She stared at me with a hurt expression, then smiled. “You say that now, Ty.” Her eyes looked past me, and I glanced over my shoulder to see some guy looking directly at her.
Turning back to her, I asked, “Your latest fuck buddy?”
With a nod, she lifted up on her toes and put her mouth to my ear. “Want to watch us fuck?”
I jerked my head back in surprise. “What in the hell? No, I don’t want to watch you fuck some guy. Listen, this isn’t my scene. I’m leaving and heading back to the hotel. Do you want to come?”
“Yes, I’d love to come. If I remember right, you were good at that.”
“I’m out of here.”
She grabbed my arm. “Oh my gosh, Ty, get over yourself. Pop a pill and relax if you need to. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.” She looked at the other guy and laughed. “Make it thirty.”
Rachel walked toward the guy but went past him. He waited a good minute before he went up the same stairs Rachel had.
I scrubbed my hands down my face and took another look at the pills. Swallowing hard, I tried to ignore that it felt like the room was caving in on me. The air felt heavy, and I struggled to get my heartbeat under control. A sweat broke out on my neck, and I had to focus on my breathing.
Fucking hell. How had I gotten myself into this situation? I needed to get the hell out of there, and fast.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out.
Kaylee.
I quickly turned and walked back through the living room, ignoring everyone as I rushed to the front door and down the steps of the porch. The cold spring air felt good as it rushed into my lungs.
Answering the phone, I said, “Kaylee, is everything okay?”
“What? Ty, this is Rich. Listen, don’t go to that party with Rachel. It’s not the same party Melissa invited you to. They’re at the hotel, celebrating Bob Jenkins’s birthday. Melissa told me Rachel was taking you somewhere else. Rumor has it she’s wrapped up in a different crowd, if you know what I mean.”
It took me a second to realize it wasn’t Kaylee calling. I had no idea why I’d even thought it was her. “Yeah, I just saw it firsthand. I think CBS might want to consider finding someone else to take over for Kim while she’s out.”
“Fuck. Drugs?”
I started down the block to where I’d parked my truck. “That, among other shit.”
“What kind of other shit?” Rich asked.
Sliding into the driver’s seat of my truck, I felt a little bad about leaving Rachel behind, but clearly she was with the guy she was hooking up with now. “Let’s just say she asked me to take part in a threesome.”
“Dude! You turned it down?”
I rolled my eyes. “Very funny.”
“No, seriously, that’s all kinds of messed up.”
“Yeah, it was. She was going to fuck some guy and wanted me to watch and, I’m sure, join in at some point.”
Rich remained silent on the other end of the phone.
“Rich?”
“Yeah, I’m here. Just figuring out how to tell Kim she needs to find someone new.”
“Listen, just keep my name out of it. Come up with some other reason why you don’t think Rachel’s the one.”
“I will, just get your ass back to the hotel.”
With a laugh, I replied, “I’m already on my way. I’m tired anyway—think I’ll head up to my room.”
“Hey, before you go, who’s Kaylee? You almost sounded relieved when you thought it was her.”
“She’s no one. Her last text message to me must have been pulled up, and I’d seen that or something before my phone rang.”
“Okay, if you say so. Good job tonight. Get some sleep. We’ve got two more nights to go.”
By the time I got back to the hotel, I’d managed to get my breathing under control. I hadn’t had a single urge to try any of the drugs that were at the party, but I also hadn’t been prepared to get hit with all that shit. Then Kaylee’s cryptic text message kept replaying in my head, driving me even more insane.
Once I got up to my room, I took a hot shower. After drying off, I wrapped the towel around my waist and sat on the edge of the bed.
I took my phone off the charger and hit Kaylee’s name. It was late, almost midnight, but I needed to talk to her. The urge to hear her voice was something that both scared me and made me excited.
“Hello? This is Kaylee’s phone.”
The air in my lungs felt like it had frozen instantly at the sound of Channing’s voice.
“Ty?”
I couldn’t fucking talk. Not a word would form. Nothing.
“Ty?”
Finally, a rush of air hit me, causing me to take in a deep breath. “Hey, Channing. Sorry to call so late. I actually called the wrong number. Sorry.”