Page 13 of Homecoming

I didn’t get where all this hostility from Kevin was coming from, I’d only met him a few days ago.

And even if Ian did share with him about his past, I’d never done anything to hurt him.

I was his childhood friend, for Christ's sake, nothing more.

Sure I’d had a crush on him that I nursed for longer than it was healthy, but he didn’t know that.

“And please, do tell me, oh wise Kevin, what I’m after from Ian?” I crossed my armsover my chest, put a foot out, and lifted a brow. It was both a defensive and combat position, I knew that. I was too pissed off to care what it might come across for.

Who was this man who thought he could speak to me like that?

Kevin didn’t miss my new stance, but before he could speak, something over my shoulder caught his eye. Something that made him smile again.

Only this time, the smile was snide.

He took a step to come nearer and said softly, “It’s two possibilities, really. Either you want his money in exchange for something, probably silence since the media hasn’t gotten a whiff of his background over the years, and he is determined to keep it that way. Or, you want in his pants. Maybe for a good time, but again, my bet is on the money. To put it bluntly, you want to fuck him and sell the story. Or maybe publish it yourself on your little blog. With the first, there’s no way I’ll let you even try to bleed money from him. With the second…” he put his hand on my arm and gently turned me to see what had got his attention in the first place. In my ear, he whispered, “ Someone beat you to the punch. But with that one, I don’t have to worry. She’ll sign the NDA on her way out of his room. Whenever that may be.”

Kevin got what he wanted.

He gave me a fatal wound.

My arms fell down like rubber.

I was barely left standing, the pain in my chest and stomach was so sharp.

Standing a few feet in front of us was Ian and he had a girl pinned at the iron fence. She was looking up at him, and even in the dark, with only fluorescent spotlights breaking the night, I could see the dreamy look on her face. His hands were around his waist and her lower body was bending into his.

Ian’s face was inches from hers, his thumb going back and forth over her mouth, catching on her bottom lip and pulling it down, his eyes tracked its movements.

It was almost the exact same way he had been touching my mouth two days ago.

Before I could see him kissing her—I knew I couldn’t witness that, and still hide how I felt—I wrenched my arm from Kevin’s loose hold. Turning my back on Ian and the girl, I looked to Kevin, “You don’t know me at all. You made assumptions about me, knowing just basic stuff, or more to the point, where I lived for a few years. But, you don’t have to worry about me, I don’t want anything from Ian. And he made it clear he didn’t want to be near me at all.”

Not waiting for Kevin to respond, I marched away without a backward glance.

Chapter Four

Ian

It was two in the morning, way past my normal bedtime, but I was wide awake staring at the screen on my phone.

We were in Australia, so I was telling myself I was wide awake due to jet lag, and not because I was obsessively scrolling through Lola’s blog. It was almost like a window into her life.

She documented everything. And it seemed that all the small things that make up the slog of daily living were interesting to her.

It was Wednesday and no one was due to come until late Thursday or even early Friday for the race weekend. Only the drivers and a tight crew of mechanics had arrived at this point. Even our backup cars weren’t here yet.

But I wanted to see her. Hence, the blog.

I didn’t like social media—I only did what my publicist told me I had to do, andI didn’t manage the account myself. I didn’t have a backup profile anywhere that I could use to look her up.

It had taken some stealth questioning of Rylee on my part to find out whatever I could about Lola, but she would only give me the name of the blog. At first, I was disappointed, hoping to get some more information, but over the phone, Rylee had said, “I have no clue what you did to tie that girl into knots, but you better fix it, Ian Williams. Or you’re not the man I thought you were. And Lola is the kind of girl who deserves the world.” After that, she’d hung up on me.

I knew Lola was standing with Kevin in the pit lane that day. I’d followed her like some stalker once I got out of the victory tunnel. I didn’t know why, but once she was stopped by Kevin, I looked left and reached for the first girl that caught my eye. I wanted Lola to see I didn’t need her, that she meant nothing. Why I thought that it would make any difference to her if she saw me with someone else, I couldn’t explain it. It wasn’t like we were ever a couple, we had been kids when we knew each other.

Why was it then that I wanted her to know I had moved on?

I couldn’t figure out this feeling inside me. I only knew that if I didn’t control myself around her, I would do something that we would both enjoy, but would also both eventually regret. So I picked someone I could bury my secret desires into for a night.