Page 22 of Double or Nothing

“Kat…” I call after her, instantly having regretted the ultimatum I gave her.

As I watch her walk away one thing becomes clear. Once I leave Vegas, there is nothing to come back for.

So, I boarded the plane and never looked back. Not at my father. Not at Vegas. Sure as hell, not at Kat.

The memory fades, the anger returns, but this time, it’s directed at Mac. I glance up at him and see red. My temper flaring, I shove out of my chair and make a beeline for him, grabbing his shirt and shoving him against the nearest wall.

“Why would you do that? Why would you mention her?”

“You asked what was good about Vegas, and I gave you an answer.” He shoves me off him. “Just because you don’t want to hear it doesn’t make it any less true.”

“We agreed to never speak about her again.”

“Even though I thought it was a mistake, I held true to that agreement for five years. Now, you’re about to make another mistake, but this time, I’m not going to just stand by and let you do it. This is your chance to make things right.”

“Why in the hell would I want to do that? And why do you think I’m the one who needs to make things right?” I never told Mac what happened that night, not the whole truth. I already knew I fucked up and didn’t need to hear it from him, too. So, I don’t know why he thinks this is my fault.

“Oh, I don’t know, Sut, maybe because you’re still in love with her.”

“Kathryn Keller means nothing to me anymore,” I argue, though even I’m having a hard time buying the shit I’m trying to sell him. Kat means the damn world to me. Always has. Always will.

“Sure, she doesn’t,” he says, rolling his eyes. “As far as how I know, you’re the one who needs to make this right? I know you, both of you, and I know there is no way in hell Kat would have walked away unless you did something stupid to make her.”

He might be on point that I’m the one who needs to make amends, but he’s dead wrong if he thinks I’m going to do it. There’s no making it right. There’s no fixing what I did. I sealed our fate the moment that stupid ultimatum fell from my lips. There is no coming back from that.

“There’s no fixing what’s broken with us,” I tell him without going into detail.

“You’ll never know if you don’t try. Come on, Sut, you know as well as I do, you two are meant to be. This is your chance.”

“A chance at what?” I ask, throwing my arms in the air. It was hard enough to have him bring her up again, let alone have memories resurface that I’ve tried to bury. The last thing I feel like doing is arguing with him.

“To be happy,” he says. “I know you love what you do, but for five years, I’ve watched you become someone I don’t know. Someone I don’t really like.”

“Oh, fuck you.” How in the hell is he going to tell me I’m someone he doesn’t know? Doesn’t like? He’s the one who created this stupid persona, the gimmick to sell more records. The sexy, bad boy who sings the broken-hearted rock songs. All I needed to do was act out and become the playboy. Done and done.

Now he hates it? Hates who I’ve become?

It was his fucking idea.

“You drink too much, party too much. This isn’t you, Sut.”

“Sells the damn records, though, doesn’t it?”

“The show is at the Sapphire,” Mac states out of the blue.

I turn to him, confused where the hell he’s going with this.

“What the fuck does that have to do with anything?” My voice is loud, filling the room, my anger clouding the space between us and fueling my aggression.

“I know for a fact Kat works at the Sapphire.”

I don’t know what he’s getting at or why he thinks Kat and me being in the same vicinity is remotely a good idea.

“You think me staying at her hotel is going to, what, miraculously change how much she hates me?” And with good reason. “Nice try.”

“Yeah, well, you’re going. You don’t have a choice.” I open my mouth to reiterate what I told him earlier, but he cuts me off. “You already signed the contract.”

I shake my head, refusing to believe him. He wouldn’t make that shit up. But how? I would never sign something like that. I read every damn thing that is sent to me except…

---