LAUREN

 

“Excuse me?” Tyler’s voice rumbled deeply. “What did you just say?”

By now it had occurred to Mother that she had taken things a step too far, but being the stubborn woman that she was, she merely lifted her chin. “I’m only speaking the truth.”

“Don’t you ever speak about Lauren that way again,” Tyler growled.

I sat at the table, staring down at the empty plate in front of me, unable to lift my eyes to the people around the table. It was all too much. The glares. The looks of surprise. Pushing my chair back from the table, I rose slowly and walked away, leaving the discomfort behind me.

Tyler followed, reaching out to grab my arm. “Lauren.”

I pulled away. “I just need a minute,” I replied without looking back.

Mother’s words had cut deep. The word knocked against my brain, leaving a sharp stab of pain in its wake. Barren. Empty. Broken. Everything came rushing back, but instead of sadness, it was anger that welled. Walking out of the restaurant, I passed through the lobby and into the bar. The bartender didn’t flinch when I ordered straight tequila and threw it back, the liquid burning like fire as I forced it down my throat.

“Another?” the bartender offered, holding the bottle over the small glass and tilting both it and his eyebrows.

I shuddered, nodded my head and swallowed painfully when the burning sensation hit my throat again.

“Rough night?” he asked. I nodded and he filled the glass once again before placing the bottle on the counter. “I’ll just leave this here.”

“Lauren?” Gabe’s voice sounded behind me and I let my shoulders slump.

“What?” I said coldly.

“Are you okay?”

I laughed and swallowed the contents of another glass, letting the fog settle in my mind and numb the pain a little. “I’m fucking fine,” I replied. “I just want to be left alone for a while.”

Ignoring my comment, Gabe pulled out the chair and sat beside me, turning so he could face me even though I kept my eyes stuck on the rows of bottles in front of the mirrored wall. “Tyler ripped into your Mother. To say he was pissed was an understatement.”

“He shouldn’t have invited them without asking me.”

“What?” Gabe asked, confused. “He invited them without checking whether you wanted them here?”

I sighed heavily and nodded.

“I would have never done that.”

Rolling my eyes, I couldn’t help but grin at him. The first tendrils of tequila were beginning to work. “Of course you wouldn’t.”

“It’s hard being this perfect.” Gabe’s eyes twinkled as he reached out and put his hand over mine.

Staring at my hand trapped under his, I tugged it away. “Don’t, Gabe. I can’t handle much more right now. I either want to go to sleep or drink myself into oblivion.”

“Being a seasoned veteran of both options, I would recommend the first if you actually want to feel better, but the second option if you don’t want to feel at all.”

Shaking my head in amusement, I tilted the bottle towards him.

“Why not?” he said, reaching over the counter to grab an empty glass.

Tossing the drink back, Gabe slammed the glass onto the counter, shaking his head and letting out a whoop after a long low breath. “The burn.” He shook his head again before settling himself and shifting his chair closer. “So,” he said, letting the word hang between us. “Are you happy with him?”

My shoulders slumped again. “Gabe, I told you I didn’t want to do this. Not here. Not now.”

“I’m changing my life for you,” he replied, his voice low and torn.

“Don’t,” I said bluntly. The tequila had taken effect and bravado lifted my chest. “I love Tyler. I want Tyler. I choose Tyler.”

Even as the words came out of my mouth, I regretted seeing the hurt in Gabe’s eyes. He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down, and dropped his gaze. “I need you to know that I still love you. Don’t you miss me at all?”

I melted a little at the tenderness in his words. Gabe had never been afraid to make himself vulnerable. It was a highly attractive quality he possessed. “Of course I do. You meant—you still mean a lot to me. I care for you.” I reached out to tuck a stray strand of his hair behind his ear. It was instinctive. It was meant as comfort, not affection.

It was stupid.

“I truly—” My words were cut off by Gabe’s lips crushing against mine, his hands sliding around my waist, running up my back and into my hair. I was frozen in shock, my lips responding before my brain could demand they stop. And then he was gone, torn away from me by a pair of strong hands and desperate eyes.

“Get the fuck off her!” Tyler roared.

All eyes in the bar turned as Tyler’s fist swung through the air and connected with a surprised Gabe, knocking him to the ground.

But Gabe was quick to get to his feet. “I loved her first,” he yelled at Tyler.

A flash of a camera illuminated them. Tyler’s fist swung through the air again, but Gabe was prepared this time. He ducked out of the way and returned a punch of his own, landing squarely on Tyler’s cheekbone. The hit only enraged Tyler more and he ran towards Gabe, looping his arms around his waist and tackling him to the floor.

Regaining my wits, I ran over, trying to pull them apart as people watched on in shock. A crowd had gathered around the brawling brothers, but they didn’t help to separate them. My interference went unnoticed as Tyler took control of Gabe and sat on top of him, letting punches fly into Gabe’s face. He was deaf to my voice. Blind to my actions. Blood splattered when he connected with Gabe’s nose, but he didn’t stop. Running from the room, I flew into the restaurant, yelling for Jake who immediately ran to the bar where the bartender was yelling at them to stop. They were lost, both intent on inflicting as much pain as possible. I flinched when Tyler’s fist split Gabe’s lip open.

The crowd had grown and our families were close on our heels. I wanted to yell at them. Scream at the crowd, our families, at Gabe and at Tyler.

Just as Jake got to them and managed to tear them apart with the help of the bartender, the cameras started flashing in earnest, the eyes of media lit with excitement as they snapped photo after photo of the brawling brothers.

Gabe’s chest heaved with exertion and Tyler’s wild eyes darted around the room until they rested on me. He wiped his hand across his mouth, clearing away the smudge of blood that I wasn’t sure belonged to him or to Gabe. I stepped forward, reaching out to him.

“You kissed him!” Tyler spat.

I froze at the venom in his tone. “I—I didn’t. He kissed me.”

“Don’t fucking lie to me again.”

Tears stung as I looked into Tyler’s eyes, so cold, so filled with anger.

“I—” But he turned and strode away, leaving my words lost in a strangled whisper. “Tyler!” I called out, but he ignored my plea. “Tyler wait. Please wait.”

He stopped, eyes blazing and chin jutting into the air. “Do you still love him?” he demanded of me.

“No,” I said desperately, ignoring the people surrounding us.

“Then why don’t I believe you?” Tyler said coldly. “You kissed him. I saw you, Lauren. Don’t try denying it. You fucking kissed him. Have you been lying to me all this time? Did you ever really love me?”

His words cut. “Love you?” I repeated. “I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone!” Tears fell freely down my cheeks but I didn’t bother to wipe them away. There was no point. They would only be replaced by others.

Seeing the way his words hurt me, Tyler took a step forward. His hand reached out, but he stopped himself before he touched me, coldness pressing over his features once more. “You’ve lied to me before.”

Panic danced across my chest, welling up and tightening until I felt like I could barely breathe. “I love you. Only you, Tyler. Gabe kissed me. You’ve got to believe me. Ask Gabe, if you don’t.”

He fell silent as puzzlement danced over his face. His words pounded through my head, ‘you’ve lied to me before,’ but I didn’t know what to say in response to them. What he said was true. I had lied. But there was a part of me that wanted to argue, to say it wasn’t a lie, per se, more an avoidance of the truth, but semantics weren’t going to help me.

Tyler ran his hands through his hair and let out a low breath of air. I stepped closer and lifted my hand to rest it against his chest, but he caught me and held it away. The grip of his fingers dug into my wrist.

“I can’t do this,” he said, his words broken and strained. “I can’t do this here, now. I need space. I need to think, clear my head.”

He strode away once again and desperation filled me. “Tyler, please! Don’t leave me. Don’t—”

“What do you take me for?” Tyler yelled. “Someone you can just walk all over and screw when it suits?” His shoulders heaved with heavy breathing. “Makes me wonder if I should believe anything that comes from your lips.”

“Tyler please, you’ve got it all wrong.” All other words failed me.

“Lauren!” he roared. Never had my name sounded so cold on his lips. Our eyes locked. He stared at me coldly, no warmth or flicker of love beating under the surface. Nothing.

“This was a mistake from the beginning. I should have never tried to take you away from Gabe. You lied to him and now you’re lying to me.”

I fell to my knees. The ground sank beneath me, leaving me in a state of vertigo, but a switch had flipped within Tyler.

He was no longer mine.

Walking over to reception, I heard him ask for another room. His voice, his actions, everything was muted in the background of my mind. By the time I looked up again, Tyler was gone. And no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t bring him back.

I was still on the floor, hands covering my face, tears falling onto the lavish rug and joining the streaks of light that fell from the chandelier. A hand pressed to my shoulder and for a brief second, hope flooded through my veins.

He had come back.

But it wasn’t grey eyes and dark hair that looked down on me. It was blue and blond.

Gabe crouched, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and shielding me from prying eyes. “It’s okay,” he said. His words were soft and gentle. He pulled my head to his chest, running his hand over the length of my hair. “Shh,” he hushed. “I’ll talk to him. I’ll explain what happened. It was all me.”

It was only then I realised I was still crying. And I was doing it rather loudly, on my knees in the middle of the foyer, under the light of the chandelier.

“Come on.” Gabe tugged me upwards. “Let’s get you out of here.” I let him drag me to my feet and pull me towards the elevator. “What level?” he asked once we were inside and staring at the numbers.

“I’m fine,” I replied.

“What level?” he asked again.

“Top.” We lurched into motion and I leaned back against the cold elevator walls. “You shouldn’t be here.” I looked over at Gabe. “I shouldn’t be here. If Tyler saw us together…” I didn’t finish. The thought both saddened and annoyed me. Was I wrong to think that Tyler should trust me?

“I’m just making sure you get to your room okay.”

“But if he saw, if he thought—”

“Fuck Tyler,” Gabe said abruptly. “He doesn’t deserve you, Lauren. To talk to you like that.” Gabe shook his head and took a deep breath. He stepped closer, wanting to comfort, wanting to reassure but I backed myself into the wall and covered my face.

“I shouldn’t have—”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Suddenly feeling cold, I wrapped my arms around my chest, essentially hugging myself. “You’ll talk to him?” My throat tightened. “I love him. And now I’ve lost him.”

“He doesn’t deserve you if this was all it took to put him off.” Gabe crossed the space between us. “You know that I will always—”

“Please don’t.” I drew in a ragged breath. “I just can’t.” I dissolved into tears again.

Gabe wrapped his arms around me, but I remained limp under his embrace. Everything within me wanted to search for Tyler and explain. Beg. Anything and everything to make him look at me the way he did last night instead of with the coldness of his eyes as he glared at me on my knees in the foyer.

As if reading my thoughts, Gabe murmured against my hair. “You don’t owe him anything. Not an explanation or an apology, nothing.”

It would have been easy to find reassurance in Gabe’s arms. There was a familiarity about him that was comforting. But it wasn’t Gabe’s arms that I wanted. When the doors slid open silently, I pulled myself away, asking him to stay, asking to be left alone. I felt as though I couldn’t breathe with either of them around. The mere proximity of them clouded my brain.

“Is there anything I can do?” he asked.

“Talk to Tyler. Make him understand it wasn’t me.”

“Of course,” Gabe replied. “Consider it done. But you will call me if you need anything?” He looked up with such hopeful eyes, I nodded, knowing that I wouldn’t call. No matter what I needed, Gabe would not be the number I would reach for.

“You’ll call if you need me?” he repeated.

I nodded again and my eyes locked on him, swimming with tears as the doors to the elevator slid shut and I was left in the hallway. Alone.