Marty
“SHE HATES ME, WHICH MEANS you have a chance. It might be a slim one because that girl is a bitch,” Rowan said as she entered the room. The slamming of the door ended her announcement.
I set down the book I was reading and looked up at her. “She’s a bitch . . . or you are?” I asked knowing without details that Rowan had brought out the worst in Fiona on purpose.
Rowan threw her red hair over her shoulder and sighed dramatically. “I have no idea what you mean by that question. I am an angel,” the sarcasm wasn’t lost on me. Never had Rowan ever been accused of being an angel. Nor would she ever be.
“What did you do?” I asked wondering if she’d managed a food fight after all.
Rowan lifted her left shoulder slightly nonchalantly. “I was just being me.”
“Did you end the breakfast with Shay in tears? Because I don’t want to deal with Mack being mad. I only want Fiona fired up.”
Rowan plopped down on the sofa beside me. “I don’t know,” she began again then the evil grin on her face took over and she looked at me. “I might have nudged her a bit. But Shay is fine.”
“Good. Should I expect Fiona to come banging on my door? Were you that good?”
She cackled with laughter. “I doubt it. She hates us both right now. She’s too much fun to harass.”
“She’s not supposed to hate me.”
“Too late. She hated you before we got here.”
I put my paper down and stood up. I was the one who sent Rowan on a mission and I felt guilty for it now. Fiona deserved an apology.
“Where you going?” Rowan asked.
“To find Fiona,” I replied.
“She’s in her room. Pissed.”
“Great. Thanks,” I replied.
Rowan was saying something as the door closed behind me. She thought this was a game. No one understood. I hadn’t come here with the intention of winning Fiona back. I’d come hoping the sight of her didn’t leave me breathless. Unfortunately, the sight of her still did.
If I had the patience all those years ago, I would have fought harder. Pushed more. Demanded she listen to me. But I had let her run. I gave up and ran myself. This weekend was my one chance to change it all. To fix the mistakes of my past. I’d blamed myself, hated myself, wished I could do it over for the past three years. Seeing her, I knew I had my chance to fix the past. And if there was the slightest chance I could, I had to try.
I’d been lying to myself. I wasn’t fucking happy. I hadn’t moved on. Nashville wasn’t my home. My happiness wasn’t there. Nashville was a simple escape and a moment to regroup.
Savannah was home. Fiona was home.
Until I had seen her and watched her, I couldn’t have known. I came here to reassure myself she was feeling everything I was feeling. I couldn’t push for more because my heart wasn’t ready for another break. Not like the one Fiona could deliver.
“She hates me,” Rowan called from the door as she opened it behind me. “That means something. When she tries to act like she is over you, ask yourself why she hates me so much. I disgust her. I can see it. I never disgust women. Even heterosexual women like me.”
I rolled my eyes and turned back to Rowan. “Go back in room.” The last thing I needed was Fiona to hear her out here.
She shrugged and said, “Fine.”
I waited until she was safely hidden before knocking on Fiona’s door.
Fiona and I had a past that most people didn’t. It still defined us today and she couldn’t deny that. That hope was all I had to hold onto while I waited for her to open the door.
With a deep breath, I knocked on Fiona’s door, unsure what it was I planned on saying to her. Apologizing for Rowan seemed like a good place to start. I knew she had probably pushed Fiona to the brink.
It was several moments before the door slowly opened. When Fiona appeared, my breath caught. I was struck. Her beauty made me speechless and that was where I was so weak. She’d always affected me this way.
“I can’t think of one reason you would be at my door,” she said in the most annoyed tone I had ever heard from her. Rowan must have done a number at breakfast.
“You can’t?” I asked raising one eyebrow. “Because I know Rowan well. And I’d assume after this morning the reason I am here is very clear.”
Fiona placed a hand on her hip. “Your girlfriend is a bitch. Ass. Bastard. I could keep going but you can’t come apologize for her. No one can, not even her. Just stay away from me. Both of you. Until I can get the hell out of this place.”
Rowan had gone too far. Whatever she had pulled she’d done it in a way that Fiona wasn’t accepting of. I had more work ahead of me than before. “Rowan is blunt and has no filter. I’m sorry about that and about her. Let me talk, Fiona. Just me. Let me in. For a minute, at least.”
She was ready to say no. I could see it in her glare when something cracked and she lowered her gaze to study her feet or the ground. It took all I had to be quiet and still. I needed her to think. I needed her to accept and give me a moment to speak to her. We both needed to heal.
“Rude. She’s rude,” Fiona finally said.
I nodded because I didn’t doubt it. I knew Rowan well. She had her reasons for being rude but I knew this was because of the mess I’d left behind me.
“It’s me. Let me inside. Just to talk and clear the air.” I said that trying not to sound desperate. But I did. I heard it. I was begging. I should have been on my knees in tears.
She studied me a moment. Her gaze shifting from me to the door across the hall that was closed and better fucking remain that way. After several studying both me and the door several times, she slowly stepped back and held the door open.
“Fine. Come inside. Clear the air and be gone.”
Stepping inside her hotel room, I wondered if this was it. Would this be my last time alone with her? Would it be my last chance to salvage the pain I had caused. My chance at salvation. Not that I was worried about God and forever right now. My focus was completely on Fiona. My deepest hopes and dreams centered around what I once had and would fight for again.
“Rowan can be difficult,” I said as I walked inside the hotel room.
“Nasty,” Fiona responded. “People who behave like her are nasty.”
“She is protective of me,” I said trying to explain Rowan to her.
“Ha! Congratulations. Hope that works out for you,” she drawled then walked away from me.