After the Ex Games

Chapter 9

Greyson



I stared at the phone, willing it to ring again. I needed to talk to her. I wanted to explain. I sighed as I realized that it was all coming to a head a lot sooner than I had anticipated. I opened my phone and called Meg.

“Hey, I was just thinking about you.” She’d answered the phone sounding cheerful, and I smiled, loving the way the sound of her voice made me feel better.

“Hey, can you meet me at the club?”

“The club?”

“Yeah. There are some things I need to show you.”

“Okay.” She sounded curious. “Like what?”

“You’ll see. Hey, I have to go.” I hung up quickly as I saw Katie walking past the room I was in. “Hey, Katie, you got a second?”

“What’s up?” She looked at me politely, but I could tell that she still hadn’t warmed to me.

“Do you know where Brandon went?” I gave her a smile. “I need to talk to him.”

“I don’t know.” She shook her head. “We spoke this morning and he told me about you and Patsy.” Her eyes narrowed.


“Meg knows I slept with Patsy in the past.”

“Does Meg know about the kid?” Katie hissed at me, and I froze.

“The kid?” I repeated softly.

“Brandon is ready to come clean with everything.”

“He is?” I looked into her accusing eyes and nodded. “I guess it’s time.”

“Yes, it is. I think Meg needs to know everything.”

“I agree. I think it’s time for us to get it all out in the open.”

“You do?” She looked surprised, and I smiled.

“I love Meg, you know. I don’t want to keep secrets from her anymore. I’m ready for the truth to be out.”

“The truth sets you free.” She nodded in agreement. “I wish Brandon hadn’t rushed out,” she sighed. “I don’t know where he went.”

“I’ll call him.” I checked my watch. “I told Meg to meet me at the club, but I’ll be back soon.”

“Tell Brandon to hurry home if you speak to him.” She nodded. “I miss him and I feel bad for cutting him off this morning when he was talking to me.”

“Okay, and thanks, Katie.” I reached out and rubbed her shoulder.

She frowned. “Thanks for what?”

“Thanks for being a good friend to Meg and an even better friend to Brandon.”

“I love him,” she said simply and smiled. “I love them both. When it comes to love, nothing can destroy how you feel.”

“I hope that’s true,” I whispered and hurried out of the house. “I really hope so.”

I walked through the front door and pulled out my phone again. “Pick up, pick up,” I muttered and then hung up and dialed again as it went to voicemail. “Pick up, Brandon,” I muttered as I listened to the phone ringing.

“Hello?” His voice sounded low, and I frowned.

“Where are you?”

“What do you need?” He ignored my question, and it sounded like he was breathing hard.

“I just spoke to Katie. She said you’re willing to come clean?”

“She said that?”

“Well, she said we should all sit down and talk.” I sighed. “I do think this is for the best.”

“It’s not a good time, Greyson,” he sighed, and I heard something banging in the background. “Katie’s pregnant.”

“What?”

“I found the test.”

“Oh.” I stopped still. “Congrats.”

“I don’t want her to leave me. Not again. I can’t lose her.”

“Brandon, you need to let her make her own decisions.”

“I know,” he growled. “I know.”

“Brandon, I got a call today.” I started and then stopped. “We need to talk.”

“Talk about what?” He sounded agitated. “Look, I gotta go. We’ll talk later.”

“Brandon, wait—” I sighed into the phone as it went dead. “Shit.” I hailed a cab and jumped in. I sat back and gave the driver directions to the club. I had a bad feeling that wherever Brandon was, it wasn’t good. In fact, I thought it was probably very, very bad. And it was all my fault.



***

Time always seems to go slowly when you’re waiting for someone to show up. I felt like I’d been sitting in my office for eternity, even though it had only been about thirty minutes since I’d arrived.

I jumped up at the knock of the door and smiled. Meg was here.

“Come in,” I called out, anxious to take her into my arms.

“Hi, Greyson.” Patsy walked into the room with a strained look on her face.

I jumped back as I saw her face. “What are you doing here?”

“You wouldn’t have asked me that a few weeks ago.” She looked at me sadly. “You would have been happy to see me.”

“What do you want, Patsy?”

“I want to know one thing.” She walked up to me and placed her hands on my shoulders. She looked up into my eyes with a pleading look, and I tried not to blanch.

“What do you want to know?” I stifled a sigh.

“Greyson, tell me—when did you stop loving me?” Her fingers reached up to my face and she gently ran her nails over my lips. “We used to mean so much to each other.”

“I never loved you,” I whispered softly, my heart breaking at the pain in her eyes.

“You did.” She nodded and stared into my eyes. “You loved me until that night.”

“What night?”

“I’m sorry, Greyson. Please, I love you.”

“Sorry for what? What did you do?” I held her shoulders. “What did you do?”

“You know what I did.” She started crying. “That’s why you ended it with me. That’s why you don’t love me. I hate Brandon. It’s his fault. Did he tell you? He tricked me. I didn’t mean it. I never wanted him. I never loved him. Not like I loved you. Like I still love you. Please, Greyson.”

“What are you talking about, Patsy? What’s his fault?”

“You stopped loving me because I slept with Brandon.” She clung to me and I froze. Her words didn’t make sense to me. They were foreign, and I was confused, but then it all started to make sense.

“You slept with Brandon?” I grabbed her hands and looked down at her. “You slept with Brandon?” She looked at me wildly then, her eyes widening in surprise. I realized then that she really thought I’d known.

“You didn’t know?” She took a step back and gasped. “You didn’t know.”

“I didn’t know.” I stared at her with thin lips.

“You didn’t know? So you didn’t dump me because of that.” She ran her hands through her hair and her face contorted. “I didn’t break your heart, did I? You never loved me.” Her face looked at me crazily. “You never loved me!” she screamed. “You used me. You used me.” She ran at me then, hitting my chest with her arms. I stood there, allowing her to hit me, but then she started slapping my face. I grabbed her hands still.

“Don’t slap me, Patsy.”

“I’ve done so much for you!” she screamed and pulled away from me. “I’ve done so much to win back your love. You’ve used me. You’ve used me and discarded me like I was nothing!”

“I haven’t asked you to do anything for me,” I said softly.

“Maria was going to bring you and Brandon down. She was going to reveal everything.” Her eyes glared at me. “She wanted me to go to the newspapers with her. She wanted me to share my story as well.”

“Patsy,” I started, but then I stopped as I saw the look of manic anger in her face.

“If you knew all I’ve done for you.” She stared at me with wild eyes. “I thought I could prove my love to you. I thought my being loyal would show you how much I cared for you. I wanted you to come back to me.”

“You never had me.”

“I had you!” she screamed and grabbed my shirt. “I f*cked you long and hard so many times that you didn’t know my name from your own.”

“Patsy,” I pleaded with her. “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

“You’re sorry. You’re sorry…” She stood there for a few seconds just staring at me, and I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to ask her if she and David were the ones behind the threats, but I didn’t want to antagonize her any further.


“What’s going on?” Meg walked into the room looking bewildered. She stared at me and then at Patsy holding on to me, sobbing, and I could see the questions in her eyes.

“Patsy was just leaving.” I tried to push Patsy off of me, but she glared.

“You think it’s going to be that simple?” She gave me an evil smile and then looked at Meg. “You think Greyson is so charming and handsome, right? You think he’s this good man who saves poor, innocent girls.” She laughed and spat on the ground. “Maria is dead because she was going to expose Greyson and Brandon for what they had done.” She gave me a look, and I saw that all the light had vanished from her eyes. “You’re going to pay, Greyson. I know all the secrets in your closet. I know the truth about Maria. I’m done keeping quiet. I thought I knew you. I thought I broke your heart, but you never cared. You never cared. Everything I did, everything I gave up… It was for you!” she cried. “And it was all for nothing.”

She ran out of the room then, and Meg and I just stood there. I didn’t know what to say. What could I say that would make it all right? I stared at Meg’s white face and knew she wanted answers. The only problem was that I had some questions myself.