After the Ex Games
Page 3
Chapter 3
Unknown
We watched as Brandon and Katie left Greyson’s office. I could see anger in Katie’s eyes as she strode out. She looked like someone who had just been told that a meteor was going to hit earth in twenty-four hours. It was the first time I’d seen her and I didn’t know how to feel. I wanted to hate her, but a part of me felt bad for her.
“Greyson always had a hidden heart.” Her voice sounded distant, even though she stood right next to me.
“Why do you think he lied? Do you really think he wanted to protect Brandon?”
“I don’t know and I don’t care.” She looked at me sharply and squeezed my arm tightly.
“I see.” I didn’t really, but I didn’t want to pry.
“I need to tell you something. They ruined me as well.” Her eyes were wide and hard, but I could see tears in the corners. “We are nothing to them. Nothing.”
“I don’t understand how men could be like that.”
“It’s all a game to them. It’s all a game.” She looked down for a second. “They don’t care who they break and discard.”
“What happened to you?” I asked softly, not knowing if I really wanted to hear. It was all becoming too much. The truth was breaking my heart in two and I no longer knew who I was.
“I loved him, you know.”
“Brandon?”
She looked at me unseeingly and didn’t respond.
“Greyson?” I asked, seeing if his name would make her respond. “Was it Brandon or Greyson that you loved?”
She looked up at me then and stared into my eyes with so much pain and heartbreak that I could almost feel her sadness in the pit of my stomach. “What does it matter? I was disposable to both of them.”
“I’m sorry.” I bite down on my lip, feeling my heart go out to her. I knew what it was like to be heartbroken.
“I went to his room one night.” She looked at me bleakly. “He was asleep. The lights were out. I kissed him. He rolled over and kissed me back. He was full of passion. Eager even in his sleep. I felt his hands touching me. I touched his na**d body. It felt different, but the same. I pulled off my clothes quickly, eagerly. He rolled me onto my back and then he entered me. I knew right away that it wasn’t him. But I didn’t stop. It just felt too good to stop.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know what to say. All I wanted to know was if it was Greyson or Brandon she was talking about.
“So we continued to make love and then he came and rolled over,” she continued. “I reached over and turned on the lamp. And I’d been right. It wasn’t him.”
“Who was it?” I gasped, wondering who she was talking about. Who was the one she’d hoped she’d been with?
“He looked at me in surprise, as if he hadn’t known it was me. I don’t know if he really cared who it was. I stared at him, pretending to be shocked, though I wasn’t. Not really. He told me to leave then. We never spoke about it again, but that night ruined my life. It ruined everything.”
“I don’t really follow.” I tried to keep my voice light, but I was frustrated.
“I just want you to know why I hate them as well.” She ran her hands through her hair. “I want you to know why you must bring them down.”
“I don’t know if I can do this.” My voice cracked and I rubbed my forehead.
“You can do it. They lied to you. They played you. There’s no way you can let them ride off into the sunset without a care in the world.”
“I don’t know how.”
“I know.” She smiled then, a wide, evil smile. “I know the weak link in the chain. All you have to do is start pulling. Trust me. Once you start, it’s all going to fall apart. They will be done. They will know what it feels like to be as empty and alone as we are.”
I stared at her then and thought about what she had said. I knew who the weak link in the chain was as well. The only problem was that I had a feeling I’d be just as bad as they were if I went after them. That was my dilemma, and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.
Part II
Chapter 4
Greyson
I should have felt like the happiest man in the world. The woman I was falling in love with—or was already in love with—felt the same way about me. My heart was still buzzing from remembering the previous evening. The way she’d kissed me and stared at me. It was something I’d never experienced before. It had felt strange, but wonderful. Holding her in my arms had felt like I’d won something, but I knew that the games hadn’t even begun.
Coming to my office this morning and seeing Brandon waiting inside for me had stopped my heart. I’d thought it was all over then, but it was more guilt that had him in my office. He was worried that Katie was going to start questioning him over what had happened in the office the day before. He was worried that he was still being dishonest. He was worried that everything was going to blow up in his face, and I didn’t blame him. I was worried about the same thing.
I was sorting through my mail when the envelope first caught my attention. It was pink and the ink was red, but the part that puzzled me the most was that it was addressed to Brandon Hastings and Greyson Twining, the founders, CEOs, and devils of the private club.
I know all your secrets and I’m going to make you both pay. You can’t just love them and leave them. I’ve got help now. I know who you both are. Who you really are. You may have broken my heart, but I’m going to make sure that you both know what rejection feels like. You’re both going to feel every last inch of pain as I stab the dagger through your hearts.
I stared at the letter with my heart in my mouth. I’d known that my happy ending wasn’t going to be that easy. I handed the letter to Brandon in silence. I knew he wouldn’t be happy to read it, but I had to let him know. The end was imminent, and there was nothing that we could do.
I looked at Brandon and he looked back at me with the same look of worry and despair in his eyes. We were silent as we sat there, each one hoping that the other would have the answer to solve everything.
“Katie will leave me if she knows.” Brandon’s voice cracked, but I didn’t tease him as I would have in our college days.
“I don’t think Meg would hesitate before she ran out of the door.” My words pained me as I said them.
“Thank you for telling Katie that it was all you yesterday.” Brandon gave me a curious expression. “I don’t know why you did that.”
“I could see how much you love her and how much she loves you.”
“But Meg was there. I didn’t think you’d do that.” His voice trailed off. “I don’t know that I could have.”
“I wanted to think of someone else before myself.” I shrugged. “I feel responsible for everything,” I sighed. “I just wish I’d been able to tell Meg everything when she tried to leave yesterday.”
“You got her to stay though.” Brandon looked hopeful.
“Because she has no idea who I really am.” A deep fear settled inside of me. “If she knew who I really was—”
“It’s not you.” Brandon’s voice broke. “It’s me.”
“She was asking about Nancy. She wants to find out where she is.”
“It’s weird that she just disappeared.” Brandon looked worried. “You don’t think...” He stared at the ground in anguish.
“I don’t know,” I said, answering his unasked question.
“What do we do?”
“I don’t know.” I shook my head, wishing that this weren’t the one time I didn’t have an answer. “People have died because of us. I don’t want anything else to happen. I keep going over it. I keep thinking in my head, ‘What can I do? What can I say? How can I tell Meg everything and not have her think I’m a monster?’”
“I never thought I’d see this day.” Brandon gave me a surprised look.
“You mean, the day when we would be in the same room again without killing each other?”
“No, I meant I never thought I’d see the day that Greyson Twining was in love.” He sat back and cracked a small smile. “Though I suppose it hits all of us unawares.”
“I guess this is the irony of life.” I jumped up, unable to keep still. “Live your life without love and then when it happens, when it finally hits you and creeps up in your heart so tightly that it feels like you can’t breathe, it gets snatched away. Just like that. So easily. As if it were nothing.”
“Meg loves you. I can see it in her eyes.”
“But will she still love me when she knows everything?” I looked at him with bleak eyes and he turned away from me.
“I wish I could say she would. But I don’t know. I don’t know if Katie will still love me once she finds out.”
“What did we do, Brandon? My God, what did we do?” My voice cracked, and I sat there wondering how we ever could have done what we had. “Are we monsters?”
“You were just protecting me,” Brandon sighed. “All these years, I’ve been blaming you for everything that happened. I’ve hated you for so many reasons, but really, ultimately, it’s my fault. It’s all my fault.”
“I don’t know what to say. All I know is that we’re in some deep shit, and if we don’t figure out who’s behind it and what’s going on, then we’re really going to pay.”
“It can only really be one person, can’t it?” Brandon closed his eyes and his face went white. “And I can’t say I blame her either.”
“It’s your choice.” I looked down at my desk. “Whatever you want to do, it’s your choice.”
“We should contact her right? See if it’s her?”
“There’s an email address at the bottom of the letter,” I sighed. “[email protected].”
“That’s helpful.” Brandon laughed then as he shook his head. “There are so many women both of us let get away.”
“If you mean f**ked and never spoke to again, then yes.” I laughed. “Though I don’t know if that means shit.”
“Who knows what they are thinking?”
“I don’t understand women,” I sighed. “Sex doesn’t equal love or a relationship. Shit, it doesn’t even equal sex the next night.”
“Let’s not argue the details.” Brandon stood up. “We both know men and women are different. We had a duty. We had an obligation. I just wish I’d realized that earlier.”
“I thought—”
“Shit, Greyson. We can’t keep passing the buck. At what point do we take responsibility for our own actions?”
“I just don’t want anyone else to get hurt.” I shrugged. “The last thing we need is for someone else to die.”
“Are you talking about murder?” Brandon’s eyes met mine and I saw the grim expression on my face reflected in his gaze.
“When people are desperate, there’s no discounting what they would do.” I picked up a pen and twirled it in my fingers. “When it comes to love, some people will do anything.”
The room went quiet as we both thought about the letter and what we had to do next. It felt surreal being in this position again. I was ashamed of my role in what had happened with Maria. I was ashamed and devastated. I knew that if the truth were to come out, it would essentially be the end for both of us.
“Well, well, well.” Patsy walked into the office with a small smile on her face. She stared at me for a second and then looked at Brandon. “What’s he doing here?” She almost spat out the words, hatred in her voice.
“I do still own the club.” Brandon gave her a cutting look and her face grew red.
“Well, you co-own the club.” I spoke up and Patsy gave me a look of thanks. Ever since Maria had died, Patsy had never seemed to look at Brandon the same way.
“I wish you’d buy him out, Greyson.” She came up to the desk and brushed something off my shoulder. I wasn’t sure if there had been something there or if she’d just wanted a chance to touch me. I stifled a sigh as she looked up into my eyes with a look of adoration.
“Greyson, I was hoping we could chat for a few minutes.” She looked at me seriously.
“You know he’s dating Meg now, right?” Brandon spoke up.
Patsy turned around then and looked at Brandon for a few minutes before speaking. She took in the grey bags under his eyes and his disheveled hair. She took in the worry lines on his face and the almost imperceptible air of worry that hung around him, and then she started laughing. Only her laugh sounded like a cackle and she looked at Brandon and then at me with a haughty, snide look.
“I never thought I’d see the day when both of you were brought to your knees.” Her voice sounded evil with pleasure, and I had a feeling that she wasn’t talking about our love for Katie and Meg.
“What did you do?” Brandon walked over to her and grabbed her arms. “What the f**k did you do?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She pushed him away from her, but I could see that she was trembling. “I think the question you should ask yourselves is what the f**k do you think you did, both of you.” She looked at me then. There was such a look of hatred and pain in her eyes that I flinched. “If you only knew how much I loved you.” She shook her head. “The things I did.”
Unknown
We watched as Brandon and Katie left Greyson’s office. I could see anger in Katie’s eyes as she strode out. She looked like someone who had just been told that a meteor was going to hit earth in twenty-four hours. It was the first time I’d seen her and I didn’t know how to feel. I wanted to hate her, but a part of me felt bad for her.
“Greyson always had a hidden heart.” Her voice sounded distant, even though she stood right next to me.
“Why do you think he lied? Do you really think he wanted to protect Brandon?”
“I don’t know and I don’t care.” She looked at me sharply and squeezed my arm tightly.
“I see.” I didn’t really, but I didn’t want to pry.
“I need to tell you something. They ruined me as well.” Her eyes were wide and hard, but I could see tears in the corners. “We are nothing to them. Nothing.”
“I don’t understand how men could be like that.”
“It’s all a game to them. It’s all a game.” She looked down for a second. “They don’t care who they break and discard.”
“What happened to you?” I asked softly, not knowing if I really wanted to hear. It was all becoming too much. The truth was breaking my heart in two and I no longer knew who I was.
“I loved him, you know.”
“Brandon?”
She looked at me unseeingly and didn’t respond.
“Greyson?” I asked, seeing if his name would make her respond. “Was it Brandon or Greyson that you loved?”
She looked up at me then and stared into my eyes with so much pain and heartbreak that I could almost feel her sadness in the pit of my stomach. “What does it matter? I was disposable to both of them.”
“I’m sorry.” I bite down on my lip, feeling my heart go out to her. I knew what it was like to be heartbroken.
“I went to his room one night.” She looked at me bleakly. “He was asleep. The lights were out. I kissed him. He rolled over and kissed me back. He was full of passion. Eager even in his sleep. I felt his hands touching me. I touched his na**d body. It felt different, but the same. I pulled off my clothes quickly, eagerly. He rolled me onto my back and then he entered me. I knew right away that it wasn’t him. But I didn’t stop. It just felt too good to stop.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know what to say. All I wanted to know was if it was Greyson or Brandon she was talking about.
“So we continued to make love and then he came and rolled over,” she continued. “I reached over and turned on the lamp. And I’d been right. It wasn’t him.”
“Who was it?” I gasped, wondering who she was talking about. Who was the one she’d hoped she’d been with?
“He looked at me in surprise, as if he hadn’t known it was me. I don’t know if he really cared who it was. I stared at him, pretending to be shocked, though I wasn’t. Not really. He told me to leave then. We never spoke about it again, but that night ruined my life. It ruined everything.”
“I don’t really follow.” I tried to keep my voice light, but I was frustrated.
“I just want you to know why I hate them as well.” She ran her hands through her hair. “I want you to know why you must bring them down.”
“I don’t know if I can do this.” My voice cracked and I rubbed my forehead.
“You can do it. They lied to you. They played you. There’s no way you can let them ride off into the sunset without a care in the world.”
“I don’t know how.”
“I know.” She smiled then, a wide, evil smile. “I know the weak link in the chain. All you have to do is start pulling. Trust me. Once you start, it’s all going to fall apart. They will be done. They will know what it feels like to be as empty and alone as we are.”
I stared at her then and thought about what she had said. I knew who the weak link in the chain was as well. The only problem was that I had a feeling I’d be just as bad as they were if I went after them. That was my dilemma, and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.
Part II
Chapter 4
Greyson
I should have felt like the happiest man in the world. The woman I was falling in love with—or was already in love with—felt the same way about me. My heart was still buzzing from remembering the previous evening. The way she’d kissed me and stared at me. It was something I’d never experienced before. It had felt strange, but wonderful. Holding her in my arms had felt like I’d won something, but I knew that the games hadn’t even begun.
Coming to my office this morning and seeing Brandon waiting inside for me had stopped my heart. I’d thought it was all over then, but it was more guilt that had him in my office. He was worried that Katie was going to start questioning him over what had happened in the office the day before. He was worried that he was still being dishonest. He was worried that everything was going to blow up in his face, and I didn’t blame him. I was worried about the same thing.
I was sorting through my mail when the envelope first caught my attention. It was pink and the ink was red, but the part that puzzled me the most was that it was addressed to Brandon Hastings and Greyson Twining, the founders, CEOs, and devils of the private club.
I know all your secrets and I’m going to make you both pay. You can’t just love them and leave them. I’ve got help now. I know who you both are. Who you really are. You may have broken my heart, but I’m going to make sure that you both know what rejection feels like. You’re both going to feel every last inch of pain as I stab the dagger through your hearts.
I stared at the letter with my heart in my mouth. I’d known that my happy ending wasn’t going to be that easy. I handed the letter to Brandon in silence. I knew he wouldn’t be happy to read it, but I had to let him know. The end was imminent, and there was nothing that we could do.
I looked at Brandon and he looked back at me with the same look of worry and despair in his eyes. We were silent as we sat there, each one hoping that the other would have the answer to solve everything.
“Katie will leave me if she knows.” Brandon’s voice cracked, but I didn’t tease him as I would have in our college days.
“I don’t think Meg would hesitate before she ran out of the door.” My words pained me as I said them.
“Thank you for telling Katie that it was all you yesterday.” Brandon gave me a curious expression. “I don’t know why you did that.”
“I could see how much you love her and how much she loves you.”
“But Meg was there. I didn’t think you’d do that.” His voice trailed off. “I don’t know that I could have.”
“I wanted to think of someone else before myself.” I shrugged. “I feel responsible for everything,” I sighed. “I just wish I’d been able to tell Meg everything when she tried to leave yesterday.”
“You got her to stay though.” Brandon looked hopeful.
“Because she has no idea who I really am.” A deep fear settled inside of me. “If she knew who I really was—”
“It’s not you.” Brandon’s voice broke. “It’s me.”
“She was asking about Nancy. She wants to find out where she is.”
“It’s weird that she just disappeared.” Brandon looked worried. “You don’t think...” He stared at the ground in anguish.
“I don’t know,” I said, answering his unasked question.
“What do we do?”
“I don’t know.” I shook my head, wishing that this weren’t the one time I didn’t have an answer. “People have died because of us. I don’t want anything else to happen. I keep going over it. I keep thinking in my head, ‘What can I do? What can I say? How can I tell Meg everything and not have her think I’m a monster?’”
“I never thought I’d see this day.” Brandon gave me a surprised look.
“You mean, the day when we would be in the same room again without killing each other?”
“No, I meant I never thought I’d see the day that Greyson Twining was in love.” He sat back and cracked a small smile. “Though I suppose it hits all of us unawares.”
“I guess this is the irony of life.” I jumped up, unable to keep still. “Live your life without love and then when it happens, when it finally hits you and creeps up in your heart so tightly that it feels like you can’t breathe, it gets snatched away. Just like that. So easily. As if it were nothing.”
“Meg loves you. I can see it in her eyes.”
“But will she still love me when she knows everything?” I looked at him with bleak eyes and he turned away from me.
“I wish I could say she would. But I don’t know. I don’t know if Katie will still love me once she finds out.”
“What did we do, Brandon? My God, what did we do?” My voice cracked, and I sat there wondering how we ever could have done what we had. “Are we monsters?”
“You were just protecting me,” Brandon sighed. “All these years, I’ve been blaming you for everything that happened. I’ve hated you for so many reasons, but really, ultimately, it’s my fault. It’s all my fault.”
“I don’t know what to say. All I know is that we’re in some deep shit, and if we don’t figure out who’s behind it and what’s going on, then we’re really going to pay.”
“It can only really be one person, can’t it?” Brandon closed his eyes and his face went white. “And I can’t say I blame her either.”
“It’s your choice.” I looked down at my desk. “Whatever you want to do, it’s your choice.”
“We should contact her right? See if it’s her?”
“There’s an email address at the bottom of the letter,” I sighed. “[email protected].”
“That’s helpful.” Brandon laughed then as he shook his head. “There are so many women both of us let get away.”
“If you mean f**ked and never spoke to again, then yes.” I laughed. “Though I don’t know if that means shit.”
“Who knows what they are thinking?”
“I don’t understand women,” I sighed. “Sex doesn’t equal love or a relationship. Shit, it doesn’t even equal sex the next night.”
“Let’s not argue the details.” Brandon stood up. “We both know men and women are different. We had a duty. We had an obligation. I just wish I’d realized that earlier.”
“I thought—”
“Shit, Greyson. We can’t keep passing the buck. At what point do we take responsibility for our own actions?”
“I just don’t want anyone else to get hurt.” I shrugged. “The last thing we need is for someone else to die.”
“Are you talking about murder?” Brandon’s eyes met mine and I saw the grim expression on my face reflected in his gaze.
“When people are desperate, there’s no discounting what they would do.” I picked up a pen and twirled it in my fingers. “When it comes to love, some people will do anything.”
The room went quiet as we both thought about the letter and what we had to do next. It felt surreal being in this position again. I was ashamed of my role in what had happened with Maria. I was ashamed and devastated. I knew that if the truth were to come out, it would essentially be the end for both of us.
“Well, well, well.” Patsy walked into the office with a small smile on her face. She stared at me for a second and then looked at Brandon. “What’s he doing here?” She almost spat out the words, hatred in her voice.
“I do still own the club.” Brandon gave her a cutting look and her face grew red.
“Well, you co-own the club.” I spoke up and Patsy gave me a look of thanks. Ever since Maria had died, Patsy had never seemed to look at Brandon the same way.
“I wish you’d buy him out, Greyson.” She came up to the desk and brushed something off my shoulder. I wasn’t sure if there had been something there or if she’d just wanted a chance to touch me. I stifled a sigh as she looked up into my eyes with a look of adoration.
“Greyson, I was hoping we could chat for a few minutes.” She looked at me seriously.
“You know he’s dating Meg now, right?” Brandon spoke up.
Patsy turned around then and looked at Brandon for a few minutes before speaking. She took in the grey bags under his eyes and his disheveled hair. She took in the worry lines on his face and the almost imperceptible air of worry that hung around him, and then she started laughing. Only her laugh sounded like a cackle and she looked at Brandon and then at me with a haughty, snide look.
“I never thought I’d see the day when both of you were brought to your knees.” Her voice sounded evil with pleasure, and I had a feeling that she wasn’t talking about our love for Katie and Meg.
“What did you do?” Brandon walked over to her and grabbed her arms. “What the f**k did you do?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She pushed him away from her, but I could see that she was trembling. “I think the question you should ask yourselves is what the f**k do you think you did, both of you.” She looked at me then. There was such a look of hatred and pain in her eyes that I flinched. “If you only knew how much I loved you.” She shook her head. “The things I did.”
