I paced the room, backwards and forwards, getting more and more wild with myself with every step I took.

I’m an idiot.

I’ve fucked it all up…

Charlotte didn’t deserve this shit from me, hell, she didn’t deserve this from anyone.

No wonder she tried to avoid me.

“Urrrrggghh!” I screamed as I punched the first thing I saw – a wall.

A fist-sized hole appeared in the plaster in front of me.

I stopped dead in my tracks and let my head fall forward into the wall, banging it against it a few times as I reminded myself what an asshole I was.

“Wanna talk about it?” J’s calm voice came from the living room.

I rolled my head to the side to look at him; I hadn’t heard him come in. The guy moved like a ghost in the night.

He was sitting on the couch, where he was apparently content watching the show I was putting on.

I shrugged, not sure what I wanted anymore.

“Sit,” he ordered, pointing at the seat opposite him.

I should have known I wouldn’t be left alone to deal with this; of course Jasper would be here.

He always is.

I huffed out a breath and pushed myself off the wall, my fist throbbing.

“It’s Charlotte,” I growled as I dropped myself onto the couch, leaning forward with my elbows resting on my knees and my head hanging low.

He chuckled and I shot him the finger.

“Shut up, asshole. You were right. She’s… different,” I admitted.

“What’d you do?” he asked straight out – no beating around the bush when it came to Jasp.

“I fucked it up, man,” I told him with a resigned sigh.

“What’d you do?” he repeated.

I threw myself back against the back of the seat. “I jumped to conclusions. Let Nelly get in my ear.”

“Nelly’s a bitch,” Jasper replied without missing a beat.

“I know, man, I know.”

“So, fire her.” He shrugged as though it was as straight forward as that.

“Then what? She’s the only woman around here that isn’t aiming to get in my pants.”

Jasper shook his head. “You’re dumber than you look if you think that bitch isn’t trying.”

I groaned. He was right and I knew it.

“Here’s a thought... hire a guy,” he suggested. “A straight one.”

I nodded and ran my hand through my hair. That would solve some of the issues, but not all of it. Nelly wasn’t the only problem here. I was a big part of it too.

“Give it to me from the start, man,” Jasper instructed.

So I did. I ran him through the whole date, picking her up, taking her to see Nona… Jasper had made a sound of disbelief at the fact that I’d taken her there. He knew it wasn’t a place I’d ever taken a woman before and I had no reasoning as to why I’d changed that now, but the smug look on his face told me that he had his own theories.

“We were just eating and talking when the phone rang.”

Jasper nodded, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“Nelly said that she’d been monitoring the situation with the footage from last night. She’d had about a dozen videos pulled, but people were starting to come out with Charlotte’s name.”

Charlotte Watson…

“She was with fuckin’ Stephen Miles, man.”

Jasper shrugged, seemingly unfazed with this news.

“The guy’s a fuckwit,” I hissed at him.

“He is. But you’ve been snapped with a pretty long line of crazy tramps, man… I don’t see how you’re in a position to judge.”

Valid point.

“You know what that guy’s like.”

“I do,” he agreed. “I know what you think of him, and I’m with you all the way.”

“It’s not even about him specifically,” I muttered. “There was a big drama a couple of years back, around the time I had the misfortune of meeting that bastard. He had a bad scandal go down. Some girl wanted half a mil to keep quiet about what went on… so he paid, and she didn’t talk. I actually felt sorry for him, for a fraction of a second, before I laughed my ass off.”

Douche bag.

“So, Charlotte’s the girl?” he enquired.

“Got it in one,” I confirmed.

“She demand the money?” he asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“That’s what Nelly said.” I shrugged.

“You ask her?”

I shook my head, shame creeping in. “Not until I’d pointed the finger pretty hard in her direction… accused her of planning the same for me.”

“You’re an asshole, Sloan.”

I whipped my head up, the anger in Jasper’s voice taking me by surprise – Jasper didn’t get mad about anything.

“That’s what she said,” I muttered.

“A fuckin’ blind man could have seen that girl was not after your money or your fame.” He pointed a finger at me. “If anything, she was put off by it.”

I groaned. “I know that now. Fuck… Nelly got in my ear and filled my head with shit… I was on edge already from being around Charlotte… I didn’t think.”

Damn it.

“I’ve swooped in and messed up her life in thirty seconds flat.” I groaned again.

“Did you at least shut your mouth long enough to find out her side of the story?”

I grunted. “Not really, but she’s got balls, she made me hear it… she said he emotionally abused her.”

Bastard… I’ll kill him… I’ve been looking for a good reason.

“When she got out of there he turned it all on her… gave her money she didn’t want.” I could feel myself getting fired up at that asshole, but more at myself for not having her back. “She said she hasn’t touched it.”

Jasper shook his head – at my stupidity, if I had to guess. “Fix it, Parker, man. You’ll regret it if you don’t.”

He’s right.

“You fire Nelly,” I instructed. “I’m going over there.”

I leapt up out of my chair, only to be shoved back down, hard.

“Like fuck you are,” he announced. “Fire your own damn publicist and give that poor girl a break.”

I frowned, not understanding.

“Fix it tomorrow,” he explained. “You’ve pissed her off, hurt her I bet. And I’d also bet that somehow her address got out, which probably caused a bunch of paps to camp out outside her place, am I right?”

Fucking Nelly…

“Yeah...” I admitted quickly, not used to this more aggressive side of Jasper.

He nodded. “Then you leave her the hell alone, dickhead.”

Fucker.

But he’s right…

I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I may not have been able to go over there, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t send her something to say I was sorry.

Jasper strolled across the room, back to his usual blasé self.

“Oh hey, Park?” he called from down the hallway. “Don’t even think about sending her flowers… she’s worth more, and you can do better.”

I tossed the phone onto the coffee table in defeat.

God dammit…

I suck at this shit.