The Scheme

“Good bye, Kendall.” He nodded once and stepped out the door.

I stared at the empty space and my open door as my tears betrayed me, falling to my cheeks. The tough girl act had left with Brian . . . when he walked out my door and out of my life. The sinking anguish caused me to stumble and slide to the floor. My head fell into my hands as I let the vulnerable girl cry it all out, alone.

Trapped in my own lie, I was defeated.

NINETEEN

BRIAN

I stepped into the condo and dropped my laptop bag to the floor. I was functioning like a walking zombie lately, not speaking, not socializing, just going through the motions, typing at my computer, and answering only when spoken to at work.

In the end, Tiggins Corporation had decided to drop their current bank and move over to Financial State. My manager was ecstatic. When he’d heard of the news, he’d slapped me on the back and sang my praises. I was now a shoo-in for that promotion, and everyone was raving about this great win for the bank. Fu

I’d fallen in love, but the girl didn’t want me. Instead, she wanted a boring, emotionless prick, who happened to be a rich doctor and the predicted love of her fucking life. Anger choked me, and the more I thought of it, the more I wanted to put my fist through the damn wall.

Whatever.

I did wish her happiness, even if I hated the asshole. Part of me felt guilty for hating him, since I didn’t technically know him, but just the fact that he thought he could have a great girl like Kendy made my face go all red-hot with fury as a seething type of resentment kept eating me up.

I rubbed my brow, feeling a massive headache coming on. Fuck my fucking life. I stalked toward the fridge and reached for my cold beverage of choice then staggered to the couch and turned on the television.

My hands wrapped around the cold beer bottle as I stared at the TV screen, seeing nothing. Good. That’s how I wanted to feel. Maybe mindless TV would help. At least until I was butt ass drunk and passed the hell out.

***

My ass hurt, and I shifted on the couch. Shit. I tipped my head back and drank my fourth beer. My stomach growled for the tenth time, but I’d decided an hour ago I’d get drunk faster if I didn’t eat. The last time I’d eaten was lunch. Still, I needed to numb this dull pang in the center of my chest. It’d only been a few days, and I was sick and tired of being in pain. Being in love fucking hurt. Someone should put that on a billboard, instead of the cheesy shit they always advertised.

I turned up the volume of the TV, raising it to full blast. The bass echoed what the a

When the door opened, Trey walked through with his work out bag slung over his shoulder. One look at my sorry ass and he dropped the grey backpack on the floor, strolled to the fridge, and grabbed a beer.

I didn’t even offer a hello as my gaze flipped back to the TV. If he even said her name, I’d mention Kately

The couch cushion indented beside me, and he rested his beer on the coffee table. “Wa

“Nope.” I reached for my fifth beer and pounded it back. The alcohol should’ve warmed me up, but the cold, dull pain was still very present in the center of my chest.

When I thought of Stiff and Kendy on their date, I couldn’t deal. Picturing his hands on her had my arms tensing and the veins in my forearms bulging. I gripped the beer bottle in a tight vise, having a sudden urge to break the glass just to feel physical pain. That would be less excruciating than this unbearable ache. But then I pictured cleaning it up and thought better of it.

Always the responsible one. Yep, that was me. Maybe that was why Kendy didn’t want me. Nice guys finished last, after all.

Trey snatched the remote beside me and lowered the volume. From my periphery, I could feel him burning a hole in the side of my face. When I paid him no attention, he reclined against the cushions as we both pretended to watch TV.

“I don’t know if I can handle seeing your sister.”

I closed my eyes and let out a jagged sigh. He never mentioned my sister. This was his way of forcing me to open up.

“I made her hot cocoa,” I muttered, trying to change the subject, or maybe I was just rambling now, “ . . . left my stupid mug there.”

He frowned, probably wondering where this was headed and what a damn drink had to do with anything.

I sighed again, not wanting to explain, and then I found the words spewing out anyway. “Hot cocoa reminds her of home, and I thought maybe . . . I could be her home in New York.”

I shook my head and felt the anger rising again, my face getting hot. “I’m so fucking stupid. I was going to win over a girl with hot chocolate.” I kicked the coffee table in front of me, causing the empty beer bottles to tip over. “Why couldn’t I just fucking follow the rules? I had it good. What guy falls for the ‘no strings’ girl?” Unable to keep my OCD in check, even drunk, I reached for the empty bottles and set them upright. “I fucked everything up.”

I let my head fall as I rubbed one hand from the base of my neck to the top of my head. “I fell hard for this one, Trey. Harder than I’ve ever fallen for anyone.”

He placed one hand on my shoulder, but didn’t say anything. He was just being a good friend.

I glanced up at him, my shoulders slumping. “Get me fucked up. I want to get so messed up that I forget her, everything about her.”

I wondered where she was now. With Stiff. I pictured his hands on her, on the base of her neck, kissing the birthmark on her i

Fuck!

I hopped up from the couch and started to pace. “I can’t deal, man. Every time I picture him touching her, I go ballistic. I want to barge in on their date and stake my claim. She should be mine right now.” My voice trailed off as I gripped the ends of my hair. “Dude, let’s get wasted. Beer is not going to do it for me.”

Trey didn’t need to hear any more. He stood and clasped my shoulder with one hand, nodding with understanding. “I’m your man. Let’s go forget.”

***

KENDY

The scent of spices filtered through the room as I sat at the table for two at one of the most upscale restaurants in all of Manhattan. When we’d walked into the fancy Italian restaurant, there had been a line outside the door. Sarah had told me it took months to get a reservation at Italia Restaurant. Normally, I’d be ecstatic to dine at such an upscale restaurant. This place was frequented by the A-listers, for heaven’s sake! But not tonight.

James was sitting across from me in black pants and a navy blue button down. His pants were too tight for his ass, but it was like he’d worn them on purpose to showcase his assets. In all the fantasies I’d had about us, I imagined that would’ve had some sort of effect on me, but I felt nothing.

James continued to talk, but I didn’t hear a word he was saying.

The only thing that echoed in my mind was Brian’s disappointed face and his harsh words before he’d left. My stomach churned and my heart ached with the same pang that surfaced every time I thought about him.

My hair was done up in a half ponytail. I’d spent an hour making each individual curl stand out. I couldn’t believe I’d spent all that time on my hair for this date, for a guy I felt absolutely nothing for.

James laughed, breaking me from my thoughts, and I fake giggled along with him. He could’ve said he’d pooped in his pants. I had no idea, and honestly, I didn’t care, which wasn’t fair to him, yet I couldn’t break my mood.