me, and my heart physically crumbles. I cover my face with my hands and scream until my voice is hoarse. She crawls in and cradles me to her, rocking us both as I fall to pieces. I don’t know how long she holds me, but I finally pass out from the pain and shock. My last thought is that Bryce has managed to crush me for the second time in my life.

Warmth surrounds me, and I snuggle closer, breathing in the undeniable scent of Bryce. His arms tighten so hard that I start to take off my sweatshirt. Then it all comes crashing back to me, and I bite my tongue to hold back the tears.

His hands rub up and down my back, and his chest vibrates against my cheek. He lowers his head and kisses my head over and over again. When he moves to my temple, his teardrops wet my skin. It kills me, but I remain still, faking sleep.

“Please, baby, wake up and let me explain.” His voice cracks. “God, I need you to wake up. I’m dying here.”

There’s a knock at the door, and he stiffens. I hear the muffled sound of my brother’s voice.

“We need to talk.”

“Not fucking now, Nate. I’m not leaving her until she wakes up.”

“Jamie will sit with her. We need to discuss this now. You owe it to me and to her.”

“No—”

“Not gonna ask you again. I’ll drag your ass out of here, and that will definitely wake her up.”

“Bryce, I’ll be right here,” Jamie says, laying her hand on my shoulder.

Without another word, Bryce slides from under me and rolls me into another pair of waiting arms. A chill runs up my spine when he transfers me. The second the door shuts, Jamie speaks.

“You okay?”

I wipe my hair out of my face and roll over, looking up at her. “How’d you know I was awake?”

“Woman’s intuition.”

I recognize the pictures on the nightstand and realize we’re in Bryce’s room.

“He moved you to his bed the second he stormed in the door,” she tells me without my asking. “Nate let it slip you were here when he found him. From what I heard, he broke every speeding law to get here, scared you’d left.”

Loud voices come through the door, and I strain forward to listen. As if she reads my mind again, she goes to the door and cracks it open. We both crouch down next to the opening.

“I’ve calmed down, but I’m going to ask you once again WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?” my brother is enraged.

“Nothing!”

“It doesn’t sound like nothing! You weren’t here. You didn’t see her. Saying she was a wreck is an understatement. Something was said, something fucking whacked. She not only looked tweaked, she looked dead, like she was literally dying.”

“Jesus, what the fuck did I do?”

“That’s what I keep asking.
What did you do?”

“Nothing, I swear. I was trying to be nice. I’m always trying to be nice. Liza took it the wrong way. I had no idea what she had planned. This is a fucking disaster.” Bryce sounds resigned, and I feel him hurting.

“I’m waiting to hear, man, and losing the last shred of patience I have. It will suck, but I’ll knock your ass to the ground again if you don’t start talking.”

There’s a loud sigh, and I can picture Bryce running his hands up and down his face. “I think I need to talk to Devon first. She deserves to hear it from me.”

“Listen, you’re my brother. You know this. I’ve told you for months to shut that bitch down. It’s obvious to everyone but you, and now she’s caused pain to someone I love more than anything. You didn’t hear it, but from the first time that cunt spoke to Devon, she’s been planting seeds of doubt.”

I suck in a deep breath while Nate tells him about my breakdown last night. Jamie holds my hand and gives me a weak grin I can’t return.

“She told her she wasn’t cut out to be a Navy wife? She told her I’d cheat? Why the fuck didn’t Devon talk to me?”

“She trusted you and didn’t want to let Liza think there were holes in your relationship. Now, Liza’s cut her deep, regardless of what you did or didn’t do.”

A chair scrapes across the floor, then there’s the unmistakable slamming of a fist through a wall. Glass falls and shatters, and the anger in the room seeps through the whole house.

“I’m handling this shit. Watch Devon. Don’t let her leave. I’ll be back in an hour.”

The front door opens, and Nate yells, “Stop! Bryce, I’m coming with you. Furious or not, I’m not going to let you ruin your career.”

At his words, I scatter to my feet and try to rush out to stop him. Jamie’s hands grip mine. “Nate’s got him,” she tries to reassure me.

The door slams, and I slump down and fall back in bed. “What time is it?”

“Five am.”

“Nate is supposed to be at work.”

“He switched shifts.”

“What a mess. I’ve ruined everyone’s New Year’s.”

“Not really.” She looks away, and her cheeks turn pink. “There’s something uber-sexy about a man who will drop everything for his sister.”

I cough out a small snicker that turns into a loud laugh. After about ten seconds, I’m sobbing again. She leans in and lets me cry on her shoulder until I’m gasping for breath.

“You don’t know me, but Bryce is the love of my life, and he cheated on me.”

“I don’t think he did,” she says soothingly. “That man doesn’t strike me as a cheater.”

“You should’ve heard what they were saying.”

“I don’t have to hear them. I saw the devastation they caused.”

“What do you mean?” I back away and catch her eyes.

“I shouldn’t judge. I don’t even know them well.”

“How is that? Nate mentioned you guys don’t hang out.”

“I’m not sure. The one time we talked about hanging with his friends, he said we’d plan something soon. He was elusive, withdrawn about the whole thing. I assumed he got sick of being with the same people all the time. The only one he ever talks about is Bryce. That’s why we’ve met. And I’ve heard all about you.”

Nate’s face at Christmas flashes in my mind, when I walked out and threw the coats at them, irate about Liza. He wasn’t aggravated with me. He was repulsed. Then in the truck yesterday and when he found me last night, he wasn’t shocked. His words from a few minutes ago replay in my head.

“I’ve told you for months to shut that bitch down. It’s obvious to everyone but you, and now she’s caused pain to someone I love more than anything.”

“Nate knew. That’s why he shields you. He didn’t trust them.”

“From the little bit he told me last night, he doesn’t trust a few of them. I think the guys are fine, but the women make him uncomfortable.”

“Wish like shit Bryce picked up on that.”

“I do too, hun. I do too. But after last night, I don’t care if I ever meet them.”

We sit in silence, and I rub my chest where it aches. There’s a ringing in the other room, and Jamie gets up. She talks low so I can’t hear. When she comes back, she sits next to me and gives me an encouraging grin.

“Nate’s on his way back. He’s going to get his clothes and take me home. According to him, you and Bryce need some privacy, but I’m not sure he’s right. Your call. You want us to stay, I’ll insist.”

“I don’t know what I want. Well, that’s not true. I wish like hell the last day didn’t happen.”

“I’ll put my number on the kitchen counter. You need me, I can be here in less than ten minutes.”

“Thank you, Jamie.”

She hugs me loosely then leaves me alone without another word. I curl into a ball on the bed and cry, knowing that even if nothing happened, Liza may have irreparably damaged my relationship.

*****

I wake feeling watched. Sunlight streams through slits in the blinds, and the clock reads eight am. I turn and find Bryce sitting in a chair in his bedroom doorway. One hand holds a glass filled with whiskey, and the other hand holds the bottle. I rake my eyes over him, taking in his slouched posture and wrinkled clothes. His face is pale and emotionless, sending a chill down my spine. I sit up slowly, watching him close.

He takes a sip of the whiskey and then leans forward, putting his elbows on his knees.

“Go ahead and ask me.” His voice is so cold; I don’t recognize it.

“Did you sleep with Liza?”

“Biblically, no. Physically, yes.”

Pain twists in my chest.

“Did she give you a blow job?”

“She tried.”

“Were you naked?”

“She was. I was wearing boxers.”

I nod, not knowing if I can take much more. My stomach rolls, threatening upheaval again.

He drains his glass and pours more. When he finally locks eyes with me, I cover my mouth and whimper. His gaze traps mine but not in the loving desirable way I’m accustomed to. Instead, his eyes are hollow and empty.

“The bitch fucked me. I tried to be kind, understanding, supportive. She seemed lost and needed a friend. She’s known about you from day one, always knowing you held my heart. Somewhere after OCS, she got the idea in her head I was a roamer. Apparently, from experience with her dad, she thought all men strayed.

“I never led her on. But looking back, the signs were there. After the Shawn situation, she seemed to be around more, getting closer to Nicole and always invading the guy’s nights. Even though she never blatantly came right out and did anything, she was slowly setting me up.”

“How?”

“I’m a fucking idiot, Devon, but you need to hear something before I tell you the rest. Can you trust me on this? I don’t deserve your trust but give it to me one last time.”

I nod, and he takes out his phone, presses a number and growls, “Now!”

He switches to speaker, and Dani’s broken voice comes across. “Devon, it’s Dani. I’m so sorry you overheard what you did. Liza embellished the whole story, and now, I know why. I was at Tommy and Nicole’s, and nothing happened. Liza tried hard. She was pathetic in her attempts to seduce Bryce, but it didn’t work.”

A single tear slides down Bryce’s cheek. “Tell her the rest.”

“Bryce was drunk, like really drunk. Liza had been telling us girls all night that she’d finally broken through and he admitted how he felt about her. Said he called her beautiful and talented. She was happy he finally saw the real her. She was pretty convincing. During the night, she found a way to keep taking pictures with him, even falling on his lap for a shot. When Tommy announced Bryce was staying the night because he couldn’t drive, Nicole went to get the air mattress. Liza went with her, and she was glowing, her intentions clear.

“I knew it wasn’t right, so I stopped drinking and pretended to sleep on the couch. When everyone went to bed, Liza thought I was passed out, but I saw and heard everything. She laid on top of Bryce, and he called out your name. She got pissed but then started kissing him. He didn’t really participate but pecked her a few times and rolled over. During the night, he stripped to his boxers and Liza got naked.”