Page 24 of Staying for Her

I nod, understanding. “So what will you do now that you’re done being pampered all the time?” I joke but become somber when I see the sadness flick across her eyes.

“I’m starting a day care center out of my house. I always wanted to be a teacher of some kind, but then got into modeling early and school just kind of fell off my radar.”

I smile, loving that she’s taking back the life she wanted before it got out of control.

“Well, I’m happy for you.”

She smiles, tucking her long black hair behind her ears and blushing slightly.

“Would you mind if I gave your number to my friend? The one with the one-year-old? I don’t know if she’s looking for childcare, but she might be.”

I don’t know much about Addison, but I hope that connecting them will help.

“Sure, that sounds great.”

We spend the next few minutes going through my raw footage, seeing if she likes the shots and when she gives me the go-ahead to edit them, we part ways. As I’m heading to my car, I take out my phone just to see if there’s a text from Lucas, but there isn’t.

I shrug it off as him spending time with his friends and I load all my equipment into my trunk, hopping in the front seat and texting Lucas to see what he wants for dinner. By the time I park, get all my things inside the apartment and transfer all my photos onto my laptop, I realize it’s after seven, and Lucas should have been home by now. I look at my phone again, still seeing nothing from him, so I decide to call and that’s when I hear the ringtone from the hallway.

I get up out of my chair, walk slowly toward the front door and carefully open it only to see Lucas leaning against the wall, struggling to untangle his keys from the chain they hang off of.

“Honey, you okay?”

His eyes dart to meet mine, and that’s when I realize he’s drunk. Not only are his eyes glazed over, but the stench of brandy washes over me and I almost gag.

“Fucking hell, Lucas, did you drink every bottle of brandy they had?” I mutter, opening the door and pulling his arm so he knows to come in.

He stumbles over nothing, his shoulder hitting the doorframe as he drops to his knees, his keys flying across the room.

“Damn floor keeps moving,” he mutters as I try to suppress a laugh.

I’ve never seen Lucas drunk and right now I’m more concerned about how I’m going to get him to bed when he’s currently sprawled out on the floor in the living room.

“Honey, what happened?” I ask, trying to figure out how I left him completely sober and now he’s pissed out of his mind.

“I should never have done it. It ruined everything,” he whispers, but it turns into a yell at the end, causing a smirk to peek through my features.

I am very much going to hold this moment over him for the rest of time.

“You never should have done what, babe?” I ask, kneeling beside him, placing my hand in his before he rips it away. My entire body freezes, concern ignites the flame inside me and the unease begins to grow. “Lucas?” I whisper, afraid of what he’s about to say.

“I never should have slept with you, it ruined everything.”

His words barely make it to my ears before the white noise takes over before every cell in my body goes numb and I fall back on my butt. Did he just say he regrets sleeping with me? Before I can even begin to replay those words over and over and over in my mind, he continues.

“Everything was fine and then I had to ruin it. You had to ruin it,” he says through slurred words and drifting eyes. “Even when I did everything they asked, they still took my money away. My dreams are gone.” He’s mumbling now, every other word barely audible and before I can ask more questions, he’s out like a light, lying on the hardwood floor.

After a few seconds, his words begin to sink in and my heart breaks for him. Everything he ever wanted was riding on me, and obviously, I fucked it up enough for his parents to take it all away.

What have I done?

I contemplate leaving him there since he believes I ruined his life, and maybe I should. But the better half of me can’t do it, so I look around me to see if there’s anything that can help me move him, but of course, there isn’t. I know I’m not strong enough on my own and yet I try. I curl my hands underneath his shoulders and find a grip on his armpits. After a few tries of tugging, pulling, and heaving this mass of a man, I know I’m a second away from giving up.

“Need help?” Mike’s voice filters through the doorway as I peer over my shoulder and inwardly groan, hating that he’s seeing this right now.

“How did you get in here, Mike?” I mutter, closing my eyes and praying that Lucas magically sobers up in the next few seconds.

“I heard noises that sounded strange and wanted to make sure you were okay.”

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