Eruption (The Hunted Series Book 3) (17 page)

"And what is Melissa going to say about that?" I
asked. "She won't even speak to me."

"James came around. She will too."

I sighed. "Not fast enough. I need her right now."

"I know. I'm sorry about the timing of all this."
He scratched the back of his neck.

"It's not your fault."

"Well, it kind of is. Apparently I talk about you too
much." He smiled at me. "But we always have the best stories.
Remember the fall cricket fiasco? How can I not talk about that?"

I started laughing. "That was the best. I mean,
horrible, but hilarious." His neighbor had kept blasting music at all
hours of the night. So we had gone to the pet store and bought tons of
crickets. For some reason Tyler knew how to pick locks. He said it was a
fraternity thing. The plan was to release them in his neighbor's apartment. But
the bag had a hole in it and the crickets escaped all over Tyler's apartment
instead. It took him weeks to catch them all. And for the longest time
afterwards we'd still hear chirping noises and go on cricket searching missions
on Friday nights.

"It's like my go to party story."

"It's a great story."

He shrugged. "Melissa hates it."

I shifted in my seat. "Do you think you could try to get
her to freak out about this after the wedding?"

"I've tried talking to her. I can't believe she didn't
come with you to this. She's your freaking maid of honor."

At least he understood.

"Not that I minded stepping up." He gave me a small
smile. "And I think you should tell me what's really bothering you. On top
of your two best friends banging."

I laughed and pulled the picture out of my purse. I needed to
talk this through with someone. Tyler was my friend. If Melissa wasn't around,
I was allowed to go to him for help. "Isabella's been sending me pictures,
trying to freak me out or something."

"She's so insane."

"I know. And I know that's all this is. But I can't help
but think it's something more." I put the picture down on the table.

"What the fuck?" Tyler picked it up. He looked
really mad.

"She came by the office the other day. He told me she
wanted to be friends or something. But he said he told her to leave us alone.
This has to be from that day. Do you think it looks like she surprised him?
Like, does it look like he's kissing her back?"

Tyler's jaw was clenched. He didn't say anything.

I laughed, but that didn't seem to make Tyler look any less
pissed. "You're supposed to be calming me down, Tyler."

He put the picture back down on the table.

"I mean, I know his hands are on her back. But maybe
they were hugging goodbye. Isabella loves making scenes. He has to act a
certain way around her so she won't freak out."

"He had to kiss her?" he asked.

"No. But I mean, maybe she just kissed him?"

Tyler lowered his eyebrows. "Yeah, maybe. Have you asked
him about it?"

"He's away for his bachelor party all weekend. And the
guys took his phone." I wasn't going to get into that whole fiasco. Those
were all the details Tyler needed to know about that.

Tyler shook his head. "You said pictures? Are there
more?"

"There were some of him with this girl he dated in high
school. She was hugging him and he was going into her house. But I know it was
kind of a rocky breakup. Maybe he just needed closure, you know? Before we tie
the knot? I mean, that's definitely a thing people do, right?" I sounded
pathetic.

Tyler sighed. "I...I don't know what you want me to
say."

"Tell me it's going to be okay. Tell me Isabella is just
messing with my head. There's an explanation for all of this. He's just not
here to tell me. And I feel like she knows that. She could have sent me this
picture earlier this week. She chose now to do it. She's manipulative and
crazy."

"She's definitely crazy. And it's going to be
okay." He sounded so sincere, but I didn't really believe him. His eyes
gave him away. He looked mad.

"You think he cheated on me, don't you?"

Tyler shook his head and grabbed my hand. "No, he
wouldn't do that. You're getting married in one week. James loves you.
Everything is going to be fine." He squeezed my hand. "It's going to
be okay."

I took a deep breath. His voice was soothing. I wasn't sure
if he believed what he was saying, but it was nice to hear.

Tyler let go of my hand when the waitress came back over with
our food. "Do you know where Isabella lives?" he asked as soon as the
waitress left.

"No. Why, do you want to unleash hundreds of crickets
into her apartment?"

"It's not a terrible idea." He took a bite of his
sandwich. "Do you have her number?"

I shook my head. "This is really good," I said
after I took my first bite.

"Mhm. What's Rachel's last name?"

"I don't know. And Tyler, I don't want you to do
anything about it. I just needed someone to talk to."

"But maybe we should..."

"Nope."

"Or we could..."

"No."

He laughed. "Okay. I guess I'm not a great girlfriend.
I'm used to trying to fix things, not just listen."

"You're such a boy. But don't worry, you're a fantastic
girlfriend too."

He laughed again. "Well, actually, I could use some
advice too. I think I'm going to ask Melissa to be my girlfriend. It could help
smooth things out between you guys too."

"I don't want you to do that just so she's ready to be
my maid of honor again."

"No, that's not it. I really like her. And I think
mainly she's just upset because I won't commit, you know? But I think I'm ready
for that. I'm ready to grow up."

"Ugh, growing up is so overrated."

He smiled. I could see it in his eyes. He did like her. It
was so nice seeing him happy. But I still felt compelled to ask.

"So, you do really like her?"

"Yeah. She's so easy to hang out with. When she's not
mad at me that is. We became really good friends after you moved here. Our
relationship progressed so naturally. And she's beautiful. And so smart. And
she's incredibly passionate." He immediately looked down at his food. His
face looked a little red. "Yeah, it's still weird talking about this with
you."

"A little." I laughed. I wasn't sure I wanted to hear
about my two best friends' passionate lovemaking.

"Okay, let's just agree to be friends that talk about
everything except for our sex lives." He put his hand out for me to shake.

"Deal."

"Um, so, I was thinking I'd surprise her after work.
With some flowers or something. And ask her officially. Hopefully she won't
want to move out either. I've gotten used to waking up next to her." He
looked a little embarrassed again.

"I think she'll love that."

"Yeah?"

I nodded. I knew this would mean my relationship with Tyler
would change. It would be different with Melissa too. But if it meant they were
both happy, then I was happy too. I could adjust. The past few weeks I had
handled so much change. I could handle one more thing.

"Well, she gets off in about half an hour. I should
probably get going. If you're okay?"

"I'm good."

"You sure?"

"Go ask my best friend to be your girlfriend."

He stood up and pulled out his wallet.

"It's my turn." I shooed him.

He smiled. "See you later, Penny."

"Bye, Tyler." I watched him leave the restaurant.
It was probably the last time I'd hang out with him one on one. He probably
knew it too.

I sighed and looked down at my half eaten sandwich. Maybe I
should go try to confront Isabella. I didn't want her to think she could
intimidate me. Even if she had. I didn't want to give her the satisfaction. She
was just messing with me.

Ian probably knew where she lived. It was just a question of
whether or not he would take me there. I grabbed my phone and texted Ian to
pick me up at the diner.

In a few minutes I saw the car pull up outside. I quickly
paid the bill and walked out of the restaurant. Ian opened up the car door for
me. Before he could ask me where I wanted to go, I climbed into the car. I
couldn't make eye contact with him when he asked.

When he got into the car, he lowered the partition.
"Where to, Penny?"

I looked out the window. "Can you take me to
Isabella's?" I kept my eyes glued on the window, despite the awkward
silence that greeted my ears.

"Sorry. What's her last name?"

"Hunter." I turned toward the front of the car.
Luckily I only had to look at him through the rearview mirror because I was
starting to feel sweaty.

"I don't..." He cleared his throat. "I don't
think I'm supposed to take you there."

He wasn't supposed to take me there?
God, James.
Had
he seriously told Ian where he could and could not take me? I didn't want to
lie to Ian, and I certainly didn't want to get him in trouble. But I needed him
to take me to Isabella's. "I have lunch plans with her. I don't want to be
late."

Ian glanced out the window at the diner that I had just come
out of.

Crap. Why am I such a terrible liar?
I was even worse
when I was angry. I tended to speak before I thought it out.

"Penny, I'm going to take you home."

"Ian, please. I need to talk to her."

"James doesn't want you to be in contact with her."

Why? Because he doesn't want me to catch them making out?
I swallowed hard. That wasn't fair. It was just a picture. There was so much
behind a captured image. I looked down at my hands. "What, did he give you
a list of places where I'm not allowed to go or something?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss that with you."

I spent a lot of time with Ian. Whenever I was in the car
with him, I usually lowered the partition and chatted with him. I considered
him to be a friend. But he wasn't. He was polite and courteous to me because
James paid him to be. Ian wasn't my friend. He wasn't even my employee, he was
James'.

"Okay," I said and looked back out the window. I
felt like a petulant child. James had a way of making me feel like that. But he
was right. I shouldn't be going to see Isabella. There would never be a reason
for me to go see her. Ever.

***

I got out of the car without saying anything and walked
toward the front of the apartment building.

"Penny, I'm sorry."

I turned around and looked at Ian.

I shrugged. "If you're not allowed to take me there,
then you're not allowed to take me. It's fine."

"Look, I'll take you if you really want to go. James
doesn't have to know." He stared at me, wanting to know if I'd keep the
secret. He was putting his neck out for me. Maybe he thought of me as more of a
friend than I realized.

"No, that's okay. James knows best, right?" I gave
him a small smile.

"You really don't want to see her anyway. Trust me. She's
not...nice."

He knows her? I hadn't even thought about it before.
"Did you work for James when they were still married?"

Ian nodded. "Yeah, he even kept me on the payroll when
he went to teach at the University of New Castle for a year. So that I wouldn't
have to keep my job with Isabella. We didn't get along very well. He probably
did it because he knew Isabella would fire me." He laughed.

"He knew he was only staying there for a year?" I
asked as nonchalantly as possible.

"Well, I mean, he came back before a year so I had to
start back up again a few months early. With you." He smiled. "But,
yeah, he said he'd be back in a year when he left."

James had told me he was taking a break by teaching. He had
never put a date on it though. He had never told me that his plan was always to
come back to New York. I thought we had decided to make our fresh start here
together. I had that same eerie feeling that I had when we had just met. That
he was the hunter and I was the prey. I folded my arms across my chest, suddenly
cold. Why did it feel like I still didn't know him?

"Are you okay?" he asked.

I had gotten lost in my thoughts. I nodded my head and
smiled. "Yeah. I'm just feeling a bit tired. I'm going to go take a
nap."

He nodded.

I walked into the building. The wave of air conditioning made
me shiver. It was freezing. It felt like I was in the middle of a New York
winter.

"Penny!" Cliff called as I made me way to the
elevator. "I have a package for you."

Oh God.
But when I turned around, it was a box sitting
on the counter, not another manila envelope. I let a sigh escape from my lips
as I walked over to Cliff and lifted up the box. "Thanks, Cliff."

As I stepped onto the elevator, I looked down at the box. My
momentary relief completely evaporated. It was addressed like the last envelope
had been, with just my name and no address. The elevator dinged. I
absentmindedly walked into our apartment. My heart was racing. I set the box
down on the counter. I had this weird, all consuming fear that there was going
to be a bloody limb in the box. Part of me wanted to laugh it off, but the
other half of me was wondering just how crazy Isabella really was. She followed
James to Rachel's. She had gotten someone to take pictures of her in James'
office in order to capture her kissing him.

I shouldn't look in the box.
But it was like I had no
control over my body. I tore off the brown paper and looked down at the
shoebox. There was a post-it note on top of the lid:

He's not good at forever. His words are as empty as the
promises he can't possibly keep because his love is as fleeting as his
addictions.

James talked about a forever with me before he had even
officially divorced Isabella. He jumped into a life with me head first. But it
was because he had never experienced something so real before. It didn't matter
what Isabella said about Rachel. He loved me more than he ever loved her. And
he definitely loved me more than he loved Isabella. James kept his promises to
me. Always. He was good at forever because he was my forever.