Breaking Shaun (25 page)

Dre had been at my house for about an hour when he finally started to tell me what was up.

“Jasmine called me yesterday,” he muttered as he watched himself pour another shot.

Jasmine was Dre’s baby mama—as he liked to call her—but I knew she was a lot more than that.

I guessed there were a couple of more things we didn’t have in common. He had a son, and he believed women when they told him they were on the pill.

“Uh-huh,” I grunted after swallowing another shot of vodka.

He peered up at me and clenched his jaw before looking out the windows by my dining room table. I could tell he was trying to control his temper.

“She’s been fucking around with this dude, Alex.”

Sighing, I leaned back in my chair and took a sip from my beer. I’d seen this before. Jasmine would hook up with a new guy, and Dre would get jealous.

“Just fucking admit that you want her back, Dre. This shit’s gettin’ old.”

He scowled at me. “What?”

“Jasmine. You’ve had a problem with every guy she’s been with. None of them are good enough because none of them are you.”

“She’s got my son. Of course none of them are good enough. I don’t want some fucking douche bag around my kid. You don’t get it, Shaun. When a woman has your child, you’re in each other’s lives whether you like it or not.”

My eyes moved to my beer bottle, and I contemplated telling him about my morning with Natalie, but I decided against it.

“So, what happened with that chick from the club? What did you call her? Cupcake? She didn’t seem like your type.”

I looked up from my beer and shrugged. “We fucked, but I barely remember it. I was fuckin’ wasted.”

“Really? She didn’t seem like the kind of woman to be down for a one-night stand.”

“I don’t think she is. It just kinda happened. She was all upset about seeing her ex at the club, and I guess she wanted me to help her move on.”

Dre smiled. “Ah, so you were the rebound.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“How was your party last night?”

I peered up at Dre, and I couldn’t help the smirk that appeared when I thought of Natalie. “It was good.”

Dre’s eyebrows rose, and he waited for me to elaborate, but I just took another sip from my beer.

“That’s it? What the fuck is that smirk about?” He paused, his eyebrows furrowing. He leaned forward in his chair and studied my face. “What did you do?”

I chuckled and leaned back into my seat, but I still didn’t tell him. It felt wrong for some reason. It wasn’t because Natalie wanted to keep things a secret. I knew Dre wouldn’t say anything. No, it was more like I felt possessive over her. I didn’t want him thinking about Natalie like that. I didn’t want anyone to think about her like that.

As hard as I tried to fight it, I thought about Shaun most of the day and well into my shift at work. It wasn’t until I was taking orders and pouring drinks that I was able to push him out of my mind.

And it pissed me off.

This was not how things were supposed to go. This was not how I worked. When I found a guy attractive, I would come on to him, or he would come on to me, and then we would fuck. If it was any good, I’d call him back. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t. But I would not—I repeat,
would not
—ever spend an entire day thinking about that person. I wouldn’t stare at my phone, itching to text or call him just hours after having him. Yet, that was exactly what was happening.

I was scared. I’d been very careful to keep everyone at a distance. It was just far enough so that when they left me, it wouldn’t hurt quite as bad. I even had a wall standing between Nick and Lili and my heart. I’d always been alone, but that was changing now. If things ended badly between Shaun and me, it might mess up everything I had been trying to fix. I had to remember that this thing between us was purely physical, and I couldn’t confuse it for anything more.

It was two in the morning, and we were closing everything down at Red. Mandy, Trey, and I worked that night, so we walked out to the parking lot together. It was raining out, so we all rushed toward our cars. Trey turned to the left toward his Nissan, shooting two fingers in the air as his good-bye, while Mandy ran next to me.

“You work tomorrow, right?” she shouted to me as she headed toward her car.

I unlocked my car door. “Yeah!” I shouted back.

“Okay, see you then!” she said with a smile before slipping into her Honda.

I unlocked my door and when I got into my car, I pulled my wet hair away from my face and tossed my purse down on the passenger seat. I was looking forward to going home and taking a hot shower. I stuck my key into the ignition and turned it. My engine made a sad groaning noise, but it didn’t start.

Shit!

I smacked the steering wheel and tilted my head back against the seat to stare at my ceiling. The stains and holes there only aggravated me more. Unfortunately, Mandy and Trey had left already. Reaching into my purse, I grabbed my phone to call Nick, but then I remembered it was two in the morning. Going through my texts, I saw the ones Shaun and I had sent back and forth, and before I could chicken out, I sent one to him.

My car won’t start.

He responded a few seconds later.

Where are you?

I replied quickly.

Red.

After a few minutes, my phone started ringing in my hand. It was Shaun.

“Hello?” I answered.

“I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Then, he hung up.

I reached over and pushed the lock down on the passenger door just in case. I wasn’t sure how dangerous this area was at night, but Jay’s speech had made me paranoid.

Better safe than sorry.

About ten minutes later, the rain had stopped, and I was wondering if I should have called Brad for help. I was sure he would have come, and I wouldn’t be sitting here in my car, nervous about what might happen to me. Locking my doors wouldn’t be enough to protect me from Shaun.

As if on cue, Shaun pulled up next to me in his Jetta. The parking lot was well lit, but the roof of his car cast a drastic shadow over his face, so I could only see his mouth and jaw at first. He had some light stubble growing, and it was sexy. I felt my stomach starting to flutter when I thought about him coming out at two in the morning to help me with my car. I didn’t know many people who would do that for me.

But that train of thought wasn’t going to help me. I had to remember Shaun’s interest in me was purely sexual—as was mine for him.

Taking a deep breath, I unlocked my door and popped the hood of my car before getting out and meeting him in front of it. Shaun’s eyes met mine, and I realized he must have been sleeping.

“Did I wake you up?”

“Nah, I just dozed off on the couch for a while,” he muttered as he pulled the hood of my car open.

Shaun was dressed in a pair of loose basketball shorts and an old Billabong T-shirt with flip-flops on his feet. His hair was wet and in its usual effortlessly sexy and chaotic style. It looked good. At that moment, I realized he could have been standing there barefoot in a trash bag, and I still would have thought he was hot. It wasn’t fair.

I took my time admiring his physique as he started checking hoses and different things on my engine. I could change a tire and change my own oil, but I was actually pretty clueless when it came to engines.

“Start it,” Shaun said after adjusting a few things under the hood.

I stifled a sigh as I made my way back to my seat. I didn’t know why Shaun bossing me around bothered me so much. Maybe it was because it also made me horny. Sitting down, I turned the key in the ignition one more time, but just like before, I heard the sad groaning sound from my engine as it tried to start.

“Is that duct tape?” Shaun asked from under my hood.

I cringed.

“Did you seriously use duct tape to cover up that hole?”

I jumped out of my seat and ran to the front of the car. He was peeling the duct tape off of one of the hoses.

“Don’t take it off! What are you doing?” I shouted.

Shaun just shook his head as he threw the piece of tape behind him onto the ground.

“This car needs a lot of work, Killer. I mean, I feel bad for the poor thing.” He rested one of his hands on the edge of the hood above his head and continued inspecting the engine.

I looked at the oil stains on his hand. Then, my gaze trailed down his muscular arm and over his ribs. I felt like a damsel in distress, and as much as I loathed the cliché, I couldn’t deny the electricity shooting through me from that thought. It would be so much easier to just let him help me, but sometimes, the easiest choices weren’t always the best in the long run. I didn’t need to be rescued.

“Okay, well”—I started closing the hood—“thanks for coming out here. You didn’t have to do that.”

“No problem. I’ll give you a ride.”

He started walking back toward his car. When he noticed I wasn’t following, he stopped and looked at me over his shoulder. “Come on.”

“No, I’m fine. I’m just going to call a tow truck.” I went to retrieve my phone from my purse.

“My dad has a trailer. We can come get it tomorrow. Don’t waste your money. I can fix it.”

I instinctively shook my head at his request. I didn’t take handouts, and I didn’t need him to fix anything. “No, I’ve got it. Thanks though, really.”

I got my phone and started searching for local tow trucks when it was suddenly taken from my hands. My mouth fell open, and I glared at him as I prepared for battle.

Shaun spoke first, “Stop being so fucking stubborn. Get your ass in my car.” He stood in front of me with my phone in his hand.

By the way his eyes flicked back and forth between mine, I could tell he was waiting for me to argue. He was ready for a fight.

“You stop being fucking stubborn. I said, no, thank you. Now, give me my phone back,” I snarled as I held out my hand, palm up, to receive my phone.

He didn’t give it back though. He took a step closer, and I felt the back of my legs hit the bumper of my Mustang.

“Why did you tell me your car wouldn’t start? Why did you tell me where you were if you didn’t want me here?” He continued staring me down.

I didn’t look away. I wanted to stand up to him, but honestly, I couldn’t. I pursed my lips and bit the inside of my cheek because I had no response. He was right. He’d come all the way out here to help me, and I was being a bitch.