To Love Jason Thorn (37 page)

We settled down in our seats and the
waiting game started.

After four hours, Jameson was out of
surgery.

After those same four hours, there was
still no call from Jason.

***

At 5:30 AM, I was using Lucy’s key to
get into the apartment, and I was doing some major praying and begging to
anyone that was listening up there that I wouldn’t come face to face with
Charlotte or Marcus. When I managed to sneak into Lucy’s room without waking
anyone up, I sighed a breath of relief. I didn’t actually know if anyone was
home, but to be on the safe side, I tried my best not to make any noise and
packed up a change of clothes for both Lucy and me. I left the building just as
quietly as I had come in.

At that moment, I was more worried about
not hearing back from Jason. At first, I’d thought maybe he was angry at me for
not letting him know I was leaving with Lucy, but then I thought maybe he
wasn’t angry at all but just couldn’t come to the hospital because everyone
would recognize him. I also thought that was a lame excuse.

But then, why wouldn’t he call me back?
Why wouldn’t he respond to any of my voicemails? Had something happened back at
the club that I wasn’t aware of?

Maybe an earthquake had hit?

When I made it back to the hospital,
Lucy was sitting exactly where I had left her.

“Any word from the doctors?” I asked as
I put down the small bag on the seat in between us.”

“Still in ICU. They’ll let me know when
I can see him. I left voicemails for a few of his friends, I’m sure they’ll get
down here as soon they get it.”

“His family?”

She shook her head and finally looked at
me. She looked better than before, but I could see that she was struggling to
sit up straight. What a cluster fuck of a night for both of us.

“He has an aunt and a grandma, but they
live in Florida. I’m not sure if they’ll be up for the travel. I’ll let him
call them himself. Why didn’t you change your clothes back at the apartment?”

“Wasn’t sure if anyone was home.” I gave
her a half-shrug and tightened my hand on the bag’s handle. “Didn’t want to
risk waking them up with the noise.”

She nodded and turned her head to the
nurses station. I rubbed my eyes and rose up from my seat. “Come on, we stick
out like a sore thumb in these dresses. We’ll be back in a minute.”

I guided a reluctant Lucy toward the
restrooms and quickly changed into more comfortable clothes. While the leggings
and flats were actually my own stuff I had left at the apartment when I was
moving, the baseball tee was hers and it sat a little too snug on my chest.

“How are my leggings not cutting off at
your knees?” Lucy asked once she was done changing.

“They’re not yours,” I explained with a
smile. “Some of mine. I must have left them behind.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Lucy, you don’t look so good. How about
you rest your eyes for a few minutes while I wait to hear back from the
doctor?” She linked her arm with mine and we walked back to our seats.

“You don’t look so fine either,” she
pointed out.

“Thanks. How kind of you,” I said in a
flat tone and she gave me a small chuckle. I’d take that one, too. “Come on, if
the doctor comes out, I’ll wake you.”

Once we reached our seats, Lucy noticed
a doctor wearing scrubs talking to a middle-aged woman and her hand tightened
on my arm.

“It’s not the same doctor, don’t worry,”
I said, patting her hand. It didn’t escape my notice that the woman was crying
a bucket of tears.

“Thank you for coming with me, Olive,”
she said again as we sat back down.

“Where else would I be?”

She took a good look at me, then rested
her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes. “I bet by the time I wake up Jason
will call. Here, take this.” Reaching for her pocket, she handed me her phone.
“It’s on vibrate so keep it on you.”

“Thanks,” I said, turning the phone over
and over in my hands.

In a few minutes, she was out like a
light. While Lucy slept on my shoulder, the waiting room filled and emptied
several times. None of the voices disturbed her sleep.

Early in the morning, when the doc came
to take her back to Jameson’s room, she almost looked like her normal self.

I chose to wait in the waiting room for
a while longer. A few minutes after she left, her phone started going crazy
with notifications in my hand. Thinking it was either Jason or one of Jameson’s
friends, I swiped at the screen.

Busted!!! Is It Already ‘The End’ for Our Favorite Newlyweds?

Last night, Jason Thorn and his blushing bride
attended the opening of Jason’s friend Devlin Parker’s nightclub, Mad Play.
Until now all we’ve heard from several sources close to the couple is that they
are intensely happy and in love. Do you remember those set photos we shared
only a few days ago where Jason was carrying Olive to their trailer? Well,
folks, seems like there is trouble in paradise.

We got these photos from an anonymous source who
was in the nightclub while the incident occurred and managed to capture Jason
Thorn getting cozy with a blonde who is most definitely not his wife. As you
can see in the first photo, the girl is sitting on his lap and whispering into
his ear while his head is resting on the wall.

While the couple was pictured together entering
the club, at this moment we don’t know when Olive Taylor left the hunky actor
alone. It appears that not all is well with Hollywood’s latest favorite couple.

Let’s face it, none of us would mind sharing a
bed with Jason Thorn, but we were over the moon about his marriage to the
bestselling author, Olive Taylor. Their love story, the book, Jason being her first
crush…our point is, we were definitely rooting for Olive to steal Jason’s heart
for good. However, these recently leaked photos showed us again that a
Hollywood marriage does not equal long-lasting wedded bliss.

We all know how the saying goes: ‘A leopard
can’t change its spots.’ Maybe the fate of this short marriage was sealed from
the very beginning. What do you think?

So far, Jason Thorn’s PR team is refusing to
make any comments on the photos and we are still trying to locate Olive Taylor
to get her side of the story.

“You need to wake up, man.”

Was that Devlin? What the hell was he
doing at my house? “What?” I croaked, trying to push through the fog and open
my eyes. “What are you doing here?”

Fingers snapped in front of my face, and
then I heard Alvin’s voice. “Do you think we should call a doctor?”

“Alvin? What the fuck?”

I forced my eyes open and had to close
them right back when the bright lights pierced into my brain. I groaned and
covered my face with my hands. “Somebody shut off the fucking lights!”

“It’s daylight boss, I don’t think we
can shut that off.”

Shielding my eyes with my hand, I
squinted up at Alvin’s worried face, then looked around. I was lying on a
couch… I jolted up and that brought all kinds of pain to my head.

Jesus! How many drinks did I have
last night?

“Where are we?” I croaked.

“In my suite,” said Devlin with a
suffering sigh as he handed me a bottle of cold water.

“Thanks,” I mumbled. I drank the whole
thing to the last drop and dropped the bottle on floor. When I was done, I
cleared my throat and looked around at my surroundings again. “Why are we in
your suite?”

Devlin glanced at Alvin.

“Fuck,” I cursed, dropping my head into
my hands. “My head is pounding. What time is it, Alvin? Am I late to set?”

“Jason,” Devlin said in a serious tone.

“Yeah? Didn’t you ever heard of blinds,
you little bastard?”

“How do you feel, Jason?” he asked
instead of giving me an answer.
Shit.
I was seconds away from vomiting
all over their shoes.

“Brutal. I suggest you point me in the
direction of the bathroom. Right now.”

When I was done puking my guts out, I
felt worse than I had when I’d woken up, if that was even possible.

I stumbled out of the bathroom. “Alvin,
what time is it?”

“Sit the fuck down for a minute,” Devlin
barked.

“Keep your damn voice down for fuck’s
sake. What the hell did you give me to drink last night anyway?”

“I didn’t give you a damn thing, Jason.”

I plopped down on the couch again and
started massaging my temples. Alvin was still hovering around, but Devlin sat
right across from me. He didn’t look any better than I did.

Frowning, I turned to Alvin. “Where’s
Olive?”

“Look,” Devlin cut in before Alvin could
say anything. “Look, Jason. You’re in trouble. Hell, I’m in trouble.”

“Explain,” I ordered, steeling myself.
If he had done anything to Olive, if he had said anything to upset her—

“I’ve been questioning my staff, the
ones that came in contact with you in the club. And— ”

“Why?”

“Shut up and listen. We think someone
spiked your drink.”

“What?” I thundered and scrambled up to
my feet. “Where is Olive, Alvin?” I yelled, ignoring my brain cursing me for
the quick movement.

“We don’t know, boss,” Alvin answered
quietly.

“What the fuck do you mean you don’t
know? Her friends? Where are they? Ask them.”

“Look,” Devlin started again, and I took
a step forward. If he said look one more time, I was punching his goddamned
face.

“I was late last night. When I finally
made it to the club and Devlin escorted me up to your private room, I found you
being a little too friendly with one of Olive’s friends,” Alvin explained,
stealing the words from Devlin’s mouth. “I don’t know what happened, but I know
you wouldn’t cheat on Olive. Not like that.”

My eyes widened in shock. I raked my
hands through my hair and turned to Alvin. Devlin was sitting with his head
bowed, quiet.

“Are you fucking with me? Fuck! I
wouldn’t. Never. I didn’t. Damn it!” I growled as I picked up a vase that was
on the table close to me and threw it at the wall, bleakly watching it shatter
into pieces.

“What did you see? What was I doing?” I
asked through gritted teeth. I was trying to speak calmly.

“She was in your lap, man.”

Goddammit!

I started pacing and when the wall was
right in front of me…I just punched it.

It seemed like a good idea in that
moment. With the fury building inside me, I could’ve brought down the whole
building down just with my hands.

Ignoring my bloody knuckles, I slowly
walked back to the couch and sat down. My heart was racing out of my damn
chest.

“Please explain,” I finally said when my
breathing was under control and I didn’t feel like killing anyone and everyone.

Alvin sat down on the other end of the
couch, keeping his eyes on me the entire time. “I don’t know much, Jason.
That’s how we found you. Don’t you remember anything? She was in your lap and
you were making out, I assume. I don’t know, man. Maybe not? Her hands were all
over you and you were just sitting there dazed.”

“Which one?”

“Which one, what?”

“Which one of her friends?” I gritted
between my teeth.

He glanced at Devlin so I lifted my head
to look at him, too. “Lily,” Devlin said after thinking about it for a minute.
“I remember Olive introducing her as Lily. One of the blondes.”

“No one was in the room?”

“Just you two. Could she be the one who
spiked your drink? Because none of my staff would do something like that. I
handpick them, you know that. And even if they could, why would they?”

“She is Olive’s friend for fuck’s sake,
why would she do something like that?”

“Exactly how much do you remember?”
Alvin asked again.

I thought about it. What the hell
did
I remember? I remembered going up to the private room with Olive. I remembered
kissing her, wanting to do much more to her than just kissing. I could still
feel her lips on mine, her hands in my hair. She always trembled when I kissed
her, as if my touch sent small shock waves into her body, and I loved drinking
it all down. I simply loved being near her, touching her…

I shook my head.

“Not much. I don’t remember Olive
leaving. I remember talking to Lucy and Lily, but that’s it. Did you call her?”

Alvin grimaced, and I hated it. “We
couldn’t find your phone, but her handbag was next to you, and her phone was in
it. But,” he added hastily before I could explode all over again. “I called
Lucy. She isn’t answering right now, but I’ll keep calling. Don’t worry,
Jason.”

“Tell him the rest,” Devlin said darkly.

“What rest?” I glanced between them.

Another grimace. This one was worse. If
I never saw Alvin grimace like that ever again, it would be too soon.

“Someone leaked photos of you and the
girl. Every media outlet is running with the story of you cheating on Olive.”