“I’ll catch a cab.” I groaned when my stomach cramped, and tried to breathe through the pain.

“Okay darling, you be careful, and we will see you soon.”

“Thanks mama.”

I pulled the phone away and clicked end.

“There’s no fucking way you’re going to the airport alone,” said Grady. “Get your stuff packed while I call a cab.”

I gave him a weak smile. “I love you, you know that right?”

He patted my knee, returning my smile with a gentle one of his own.

“Of course, my tootsie roll.”

I hadn’t told him what had happened with Stella, but he was too astute not to know that I’d been feeling unlike myself because of Reid. He was just kind enough not to bring it up right then.

“You’re going to be fine,” he said softly, helping me from the floor. “You’ll see.”

For once I actually agreed with him. I was going to be fine. I just needed some time to get there.

Chapter 4

Reid

The Hotel Room, Cabo

Kennedy scowled at me from the living room when I walked into the hotel room we were sharing. Dane was whispering something to her, but looked at me as soon as he heard the door shut.

“Well?” Asked Kennedy, folding her arms across her chest. “Did you talk to her?”

“Yeah,” I replied, resting my hands on my hips. “She didn’t deny hitting Stella.”

“Seriously, Reid? Is all that sex with Stella fucking with your head?” Kennedy flung her arm out and pointed in the direction of the bedroom where I was staying with my girlfriend, Stella. “You know Jade better than her fucking parents do, and you honestly believe she’d lift her hands to someone?”

“Kitten, calm down,” said Dane, rubbing Kennedy’s back.

“NO!” She cried, snapping her head towards him. “Stella lied, and Reid refuses to see it! We saw her straddling Jade, trying to hit her!”

“I know, baby,” he kisses her forehead. “Just calm down, okay?”

He looked at her adoringly, and I felt a pang in my chest. That was how a man was supposed to look at the woman he loved, like he’d move mountains for her, die saving her. It’s how I looked at Jade when she wasn’t looking.

I’d never looked at Stella that way, not once, and despite what Kennedy and Dane believed, I had yet to have sex with her. Every time I tried, I couldn’t bring myself to do it, so I always made up some excuse instead. Lately though, Stella had been acting a little crazier, more possessive. It made no sense. I’d agreed to stay away from Jade, just like she’d asked me to, fucking begged me to, but it wasn’t helping. Fuck knows why I listened because I was fucking miserable without Jade in my life.

Then why was I still with Stella?

Simple.

When I was with her, I wasn’t so obsessed with Jade, and I found some semblance of reprieve from the constant throb in my chest.

“Go take a shower and climb into bed,” Dane told Kennedy. “I’ll be there soon.”

Kennedy turned her angry, watery glare in my direction one last time, and then skulked off to their bedroom.

When Dane finally looked at me, I saw so much fury, and disappointment in his eyes that it winded me. He’d never looked at me that way before, and I had no fucking clue what to make of it. It was like he didn’t know me at all.

Had I really changed that much?

Probably.

But no one had the right to judge me. They knew nothing about what had happened with me and Jade, and everything they thought they knew was total bullshit.

Jade had been my best friend for years, and I’d always loved her, but when she rejected me she completely fucking annihilated me. Left me a broken man. So I did my best to move on.

“I’m dying to know what makes you think Jade had any reason to lie to you,” said Dane. “Because I saw what Stella did to her Reid, and whatever Stella said to you, is fucking trash.”

“Yeah? Then tell me why she has a bruised cheek, and a busted lip.”

He frowned, looking truly perplexed. “She was fine when she walked away from us. She didn’t have a single mark on her face, or anywhere else.”

“That’s not how it looked,” I barked, irritated. “I saw her face when she found me, and it definitely looked like she’d been hit.”

Dane rubbed his hands down his face, and let out a breathless chuckle. “Unbelievable.” He shook his head, and looked down, a snarky smile pulling at his lips. “Ah that’s perfect, just fucking perfect.”

“What the fuck are you carrying on about, man? Stella is in the next room, icing her damn face.”

With a shake of his head, Dane looked up and replied, “The fact that you think Jade would do anything to Stella proves how stupid you are. You’ve stayed away from Jade because Stella told you to, and now you believe that Jade hit her. Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?”

“What do you expect me to do?” I bellowed, not worrying about who heard me. “Jade didn’t deny it!”

“Why would she, when she knows you’d take Stella’s side over hers?”

“I wouldn’t if she had just told me the damn truth!”

Dane sighed, both in exasperation and frustration. I knew how he felt. “You don’t get it,” he said quietly. “And that’s a damn shame, Reid.”

“Don’t get what?”

“You’ve already chosen Stella over Jade, and that’s why Jade won’t fight you where Stella is concerned. She fucking gave up. How can you not see that yet? She gave you up!”

“That was her choice, Dane!” I yelled, fisting my hands at my sides. The longer this conversation continued, the angrier I got. I couldn’t tell which way was up, and Dane sure as hell wasn’t helping matters.

“No, it wasn’t. You made that choice for her the minute you decided to keep your snake of a girlfriend happy before thinking about what losing you would do to Jade. You just stopped seeing her, talking to her, all for a girl that is playing you like a damn violin. You’re a fool, Reid, a damn fool.”

I stood there, mouth agape, as Dane turned his back on me and walked away. I had no response to what he’d said. But then again, I couldn’t deny a single word he’d said.

It hurt me to acknowledge it, but he was right. About all of it. When Stella had told me I couldn’t be friends with Jade anymore, I should’ve told her it wasn’t going to happen, but instead I’d acted out of desperation, and given her what she wanted. I’d cut Jade loose, only seeing her on the odd occasion, and even then I kept my distance. I pretended that it wasn’t hurting her, pretended it didn’t kill me inside to shut her out, but I was only doing more damage. Damage I wasn’t sure how to fix.

“SHE HIT ME, Reid!”

Stella’s shrill voice grew louder, more hysterical. Her lip was swollen and her cheek had started to bruise where she said Jade had hit her.

“Don’t yell, Stella. I don’t need Dane and Kennedy coming in here.”

Stella stomped her foot – God, when had she become so childish? – and fisted her hands at her sides. Her eyes were puffy and filled with tears.

“I don’t care about your friends! They were mean to me, and they did nothing when Jade attacked me!”