I stepped outside and took a deep breath of the cold air. I wanted to call Austin so badly and ask about what I’d just seen, but it was silly. The gossip shows jumped on anything that they could. The stories meant nothing.
Didn’t they?
Chapter Thirty-Five
Austin
I drove to the hotel with a range of emotions running through me. I was sick of Mia and her attempts at reconciliation with me. Our breakup had been mutual. She’d been eager to move on to the latest hot guy to keep her name in lights. She was trying to hold onto a modeling career, and no matter how beautiful you were, that was temporary at best. I didn’t understand why she’d want me back now unless she felt that I could help her career.
I hated the thought of her being in North Reed for any length of time, and I was absolutely going to tell her to get the fuck out of town and go home. I didn’t want her back and never had after we broke up. If anything, I regretted the relationship.
I parked in the lot of the hotel and ran a hand through my hair. Nobody knew that I was here, and they never would. I was here to end this for the last time so Rebecca would never know that Mia was in North Reed. She was already insecure about my past, and the idea of her finding out that I was seeing Mia destroyed me inside.
In and out. That was the plan. I was going to shoot Mia down and get rid of her so I could just move on with my life.
I went to the room that Mia was staying in, finding it surprisingly close to Preston’s former room. I took a deep breath and tapped on the door gently, as if to prevent anyone else from hearing it. The less evidence of this meeting, the better.
The door opened. Mia was dressed in the black lace bra and underwear set that I’d given her when we first started dating. I didn’t know how bad she was back then, but I did know that I liked the sheerness of the lace. I blinked and looked past her into the room. “Get your ass inside,” I growled through gritted teeth. “You look like a whore.” I shoved her inside with a quick look around.
“I remember how much you liked me in this before, Austin,” she purred as she closed the door. “Don’t you remember? I used to be your whore.” She closed the door and took a drink from the wine glass she held in her hand. “I want to be that for you again.”
“What is it with me and you, Mia? We broke up months ago, and you’ve been busy on the social scene since then.” I glared at her as I spoke. I didn’t want to play into her game.
I leaned against the wall and watched as she moved around the room towards the wine, holding it up. “Want some? I thought that we could toast to old times.”
“No. This isn’t a fucking date, Mia. This is me telling you that we are over, once and for all.”
She smiled seductively and walked towards me.
Her face turned to a pout that used to work on me. “It’s over because of Plain Jane Rebecca Silver, Austin? How could you ever choose a woman like her over me?”
“We were already broken up, and you moved on. Rebecca has nothing to do with us at all.”
Her eyes flared with pain, and I took pleasure in that for a moment, knowing that Rebecca was an angel next to Mia.
“She works in a corner salon, Austin. What happened to the man who used to go to the best places in New York? I introduced you to some of those stylists, and you loved it as much as I did!” She had a point. I did love that life, in the beginning. Once I could afford the best, I lost sight of myself and started spending money on everything and everybody. I couldn’t count how many salons I’d paid for Mia to go to for anything and everything in the past.
“I like this cut a lot. What do you think?” I ran my hand through my hair and smiled coldly at her. Mia stumbled and clung to the wall for a moment. She was already well on the way to getting drunk. I glanced at the bottle on the table. It was one of the best wines in the world, making me wonder where she got it. If Preston looked ridiculous in his room while he was here, Mia was a parody of herself in here. She took a long sip from the glass and clutched it in her hands for a moment.
Her beautiful face twisted in pain. “I can’t believe you came to this shithole town for more than a few days, Austin. You might have grown up here, but you are all New York now, baby. Don’t you miss the nights out, the dinners, and the nights in bed with me?” She tried to soften herself up, but I frowned at the memories. Mia was such an ugly, insecure woman underneath it all, and I didn’t find her pretty at all anymore. She’d burned a lot of bridges in her career and hurt people, which would catch up to her eventually.
“Actually, no. I’m happy now.”
She glared at me. I’d swear that she had hair and makeup in here before I arrived with the layers of cover up she had going on. What a pathetic attempt to get me back.
“You can’t be happy here,” she said. “There is nothing here. I’ve been all over this redneck place, and it has nothing to offer. You want a woman who is content with that?” Mia asked me as she looked at me in disbelief. “We were on top in the city, Austin. It was you and me everywhere with all the most well-known celebrities. We went to the best parties and enjoyed all the finest food and drinks there. What the fuck happened to you?”
“I came back to reality somewhere along the way. I have family here, and if you so much as go near them, I’ll end your career faster than you can blink.” My voice was low.
She laughed at me. “How? You’re nothing here, Austin. Just a little rich boy slumming it with the local hair girl and throwing his money around. Your influence in New York is over if you go back alone because you’ve been out of the game for a while now.” My eyes narrowed at her words, and I stepped forward. “Losing that deal really added a nail to your coffin, didn’t it? I am hearing terrible rumors about how bad of a choice that was, and how Liam knocked you down a peg when he ended up with it. The Austin I knew would never have let that happen.” She saw the pain in my eyes and poured more wine in her glass. “You’re losing your edge, Austin.”
“You’re losing your fucking mind,” I said as I clenched my fists at my side. I wasn’t sure if she was pushing me so I’d hit her, but my parents taught me better than that. I would never hit Mia, no matter how much she deserved it right now.
“I listen when I’m out, Austin. The whole town is talking about you, even the kids working the front desk here. I know all about how you and Rebecca were high school sweethearts and how romantic it is that you’re back for her. If she meant so much to you, why did you leave at all?” Mia asked,
I punched the wall. “Shut the fuck up,” I warned her as her words hit me right where it hurt.
“I think your coming back is sweet and all, but we both know that it won’t last. You need the city as much as I do and the pace of it. You need the thrill of it. I don’t know why you’re all sentimental about this place, but you’ll get over it. Rebecca can’t be that good in bed, not after the Austin who I know so well. I know all your kinks. Remember?” Mia lifted a perfect brow. “Sentimental doesn’t suit you, Austin. It’s all about the game for you.”