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What the hell had they gotten themselves into?
Chapter 7
Some days you just need a hug, on the butt, with a paddle.
Jade
There is no greater reality check than having all of your dirty laundry aired in front of two men you’ve secretly idolized for years. Jade didn’t know why she’d accepted Hannibal’s offer of a hug. But wrapped in his arms, it was like everything from the last year came crashing down on her at once. He held her while she gave in to all the emotions that had been locked away for months.
She was a world-class athlete, a businesswoman who was succeeding despite all the shit her partner was throwing at her. In that moment, none of it mattered. All she wanted to do was lose herself in the warmth of the arms of a man she’d met less than two hours ago. How screwed up was that?
She couldn’t even stop the tears flowing down her cheeks. She was tired. Tired of having to stand strong. Tired of having to make all the decisions. Tired of having no one on her side but herself.
It took a few minutes, but she managed to wrangle in all the emotions. Push them back. Down into the mental boxes where she kept them normally stored. She stepped back and wiped her cheeks with her fingers. The disappointment at how easily Hannibal let her go was silly.
“I’m sorry you had to see that.”
Hannibal’s hand came up and lightly brushed against her cheekbone. It was ridiculous, but the thought that he was wiping away the last of her tears was a more intimate action than kissing him had been earlier. Not as exciting, but more personal.
“It’s not our business,cher. But if you want to tell us what that was all about, we’d be pleased to listen.”
If Hannibal’s face had held pity, she probably would have clammed up. But there was no trace of that in his face or voice. Only an interested concern. She looked over at Ink. His face was a closed off mask. What did he think of her?
These men were a mystery. It was interesting, she would have thought the sweet-looking cowboy would have been the gentle, comforting one. Instead, it was the big bruiser. She shouldn’t share her problems with people she’d just met, especially ones whom she had hoped to seduce at one point.
But the truth was she didn’t have anyone in her life whom she could share these problems with. Her mother had died a few years ago from cancer and her father had been distant since her parents’ divorce when she was a child. She didn’t have any siblings. The few friends she’d made while she was on the Parkour circuit had all dried up when she had stopped competing.
She hadn’t even known Eric was bad-mouthing her to their old friends until recently. The sad fact was he had been her only close friend for so many years and she didn’t even know how to get new ones.
Why not share? It’s not like it could hurt anything except her chances of being in the middle of a Hannibal and Ink sandwich. They had been flirting pretty hardcore earlier. But after they saw what a mess her life was, they would probably want nothing to do with her.
The men were gorgeous, successful artists and businessmen who belonged to the largest motorcycle club in Denver. They probably had women throwing themselves at them. Would they have really wanted more than a night with her?
From what she could tell, they had lots of loyal friends. Would they even want to be with her once after this? Hell, everything she’d learned about them was garnered off of social media. So who the hell knew what was the truth? But they were offering to listen, and she needed someone to talk to. Maybe it would be better to gain them as friends than one shot lovers.
“Eric and I have been best friends since childhood. When I got pulled off of the Olympic Gymnastics team because of a knee injury. He was there for me.” Memories of the dark depression that had settled over her were something she fought with still. Her best friend had dragged her back into life, kicking and screaming. Showed her that there was something other than gymnastics that she could be good at. “When we turned eighteen, we decided to try our hand at the Parkour Warriors circuit. I don’t know if you watch that show, but we were a pretty big deal for a while. We had lots of sponsors, enough that we both made a pretty good living.”
Though not at first. For over a year, the two of them had lived out of a van scrounging for side jobs and barely able to feed themselves. When the show gained popularity, everything changed. It was hard to explain how crazy they had gone spending the money they earned at first, like it would keep coming in forever. Eric still believed that he could get back to that place where people dumped money on them to show up and support an event.
“I’ve heard of the show,” Hannibal said. “Now that I know you are on it, I’ll have to go back and watch.”
“I think you can get most of the episodes for free on the internet now. Anyway, a few years ago, I decided I wanted to settle down. I knew the fame and money wouldn’t last and I wanted something stable. Eric said he wanted to support my dream. So we went 50/50 on this business.”
“I thought he only owned twenty percent?” Ink asked.
“That’s all he owns now.” Jade laughed, even though it wasn’t funny. She wished she could go back in time and take out the loans so that this place hadn’t ruined their friendship. “It only took a month or two for him to realize that my dream was not his dream.” How could she explain the carefree spirit that her friend had been? “He likes life on the road. The wildness and the excitement of traveling and meeting new people every month was perfect for him. Settling down in one place hasn’t really worked out for him.”
“It seems like more than a case of wanderlust. If he needs more money, he should sell that car of his,” Hannibal said.
“Oh, what was he driving this time?” Jade shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. He doesn’t own it. One of his few regular gigs is as a spokesman for a car dealership. He sweet talks them into letting him drive some of their top end inventory in return for doing social media on the car each week till it sells.”
Ink raised a disbelieving eyebrow. “They let him drive a car worth over three-hundred-thousand dollars so he can post pictures of it?”
“You’d be surprised how many people will buy an expensive car because someone supposedly famous drove it and raves about it.”
It baffled her as well, but she had seen the truth of it too many times to ignore. She had never been big on social media herself, preferring to look at others instead of promoting herself. Eric had been the one to handle that end of everything.
“So he’s been taking money from you?” Hannibal’s displeasure at her friend’s actions wasn’t unwarranted, but she wanted to explain.
