Page 69 of Of Heartbreak and Harmony
The thought makes me murderous.
I shouldn’t care if she develops feelings for Jonah, but I do.
She’smyFirebird.Mine.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her I know who she is. That I remember her from ArtFusion. I know she remembers. It’s the only thing that can explain her scathing attitude toward me. She’s holding a grudge when she doesn’t have a right to. I want her. I want her so badly that it aches, but she’s lied to me more than once. I don’t trust her, and that’s the only reason I keep my mouth shut.
“Just...watch yourself around him,” I tell her finally, meeting her eye and hoping I sound more protective than possessive. “If he thinks he can fuck you, he will.”
She glares at me. “That’s a dickhead thing to say.”
I shrug. “I’m being honest.”
“And if you’re wrong? If he just wants to be nice?”
“I’m not wrong, Callie. I’ve known him for over a decade. He thinks you’re hot. He wants to fuck you. If you let him, he’ll do it, and then it will fuck everything up.”
She shuts her eyes and tilts her head to the ceiling. “Right. If word got out, it would tank the story.”
I let her infer what she wants. Itwouldfuck up the PR relationship story. It would start a whole new cyclone of media bullshit. But I meant more than that. It would fuck up Jonah’s and my relationship because I wouldn’t be able to forgive him, and I’m not even remotely ready to explore that fact.
“Is he sober?” Callie asks, catching me off guard enough that I answer honestly.
“Most of the time.”
“Most of the time?”
I purse my lips and run back over his behavior from moments earlier. Could he have been drunk? High? Possibly. I wasn’t around him long enough to tell for sure, and that makes me feel like a shit friend. My fingers itch to reach for my phone, but I resist. Jo’s an adult, and he gets pissed when he thinks I’m checking up on him like some sort of helicopter parent.
“Jonah’s a really good guy with some really nasty demons,” I say slowly, trying like hell to be honest without betraying his confidence. “He worked his ass off to get sober. But sometimes...he’ll...backslide.”
“And you’re all okay with that?”
“Honestly? If it’s weed or booze, I think we’re all just happy it’s not something harder. And we watch him. If he starts to spiral...”
I shrug, but I don’t say anything else. I worry I’ve already said too much, but I wasn’t going to lie to her. I wait in silence until Callie looks at me again.
“Fine. No hanging out with Jonah.”
Then she turns around and walks out.
Around eleven, low music starts to play in the suite outside my bedroom door, signaling Jonah’s return from his tour of the Vegas Strip.
According to José, Jo went to six different nightclubs. Drank and smoked, but he’s not shitfaced, and he never tried to get his hands on anything else. I’m standing from the bed and dropping the book I was reading on the comforter, readying myself to go out and speak to him about Callie, when I hear a woman’s laughter. It’s muffled with themusic, but I hear it, and my spine goes rigid. I wouldn’t put it past Callie to come here with him just to piss me off. I wouldn’t put it past Jonah to fuck her just because he felt challenged by me. It’s a game to him—to us—and he still doesn’t realize I’ve changed the rules.
Without thinking twice, I storm into the suite. The fucker didn’t even make it to his bedroom before putting the woman on her knees, and I fume at the sight of her. Jonah’s facing me, a redhead kneeling before him with his hands fisted in her hair, and he’s thrusting into her mouth.
Callie.
Rage clouds my vision as I stare, and then Jonah looks up. He makes eye contact and gives me a sloppy grin.
“I knew you’d cave,” he says, moving his hand to the back of Callie’s head. I hear her gag, and he groans, eyes falling shut briefly before speaking to me once more. “Just getting her ready for you. You ready for Torren, sweets?”
I snap, closing the distance in three strides.
“You motherfucker.”
With both hands, I reach over Callie’s body and shove his chest. He stumbles back with a laugh, hand flying to wrap around his erection.
