Chapter Nine
Wren
I sat on the edge of my bed, staring out the window. The cars were all gone from the gravel lot, there was no one in sight, and all of the cans and bottles had picked up. I wondered if last night had just been a dream. It seemed impossible that only a few hours later I couldn’t even tell there had been a party. Or that I had melted under Axton’s touch. His promises.
I gripped into the flannel fabric of my pajama pants, pinching at my skin. I needed to wake the hell up from whatever daydream I was stuck in.
How was I supposed to snap out of it?
Most of the night had been a complete nightmare. From the blasting music that woke me up to the bimbo blonde who had sneered at me and almost pushed me to my breaking point. But then there had been Axton. Axton who had chased me out of the cabin, who had grabbed onto me until I wouldn’t run away.
He had a hold on me. One that extended well past the point when his fingers had been wrapped around me.
I sighed and reached for my phone.
“Hello?” Meg’s voice answered on the third ring.
I let out a deep breath. “Thank god.”
“What’s going on?” She sounded worried.
“Everything,” I sighed. “I did what you asked.”
Meg squealed into the phone. “And how did it go?”
“It was a disaster.”
“What did you do?”
“What?” I snorted. “Why do you automatically assume it was me who did something wrong?”
“Because I know you,” she stated matter-of-factly.
I rolled my eyes and fell back against my pillows. “I didn’t do anything wrong. Axton is just an asshole.”
“What a sexy name,” Meg seemed to ignore the rest of my comment.
“That’s not the only thing,” I admitted. “He’s gorgeous.”
“Wow,” Megan breathed. “This doesn’t sound like you at all.”
“But he’s a gorgeous asshole,” I reminded her.
She was making me uncomfortably aware of how unlike myself I was being. How Axton had managed to get under my skin. But it was impossible not to be attracted to a man like that; tall, powerful, sinister. I was reminded of how desperate he had been to get me to let him stay at the cabin, how weak he had seemed in that moment. Had I gotten under his skin, as well?
“So what happened?” Megan pressed.
I ran through the events of the night quickly, stopping on every detail that seemed important. How he had made promises to me. How he had joined Lindsey in mocking me. How he had chased after me, determined to make sure I didn’t hate him.
“It sounds to me like he likes you.” She sounded so nonchalant, like it was a no-brainer.
“Why, though?” I was flustered. It seemed impossible that someone like Axton would ever notice, or care about, someone like me. We were complete opposites.
Megan sighed. “What do you mean why? Wren, it’s not the end of the world if a man likes you. You’re smart, you’re beautiful, you know how to take care of yourself. Of course he’d be attracted to you.”
“I don’t know,” I groaned.
“Snap out of it girl,” she scolded me. “You’re a fucking babe and a half and one hell of a good catch. Stop hating yourself and just accept that.”
I was blushing. “Thanks, Meg. I just want to be careful. I don’t want to be the stupid, love-sick girl that I write about.”
“You don’t have to be. You won’t be. But you need to let loose. Have some fun for a change.”
I sighed. “I just don’t want to be hurt, you know?”
“Well I’m not saying you should go fall in love with a complete stranger,” her voice was soft as she offered the sort of guidance I had needed from my best friend. “I’m just saying you should have some fun. I think you need it. And I think it’ll really help with your writing.”
The writing. Of course. “You’re right,” I admitted. “I’m just over-analyzing.”
Megan was silent. “Hello?” I asked after thirty seconds of nothing. I pulled the phone away from my ear and saw that the call had been dropped. “Damnit.”
I was about to call her back when the phone started ringing. Instinctively, I hit answer, but the voice that rang in my ear was not Megan’s.
“Wow, you actually answered,” my father chuckled.
A cold wave washed over my body. “On accident,” I admitted dryly. “What do you want?”
“Did you get my email?” His voice remained hopeful, excited, despite my obvious disdain.
“I did.”
“And what did you think?”
I rolled my eyes. He just didn’t understand that I wanted nothing to do with him, or his business. “I’m not interested,” I spat.
“Why not?”
Why not? I stood up and began pacing through my bedroom. I didn’t know where to begin. I just knew it wouldn’t matter. He was never going to listen to me.
“I don’t want anything to do with that anymore.”
“Don’t you need the money?” He was sinister in his speech, knowing how to find my weaknesses. But I didn’t need the money, not so long as I could get my book finished in time.
“No,” I spat. “I’m doing just fine without you.”
“Sweet pea,” he used the nickname he had given to me as a child. I cringed. “I really think you should consider this opportunity. It would be amazing for the both of us.”
“I’ve already considered it,” I was starting to yell. “I’m not interested.”
“Now, calm down,” he scolded. “You know we have a contract.”
All the strength drained from my body. I collapsed to my knees, struggling to breath. “How dare you,” I hissed into the phone.
“I didn’t want to bring it up, sweet pea, but you’re leaving me no choice.”
“You promised.” I was curling into myself, withering from his threat. “You promised after the last movie, you would never bring that up. That it didn’t exist anymore.”
He sighed into the phone. “I was worried you might disappear like this. The contract is still intact.”
“I fucking hate you.” I ended the call and threw my phone under the bed. Tears were springing up in the corners of my eyes, from frustration and fear and outrage.
I had made him promise me, years ago, that I would do one final movie if he destroyed the working contract we had. Why hadn’t I made sure? I felt so foolish. Of course he didn’t destroy it, of course he was going to use it against me, forcing me into doing something I didn’t want to do.
I was trapped.
It would only be a matter of time before he got in touch with me again. I could only ignore him for so long before I would be roped into working for Corbin’s new movie.
“Fuck!” I threw my fists against the floorboards.
A knock on my front door made me spring up to my feet. Brushing the tears away from my eyes I stormed out of my room. It was not a good time for anyone to be showing up to my cabin.
Axton was standing in my doorway. And I looked like a horrid mess. He looked amazing, like he hadn’t been up all night drinking. He was wearing fresh clothes, his dark brown hair pulled back perfectly against his head.
“Hey,” I greeted as I pulled open the door.
“Hey,” he answered back simply. His eyebrows furrowed and he frowned at the sight of me, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” I lied.
“You look like you’ve been crying.”
I couldn’t help but notice the concern in his voice. The same worry that had etched into his features the night before as I’d stormed out of his cabin more than once. It was infuriating. “I’m fine,” I repeated. “What are you doing here?” I switched topics.
He shifted on his feet. “I just wanted to apologize about last night.”
“Didn’t you do that already?” I snapped without meaning to. My father had ruined my mood. Axton was just the poor victim who had to deal with my wrath.
“Well, yeah,” he shrugged. “I just wanted to do it again in the light of day. To make sure you know I meant what I said last night.”
“I’m surprised you even remember.”
He laughed, that dimple forming in the hollow of his cheek. “I wasn’t that drunk.”
The confession made me nervous. Did he really remember everything?
“Okay well, it’s fine,” I reaffirmed. I wasn’t in the mood for this conversation. Not for any conversation. I wanted to crawl underneath my blankets and cry. I wanted to run away from Colorado, to some new place my father would never be able to find me.
“Listen,” he pressed his hand against the door frame, his blue eyes flashing over my face, trying to gauge where I was at emotionally. “I know we talked about the party thing, and I told you I would ask you next time.”
I groaned. “Yeah?”
“There was supposed to be another one this Friday night.”
“Already?” My mouth dropped. I was incredulous. It had been less than twenty four hours and Axton East was already using his charm to take advantage of me. Two parties in one week?
I stared at his mouth as it twitched, frowning apologetically. “It was already planned. Everyone has already been invited.”
A dry laugh escaped my lips as I shook my head in disbelief. What an arrogant asshole. I was ready to slam the door in his face when he added quickly, “But I’ll call it all off in a second. If that’s what you want me to do.”
I gripped my fingers tightly around the doorknob. “What?”
“If you don’t want me to throw another party so soon, then I won’t.”
I sighed out a mixture of surprise and exasperation. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with anything, least of all Axton East’s parties. “Go ahead and have it.” I started to close the door, but he threw his hand out and caught it.
“I want you to come,” he added. “Please.”
My knees wobbled at his invitation. I couldn’t believe he was actually inviting me to his party. Maybe Megan had been on to something. Maybe he actually was interested in me.
“I don’t know, I have a lot of work to do.” I tried to find any excuse possible. It was what I always did when it came to dealing with men. Megan hated my ability to make up a quick lie, usually about work, just to get out of a date. She thought I was destined to be alone forever.
But Axton wasn’t going to accept my refusal so easily. “Wren,” he was grinning, charming the socks off of me. “Please come to the party? It starts at ten.” He wasn’t forcing me. It was an open invitation. He took a few steps backward on the porch, still staring at me through what had become just a tiny crack in the doorway.
“I’ll see what I can do.” I shut the door quickly and slid down to the floor. I didn’t want him to see me blushing, or the shake making my hands jitter uncomfortably.
Somehow, he had managed to get my mind completely off of my father and his threats about our contract. For the first time in years I was experiencing a giddy lightness; my stomach was turning, my palms were sweaty, my heart was racing. Friday felt like it was years away.
He was taking over my life. He had eclipsed everything that mattered: my writing, my peace and quiet, my complete reluctance to entertain even the thought of a relationship. My entire world was being taken over by Axton East, the very man I had thought I was going to hate.