“People,” I yelled. “Fuck off. Now.”
Everyone slowly filtered out of the room. Alexa was grinning like mad, and Ronnie was shaking his head.
“You should be nicer. These people can help your career,” he muttered as he followed the others out.
When the room was clear, I looked back at Alex. “Just me and you now.”
“Yeah. It is just me and you.”
I pulled her against me. Pain lanced up my body, but I didn’t care. She looked incredible in her dress, like she was born to wear it.
“What now?” I asked.
“Now,” she said, grinning devilishly, “I’m going to be real gentle.”
She kissed my lips, soft as could be.
19
Alexa
Fourteen months later
The wind was crazy as I made my way back toward the apartment. I was a little breathless and my feet were killing me, but I felt incredible.
For the first day on the job, I did pretty damn well.
The wind gusted again, and I had to steady myself against a light pole. People brushed by, some of them staring, and I shook my head.
They didn’t call it the Windy City for nothing.
As I made my way down the block, my head was still reeling from my first day of work. Sure, I was only an editorial intern, but I was getting paid a decent amount, and I got to work on an actual news program. WCNJ was only the local NBC affiliate in the Chicago area, but it was still an amazing job.
And I never would have done it on my own. I’d had help, lots of help, and there was someone waiting at home that deserved a little thanking. I could feel myself getting wet already imagining exactly how I’d pay him back for being so damn patient with me.
Finally, I gave up the treacherous hike and hailed a cab. Five minutes later, I was climbing out into a much less crowded neighborhood. I paid and tipped the cabbie and watched as he drove off, smiling to myself.
Our place was on the second floor of a converted row home, basically a second floor walkup. It wasn’t glamorous or huge, but it was absolutely perfect for the two of us.
I unlocked the door and hiked up the stairs. I pushed into the apartment, looking around with a big smile on my face.
“Hey Co—” I said, stopping short.
“Hi, sweetie.”
“Dad!” I ran over to him and threw my arms around him, hugging him tightly. “What are you doing here?”
He laughed. “What, can’t I visit my daughter?”
“Of course you can. But I thought you were still back home?”
He pulled back and shrugged. “Well, retirement has suited me well, I guess. I can travel whenever I want and nobody can say a word.”
I smiled, shaking my head.
So much had happened since the fight over a year ago. So much had changed, and yet it felt like nothing really had. Dad stepped back and looked around the apartment.
“Really nice place,” he said.
“Not as nice as home, but it’s good.”
He smiled. “Cole said he’d be back soon. He has a surprise for you?”
“I don’t know anything about it.”
He laughed and took a seat at the tiny kitchen table. “Well, tell me all about it.”
I sat down across from him and started to speak.
It was hard to believe that my dad was retired. I still imagined him as the serious businessman running meetings and making important decisions. Now, though, he was all about playing golf and spending as much time with Cindy as he could.
That was even harder to believe, actually. Even after the scandal had broke about Cole and me, Cindy and Dad had stayed together. They weathered the storm, and although Dad was forced to go into retirement to save the company, Cindy and he seemed better than ever.
I felt horrible about that. I hated that my decisions forced my father to retire when he didn’t really want to. I knew kissing Cole that night was selfish and stupid and impulsive, but I didn’t think about the consequences. There was only Cole and how badly I wanted him.
We got slammed in the media. The relationship between stepsiblings was bad enough, but it was quickly unearthed that the two of us were married. Needless to say, it was a huge deal. Dad was pissed, and Cindy gave us the cold shoulder. But slowly they began to accept our relationship and the ice began to thaw.
It wasn’t easy for anyone. The press had a freakin’ field day with the whole thing. My favorite headline was “Tech Kids Shack Up For Months of Sweet Fornication,” and that wasn’t even the worst one. I was called some pretty nasty things in the tabloids, but I tried my best to ignore it.
Cole had wanted to go out and fight every single reporter that said a bad word about me. He didn’t, of course, but his frustration was palpable.
It all blew over eventually. The weeks turned into months and people pretty much forgot about us. I went back to school and graduated with decent grades. I kept my nose in the books and pined for my fighter boyfriend pretty much every night. I spent time with Lacey when I could, but she was much more social than I was. Meanwhile, Cole’s fighting career began to take off as he fought and won some pretty high-profile opponents, all because of his win over Trent. For his part, Trent did honor the contract, though he didn’t really need to at that point.