Chapter Fifteen

Leo

“Uncle Leo,” Skylar ran up to me and gave me a big hug. “I’ve missed you.”

“Hey, Sky.” I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Your dad here?”

“Yes, daddy is in the back with Uncle Zane and Robin is in the kitchen with Aunty Lucky.”

“Awesome.” I smiled down into her cute little face.

“I’m playing with the babies.” She made a face. “It’s boring.”

“I’m sure it’s not that bad.” I laughed.

“You want to play with us?”

“Not right now.” I shook my head. I loved David and Ruby-Lane, but I wasn’t really a baby person. “But, I’ll come back and talk to you soon. I need to take these sandwiches to the kitchen and then I need to go and see if Zane and Noah need any help.”

“What help would they need?” She frowned. “It’s Aunty Lucky that’s cooking.”

“Well, they might need help drinking the beer.” I winked at her and she giggled.

“Oh, Uncle Leo.” She ran over to the babies. “David, your Uncle Leo is a goofball.” She squeezed his cheeks and I walked into the kitchen.

“Hey Lucky.” I gave her a quick hug and kiss. “Hi Robin.”

“Hi Leo.” They both gave me a quick smile and I was glad that we were all able to get along as well as we did.

“Need any help?” I asked as I walked out of the kitchen. “No? Oh okay?” I ran out as they threw kitchen towels at me.

“Leo.” Zane grinned at me. “You made it.”

“You knew I’d be here. Free food always calls my name.” I grabbed a beer from the cooler and sat down. “So any burgers done?”

“No.” Noah shook as his head as he flipped something on the grill. “I think it’ll be another fifteen minutes.”

“I’m starving here.” I groaned and chugged some beer.

“How you doing?” Zane stared at me through narrowed eyes.

“I’m fine.” I shrugged and looked away from him. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Lucky’s banned me from guys night for a month.” Zane sat across from me.

“Man, you’re so whipped.” I shook my head and took another sip of beer. “And that’s why I’ll never be getting married.”

“Uh huh.” He rolled his eyes. “Try not to chug them so fast.”

“I’m fine.” I was starting to get annoyed. “Anything I can do?”

“No.” He stood up. “Just relax.”

“I’m relaxed.”

“You spoken to Hannah yet?”

“No.” I got angry just thinking about her. “I told you that I’m done with her.”

“Done sounds so final.”

“It is final. She’s a snake in the grass. A snake that’s been waiting for the perfect opportunity to bite.”

“Dude, really?” Zane rolled his eyes. “So melodramatic.”

“I’m not being melodramatic. I’m just telling it like it is. She’s a snake.”

Zane shrugged and walked away and I took another sip of beer. The last week with Hannah had been so awkward. And yesterday, yesterday I’d been so angry and turned on that I hadn’t even known what to think. She made me so mad when I looked at her, yet I was still attracted to her. She still had me wrapped around her little finger. When I’d seen the sadness in her eyes yesterday, I’d wanted to comfort her. I’d wanted to apologize for the things I’d said and done, as if I’d been in the wrong. I’d been so angry with myself that I’d left the office and gone back after I knew she’d be gone. I wasn’t sure how much longer I’d be able to deal with her on an everyday basis. It was so hard to look at her and not want her. It was so hard to not ask her what she’d done the night before. My bed felt lonely and my life felt empty. I wasn’t sure how she’d been able to affect me so much already. I barely knew her. Shit, we’d only been friends with benefits for a short period. Yet, she was all I could think about.

I was so angry with myself for letting her in. Beep Beep. I pulled my phone out and saw an email from my dad and I opened it quickly, the blood draining from my face. There was a video escalating through the office of Hannah and I having sex on the desk. It appeared to have been an accident. One of us had accidentally hit the record button on my computer and the IT department had watched it and shared it with some other people in the office. My dad was furious, but he said the video meant we could fire Hannah, as it was obvious from the video that the act was consensual.

I deleted the email and sat down, not knowing how I felt. All I knew was that I didn’t want her to leave. Not like this. Not with us angry at each other. I wanted to understand why she’d sent the emails to her work email. I wanted to know how she could kiss me and make love to me with eyes full of light and emotion if she was using me. I pulled out my phone and decided to send her an email.

To: Hannah Will

From: Leo Maxwell

Re: Dirty Video

Hannah,

I think you should know that there is a  p**n ographic video of us having sex on my desk escalating around the office. A couple of people have seen it, but my father is taking care of it. I just thought you should know.

Leo Maxwell

I hit send and stared at my phone, wondering if she was going to respond. There was a reply about two minutes later.