Chapter Ten
Shelby
The smell of his expensive cologne took me right back to the night in the control room a year ago. I inhaled deeply, closing my eyes. The memory wasn't bad. It was hot. The night when all the tension between us had come to a head and we had crossed the boundary between us that our professional relationship and resentment had stopped us from crossing. He had never held me like this before, I realized. We had had sex before, but we hadn't even so much as held hands. It was laughable how distant our relationship was despite the fact that we had been intimate. I pushed against him so he would release me. His arms loosened and he put his hands on my shoulders instead.
"Shelby, I can't tell you how great it is to see you again," he said. I searched his face for the lie, the joke, the something. I couldn't see it. He was being honest. Somehow, I knew that instinctually, but at the same time, it didn't matter. I still didn't trust him.
"You too," I said warily, backing away so his hands left my shoulders.
"No introductions necessary," Davis said with a smile on his face. What a sweet, oblivious man he was.
"Nope. Not sure if I'm happy about that, honestly," he said, looking at me. What had they been talking about before I had gotten there?
"What can I say? She chose the winning team," Davis said, smiling. Jason laughed. I looked at them, shocked. I knew that they didn't actually hate each other, but why were they being so friendly? Was there a chance Jason knew about me and Davis? The thought made my blood run cold. He had just waltzed back into my life and expected a warm welcome, like the eleven months of torture he had put me through hadn't happened. I had thought about what it would be like to see him again. The swirl of emotions had metastasized into shock. "Isn't that right, Shelby?"
"Hm?" I asked, still a little stunned.
"What would Jason have to do to get you to go back to New York?" he asked. I cast a look over at Jason. His green eyes were boring holes into me; his stare was so intense. He looked like he was trying to hold something back. Maybe there was something to that rivalry after all. Davis' tone had been light; they were just fooling around, but he didn't realize how deep the connection between Jason and me ran.
"Honestly," I said, putting a hand on Davis' chest. I pressed my chest into him as I looked up at his face. His brow raised a little, noticing my contact. "The only way I'd go back is if he stayed here." He laughed, sliding an arm across my shoulders. We never touched when other people could see us. The rumors about us were there regardless, but usually, we did our part not to fan the flames. Right then though, peering at Jason and seeing his jaw tick and fists clench, I didn't give a fuck who saw.
"Looks like you came all the way here for nothing, friend," Davis said to Jason.
"The offer won't stay on the table forever, Shel," Jason said to me. The threatening edge in his voice was unmistakable.
"Did Victoria ever let you know why I left?" I asked him, working my hand in a slow circle on Davis' chest. He ate and trained like an athlete and had the body to show for it. Pitting the men against each other in terms of attractiveness would come down to personal preference for blonds or brunettes because they were both hot. I didn't care how thick I was laying it on; seeing Jason's reaction to Davis’ closeness to me gave me a rush of satisfaction.
"Because of me?" he asked.
"I think we all know the answer to that question," I said to him. "Come find me when you're done with your little reunion," I said, leaning up to whisper it in Davis' ear. The hand around my shoulders slid down to my waist. Knowing Jason was watching us was spurring me on. I didn't want to use Davis, but right then, with my shock turning into anger and resentment, I wanted to spite Jason for showing up here and having the audacity to act like we were ever friendly.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
"You’ll find me; I’ll be waiting," I said playfully. He laughed as I walked away, leaving the two of them to their conversation. Jason had looked like he had been about to explode. I wouldn't be happy if a fight broke out because of what I had just done, but if one did, Jason would just be proving to all of us exactly how much of an out of touch, egocentric maniac he was. I had basically just let him know firsthand that Davis and I had a thing, but I didn't care who he told. I walked away, smug. Bet he wished he hadn't come to L.A. now.
I heard my name behind me and looked over my shoulder expecting Davis. It was Jason. His jaw was clenched and his face set in rage. There he was; there was the Jason I had had to deal with for eleven months. Constantly angry and looking for a fight. I kept walking. It was too bad if he wanted to talk because this was actually my place of work. I had somewhere to be. I heard him call out to me again, then I felt his hand on my upper arm, stopping me. I turned around to look at him.
"What is it, Jason? I have to get to work."
"Is there something going on between you and Davis?" he asked through gritted teeth. The last year had been kind to him. He looked the same. Handsome, polished, not a hair on that head dared to fall out of place. I actually weighed a few pounds less than I had before having Damien but the pregnancy had definitely left its mark. If I stayed away from my baby for too long, my breasts would start to leak; my hips were wider and I had light white stretch marks along my lower stomach. Davis worshiped my body when we were together. I had my moments when I felt sexy, but since Damien was still milk-dependent, it was easy to feel like my body wasn't mine again yet.
"A lot changes in a year, but I'm glad you stayed the same, Jason," I said, pulling my arm back from him. "Even moving across the country couldn't save me from you." I turned and started walking again.
"I never thought you were the game-playing type, Shel," he said. I stopped myself that time and turned to face him again.
"Game?"
"Going after Davis after we were together. I can see why you would do it; I guess I just expected better."
I laughed in disbelief. Was he jealous? Was trying to make me feel bad for moving on how he needed to make himself feel better?
"If you want to hang onto that, be my guest. It's been a year. How about you stay out of my business and I stay out of yours?" I didn't wait to hear his answer. I stalked away towards the control room. He wouldn't be able to come in after me. I took my seat and tried to focus; we were going on air soon.
Wasn't it you who was sure that everything would go great today, I thought. Yesterday with Damien’s moodiness and the rushed, disorganized day I had had, I had been sure today was going to be better. Hadn't you played this out in your head a million times already? What you were going to say and do? I had never imagined the meeting with Jason after a year of not seeing him going the way that it had ended up going. Jason was not supposed to have shown up at the studio today. Davis, for that matter, was not supposed to have been there when the two of us met again. Cozying up to Davis that way hadn't been right. I was never that way with him in the office. Jason and my anger in the moment had brought out the worst in me. I couldn't resist reacting to him. I couldn't help it. His presence, the way he spoke to me just got me fired up. I didn't want that. How was I supposed to ignore him when he had gotten around the steps I had taken to stay away from him?
He was still out there too. The control room door had a large window and I could see him pacing the hallway outside. My attention suffered during the broadcast. Now that he was there and would be when I walked out of the control room, I couldn't concentrate. When we finished, I stayed in my seat as the control room emptied. I wasn't in a hurry to leave and deal with Jason. Getting up, I hoped that I would enter the hallway and he'd be gone. I wasn't going to be that lucky. The last time, it had taken moving across the country to get away from him. I didn't have that option now. If I ran, he would chase me, and not in the romantic way.
I took a deep breath before walking out into the hallway. He stopped moving as I went up to him.
"Waiting for Davis?" I asked.
"Nope. Try again," he snarled.
"This sure was a long way to travel just to harass me."
"Harass you?" he scoffed.
"Clearly. That's all you've done since you got here, or was there an actual reason why you came?"
"Would you have met with me if I had asked to see you?"
"No," I said swiftly.
"Then can you blame me for taking matters into my own hands?"
"What do you want? To ask me to come back? The answer is still no."
"Wrong question," he said. "Did something happen the night of the party?"
"The Christmas party last year? You were there, Jason. You know what happened."
"After that," he said.
"After that, I left; what are you talking about?"
"We had sex, Shelby. And then you disappeared. That was a year ago now. Tell you what, you look great for having just had a baby." I blanched.
"What did you say?"
"You do have a baby, right?" he asked. He knew the answer was yes; he just wanted to hear me admit it. My heart hammered in my chest. "I had to hear about it from Trisha. Congratulations."
"Thank you," I said stiffly.
“I didn’t realize it was that serious with Davis,” he said.
“It isn’t.”
“So he’s mine?”
“Who?”
“The baby. Did you get pregnant after the party and not tell me?” he demanded. My jaw dropped. There were people around; I didn’t need anything getting out about Damien.
“Y-you have to be the most conceited man on this earth to think you’re the only person I have had sex with since we hooked up.”
“Then tell me,” he said. “Yes or no, Shel. Is he mine?”
“You’re impossible,” I said, walking away. I heard him follow me. All that time I had to think about telling Jason was gone. He was here now, and if I knew anything about him, he wouldn’t let me go without a fight.