I hear the door slide open behind me, and the sound of Brooklyn"s voice speaking is like a knife piercing my heart. "Dixon? What are you doing outside?"
Turning slightly, I glance at Brooklyn over my shoulder. She"s wearing a tank top and cotton shorts with her long brown hair thrown up into a messy bun on top of her head. The breeze whips past me and I watch the warm air blow the loose strands of hair in front of those fiery eyes of hers as they stare lovingly at me. She looks sleepy, with fine lines across her face from the sheet imprinted onto her cheek.
"Dad, I have to go. We"ll talk about this when I get home."
"There"s nothing to discuss, Dixon. You need to tell her that y"all are getting an annulment filed first thing tomorrow. If you truly love this girl, then you"ll go about things the proper way. Get engaged, plan a wedding, have a proper pre-nup drawn up by our family attorney. If she loves you like you say she does, she will understand and agree to these terms. You have billions to worry about."
I can"t help but roll my eyes at the audacity of this man.
Brooklyn"s hands wrap around my waist as her cheek rests against my back. Vomit rises in my throat as my father"s words ring loudly inside of my head. Even though I know it"s going to hurt Brooklyn, I understand where my father"s coming from. I"m risking a lot going into a marriage without any legal security protecting myself and my family"s money. Our relationship is volatile enough as it is. With us off and on and then off again over these last few months, what"s to say that in a few weeks or months, one of us decides this isn"t working and wants to walk away?
"I"ll see you when I get home." I end the call and toss my phone onto the lounger beside me.
"Who was that? Whoever it was sure has you all worked up." Her hands slide under my t-shirt and scratches my skin lightly with her nails.
I bring my hands up to cover hers as I keep my eyes focused on the people below lounging poolside. "That was my father. Somehow news of us eloping last night got out to the news outlets."
Her fingers tighten against me as her nails dig into my skin. "Ohh. I take it they didn"t take the news of our marriage well? I need to turn my phone on, more than likely I have a million messages from my parents" also."
I let out a slow, deep chuckle as I try to let the craziness that is my life right now sink in. "Not taking it well is putting it lightly. My mother"s a mess and my father is two seconds away from giving himself a f.u.c.king heart attack."
"G.o.d, now I"m scared to turn my phone on. My dad is going to kill me. I don"t even want to think about what my mom is going to say. Eloping sounded like a much better plan when we were both too intoxicated to worry about the consequences."
Shifting in her arms, I turn to face her leaning against the railing. I bring my hands up to her face and stare down into her eyes that are filled with worry. "When we get back to Houston, we need to file for an annulment." I regret the words as soon as they leave my mouth. The pain that fills her eyes as she blinks through tears beginning to fill her eyes is like a sucker punch to my abdomen.
"Excuse me?" She shoves me away from her and takes a step back.
"Listen. It"s the only option we have right now to fix this." I reach out for her as I try to plead my case, but I can see it in her face. She"s hurt and shutting me out. Nothing I say will matter now.
"I cannot believe this. I was expecting something along the lines of let"s meet with our parents together and figure everything out. Your first idea is to dissolve our marriage and pretend it never happened? Do you even love me, Dixon?"
Stammering, I grab her arm and pull her to me pinning her to my chest. "Yes I love you. I f.u.c.king love you so much I can"t even think straight whenever I"m around you. Hence the f.u.c.king tattoo on my G.o.dd.a.m.n arm! It"s just that I was stupid to get married without a prenuptial agreement. Someone of my stature is putting everything I own at risk-"She slaps me across the face and wiggles out of my embrace.
"I don"t want to hear another f.u.c.king word, Dixon. You want an annulment? I"ll give you one. But I promise you, this you sure as h.e.l.l won"t be seeing me again. I was a fool to think you were serious about us. All you care about is your stupid billions! Don"t worry, I don"t want a dime from you. Not now and not ever."
Before I can explain to her why, she"s storming back inside. I chase after her trying to get Brooklyn to listen to me. Like usual she"s being the same stubborn Brooklyn she always is.
Why are women so f.u.c.king complicated?
"Brooklyn, wait! It"s not like that. We can get an annulment and then get married again later on down the road. That way you can have a real wedding and then everyone will be happy. I"m just trying to do the right thing." I watch as she runs around the room collecting her clothes and her cell phone.
Refusing to look at me, she speaks as she heads toward the door. "You think I would want to re-marry you after you make me sign a paper saying our marriage means nothing to me. It may be as easy as signing your name on a line, Dixon. But no matter if it was spur of the moment, it meant everything to me. I love you, and I thought you loved me too. But I guess your view on love and marriage is different from mine."
With that said, she pulls open the door and disappears out into the hallway slamming the bedroom door behind her. Dropping back onto the bed, I run my hands over my face. I"ve made a mess of everything. With Brooklyn, with my parents". It"s like no matter what I choose to do it won"t be the right choice for one of the two. There"s no way to make everyone happy. I am at a complete loss on what I can do to fix this. The damage was done the second the words left my mouth. I don"t know how I"m going to fix this with Brooklyn.
My father f.u.c.ked with my head screaming about money and pre-nups. I should"ve thought it through and figured out a better way to ask her. I thought it was better for her to hear it from me and not from my father the second I bring her home to meet them.
My life is officially one big mess. I don"t know where to begin so I can try to fix the train wreck I"ve caused.
Brooklyn Fighting back the tears threatening to spill from my eyes, I pop open the door to my room, tossing my dress and heels onto the floor. Slamming the door shut, I make my way down the hallway toward the stairs leading to the first level of the suite. I can hear voices as I descend the staircase so I know Savannah"s downstairs.
Running down the stairs, I beeline it into the kitchen where I find Savannah and Kayden. She"s b.u.t.tering a m.u.f.fin when she lifts her eyes and meets mine. With my pulse racing and my mind reeling I snap, "Savannah! I need to talk to you." Focusing her eyes on Kayden, I emphasize, "Alone," before bringing my eyes back to Savannah"s.
"I"m going to bring our bags downstairs," Kayden says dryly, kissing her cheek and disappearing into the living room.
I dread having to leave. Now with all of this happening, the last thing I want to do is ride a f.u.c.king plane back to Texas with Dixon.
Sighing, Savannah grabs her m.u.f.fin and slides up onto a barstool at the kitchen island. "Okay, now that we"re alone, what"s going on, Brooklyn?"
I look nervously toward the floor and begin pacing back and forth in front of her as I try to find the courage to spit this out. I"m grateful that she hasn"t watched the news this morning or read any gossip c.r.a.p online so that she didn"t have to learn about my spur of the moment marriage from someone other than myself.
"You are going to flip your lid," I tell her as I nervously chew on my fingernail, ignoring the fact that I"m ruining my newly manicured nails.
Savannah, picking up her coffee mug, takes a big gulp before setting it down and staring nervously at me. "Brooklyn, you"re really starting to freak me out. Will you sit down? You"re making me nervous pacing back and forth like that!"
I"m freaking her out? I"m way past freaked out. I"m straight on to entirely p.i.s.sed off!
Men are such insensitive a.s.sholes and never think before opening their f.u.c.king mouths!
I stop mid-step and whip my head toward her narrowing my eyes before dropping my squared shoulders. I let out a frustrated sigh and slide up onto a bar stool beside her.
Running my hands nervously up and down my thighs I stare at the floor as I speak, "I got really, really, really trashed last night. Like drunker than I"ve been in a long time. Like UCLA long!"
"What did you do, Brooklyn? You"re not sitting in jail, so that"s a good sign," Savannah"s replies sarcastically as she tosses a bite of m.u.f.fin into her mouth. My stomach rumbles at the site of food, but I"m too p.i.s.sed off to eat at the moment. Instead, I"d much rather shove a m.u.f.fin down Dixon"s throat.
Fricking a.s.shole.
Nothing like f.u.c.king with my d.a.m.n heart and my head.
When I woke up this morning I was over the moon. I was in the best mood I have been in, in a very long time. Then Dixon had to go and open his d.a.m.n mouth ruining everything.
To sit and talk to me like I"m some gold-digging wh.o.r.e that will run off with his stupid billions as soon as things get rough between us...that hurts more than anything. Sure, we"re probably going to have our share of obstacles to overcome because this is Dixon and me we"re talking about. We"re bound to b.u.mp heads time to time. But I love this man something fierce. I wish sometimes I didn"t because life would be a h.e.l.l of a lot easier if I didn"t. But I do and I wouldn"t change it for anything because even though he drives me crazy, he also loves me unlike any man has ever loved me. He makes me feel things I"ve never thought I"d feel in my entire life.
I"ve heard Savannah go on and on about soul mates and true love when she talks about Kayden. I thought it was all movie bulls.h.i.t that was drilled into her head from watching too many romance movies or reading too many happily ever after books. But then I met Dixon and he challenged me at every move, made the idea of actually settling down with someone desirable. Every day with him is fun and exciting. When I told him I loved him and made my vows last night, no matter how drunk I may have been, I meant every single word I said.
I"m in this for the long haul. But from the way Dixon sees it, we could easily get divorced at any moment, and with that, me running away with his fortune.
Leaning forward, I bring my elbows to rest on the countertop and drop my face into my hands. My head is pounding and spinning, making me want to throw up and pa.s.s out all at the same time. Swallowing hard, I open my mouth and say, "I made a stupid spur of the moment decision last night and barely even remember it, which makes it even worse! My parents" are going to f.u.c.king kill me!"
Reaching out Savannah grips my shoulder and pleads, "You"re scaring me! What the h.e.l.l did you do last night, and what is going on with you and Dixon? You two looked pretty heated a few minutes ago."
I"m fighting to keep my tears at bay, but as I try to talk to Savannah about everything, I find myself struggling to keep it together. I push the palm of my hands into my eyes and let out a shaky breath as I try to hold myself together. I have so many thoughts swirling around my head. I don"t know where the h.e.l.l to go from here. Everything"s a mess, and I don"t know what I want.
It"s too early in the morning, and I"m too hung over for all of this bulls.h.i.t!
My shoulders shake as I try to find the words to say, but my throat closes up and I choke on a small sob as tears slip past my closed eyelids and drip onto the counter.
I hate that I"m crying. I hate that he"s made me weak. I hate most of all that I love him. Because no matter how hard I try, I won"t be able to stop loving him. I"ve tried with Jax and it"s simply impossible.
Now his parents are going to hate me before they even meet me.
"Don"t cry. Everything"s going to be fine." Savannah gently rubs at my back as she tries to calm me down.
Lifting my face from my hands, through blurry eyes I stare across at my best friend who"s looking at me like I"ve grown three heads.
Which isn"t too shocking since I"m not one to be known to cry. It takes a lot to get me emotional, so Savannah knows as soon as she sees me sitting here falling apart that this is serious.
The sound of Kayden and Dixon arguing travels into the kitchen, causing me us both to jump. I snap my head around toward the living room. "Great! Now Kayden knows! That SOB, I swear to G.o.d! Ughhh, I don"t even know how to say this...I married Dixon last night," I choke out between sobs.
"Holy. f.u.c.king. s.h.i.t, Brooklyn! You...you married Dixon?!" Savannah stammers out, her voice growing louder with every word spoken. I flinch back slightly as Savannah leans in toward me screaming, "What the h.e.l.l were you thinking!?"
"I wasn"t thinking! I got so f.u.c.king drunk last night that I blurted out I loved him and then BAM! Next thing I knew, Dixon is saying let"s go elope. One minute we"re chasing down shots at the bar to Lil" Jon and l.m.f.a.o"s Shots, and the next we"re in a chapel getting married by a f.u.c.kin" Elvis impersonator. My father is going to f.u.c.king kill us!"
"What are you going to do?" she finally asks, breaking the silence that has fallen between us.
Blowing my nose in a napkin, I drop my head toward the counter top, squeezing my eyes shut as I silently wish that I would wake up and find that the last twenty-four hours was nothing but a crazy a.s.s dream.
"Take some slow deep breaths," she says, rubbing my back once again.
I blow out a slow breath through my tightly pressed lips and work up the strength to tell her about Dixon wanting to dissolve the marriage. Pretend that last night never happened.
"He wants to get an annulment."
"Oh. Well, I guess that"s the best thing to do. Seriously, do you actually see Dixon as husband material?" Savannah means well I know, but her question still hurts. Everyone sees Dixon as this man wh.o.r.e. He will never settle down and could never really care about a woman after getting the one thing from her he was after. But they haven"t seen the side of him I have. Underneath that playboy persona is a sweet man who is pa.s.sionate in life and in the bedroom. I really thought that after last night we were moving in the same direction. Both wanting to commit to one another and be together. But now, I don"t know what to believe. How do I know it was his father"s idea to end this marriage? What if he"s having second thoughts and using his dad as an excuse to end things with me?
Even though it is wrong of me, I feel anger boiling inside of me toward Savannah. She got lucky. Kayden fell in love with her and dove head first into everything with her. No games, no wanting her and then pushing her away. When he asked her to marry him, she knew without a doubt that he was in this for the long haul. Even with these b.u.mps in the road they"ve had to endure, Kayden never once let her stop knowing how much he loved her.
With Dixon, he pulled away from me when I needed him most and turned a blind eye letting me fall into a relationship with Jax. It wasn"t until I slowly began to move on with my life and forget about him that he suddenly decided he needed me all to himself. Now that he has me, he once again wants to push me away.
"I"m sorry we can"t all fall for the player and have him magically fall in love with us." Shoving my barstool back, I climb to my feet abruptly, catching Savannah off guard and causing her to lean back with a shocked expression on her face.
I feel bad as soon as the words leave my mouth, but I won"t apologize for feeling devastated.
"I"m sorry...I didn"t mean..." Her voice trails off as she watches me round the island and walk over to the fridge. She seems to be in a state of shock thanks to my slight outburst.
Pulling open the fridge, I grab a bottle of water and chug half of it down. My throat is burning from crying and my throat feels dry and scratchy as sandpaper. I hate this desert heat. It makes your throat dry, skin dry, then add me crying to the mix and now I have red, puffy, racc.o.o.n eyes to boot. I"m one hot mess of emotion right now and really just want to go back home and curl up in my bed and never come back out.
I lean against the island for a few moments as I try to collect myself and reel in my scattered emotions. If I"m going to deal with this rationally, I need to pull myself together. Snapping at Savannah isn"t going to help the situation when she"s done nothing but listen to my ranting.
"I"m sorry," I finally say just above a whisper as I grip the edge of the counter and peer down at the floor. I find myself tracing the swirls in the marble flooring as I try to slow down my racing heart and stop the tears from returning.
"It"s okay, I understand. It"s just hard for me to see you hurting like this, and it"s taking every ounce of strength in me to not march in there and kick some sense into his stubborn a.s.s." Standing, she makes her way around the counter and wraps me into a hug. "I thought you were going to tell me you were pregnant," she says laughing.
Oh dear G.o.d. I think that news would cause the entire world as we know it to implode. The last thing we need is to bring a baby into our dysfunctional relationship.
I make sure I set a f.u.c.king timer on my phone every day reminding me to take my pill. I keep those babies in my purse at all time. No babies for this girl. No way, no how. I have dreams to chase and goals to crush. No way will I get knocked up and watch everything I"ve worked for turn to dust.
"Uhh, no way!" I laugh as my eyes grow large and a look of horror spreads across my face. I can"t believe she"d even think that! Slouching against the counter, my voice turns serious again, "Why? Why can"t he just love me?"
If he truly loved me, he would"ve told his father where to shove his fricking annulment papers. He would fight to show me that he believes in us. Believes that we are worth fighting for. Instead, he so easily gives in to his father"s demands? We could"ve went about this an entirely different way. Found a happy medium for everyone. Instead, everyone just decides for me that we"ll end our marriage and go about our lives like it never happened? Sure, I love the idea of a real wedding filled with family and friends. But I don"t want to walk down the aisle with a man who thinks I"ll just up and leave him, while I"m at it draining his bank account along the way. I would have even gladly offered to sign some form of agreement we both agreed on once we got back to Texas. Because being with Dixon is all I care about; it"s all I want.
Nothing can put into words how badly my heart hurts knowing that Dixon easily went for the worst option there is. Without even thinking it over first. Would a man really love a woman and do that?
In my eyes the answer would be no.
Savannah shakes her head slowly as her eyes soften and she stares at my sympathetically. "I really don"t know. I can tell he cares about you; h.e.l.l, half the time he"s the one texting you for a d.a.m.n booty call. He has tons of women at his disposal, but he calls you. I think he is just scared. He"s used to living his life a certain way. For him, maybe the idea of only one woman for the rest of his life seriously terrifies the c.r.a.p out him?"
I"m done discussing this. It"s only p.i.s.sing me off more. Listening to Savannah say all of my insecurities about Dixon out loud. It"s too much.
Spinning on my heels, I stomp toward the living room.
"Where are you going?" Savannah shouts at me as I hear her following on my heels.
Stopping, I whip my head around. "To pack my bags and get the f.u.c.k outta here." With that being said, I storm through the living room and up the stairs to my suite.
Shoving my door open, I head straight to the closet where I have my suitcases and yank them out, laying them onto the floor. Dropping to my knees, I get to work unzipping them before climbing back to my feet. I start double fisting my outfits that are hung up all nicely in the closet and chuck them into the suitcase. Normally I"m a.n.a.l about my clothes, keeping them organized and neatly folded when traveling, but right now I couldn"t give two f.u.c.ks.
I stomp across the room when I finish on the clothes in the closet and begin yanking open the dresser drawers. In record time I have every dresser empty and my suitcases overflowing with clothes. I"m crawling across the floor organizing my shoes when I hear a knock at the door. For a split second I hope it"s Dixon finally coming to see if I"m okay. But instead I hear Savannah"s voice as her head pops inside the doorway.
What guy devastates the girl he claims to love and then ignores her? Doesn"t even try to make her feel better? Each moment he doesn"t come groveling, begging for me to forgive him for suggesting such a thing, the angrier I become.
"Hey, need any help?" she asks stepping inside the room and shutting the door softly behind her.
I don"t answer her, instead I continue stacking my shoes into my last suitcase. Treading cautiously across the room, Savannah approaches me and kneels down beside me. She doesn"t say a word. Instead she begins helping me finish packing up my shoes.
Chucking another pair of heels into my suitcase, I lift my eyes up to Savannah"s. "I don"t know if I can take riding on a plane with that jacka.s.s. I think I might book a flight back to L.A."
The entire time I"ve spent up here packing by myself and Dixon not showing up to try and talk to me, the more I find myself coming to the conclusion that I should just go back to L.A. instead of heading back to Texas.
Savannah sets my last pair of shoes in and zips up my suitcase for me. Climbing to her feet, she brushes her hair out of her face and lets out a loud sigh, flopping onto the edge of my bed.
Resting her hands on her knees, she watches me pack up my makeup into my cosmetic bag. "I think running to L.A. is the worse plan ever. Dixon wouldn"t have eloped last night if a part of him didn"t love you back. I say you show him the stubborn Brooklyn...The Brooklyn who doesn"t give up until she has exactly what she wants."
"Well I have the car ride over to the airport to make up my mind." Throwing my makeup into my purse, I sling it onto my shoulder and grab the handles of my suitcases, wheeling them out of the room.
"Ugh. You can be so stubborn," I hear Savannah mumble under her breath, following me out.
Chapter 11.
-Dixon As I drive my truck down my parents" long, winding driveway and watch as the house comes into view, the more nervous I feel myself becoming. The last thing I want to do right now is face my parents". I"ve never been more torn on a decision in my life. I had multiple text messages from my parents" demanding I come straight to their house the minute our plane touched down.