BAD BOY ROMANCE: DIESEL: Contemporary Bad Boy Biker MC Romance (Box Set) (New Adult Sports Romance Short Stories Boxset) (168 page)

“No,” Stratton said, shaking his head. “Stay on the couch out here.” He grabbed his suitcase. “I’ll take you to the airport tomorrow, Miriam.”

“What the fuck?” I hissed. “You’re not going to kick her out?!”

Stratton looked at me with tired eyes. “She’s right, Leda,” he said. “She won’t be able to get a plane until tomorrow morning. I can’t make her stay at the airport.”

I felt my face twist up in anger. “What the fuck are you talking about?” I yelled. “Who cares? Who the fuck cares if she stays at the airport overnight? What the fuck is she doing in our house?”

Stratton gave me a look before laughing shortly. “Don’t be so petty, Leda,” he said. “Don’t be cruel. You don’t have anything to worry about. She and I are over. But letting her stay on the couch overnight is the polite thing to do. You shouldn’t be so heartless.”

I narrowed my eyes at the same time I felt tears pricking them. “I’m being petty?” I said incredulously. “I don’t think she thought about the polite thing to do for a second,” I added. “She showed up without thinking about how it would make us feel!”

Stratton narrowed his eyes at me and leaned closer. “I get that this bothers you,” he whispered sharply. “But be the bigger person here, Leda. I need you to do that.”

I blinked slowly. A stream of hot water ran down my cheek and before I could wipe it away, I heard Miriam giggle slowly. I glared at her and Stratton. Grabbing my suitcase, I stalked outside and threw it in the trunk of my car.

Before I even knew where I was going, I was heading to Megan’s apartment. A little dread filled me when I realized that she wasn’t going to be expecting me, and I wondered whether or not Tyler was home. I crossed my fingers under the wheel and closed my eyes, desperately wishing that I’d have Megan to myself.

I knew that I should have called, but instead I knocked on the door. My heart was thudding in my chest and my breath was coming in little damp bursts. Instead of feeling heartbroken, I felt panicked. What was I supposed to do now that she was here? I felt stupid for thinking that a vacation ever could have made things right between Stratton and myself. And I felt-

“Hi,” Megan said crossly. When she noticed my face, her anger quickly turned to concern. “Oh, my god, Leda, what’s wrong? Come in,” she added, grabbing me by the arm and pulling me inside.

“Is Tyler home?” I sniffled. Megan shook her head.

“He’s in Vegas for the weekend,” she said sourly. “Bachelor party.”

“Things are so fucked up,” I whispered. Megan looked at me and narrowed her eyes.

“Leda, what the fuck are you talking about? Things are fine,” she said, wrapping her arms around me and pulling me close. “Did something happen?”

I bit my lip. Suddenly, everything came out in a rush. “Stratton and I are married,” I said, sobs hitching my throat. Megan looked at me with wide eyes.

“What? Is this a joke?”

I shook my head and another wave of sobs overtook me. Megan patiently let me cry and rubbed my back while I wiped the dripping snot off my face. “No,” I said, my voice racked with crying. “No, it’s not a joke. We got married so he could stay in the country.”

Megan cocked her head to the side. “So what’s the big deal?” She kept rubbing my back. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

“That is what’s wrong,” I said dramatically, flopping down on the couch and closing my eyes. “Nothing’s been right ever since then!”

Megan sat down next to me and took one of my hands in her two soft ones. “So…have you guys like, hooked up? Is that why you were being so weird with him?”

I bit my lip and nodded. “Yeah,” I said finally. “Yeah, we’ve slept together a few times. And we just went on vacation together. And when I got home, his ex-girlfriend was in our house. And he won’t kick her out!”

“What a bastard,” Megan replied automatically. Her eyes searched my face. “Wait, you said that his ex is there and he won’t make her leave? What the fuck, Leda?”

“I don’t know,” I mumbled. “She said she wouldn’t be able to get a plane home until tomorrow so he said that she could stay on the couch. He called me heartless for wanting to kick her out.”

Megan bit her lip. “Look, you know I love you, right?”

I nodded. This wasn’t going to be good.

“But sometimes you can overreact just a teensy bit, Leda. He didn’t want her to stay. He just didn’t want her to spend the night at the airport. That’s pretty gentlemanly, especially coming from Stratton.”

“I know!” I wailed, covering my eyes with my hands. “I know. I can’t help it though! Why doesn’t he treat me like that? Why is he only nice to her?” The sobs came back and I hunched over and cried. Megan sat next to me; I could hear her slow, deliberate breathing.

“Leda I think you’re overreacting,” she said softly. “Is something else on your mind?”

My eyes shot open. “Shit,” I muttered. “I’ll be right back.”

Megan didn’t say anything as I got off the couch and walked into the bathroom. When my pants and underwear were pulled down, I leaned over on the toilet and put my elbows on my knees. When I peed, there was a sharp pain in my lower belly. I looked at the crotch of my panties and saw a dark reddish-brown smear.

“Shit,” I muttered softly.

When I got out of the bathroom, Megan was giving me that same funny look. “What’s wrong?” She asked again and I had to swallow to keep from crying.

“I got my period,” I told her, looking at my feet.

“So? That’s good, right?”  I didn’t say anything. Megan gaped. “Oh, my god,” she finally said. “Are you sure? Did you…want it?”

Tears dripped down my cheeks and I buried my face in my hands. “I don’t know,” I told her. “I don’t know. I thought I was and I should have hated the idea but I didn’t and now I don’t know. Stratton hates me and I can’t go back home and everything sucks, Megan. Why did I have to do this? Why did I have to say yes?”

Megan reached over and rubbed my back. “Tell you what,” she said slowly. “You stay over here tonight and we’ll leave for West Virginia tomorrow. You won’t have to go home until next weekend. Does that give you enough time to think?” She was looking at me sharply but her tone was soft and I felt relief flood my body. Relief that I had a good friend despite managing to be a bitch. Relief that there was someone who cared about me. But most of all, relief that I didn’t have to go home.

Chapter Seven

Stratton

“You really thought this was a good idea?” I looked at Miriam. She was sitting on the couch with her ankles crossed demurely, gazing up at me. Despite the fact that I didn’t want to see her, I felt my body reacting to her presence. It felt weird to be in the same room as her and not touch her. When we were together, we were all over each other, all the time. Holding her at arm’s length made the split between us really seem final. I saw that even though she was beautiful, she was obviously trying to act like nothing had happened. Her face showed worry-lines and stress, but she was grinning and acting like I’d been happy to see her. It was exhausting. It reminded me of when we were together, and I’d needle at her, and she’d just smile at me like always. It was a pretty bad feeling.

“Of course,” she said sweetly. “I missed you, Stratton. I had to show you just how much.” Miriam stood up from the couch and came towards me, but I reached out and held her at a distance away.

“This isn’t a good idea,” I told her. “Even if something were to happen between us now, we wouldn’t be getting back together. And it wasn’t a good idea to show up like this, Miriam. You’re lucky that I felt bad for you.”

She frowned at me, her plump lower lip sticking out like a toddler’s. “That’s not the Stratton I know,” she said softly. “I thought you would be happy to see me. I missed you so much!” She eyed me up and down and I looked away. “You look even cuter than you used to,” she added. “What about me? Do I still look good?”

“Does it matter?” I gave her a pointed look. “I’m going to unpack and do some laundry. Find a flight, as soon as you can. I’ll take you to the airport tomorrow.”

“Stratton,” Miriam whined, pleading at me with her eyes. “Keep me company? Please? I’ve been out here by myself for days!”

I frowned at her. “Then you should have talked to me before you decided to do this,” I said. “Really, you can’t be shocked, Miriam. I can’t even believe my housemates let you in!”

“I told them I was your girlfriend,” Miriam said. “They believed me. And I didn’t sleep in the living room; I slept in your bed.” She grinned at me and I felt my stomach plummet. “Doesn’t that sound fun?”

I rolled my eyes and got to my feet. “Find a flight,” I said sharply. “I’m not playing these games with you.”

Miriam pouted but didn’t try to stop me when I pushed past her and walked to my room. Slamming the door, I ripped my sheets off the bed and lay down on the bare mattress. Everything looked exactly the same as it had when I left it, but knowing that Miriam had been alone in my room, I was sure she’d snooped through my shit. Sure enough, the papers on my desk were stacked neatly in a way that I never would have left them.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Leda. I understood why she was upset, but she’d completely overreacted. Would she have expected me to demand she kick someone out? I shook my head. Her rudeness had surprised me, much more than I was expecting. It was as if the trip we’d taken together no longer existed. The memories didn’t even seem real, but more like a dream that I’d just woken from. Reality was Miriam, bullying me into staying overnight. The Leda of Aspen who’d snuggled and kissed me all the time was fiction; it had to be.

Leda’s phone went straight to voicemail. I sent her a text asking if she was okay and predictably, it went unanswered. I rolled my eyes and threw my phone onto my desk. Women. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another.

When I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, Leda’s face haunted my mind. She was there, no matter what I did, no matter how I tried to force her away. It was like a taste in my mouth that wouldn’t go away, even after brushing my teeth. Even the clock on the wall seemed to say her name as it ticked by, the seconds moving agonizingly slow.

I barely slept that night. Every time I felt myself getting comfortable, I reached over for Leda. I kept thinking that we were back in the hotel in Aspen, and when I realized she wasn’t there, I’d jolt awake. At two in the morning, I lay awake, staring at the ceiling. The house was quiet except for the occasional light footfall in the living room and the hallway; I knew that Miriam wasn’t sleeping. The same sense of dread that I’d had since leaving Aspen had only grown. I expected that Leda and I would need to have about nineteen arguments after Miriam had left to process what had happened.

Raking a hand through my hair, I sighed unhappily. Why did things have to be so difficult? The only thing that stopped me from regretting all of my time with Leda was the memory of her smiling, of us having fun together on vacation. Maybe it was time to accept that we’d simply run the course. Maybe it was time for us to come to terms with the fact that it was simply a marriage of convenience.

There was a slight knock on my door.

“Hi,” Miriam said, peeking her face in. “Am I disturbing you?”

I glared at her. “I’m already disturbed,” I told her. “What do you need?”

She came into my room wearing some kind of filmy lingerie. It was exactly the kind of thing that Leda had worn on our last night in Aspen, only it seemed natural on Miriam. I tried hard to keep my eyes focused on her face.

“I just wanted to talk,” she said softly. “Can we talk right now?”

I shook my head. “Miriam, we don’t have anything left to say to each other,” I told her. “Don’t you understand that? We’re over. It’s not a good idea for us to talk anymore, and I hope you understand that after you leave.”

Miriam reached out for my hand and I jerked away, sitting up in bed and looking at her levelly. “Stratton, you don’t know what you’re saying,” she said softly. “I love you. I want to be with you. I don’t care that you cheated on me with that American, it doesn’t matter.”