Left Together (12 page)

Focusing
all my attention on her, I didn’t see Kyle standing in front of me until I take
another step and end up walking right into him. “No,” he says firmly.

“Excuse
me?” I say, confused.

“No.
You aren’t going over there. Not now.” What the fuck is he talking about?

“Why
not?”

“Because,
for the first time in days, my girlfriend is finally happy. I’m not going to
let anyone screw that up, especially you.”

“Get
the fuck out of my way, Kyle.”

“Look,
I don’t want to start anything with you. Kacie just got home a few hours ago
and said she needed to go out. We tried to talk her out of coming here, but she
wouldn’t listen. I didn’t want to be the one to tell you this, but she didn’t
exactly come here to see you.”

“What
the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“She
came here to prove to herself she can move on.”

Move
on? He has to have it wrong. Kacie wouldn’t come all the way to Skyline to do
that. I try to step around him, but he moves to block me again. “I’m not going
to ask you to get out of my way again,” I warn.

“Evan,
if you care about Kacie, even just a little bit, you will leave her alone
tonight. You will put her feelings ahead of your own. Let her work through
whatever it is she has going on in her head. Let her and Jade have a few drinks
together without causing a scene and making someone upset. I don’t give a shit
if you go talk to her tomorrow. Just, please, let them both have tonight.”

I look
over at Kacie, who hasn’t even noticed me. She’s smiling. Maybe not the way she
normally does, but she’s smiling. Knowing how close she is and not being able
to go to her is probably more painful than hearing she left in the first place.
“Did you stop me for Kacie, or was it for Jade?” I ask, without taking my eyes
off of the only girl I’ll ever love.

“I’m
doing exactly what you would be doing if our roles were reversed.” If that was
the case, I’d be doing it for both of them. Those two are a package deal. You
can’t love one without the other.

“Did
Kacie ask you to keep me away from her?”

“Not
at all. She actually told us to stay away from you.”

Unwillingly,
I take a step back. “She has tonight.” Kyle nods. “Tomorrow is a different
story.”

“Fair
enough.” He pats my shoulder and turns around to head back to the girls.

Fair
enough, my ass. I’m not letting her get away from me again. I head behind the
bar, sending Joe a text.

Did
you know Kacie was here?
 

What?
No. She must’ve snuck in when I was dealing with some crazy dude trying to get
in.

SHE IS
NOT TO LEAVE WITHOUT ME.

Understood.

Kacie
can tell herself she’s moving on all she wants, but there’s no fucking way
she’s doing it without me. She had her time to deal with shit. We’re talking
this out. I don’t care what she says. That girl is going to be sleeping beside
me tonight. Hell, if I have my way, she’ll be sleeping with me every damn night
for the rest of my life. I’m so over this fucking bullshit.

My
eyes haven’t left her since I planted myself in this spot. It’s irritating that
she hasn’t tried to find me. How do I get her attention? I send her a quick
text and watch for her to reach for her phone. She doesn’t even flinch. Kacie
always has her phone. What the fuck?

“I’ve
been watching you watch her for the last twenty minutes. Why isn’t she bent
over your desk yet?” Meg wants to know.

“Kyle
asked me to leave her alone,” I respond.

“Since
when does someone tell you what to do?” My cousin’s glare is burning a hole in
the side of my face.

“He
said Kacie came here to move on.”

“So
you mean to tell me that after beating yourself up all week over this, you
aren’t even going to put up a fight? You’re just going to allow Kacie to walk
away?” she snaps. If I look at my annoying, little cousin, she’s probably
standing there with her hand on her hip and attitude all over her face.

“I’m
going to give her the few drinks Kyle asked me to give her,” is my answer.

“You’re
a jackass!”

“Meg, she’s
here. I can see she’s alive. That she’s safe.” I sigh. “I can protect her if
she needs me. For right now, just being under the same roof is enough.”

“Don’t
come crying to me when she walks out and you lose your chance!”

“Kacie’s
not leaving this club with anyone but me. I’ve made sure of that. I’m not going
to make a scene because it will only set her off. That won’t get me anywhere.”

I’ve
pretty much been stalking her since finding out she was in the building. Besides
what she had before I came out of the office, I’ve made every one of her
drinks. They aren’t as strong as they usually are. The last thing either of us
needs is for her to be drunk. It took me a while to figure out why Kacie wanted
Jade and Kyle to bring her here. It has nothing to do with proving anything to
herself. She wants to torment me. Despite her not looking in my direction once,
I would bet every fucking penny I have that she knows I’m watching her. How can
I not?

Before
all of this shit happened, every time Kacie came in to hang out, I never
worried about the guys who would go up to her. Time and time again, she would
turn them away before they were ever able to get out a full sentence. Not
tonight, though. She decides tonight is a good night to flirt back with the
first son of a bitch brave enough to talk to her. The moment Kacie smiles at
him, I know this is going to end badly. That smile belongs to me and I want it
back. The douchebag moves her hair to the side so he can whisper something in
her ear, and she laughs at whatever he says. Screw this! I take off from behind
the bar. Meg tries to stop me, but I blow right by her. By the time I reach the
table, his hand is on her thigh, playing with the bottom of her dress. And it’s
not just any dress, either. It’s the dress she was trying on that day in the
dressing room. It’s also the one she wore for her birthday party. It’s the
dress she bought for me.

“Get
your hands off her.” I can feel the venom seeping out. His eyes go wide and he
starts to pull his hand away. Kacie drops hers down on top of it to hold him in
place.

“He
doesn’t get to decide who touches me,” she tells him. Unsure of what to do, he
looks over at me and I tell him to beat it. “You aren’t going anywhere.” Kacie
slides down off the stool and runs her hand up his chest. “It just got too
crowded at this table. Come dance with me,” she says.

“I
need to speak with you in my office. Now.” There’s a warning in my tone, but
she doesn’t give a shit.

“I’m
busy. Go away.” She interlocks her hand in his and starts to walk away.

“At
least get a sweatshirt or something,” I blurt out.

For
the first time all night, she turns to look me straight in the eye. “What’s
wrong, Evan? I thought you liked this dress.”

Without
another word, she allows this stranger to escort her away from me. He wraps his
arm around my girl’s waist until they reach the dance floor. Then he’s all over
her. I turn back to Jade, who’s been unusually quiet through this. “Stop her!”

Jade
slowly lifts her glass to take a sip of her drink. “She’s a big girl,” she tells
me when she lowers the glass back down.

“Where
the fuck is your brother?” She shrugs. “I know he’s here somewhere. Just
fucking tell me!” She motions to a table on my left. Jake is sitting there in a
trance, watching Kacie. His fingers are tightly wrapped around an empty glass.

“How
the hell can you just sit there and watch this? Do something! Make her stop!”
I’m practically yelling at Jake because I know she’ll listen to him. He doesn’t
answer or acknowledge that I am standing beside him. He does, however, get up
and start to walk away. “Yo! I’m fucking talking to you!”

Jake
suddenly stops and turns to face me. His expression is blank. “Fuck you, Evan.”
I can smell alcohol on his breath. This should concern me since Jake only ever
drinks beer and, even then, it’s only ever one or two. “This is your fault.
Good luck trying to fix it.”

“She’s
not listening to me.” Does he really need me to point out the obvious?

“Guess
you have a problem then.” He’s walking away again.

“You’re
the only one she’ll listen to. Take her the fuck home. I don’t care what you
have to do. Just get her away from that guy.”

Jake
glowers at me. “All this time and you haven’t figured out how Kacie works yet?
Maybe if you spent more time getting to know her instead of fucking her brains
out every chance you could, you’d know you’re going about this entirely wrong.”

I
don’t know how it happens, but Jake’s shirt is suddenly bunched up in my fists.
“Not that it is any of your business, but I’ve never
fucked
her once.” There’s
clearly a difference between screwing some random person and being with the
person you love.

“Take
this shit in the office. Now!” I didn’t even know my uncle was here.

I
release my hold on Jake and take a step back. “No need. I’m good,” he mumbles.

“I’m
not asking. Go.” Uncle Tim looks more than pissed, so Jake and I exchange a glance
and do what he says. The music begins to fade as we walk down the hallway,
leaving only the clicking of Meg’s heels to break the silence. Of course, she
wouldn’t miss this. I push the door open with a little more force than
necessary. It bounces back in time for Jake to do the same thing. My uncle
slams it shut once all of us are inside. “For the record, I couldn’t care less
if the two of you decided to beat the shit out of each other out there. My
problem is that neither one of you noticed the look on Kacie’s face. Regardless
of whatever the fuck happened, that girl should not have to watch this
bullshit!”

“That
girl is making an ass out of herself and he won’t stop it!” I yell.

“If
you just stayed the fuck away from her, she wouldn’t have gone anywhere with
him!” Jake yells back.

“What
are you talking about?” I ask.

“Kacie
only ever got attention by acting out. This is what she does. She wanted to
piss you off and you walked right into it! By making a big deal about that guy
talking to her, you probably sealed the deal for him!” Jake paces the room
while I take that in. There’s no fucking way that guy is sealing anything with
my girl. “You hurt her, Evan. Kacie came here with the intention of saying
goodbye. I know her well enough to know that. What I also know is she was
waiting for you to do something to make it easier for her.”

“Why
would she want me to make it easier for her?”

“Because
she’s in love with you,” my cousin says sympathetically. I turn to see her
sitting on the desk, her feet on the chair. “She’s having trouble letting you
go, but if you do something to look like the bad guy, the decision becomes
easier.”

I look
over at Jake. “Yeah, what she said,” he confirms.

“Why
didn’t you care that she was making a fool out of herself out there?” I should
be focusing on the fact that everyone thinks Kacie’s in love with me, and not what
Jake did or didn’t do.

I’ve
never really seen him angry but, right now, he looks like he’s about to go
postal. “Why didn’t you care enough to keep her in the first place? You had her
and let her go. Do you have any idea what I would have done if I was lucky
enough to get the chance to call her mine? I would have worshipped every second
with her. I would have never done what you did. And, most importantly, I would
have NEVER LET HER GO!” Even though he’s said he and Kacie are just friends,
he’s been in love with her this whole time. Did I know this but didn’t want to
see it?

“Will
everyone just get the fuck over this whole thing about me screwing up because
of her dad? Everyone knows the man is fucking crazy! This is far beyond that.”

Jake
laughs. “You still think this is about her dad? Don’t you think Kacie would’ve
understood that?”

“Then
what the hell is it?”

“Enough
is enough. Just tell Evan what the hell’s going on so we can end this shit,” my
uncle says. He’s getting just as annoyed as I am.

Jake
falls onto the sofa and rests his elbows on his knees. “Kacie went looking for
you after you broke up with her. When she couldn’t find you at your place or
Skyline, she went to the only other place she could think of. Kacie knows you
were at the marina that night.”

“The
marina? I wasn’t at the marina,” I tell him. “I haven’t been to the boat since
the last time I took Kacie there.”

“She
saw your truck. She saw the clothes on the deck. She knows you were with
someone.” Jake looks like he’s about to throw up all over the place.

“Ev…”
I hear Meg’s voice, but I have to find out what Jake’s talking about before I
can deal with her.

“She
thinks I was on the boat with someone? My truck wasn’t at the marina. She must’ve
been mistaken,” I say, trying to sort through this crap.