The Exception(46)

She watched me pull up my pants in disbelief as she tugged her dress back down.

I did a quick assessment of the area and grabbed the door handle again. “I’m going to head over there for a drink.”

“What? Like, you aren’t riding home with me? Or you want me to wait? Or what?”

“I’ll call a cab or something. No worries.” I got out of the car and headed toward Mill. I heard her car start up and she sped past me, sticking her middle finger out the window.

I walked towards the lights. The smell of the city—hot, heavy, and impersonal—made me feel very alone for the first time in a long time.

Images of a brunette with gorgeous green eyes came to mind, her beautiful face contorted with anger.

At me.

What in the fuck am I doing?

I growled, frustrated by my own indecisiveness, the lights of the street getting closer. I pulled out my cell and scrolled through names, looking for one in particular, until the rational part of my brain took hold.

I did what I had to do. I would walk away from her eventually and I’ve already taken the first step.

This is for the best.

Keep walking, Alexander. Keep walking.





CANE

“Hello?” I groaned, rolling over and answering my cell. I could hear country music immediately and winced.

It’s too fucking early. I glanced at the clock. No, it’s ten o’clock in the morning. Fuck.

“Late night?” Max’s voice was cold.

“Yeah. The bag and I had a few late night rounds.”

“Is that what you are calling them now?”

I rolled onto my back. “Typically, that’s what you hit when boxing—or what I’ve always heard them called, anyway. What are you doing today?”

“Looking at a bid for the project in Carefree.”

“Whatever makes you fucking happy.”

“What’s making you happy these days, man? Because from over here, you look pretty sad. And I don’t mean heartbroken—I mean you look pretty fuckin’ pathetic.”

“It’s too early for this shit, Max,” I groaned.

“Nah, it really isn’t. I’m fixin’ to tell you a few things and I think you should listen. First, that stunt you pulled last night was bullshit. Straight up, Cane—that was bullshit. You know it.”

I closed my eyes as I recalled the fuck-up from the night before. “I know. Trust me, I know.”

The country music in the background died out. “So here’s the thing—you either like her or you don’t. But you don’t fuck with her. She’s Kari’s sister, so I will make sure she’s fine. That’s my responsibility to Kari, not my responsibility to you. If you want to go fuck the Lesley’s of the world, no one is going to stop you from that. But you have to let Jada go.”

“I don’t want to let her go.” The words were out of my mouth before I realized it. I grimaced at the thought of actually admitting that out loud.

Max was silent for a second. “Well, that says something coming from you.”

“Yeah. Fuck, I don’t know what to do. Every time I try to talk to her, she gets pissed at me.”

“I feel her pain.”

“Fuck you, too.”

Max laughed. “So make up your mind. Either be with her and be good to her or let her find someone else. I’ve got the Simon angle covered, so don’t worry about that if that’s what’s going on.”

I sat up in bed and kicked off the blankets. “I don’t think Simon is much of a threat anymore. He’s buying Solomon Place, which amazes me, but once that’s gone through, it will be over. He doesn’t seem to have called or bothered Jada and he hasn’t fucked with me any. So I think we can relax a little bit.”

“Let’s hope.”

“I am going to get up and grab a shower. There’s a property I want to check out today. I think if we buy it, we can flip it really quickly. Then I need to go check on the expansion plans for Benjamin Estates.”

“Want to grab a beer afterwards? Kari gets off around six tonight and I told her I would drop off her laptop when she gets home.”

I scrubbed my hands over my face. “Yeah. Just come by when you’re done?”

“Will do.” Max paused before continuing. “You think you’ll call Jada today?”

“She’ll just be pissed.”

“No doubt about it. But if you don’t want to let her go, you better start making shit right.”



JADA

I slammed the dryer closed a little harder than necessary, the force sending one of Kari’s coconut scented candles off of the shelf; I caught it before it exploded against the tile.

At least I can avert some problems. It’s the little things, like relationships, that I can’t do.