As I made my way down the elevator, my phone vibrated. I didn’t bother answering, opting to wait until I was settled at the table and had my food ordered instead. My eyes damn near bulged out of my head and heart dropped when I saw the missed call was from Eli. I scrambled like a motherfucker trying to call her pretty ass back. Biting back my smile, I relaxed in my seat while I waited for the call to connect.
“Hello?” she answered sweetly, causing me to bite down on my bottom lip.
“Wassup, smelly Eli?”
She giggled, and it sounded like a symphony put together by Beethoven or some shit.
“I hate I told you the kids in elementary school used to call me that. And I wasn’t even stinky!”
“I believe you,” I said through my chuckle. “Just wanted to make you smile.”
“You already did that with the gifts. Thank you so much, Falcon. I was not expecting that. Like . . . at all.”
“Yeah, your brother told me what happened. I didn’t really know what to say, but I wanted to let you know that I was thinking about you. That I’m here for you.”
She didn’t respond right away, and the longer it took, the more nervous I became.Did I overstep? Did she think I was weird? Fu?—
“I appreciate the gesture,” she said softly, stopping my intrusive thoughts before she sighed. “Isaac, God I love him, but he has no chill. As soon as his plane landed, he wanted me to pick him up and take him to Justin’s house.” Eli chuckled. “He’s not the most compassionate man, and he doesn’t understand the concept of needing to vent or just having a person’s presence during a time like this. All he wants to do is go beat that man up and tell me I should have known something was up.” She sighed. “Said all that to say, I really appreciate the gesture. It made me feel good. Thank you, big head.”
“You’re welcome, Smiley.”
“I guess I’ll let you go. I’m sure you’re busy. Plus, I need to make sure this lunatic hasn’t snuck out the house. I caught him in my phone trying to see if me and Justin shared locations a few minutes ago.”
Now that made me release boisterous laughter because Isaac was a true character and really didn’t give a fuck about none ofthat shit. If he had a target on Justin’s back, he was going to aim at it now or later.
“I’m not busy, but you go ahead and try to put a leash on him. Won’t last forever, but I’m sure you don’t want to deal with that drama right now.”
“Right. I did yesterday. I was actually looking forward to my big brother coming home and beating him up. Now, I’m just . . . trying to work through my disbelief. The sadness. The betrayal. Isaac going to beat him up will just give me something else to worry about.”
“I feel you. I’ll give him a call and see if I can talk him down.”
“You’re the best, Falcon. Maybe I’ll see you when you get home.”
That made me smile. “Maybe you will.”
We ended the call, and before I could call Isaac, I noticed I had several missed calls from my publicist. In just a few minutes, she’d called more than three times. Something was definitely wrong. I called her back, and the phone hadn’t even rung once before she was answering and yelling, “What onEarthwere you thinking taking that girl back to your fucking hotel last night?”
Chapter
Five
Eli
My mood had been upand down all day. It didn’t matter how much I told myself I didn’t deserve the way my ex-boyfriend and best friend had treated me, it still made me feel bad. Sad. Angry. Insecure. Confused.
Having Isaac here was bittersweet. I appreciated not being alone, but I was tired of him reminding me of the signs I overlooked and telling me I should have known something was going on. While I knew he wasn’t trying to intentionally make me feel bad, that wasn’t what I wanted or needed to hear right now. Telling myself he was operating out of logic while I was heavy in my emotions didn’t make it easier to handle. At this point, I hated even coming to his house.
What made me feel better was Falcon’s gesture. I wasn’t expecting him to care, let alone have something delivered for me. It was so sweet it made me cry.
I wasn’t quite sure how to describe my friendship with Falcon, if I could even call it that. We didn’t hang out one on one or talk on the phone unless it was an emergency or somethingabout my brother. When we were in the same space, he always made me smile or laugh, and he was cool to be around. He was giving the compassion and softness I needed from my brother, so I appreciated that.
When I’d finally started to get into a good headspace, my agent and manager asked me to meet with them, and seeing as they both wanted to talk to me, I knew it wasn’t anything good. While I waited in Cherish’s office, I looked at Falcon’s social media on my burner account. This wasn’t the first time I had the desire to look at pictures of him, but itwasthe first time I yearned for him. It didn’t matter how much I told myself I was just vulnerable right now; his gesture made me like him a little more than I already did.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find Falcon attractive. He’d never flirted with me or expressed interest in me, so I kept my feelings locked in the pit of my heart. Plus, there was no doubt in my mind Isaac would have a fit if any of his teammates pursued me,especiallyFalcon. So Falcon checking on me today made a part of my heart that had been cold since the day we met feel warmed by his kindness.
Cherish opening the door of her conference room pulled me out of my thoughts. Andrew, my manager, was right behind her. Their expressions were serious, which only made me more nervous.
“Thanks for meeting with us,” Andrew said while they sat down at the long, rectangular table.
