Finding Our Reality (The Reality Duet #2)

Chapter 26

CRUTCH

“Do you plan on telling me what’s wrong? Or do I just have to sit here and keep guessing?”

She shrugs, staring out the passenger-side window. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Bullshit, Lulu. You barely said two words during the interview. Something is obviously wrong.” I narrow my eyes, thinking. “Did Trash say anything to you? Something inappropriate? When I went to the bathroom?”

Turning to me, she scowls. “You think I don’t know how to protect myself from your stupid brother and his come-ons?”

“I didn’t say that. I asked if he said something inappropriate.”

“No, he’s not the inappropriate one.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Who’s been inappropriate to you? Someone at the station?”

“Nothing. No one.” Pulling out her phone, she pretends to answer work emails.

“Lulu, I’m not done talking to you.”

Raising her eyebrows, she glowers at me with menace in her eyes. “Do you mind? I’m trying to do some work.”

There’s no point in trying to talk to her when she’s like this. I’ll just have to wait until we get parked, and I can force her to look me in the eyes.

Turns out, that’s wishful thinking. She jumps out of the truck the second we park. Grabbing her purse and work bag, she flees to her vehicle, tossing the large bag in the back seat and locking the doors. She’s already walking down the sidewalk when I race up next to her. “What are you doing? Are you going to the bar?”

“Yes.”

I step in front of her, forcing her to stop. I reach out and wrap my fingers around her waist, tugging her closer to me. I choose to ignore her stiffening spine and straight shoulders. “I thought we could talk, grab some dinner. We haven’t had any time alone since last Friday night.”

“You mean since you kissed me?”

I’m not really liking this look in her eyes. Not one damn bit. Ella’s fighting My Lulu, the war clearly visible across her face. “Since I nearly kissed you. Because trust me, that was not the kiss I was hoping for. I had so much more in store.”

She takes a step back, forcing my hands to fall from her body. Despite the lift to her chin, her voice trembles. It’s not noticeable to the untrained person, but I’m well-trained and well-versed in all things Lulu. “It was just a kiss, Ry. Nothing more. There’s no point in trying to read between the lines.” She sidesteps me. “I think it’s best if we just focus on our job—finding out what happened to my sister. You haven’t forgotten about Carrie, have you?”

I grab her arm, not allowing her to escape. “What the hell is wrong with you? Are you serious right now?”

Her eyes flare.

Before she can respond with her fire and brimstone, my cell phone rings. I grab it with my free hand, barking into it.

It’s Colson. “Hey, Crutch, don’t forget about our meeting. Marcum wants to talk with everyone before we go home for the night. Are you back from the interview yet?”

“Yeah. I’ll be inside in just a second.”

Hanging up, I invade Lulu’s personal space, being careful not to hurt her arm or pull too hard. “Now, you plan on telling me what has you so damn fired up?”

“No.” Her hot breath tickles my face.

“Well, I suggest you quickly modify your plans, then.”

Grunting, she wriggles from my grasp.

I let her go. But it won’t be for long. Because I’m never letting her go again.

Turning on my heels, I head into the station.

***

“So, what did you do this time?” Cullen opens a beer, setting it in front of me.

“What makes you say that?”

He leans against the bar, lifting his eyebrows.

Chuckling, I down half my beer. “Point taken. But hell if I know what I did.”

“Well, it must’ve been something big.”

His voice has a tone to it that I don’t like. Serious. Worried. “Why? What’s happened?” Turning on my barstool, I rake my eyes across the crowd, searching for Lulu.

Will’s voice catches me off guard. “She’s drinking.”

“You mean she’s holding a Long Island Iced Tea.”

“No, I mean, she’s drinking a Long Island Iced Tea. Swallowing it, drinking it, consuming it.”

I slam my hands against the bar. “You’re letting her drink?!”

Will throws his hands in the air. “Letting her? Have you met Ella? And by the way, she’s a thirty-year-old-woman. I’ve had Cullen diluting them since the day she first ordered one, just preparing for the time she actually decided to drink.”

“How many has she had?”

Cullen serves another customer beside me. “Just one. Well, she was nearly done with it when I last checked on her. She knows we limit customers to two Long Islands, so maybe she won’t ask for another one.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Why the hell did she pick that drink anyway? It’s like a fourteen-year-old trying to get drunk at their aunt’s third wedding.”

Cullen shakes his head. “She thinks it looks pretty. She likes the glass we use, and she likes the cherry and the orange.”

I can’t even dignify that with a response. “Where is she?”

Will grimaces, pointing toward the tables in the back. “You’re not going to like that, either.”

I stand, grabbing my beer. Anger grips my heart in a vise, squashing it like a bug. “What?”

“She’s with a guy.”

Over. My. Dead. Body.

Weaving through the crowd, I nearly flip my shit when I see Lulu and some random guy sitting at the exact same table we sat at when we talked about my injuries. She doesn’t see me at first, but she must sense me. She stops talking and looks around. Spotting me, her plump lips fall into a thin line. She immediately reaches across the table, running her fingernails up and down the length of the guy’s arm. Fake laughing, she reaches for her drink, sucking the last of the alcohol from her straw.

I stop right beside their table. “We weren’t finished talking.”

“I think we were.”

The guy looks up, studying me. “Uhh, can I help you, man?”

His hair is spiked with gel, and he’s got a gold chain around his neck with a fake diamond cheetah charm on it. What a tool. I ignore him. “Well, we weren’t. Let’s go in the back.”

She turns to the tool bag. “Aaron, this is Ryland, my work colleague. Please forgive him. Apparently, he checked whatever manners he has at the door.”

Work colleague? Is she trying to kill me?

Aaron pushes back from the table. I nearly laugh when he stands. He’s a squirmy little thing compared to me. I’d be surprised if he were taller than Lulu. “Hey, man. I think she wants you to leave.”

“I would keep out of this, if you know what’s good for you.”

His face turns beet red. “Don’t make me—”

I dare you to finish that sentence, asshole.

Lulu wisely interrupts him. “Aaron, why don’t you get me another drink. Be sure to tell them it’s for Ella. They’ll give you a discount.”

Grabbing her empty glass, he heads off for the bar.

Pulling his chair back, I sit down across from her. Grabbing my ballcap, I turn it around backward on my head so I can see her better. She’s really drinking. I can’t believe it. Her cheeks are rosy and her eyes are glassy. Trying to calm myself before I say something I’ll regret, I take a few seconds and finish my beer.

She sits back, pouting and folding her arms across her plump chest. “Why do you have to wear baseball hats?”

I lean forward. “You used to love it when I wore baseball hats. You thought they made me look sexy. Is that no longer the case?”

She leans forward. The scent of her alcohol burns my nose. “Nothing is sexy about you.”

“You’re lying.”

“No. I’m not.”

“Yes, you are, Lulu.” I lick my lips. “Are you telling me if I reach under this table right now and push my fingers inside you, you won’t be wet? Dripping? Ready for me?”

Her pupils immediately dilate and her breathing turns shallow. When she sits up, I see her nipples pressing against the thin fabric of her shirt. “I might be wet. But it wasn’t you sitting at this table a moment ago, was it?”

Possessive fury courses through my blood. “Why are you trying to piss me off? Why are you sitting here, flirting with a man you just met?”

“What’s it to you? We’re not together, Ry. We haven’t been together in a long time.”

“What about last Friday night?”

She reaches into her purse and pulls out a lipstick. “What about it?” She paints her mouth in a pink sheen before tossing it back in her purse.

“You wanted me to kiss you.”

“That was all in your head.”

“The hell it was. You moaned, Lulu.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The hell you do. You moaned. The same moan you gave me the very first time we kissed. The same moan you gave me every single time you wanted me to kiss you. The very same moan I’ve heard every single night in my dreams for the past twelve years.”

“You have a funny way of showing that you missed those so-called moans. Did you ask all those other women to moan like me when sticking your dick inside them?”

I don’t even have a chance to answer. The tool is back.

He sets a fresh drink in front of Lulu. And it doesn’t go unnoticed by me that he’s drinking a beer seltzer. He just reduced himself from tool to pussy .

“Ry, I appreciate the chitchat. But I’d like to get back to my conversation with Aaron now, please.”

Reluctantly, I stand. Before I leave the table, I lean down, rubbing my lips against the shell of her ear. “I’ve seen you leave this bar with a stranger for the last time. It’s not happening again.”

Her laugh is demented. “Wanna bet? Game on.”

***

I don’t go far. I make sure to stay within view of her at all times. I should be given a medal for keeping my cool, for not breaking the guy’s nose. When they move from the table to the dance floor and she stumbles, I growl at Cullen. “I thought you made her drinks weak!”

She’s drunk. Not just buzzed, but drunk.

It’s easy to see.

Music pumps through the speakers from the satellite radio. She’s letting him grind against her and she’s not even stiff. She’s relaxed. Limp, like a wet noodle.

The bar gets really crowded right as the band for tonight starts warming up. I wave, getting Will’s attention. “I’m running to the bathroom, keep an eye on her.”

Peeing in record time, I panic when I can’t find her. “Where did they go?” Will and Cullen are both buried, taking care of customers. Jumping on the foot hold of the bar, I grab Will’s shoulder, shaking him. “Where the hell did she go?”

Will nods at the dance floor. “She’s still there.”

Scanning the crowd, dread sinks deep in my stomach.

Will looks around my shoulder. “Wait, where’d she go?” His eyes grow wide with fear. “Shit. Where’d she go?”

Pushing through the people, I race to the front door. Relief floods over me when I see the two of them standing outside the bar, tucked against the shadows.

Her voice is higher than normal, showcasing the alcohol coursing through her system. “I told you I’ll just follow you to your place. I drive the white sedan. Wait here, I’ll pull around.”

Huh? She doesn’t drive a white sedan. And she would never drive drunk, she knows better than that. I taught her better than that.

He steps closer to her. “Just ride with me. I’ll bring you back to your car.”

“I have an early meeting. I told you I’ll just follow you. Give me a few minutes to pull around.”

He grabs her arm. “Don’t be a tease. Come on.” He jerks her behind him.

“Ouch!”

My voice is low but easily carries across the distance, traveling on the wings of my rage. “Take your hands off her.”

He slowly turns around. “Mind your own business.”

“She is my business.”

He drops her arm and takes a step in my direction. Not having patience for this idiot, I pull my badge out of my back pocket. The second he sees it, he takes a step backward, lifting his hands in the air.

Turning to Lulu, he hisses through his teeth. “You didn’t tell me he was a cop. Are you a cop too?”

I don’t give her a chance to respond. “This is a cop bar, douchebag. I suggest you leave. And if I were you, I wouldn’t come back. Ever.”

Cursing under his breath, he turns and walks down the sidewalk, disappearing around the corner.

She plants her hands on her hips. “Well, what do you have to say for yourself?”

“What the fuck was that, Lulu! Are you kidding me with that guy? You can’t tell me you really wanted to leave with him. Why do you keep doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“Sleeping with strange men.”

She blows a raspberry like she’s a horse. Spit flies all over her chin. “Oh, please. You’re so obtuse.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I haven’t slept with anyone.”

I close the distance between us. “What are you talking about?”

She attempts to stand on her tiptoes, trying to see eye to eye with me. After losing her balance, she gives up. “The only dick that’s been inside of me in over four years has been purple and needed C batteries.”

What? My heart skips a beat. “But you’ve gone home with all these guys?”

“Not much of a detective, are you? You didn’t see me go home with men. You saw me leave the bar with men. The last time I saw them was right here,” she points at her feet, “on this very sidewalk.”

The puzzle pieces slowly fall into place. That’s why she told him she would follow him. That’s why she told him she drove a white sedan.

She ditches them.

I shake my head. “Why? Why would you let me think you were sleeping with random men?”

“To make you jealous! I want you to feel the way I feel every time I run into one of your whores!”

They weren’t all whores. But I definitely don’t think now is the time to bring that up. “But why tonight? I thought last Friday night was the start of something for us? A chance to rewrite our story, change our ending.”

Tears immediately start pouring from her eyes. Makeup runs down her cheeks in large black streaks. Her fists curl into angry balls.

She hates crying in front of people.

“We can’t start over, Ry. Our ending has already been written. You took our future and made it your future.”

She stumbles, and my arm snatches around her waist, steadying her. Hair falls into her eyes, sticking against her tears. I gently push it out of the way. I kiss her cheeks. The salt stings my lips. “What’s wrong, Lulu? Talk to me.”

“How could you? How could you do this to me?”

She’s ripping the air from my lungs. I can’t stand to see her like this. It hurts. Physically aches. “What did I do?”

Loaded question, I know.

“I can’t believe you have a kid. How could you have a child with another woman?” She pounds her fist against my chest, but I don’t even feel it. The pain in my heart takes precedence. “You made a baby. With her. It was supposed to be me.” She looks up at me with more love and heartbreak than I ever thought possible. “Didn’t you want it to be me?”

Fighting against her own emotions, she eventually lays her head against my shoulder, crying herself into a drunken sleep.