Red Flags (31 page)

He laughed, and then took my chin in his
hands, “baby, if I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise, now would
it?”

We zoomed up to the suite level floor, and
stepped out to grand double doors. Jason opened the door and I
walked into a spacious room that mirrored the living arrangements
that Jason had back in La Jolla. I lay down on the bed, and Jason
threw himself onto me. He started lightly kissing me, periodically
pulling back and telling me how happy he was.

A knock on the door disrupted his groveling,
and in a swift move, he surprisingly made his way to the door,
without stumbling, and retrieved our bags. He came back to the bed
and I lay up on my elbow to face him. I figured now was as good a
time as any to get my frustrations with him off of my chest. “I’m
super happy for you, but I’m not happy with you.” His eyes shot
open.

“Are you breaking up with me?” He asked, in a
low muffled voice.

“No. But, I am a little hurt that you would
blame me for that idiot grabbing me, and you reacting like a long
overdue volcano.”

He exhaled the breath he was holding, then
tried to fix my hurt and concern.

“I’m sorry… I know I was wrong, but in that
moment, all I felt was rage. That fuckin’ guy had his paws all over
you and I couldn’t handle it.”

“I know, but it wasn’t as if I was inviting
it. I was trying to kick him away. I certainly don’t think my skirt
led him on either. I could have been in a moo moo and he would have
done the same thing.”

He smirked, “He commented on your ass. I
might be drunk, but I’m not dead. I knew what the shit stain was
saying about you.” He walked closer to me, “I’m possessive, I think
you’ve figured that out by now, and when he touched what was mine,
it sent a chill down my spine that made me want to inflict serious
pain on him.” He looked deep into my eyes, “I’m not good at
sharing, I won’t share, and no fuckin’ guy -- I don’t care how
drunk he is, is going to knock me down on my right to not
share.”

I didn’t even know how to respond so I just
snuggled into him. He had never spilled his heart out like that,
and even though it was profanity laced, it was endearing in only a
way that Jason could spew it in. We lay together for a few moments
in silence, with him kissing my hair before I asked, “what about
your dad? What do you think is going to happen there?”

“I don’t know. I’ll probably be labeled the
black sheep again, and get my ass chewed for a while, before being
told how much of a disappointment I am, and how Jacob would never
do such a thing.” He sighed deeply. “I’ll deal with that tomorrow.
Right now, I just want you in my arms, breathing my air and
relishing our win.”

His revelations about his dad were new and
surprising, but I didn’t ask any further questions. I allowed
myself to ponder exactly what he meant by it, but as I turned to
adjust my body, I felt his slow, steady breath, and realized that
he had fallen asleep with his arms and legs draped across my
body.

Jason was the black sheep of his family? His
statement spoke volumes as to why he had such hatred for his
brother; this was sibling rivalry to the extreme, and it was being
fueled by Mr. Bradley himself.

Chapter 15

I woke up the next morning, bright and early
and made my way down to the team departure meeting. Chelsea and I
weren’t going home with the team but we had to be there to be
accounted for. She stumbled in looking like a freight train had
just run her over, a sight I wasn’t used to seeing. I gave her a
questionable grin, and she smiled while shaking me off. Our coach
stressed to us to be safe on our travels home and that he would see
us when we arrived back to campus to turn in our gear. We hugged
everyone and walked them down to the lobby.

Our parents gathered and as we said our
goodbyes, I couldn’t help but feel such admiration for my dad. I
was taken back to the day before, when I felt my life had ended on
that field, and how he held me and made me feel whole again.

I couldn’t help but think about Jason and the
words he spoke in his drunken stupor last night. Jason hadn’t had
the love and nurturing that a child deserved, so his rough around
the edges personality wasn’t completely his fault. Unknowingly, the
information he gave me last night made thankful for my own father.
My dad had never made me feel less than, and I suddenly ached for
Jason to feel that same love.

Chelsea and I made our way back into the
hotel after our parents drove off. I stopped her in the lobby café
to fill her in on our night.

“So, Jason filled me in on something last
night.”

“What? That he is a compulsive gambler who
got lucky?” She laughed, but stopped after seeing my reaction.

“No, but yeah, that was stupid. He drunkenly
filled me in on a little more about him and Jacob.”

“That’s why I love drunken men, the
inhibitions fly out the window. What did he say?”

‘Well, I brought up the video, and he said he
would deal with the blow back later. He said his dad would remind
him how he’s the black sheep and how Jacob would never do anything
like that.”

“Okay… so sibling rivalry, nothing new. Still
doesn’t explain why he has an intensely insane amount of hatred for
his brother.”

“No it doesn’t, but it’s another piece of the
puzzle. I know he’s a jealous person, but that isn’t just reserved
for me.”

“Well, ask him again when you get back
upstairs.”

“I have to gauge his mood before jumping into
that one.” Chelsea took out her phone and I saw her eyes light up.
She turned it around to show me that Jason’s video had being posted
on her Facebook newsfeed and I was tagged in it. I fished my phone
out of my back pocket to find the same thing. This video really had
viral, in a relatively short amount of time. I ventured to Jason’s
page and saw that the video has been posted to his page as well, by
none other than Miss. Stacey. Her caption above the video read:

Oh no Jace… Jim won’t be pleased with this one!
<3!!

The sight of her using intimate pet names,
and referring to, who I presumed to be his dad, sent my mind into a
tailspin. I knew they had known each other for a while but her
lingering presence still irked my nerves. She was like that
annoying cat that he fed and now couldn’t get to go away. I turned
my phone around to Chelsea who puckered her lips in an obvious show
of disapproval. I took my phone and we stood to head back up to our
rooms in silence. The unspoken words spoke volumes.

When I entered the suite, Jason was awake and
showered. Breakfast was sitting on the table and he greeted me at
the door, picking me up by my waist and kissing me softly. We took
our seats to full platters of pancakes, bacon, eggs, and orange
juice. Jason was in an exceptionally cheerful mood, and while I
would hate to spoil it, I had to ask about last night, and the fall
back from the video. I looked down at my food, trying to quickly
concoct a plan to ease the topic into our conversation, but Jason
broke me from my thoughts.

“Worried about the video?” He asked, calmly,
throwing me off guard.

“How could you tell?”

“Well, you’ve been tip toeing around me, and
you won’t even look me in the eye. I see the wheels turning…” He
took and caressed my hand. “I’m not really worried about it. My
phone has been on overload all morning, but I’ll deal with that
later. Today, I want to shower you before we have to head back to
reality.”

“Jace,” I sarcastically said, and noticed his
eyebrows quickly rise. He placed his fork down, leaned back in his
chair, and placed his hands on his stomach.

“Why are you calling me Jace?” he asked
coldly.

“Oh, is that name reserved for Stacey?” I saw
his jaw tense and with it, his mood shifted dramatically.

“Why are you bringing her up?”

I took out my phone and went to his Facebook
page, showing him the video she posted on his wall. He looked at
it, but didn’t react, and just handed the phone back to me. He got
up and went into the bathroom, leaving me at the table feeling
angry and just as empty as when I entered the room.

I walked over to the bathroom where he was
brushing his teeth.

“I don’t know why you are so secretive and
vague about her, but she obviously still feels something, and yes,
that pet name bothered me. The fact that she is in San Diego
bothers me.”

Jason rinsed out his mouth and turned to look
at me, holding out his arms in a show of defeat.

“What do you want me to do? Banish her back
to Heath? I don’t have that kind of power Cara.”

“I would love for you to cut off contact with
her.”

“I would love for you to do the same with
Chase, but we don’t always get what we want now do we?” He walked
over to the bed and started loading our clothes into our bags. “Get
showered, we have some fun planned for today.” And with that, he
walked out of the room with his bags in tow.

<>

When I was finally ready, Jason took my bags
and led me down to the lobby where Chelsea and Hunter were waiting
for us. We were all dressed rather casually, in shorts and tank
tops, and strolled to the Raptor. We roared down the Vegas strip,
and when we reached our destination, we were in the parking garage
of the Bellagio Hotel. Chelsea could barely contain her excitement,
as she walked briskly though the double doors down to the shopping
areas. Whatever this showering was, Jason had obviously filled her
in, and she could barely contain her excitement. She wasted no time
pulling me in front of the Tiffany & Co. store. I turned to
find a smile plastered on Jason’s face as he whispered, “I do
believe you have over $17,000 to blow before we head back to San
Diego.”

I was floored. I had never contemplated
spending that kind of money, in fact, I felt guilty that he thought
I wanted to spend that kind of money – his money.

“I can’t…” and he put his finger over my
mouth.

“You can and you will. Chelsea will help you
pick some things out.” I turned to her and she pulled me inside,
her eyes darting from counter to counter at the endless
possibilities awaiting us in the store.

“Chels, I can’t spend this kind of money. And
I feel bad with you here and Jason spending like crazy on me.” I
whispered into her ear.

“I don’t really give a rat’s ass Cara. This
is the ultimate dream come true, and you will embrace this. Let’s
look around. I hear you’re going to Texas for his parents’ gala… so
let’s get you some accessories.”

A beautiful, tall, red head with eyes almost
the color of the trademark Tiffany’s box came walking up, looking
very sleek, polished, and sophisticated. In a very soft voice she
introduced herself as Natalie and asked what she could help us
with. Jason, standing in the back with Hunter shouted out, “It’s
all at her disposal.” Natalie smiled brightly and led us over to
the cuffs and bangles.

My eye stopped on a beautiful, pink metal,
Tiffany inscribed bangle. It was simple, yet elegant. Natalie took
the bangle out of the glass casing and helped fit it around my
wrist. I loved it; the feel, the fit -- but not the price. The tag
showed $1,750 and I nearly laughed with the mere thought of
spending that kind of money on a piece of jewelry that wasn't even
an everyday piece. Chelsea sensed my hesitation and politely told
Natalie, “She’ll take this one.” I turned to look at her and she
winked at me, and then moved on to the other pieces of jewelry.

All in all, I ended up buying the bangle, a
ring, and two necklaces -- one for me and one for Chelsea. There
was no way that I could spend all of this money and not buy
something for my best friend. After taxes, the grand total came up
to a little more than $3,000. My heart started racing, as I had
never spent that type of money, on a whim like this before. Jason
happily whipped out his credit card and paid the tab, giving
Natalie a nice commission, I’m sure. He handed me the bag, kissed
my forehead, and then took my hand in his, leading me out of the
store.

“Where to?” Chelsea asked, looking around
through squinted eyes thanks to the bright Vegas sun.

Music started playing and the water fountains
for the Bellagio Water Show shot up, sending water flailing in all
directions.

“Right here,” Jason said, as he wrapped his
arms around my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder. “This show
was the plan last night, but, we all know what happened.” We all
laughed and stood, lost in utter bliss, as we took in the splendor
of the masterfully crafted show. Chelsea whipped out her cell phone
and snapped a couple of pictures of Jason and I snuggling, kissing,
and just enjoying being in the presence of one another. I did the
same for her and Hunter.

We continued our walk and made our way to The
Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian. Chelsea went straight for a
shop by the name of Cache.

“You need a dress for the gala, so we’re
going to get you one.”

“And, find something a little more cocktail
style as well, please?” Jason asked Chelsea as she pulled me into
the store. A blond saleswoman greeted us and after explaining what
we were looking for, sent us to the far corner to try on gowns for
the gala. I tried on a pink empire wasted dress that did nothing
for my figure; a tight, one-shouldered red dress that I was sure
was more for a bachelorette party than a gala.

Chelsea wrestled down a black and silver
laced mermaid style dress that sent my heart into flutters. I tried
it on and felt its perfection as I gazed at myself in the mirror.
Chelsea looked like a proud mom helping her daughter pick out her
wedding dress. After spending so much at Tiffany’s, the $500 price
tag on the mermaid dress didn’t bother me nearly as much. We went
in search of a cocktail style dress and I settled on a tight,
one-shouldered pink dress. Shopping had my head swirling, and as
excited as I was about my only-in-my-dreams-gifts, I still couldn’t
help but feel queasy and a bit nauseous at the thought of Jason
spending so much money on me.